Beeple (b. 1981), EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, 2021. Non-fungible token (jpg). 21,069 x 21,069 pixels (319,168,313 bytes). Minted on 16 February 2021. Starting Bid: $100. Hammer price: 6.6 million. Offered as a single lot sale concurrently with First Open. Online, 25 February to 11 March On this episode of Explain Me we do a deep dive on Non-Fungible Tokens, NFTs, pronounced Nifty, but also N-F-T. Joined by guests Marina Galperina, features editor of Gizmodo, and former curator and writer on digital art, and Amy Whitaker, author and assistant professor of visual arts administration, host ..read more

Documentation of R.M. Vaughan’s “Super-Diviner” (2014) at Videofag, Toronto Some experiences I wish I could recall with perfect clarity vanish almost as soon as they occur. Artist and writer RM Vaughan’s “Super-Diviner” (2014) performance marks one such instance: an unusually perceptive tarot reading I still regret forgetting. Held at the now defunct Toronto artspace Videofag, visitors were instructed to enter the storefront alone, take three cards from a pile of assorted divinatory decks, and silently slide them under the screen for a blind reading. After he was done, we were asked to rate th ..read more

In this episode of Explain Me, we continue our conversation with Artnet’s National Critic Ben Davis as we take stock of 2020.  In this episode:  We discuss the biases of algorithm sorting Ben Davis coins the term cultural inflation, a term that refers to franchise media properties. We examine the relevance of ART CLUB 2000 the recent subject of Ben Davis’ review, Why the New ART CLUB2000 Retrospective Offers Lessons for Today’s Artists That Transcend Pure ’90s Nostalgia We name check Davis’ The State of Culture, Part One ..read more

In this episode of Explain Me, we take stock of the year in art with Artnet’s National Critic Ben Davis. What happened in the art world in 2020?  We ask this knowing that we obviously have not seen a lot of art or attended anything remotely like a normal opening. But, a lot happened this year, even if we experienced it all at a distance. We know that, with the vaccine slowly rolling out now, the art world will return, but what are the implications of the pandemic for the art world this coming fall and beyond? In part one of this episode we discuss:  Baltimore Museum Deaccessioning ..read more

Image by Andy Adams. via: FlakPhoto instagram. In this episode of Explain Me we talk to Andy Adams (@FlakPhoto on instagram) a culture producer, and long time digital director. Andy is the founder of FlakPhoto Projects, an international community of photographers that operates in a parallel path to the one Powhida and Johnson come from—the New York based studio and museum world. Andy, William, and Paddy began working online around the same time—2003-2005, so we start our conversation there. We track through the exuberance and possibility we saw online in the early aughts ..read more

Jordan Casteel, “Within Reach”, New Museum installation view, 2020. Photo: Dario Lasagni In this episode of Explain Me, critic and curator Antwaun Sargent joins us to discuss the effects of the pandemic and Alex Greenberger’s Zombie Figuration, a confusing essay that appeared earlier this month in ARTnews. We discuss race, criticism, and why art has limits. BIOGRAPHY Antwaun Sargent is an art critic and a writer who has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vice and more, as well as essays to multiple museum publications. His first book, “The New Black Vanguard: Photography bet ..read more

The Abrons Art Center has paid all their staff and performers during the shutdown. This week on Explain Me, co-hosts William Powhida and Paddy Johnson talk to arts organizers and activists Heather Bhandari and Nikki Columbus about the challenges for mothers during the pandemic, and the challenges for arts workers seeking to make changes to a system that no longer works for them.  Of the family-focused topics discussed we take on pandemic screen time for kids (Bhandari describes DinoTrux as terrible for kids, but a necessary evil), what to do if your toddler licks a bodega door, and dis ..read more

Steve Locke, Student 338, 2016, Hydrocal, galvanized steel nails, procion dye, shellac approximately 12×4.5×5.5″, $4,000. Link to item. This week on Explain Me, William Powhida and Paddy Johnson speak with artist Michael Shaw and L.A. staff writer Carolina Miranda how quarantining is affecting artists, galleries and journalists on the West Coast. Shaw talks about the prospect of losing his studio of nine years, The L.A. Tenants Union and landlords who are neither friendly nor flexible. Miranda speaks about cuts at the L.A. Times and the surrounding museums, as well as her latest story on ho ..read more

In this episode of Explain Me, hosts Paddy Johnson and William Powhida talk to Magda Sawon of Postmasters Gallery in New York, and Jonathan Schwartz, the CEO and founder of Atelier4, an arts logistics company based out of New York. The discussion includes stories and conversations you won’t find anywhere else. Schwartz reports that at least one logistics company is currently breaking the law to ship art, and that Fedex trucks are in short supply because they’re being used to transport the dead. Magda describes the challenges for galleries which range from financial burdens to the need to be ..read more

Spring Break. Image: Paddy Johnson Welcome back to Explain Me! In an effort to produce content a little more regularly we’re trying something new: no editing. This means a little more baseless speculation, and off the cuff commentary, in return for actual podcasts! Yes! In this episode we discuss news, art, and trends seen at The Armory, Spring Break and The Independent. Highlights include: The Armory News! They’re moving to the Javits Center! Speculation about what that means. Adrian Wong with animal spiritual guide Lynn Schuster at Carrie Secrist Gallery Austin Lee at Jeffrey Dietch Kuma ..read more