The Lonely Palette

Tamar Avishai
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Welcome to The Lonely Palette, the podcast that returns art history to the masses, one painting at a time. Each episode, host Tamar Avishai picks a painting du jour, interviews unsuspecting museum visitors in front of it, and then dives deeply into the object, the movement, the social context, and anything and everything else that will make it as neat to you as it is to her. For more information, visit thelonelypalette.com | Twitter @lonelypalette | Instagram @thelonelypalette.

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120 episodes

Ep. 69 - Yee Sookyung's "Translated Vase" (2011)

Shattered porcelain is impossible to repair. As impossible as completely accurately reconstructing the past. But who needs that pressure? What if, instead of tossing those shards in the dustbin of history we acknowledged that the thing will never be what it once was, and appreciate the beauty, and the human resilience, of what new things it could be, now? See the images. https://www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/2025/2/26/episode-69-yee-sookyungs-translated-vase-2011 MUSIC USED: Billy Joel, “You May Be Right” The Blue Dot Sessions, “Littl Jon,” “The Dustbin,” “BlueGarden,” “Nesting,” “A Rush of Clear Water,” “A Common Pause” Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” Support the show by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette or by just sending us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

23m
Apr 04
TLP Interview with Annea Lockwood, Artist and Composer

The artist and composer Annea Lockwood is not just any musician. She is an artist of sound. She is a composer of art. Her music is performance art, and her art is always, always audio-rich and musical. She sends her microphones into the elements – fire, here, and rivers, in a recent series called Sound Maps, where she captures, among other things, the tonality of the different depths of the water. She loves chanting, tones, drones. She loves what sound does to our body, how we respond to it, how we visualize it. How sound breathes. How we breathe differently around different sounds. And for me, as an art historian who fell in love with sound, I get it. I think I get it. And this is what today’s conversation is about. Annea joined me to talk about what it means to listen with your body, to experience the silence in all the noise, and the noise in the silence. We talk about the value of musical training versus musical instinct. We talk about how rivers sound different from one anothers. And we explore what an artist from New Zealand who gained prominence in the 1960s burning pianos can teach us about the art of sound, and what she can learn from her 85 year old self, today. Episode webpage https://www.thelonelypalette.com/interview/2025/2/27/annea-lockwood-composer-and-artist MUSIC USED: The Blue Dot Sessions, "Brer Rhetta," “A Common Pause,” "Tanguedo" EPISODE SPONSORS: Art of Crime https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-of-crime/id1645426577 The Seattle Prize https://seattleprize.org/ Visual Arts Passage https://visualartspassage.com/drawing-hive/ Support the show by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette or by just sending us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

1h 6m
Mar 07
Ep. 68 - Felix Gonzalez-Torres' "Untitled (March 5th) #2" (1991)

There is no way around it. The work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a gay, Cuban-American artist who responded to - and died during - the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s, is sad. His work is a memorial, both to a lost generation and to his own partner, Ross. Yet it is through these seemingly banal, industrial, or every day materials, and the powerful metaphor that they represent, that we can best get to the root of what loss can mean. And, maybe, healing as well. See the images. https://www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/2025/2/10/episode-68-felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-march-5th-2-1991 MUSIC USED: The Blue Dot Sessions, “A Little Powder,” “Lerennis,” “Taoudella,” “The Melt,” “Rafter” Open Book https://www.openbookmusic.com/bio, “Second Chance https://www.openbookmusic.com/song-samples” EPISODE SPONSORS: Art of Crime https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-of-crime/id1645426577 The Seattle Prize https://seattleprize.org/ Visual Arts Passage https://visualartspassage.com/drawing-hive/ Smartist App https://smartist.app/ With extra special thanks to Martin Young. Support the show by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette or by just sending us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

31m
Feb 21
TLP Interview with Sebastian Smee, Art Critic, The Washington Post

Sebastian Smee has been the art critic for the Washington Post since 2018, but has written extensively about art for every publication you can think of, from here to his native Australia, and winning a Pulitzer prize for criticism along the way. Both his prose and his love of the work leaps off the page and into your lap, offering a guiding hand past the velvet rope, not just for his readers, but for himself: he’s a critic who is constantly looking inward, curious about his own responses to artworks, and what it can teach him about teaching us. Sebastian joined me to discuss his latest book, “Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Ruins-Love-Birth-Impressionism/dp/1324006951,” as well as writers on writing, becoming an expert about a movement on deadline, how looking back at the muddiness of a historical moment can help us understand the muddiness of ours, and what happens when art critics are themselves at a loss for the words to express why they just love this or that painting so darn much. See the images. https://www.thelonelypalette.com/interview/2025/2/6/sebastian-smee-art-critic MUSIC USED: The Blue Dot Sessions, “Town Market,” “Night Light,” “Brass Buttons” EPISODE SPONSOR: The Art of Crime Podcast https://www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ Support the show by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette or by just sending us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

