What’s My Thesis?

Photographer David Alekhuogie talks about gravity in terms of personal momentum, brands as a statement of identity, and why Kanye West still matters to him.

In the second half of our conversation, Yoshie Sakai and I talk about binge watching, art practice, and the history of Tarot Cards, but more importantly, I get a tarot card reading that hits close to home. We also have a little fun at the expense of painters, but we love you guys, and we are just jealous.

Artist and Bar Fund LA Grant Recipient Yoshie Sakai talks about the good and bad experiences she's had with psychics, how to pick the right one for you, and the dangers of getting addicted, while making me laugh uncontrollably.

Continuing  our conversation, @petermaxlawrence and I go on tangents about zines, art school, and growing up gay in 1990's Kansas. Also, Is Donald Trump a batman villain?

Artist Peter Max Lawrence talks comic books and queer identity, as we get into the artists, writers, and characters that guided us through puberty in the 90s.

Artist and Play Consultant @zachkleyn discusses the history of playgrounds, early childhood development, toxic vs healthy masculinity, and how to live a more playful life.

Artists @zachkleyn talks about early childhood development and how play types established between the ages of 2 and 5 years old affect our adult interactions. Using his post graduate degrees in art and psychology, Zach’s company @climbplaymountain helps adults relax and reintroduce creative play into their lives. We also talk about Julia Margaret Cameron’s practice, and her book The Artists Way, as we address some of the existential challenges artists face when they accept they have to make art to feel right.

Artist Nathan Gulick and I continue our discussion, and get into how access to resolution is becoming indicative of social class. As Augmented Reality becomes more common, how will our subscription to services affect our perception of reality compared to those who use a different company for the same services? We also consider the size of the generational gap between Baby Boomers and Millenials in relation to exponential rate of technological evolution, and imagine a near future where algorithm made deep fake images will change the trust we have in photographs.

Artist Nathan Gulick stops by to talk about the conditions inherent in the screens we interact with. We discuss how the history of photography is evolving now that imagry is consumed primarily through screens and more people than ever have access to cameras.

also, so as not to drive you crazy, the photographers who's names I can't think of on this episode are Nikki S. Lee, and Roger Fenton.

 

Corrections:

1. The picture of the nanny was taken by Robert Frank, not Gary Winnogrand. 

Photographer Josh Steichmann and I look at the 2016 election as we continue to discuss the importance of Identity Politics, and why rational centrists are not the most compelling candidates.

Photographer Josh Steichmann breaks down Identity Politics.

Zoya Sardashti talks about Judith Butler’s writing on forming assembly, and shows us how dependent we are on the other when building our individual identities.

I talk to old friend, and immigration lawyer Mark Prada. We learn that the immigration court has no Judicial independence, and is not subject to checks and balances. “At any point Jeff sessions can snatch your case in front of him and change the law.”

Artist Jamie Hamilton stops by to discuss his upcoming article for Vasari21 on Telematic Space. Jamie shows us how little we understand the structure of the internet and our relationship to agregatiors of content like Google and Facebook. In this episode we get new insights into topics we've covered on the show by talking about the technologies that influence our experience. To Jaimie the idea that humanity will become useless as artificial intellligence takes our place seems unlikely and indicative of a fundamental missunderstanding of how dependent AI is on data sets generated by people. 

Gaea Woods, photographer, therapist, and host of Soulfriend Radio, gives us a break from the string of Scifi episodes to talk about friendship. We talk about how to make friends in Los Angeles, and how to maintian non-romantic intimate relationships. Is some one still your friend, if you haven't spoken in years? Gaea shows us how important these skills are, and that lonliness isn't necessarily a function of how many friends you have.

We also continue to celebrate Maiden LA, which is a Los Angeles wide artwalk open to anyone who wants to submit a project/event/open studio.

Artists Molly Schulman, Brice Bischoff, and I discuss the hypothesis that by 2045 exponential progress in bioengineering, nanotechnology, and robotics will lead to an Artificial Super Intelligence with the ability to self-replicate and evolve. Some versions of this future imagine robots the size of atoms boosting immune systems and cleaning the environment, while others predict a scenario in which the same robots attack the biosphere and destroy all life in a matter of days. Will humans become extinct, or immortal by merging with machines? 

On today’s episode, we read our first review, look into our futures, and fantasize about laying down a sick bunt.

On today's show Javi talks with special guest Sue Ellen Stone about UBI, and more.

Seth and Javier have an unscripted chat about backpacks, fish in creeks, and needy appeals for fan fiction.

On today’s episode: We learn that @sethlower is an encyclopedia of fruit knowledge before diving deep into lesser known Forbidden Fruit myths. What other objects have Gods used to tempt mortals, and why does Seth say the word MacGuffin more times in this ep than you’ve heard it in your life? Check out episode 11 Forbidden Fruit to find out!

On today’s episode: We finally get to Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty. What do supporters of gun and reproductive rights have in common? They both define freedom in the negative sense, a relatively new interpretation of liberty. We provide examples of both negative and positive freedom to show it’s not as simple as saying one is liberal and one is conservative. We also discuss why philosophy matters, and define the role of the moral philosopher in the context of value pluralism/moral relativism. The most referenced concept in the podcast is finally addressed!

On today’s episode: We leave the lab, and enter the dreamscape to ask “who is the dreamer?” LaBerge shows us that our consciousness is contained within, and always at the center of a multi-faceted sensory experience. We also ask how much control over a dream is possible, describe the mutual dreaming phenomenon, and wax philosophical/metaphysical about the science we covered in Pt I & Pt II. Lucid Dreaming Pt III is out, and the trilogy is complete!

On today’s episode: we discuss dream sex and the psycho physiological responses in the body when men and women dream orgasms. We also cover the mind body issue and learn why we imagine and remember experiences less vividly than we dream them. Lucid Dreaming Pt II is ready for download!

Ever realized you were dreaming while still in the dream? On this week’s episode @javierproenza shares the work of oneironaut (explorer of the dream world) Stephen LaBerge, who used lucid dreaming to pioneer techniques that allowed dreamers to communicate from within their dreams with the waking world. In part I, we cover some of the experiments he performed at Stanford University that established our understanding of what happens to our bodies, brains and consciousness when we dream, and encourage you to get into the habit of questioning your reality while awake to help you become lucid when dreaming.

Seth Lower and Javier Proenza are Los Angeles based artists who meet every week to share the answers they’ve found to the questions they have. Join them as they attempt to make sense of the world through history, art, and philosophy.