1h 0m
Feb 07
Ep. 67 - Cy Twombly's Second Voyage to Italy (Second Version), 1962

Critics have described the work of consummate scribbler Cy Twombly as at once "barely there" and overly academic, but what about us art civilians? What is it about these half-baked scraps, scratch, and scrawl that speaks to our own creative impulses, our own inner children dying to grab the crayon and crush the tip in an ectatic series of fat, juicy loopdeloops? See the images. https://www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/2025/1/22/episode-67-cy-twomblys-second-voyage-to-italy-second-version-1962 MUSIC USED: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Inessential,” “Tiny Putty,” “A Burst of Light,” Palms Down,” “Parade Shoes,” “City Limits” EPISODE SPONSOR: __ __ Support the show by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette or by just sending us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

26m
Jan 27
Official Trailer: The Lonely Palette's Upcoming Season

Mark your calendars! The new season of The Lonely Palette drops Thursday, January 23rd! This season, we've got a stellar line-up: Cy Twombly, Lawren Harris, Käthe Kollwitz, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, to name just a few. We've got interviews with the 's Sebastian Smee, the artist and composer Annea Lockwood, and more. We've got a whole National Gallery residency! So listen and subscribe, rate and review, and fire up your earbuds for another season of looking with your ears. If you support the work we do, consider becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/lonelypalette, or simply leaving us a tip https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thelonelypalette.

3m
Jan 16
BonusEp. 18 - A TLP Announcement! And Introducing The Rabbis Go South

Tamar is alive! The Lonely Palette is alive! But in the year since we last spoke, she's been elbow-deep in audio projects galore - good for the pocketbook, but bad for independent art history podcast productivity. But your patience will be rewarded! And in the meantime, a few announcements: - Join me and my fellow H&S colleagues at the PRX Podcast Garage in Allson, MA on Wednesday, November 6 for an evening of audio camaraderie. Register here: bit.ly/3Cd05fB https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3Cd05fB&token=d72120-1-1730493785556 - Explore our Hub & Spoke Expo showcase, starting with the first episode of our very first exclusive Expo series, "The Rabbis Go South." (All episodes now available: bit.ly/3NUhhc8 https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3NUhhc8&token=1ae11a-1-1730493785556) Imagine 16 American rabbis jailed for acting on their beliefs. The Rabbis Go South is a thrilling seven-part narrative podcast that uncovers a true story of Jewish-Black solidarity in St. Augustine, Florida during the Civil Rights Movement. An inspiring tale of hope for a divided world. The Rabbis Go South was created by documentary filmmakers Amy Geller and Gerald Peary. It’s a presentation of the Hub & Spoke Expo.

23m
Nov 01, 2024
Ep. 66 - Bringing Monuments Home (from PRX's Monumental)

In this special episode of The Lonely Palette, I’m sharing the episode I made for the PRX limited-run podcast series "Monumental," which interrogates the state of monuments across the greater U.S. and what their future says about where we are now and where we’re going. This was the concluding episode, exploring how some monuments are larger than life, dwarfing us, making us feel small relative to the grandness of history. But what if a monument was human-scaled? What if it made us aware of our bodies in space? We don’t often think about the design choices that go into making a monument, but more and more, a new generation of artists and designers are reimagining what a monument can look and feel like, and the kinds of stories they can hold. This episode takes us to Montgomery, Alabama to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, to Shreveport, Louisiana, to the South Side of Chicago, to Navajo Nation in Arizona. It explores how many American monuments to slavery took inspiration from Holocaust memorials in Germany. And it looks at decentralized memorials that are using technology to help bring monuments to the past into the future. See the images: bit.ly/49FR3Ui https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F49FR3Ui&token=3fd3e8-1-1709819760919 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=ff82d9-1-1709819760919

1h 0m
Mar 07, 2024
BonusEp. 17 - The Hub & Spoke Radio Hour

The Lonely Palette, as you've heard so often, is an enormously proud founding member of the Hub & Spoke Audio Collective, a group of fiercely independent, story-driven, mind-expanding podcasts. Since 2017, we've supported each other while forging our own paths, prioritizing craft and humane storytelling above all else. Now, if you haven't noticed, media in general, and podcasting in particular, is in a space some may generously call post-apocalyptic. But an incredible silver lining is that the industry is now recognizing how important independence is. We've been here all along, and with your support, we're not going anywhere. Please enjoy a bonus episode of the Hub & Spoke Radio Hour, a tasty sampler of a few of our shows in a dapper audio package. Today's theme is love. As the philosopher Haddaway once asked, what is love? It turns out, love can be anything that stirs the heart: passion, grief, affection, kin. The desire to consume; the poignancy of memory. Here at Hub & Spoke, we want to stretch our arms, and ears, around it all. This episode is hosted by Lori Mortimer and edited by Tamar Avishai. Production assistance from Nick Andersen. Music by Evalyn Parry, The Blue Dot Sessions, and a kiss of Dionne Warwick. Listen to the full episodes: - Rumble Strip, “Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest” - Mementos “Cherie’s Letters” - Ministry of Ideas, “Consumed” - The Lonely Palette, “Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Desired Moment (c. 1770)” You can also share the love by supporting our Valentine’s Day fundraiser: www.hubspokeaudio.org/love https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hubspokeaudio.org%2Flove&token=17d99b-1-1707870259413

50m
Feb 14, 2024
BonusEp. 16: Tamar Avishai interviews Lucy R. Lippard, Art Writer

Music Used: The Blue Dot Sessions, “Lacquer Groove,” “Hardwood Lullaby” Episode Webpage: https://www.thelonelypalette.com/interview/2023/12/20/lucy-lippard-art-writer

45m
Dec 29, 2023
BonusEp. 15: Tamar Avishai interviews Prudence Peiffer, Author and Content Director, MoMA

See the images: bit.ly/3rOM7vE https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3rOM7vE&token=23ceb4-1-1697205697259 Music used: The Blue Dot Session, “Skyforager” Rufus Wainwright, “11:11” Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=758f88-1-1697205697259

55m
Oct 13, 2023
BonusEp. 14: The Lonely Palette Reads Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word

www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=764df9-1-1696340378957 Music used: Glenn Miller, “Tuxedo Junction” The Blue Dot Sessions, "No Smoking," "Mercurial Vision" Our website: www.thelonelypalette.com https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelonelypalette.com&token=c6365a-1-1696340378957

7m
Oct 03, 2023
BonusEp. 13: The Lonely Palette Reads Giorgio Vasari on Sandro Botticelli

This is a free edition of The Lonely Palette Reads, a perk that will be going out exclusively to Patreon patrons in the future. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpatreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=145257-1-1694650094616 and sign up at any level of support. Thank you! Got suggestions for other intimidating-until-read-aloud-texts for future episodes of The Lonely Palette Reads? Email the show at tamar@thelonelypalette.com. Music used: Glenn Miller, “Tuxedo Junction” The Blue Dot Sessions, “Belle Anette” Our website: www.thelonelypalette.com https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelonelypalette.com&token=3687fa-1-1694650094616 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=bccbba-1-1694650094616

21m
Sep 14, 2023
Ep. 65 - Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (1485-86)

See the images: bit.ly/3LeIwxu https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3LeIwxu&token=b3c84d-1-1694488632102 Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” Joan Baez, “Diamonds and Rust” The Blue Dot Sessions, “TwoPound,” “Coulis Coulis,” “Delmendra,” “No Smoking,” “Belle Anette,” “Rue Severine,” “Ranch Hand,” “Pastel de Nata,” “Khfett” Lady Gaga, “Venus” Episode sponsor: www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artofcrimepodcast.com%2F&token=3a2bc2-1-1694488632103 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=c6c81e-1-1694488632103

35m
Sep 12, 2023
Ep. 64 - Barbara Kruger's "Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground)" (1989)

See the images: bit.ly/45wNrSb https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F45wNrSb&token=483f2c-1-1691115679643 Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Blue Dot Sessions, “Thread Indigo,” “Monder,” “Tall Journey,” “Stephi,” “Morning Glare” Helen Reddy, “I Am Woman” (performed at the Mobilize for Women's Lives Rally in Washington in 1989) Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=77098e-1-1691115679643 Episode sponsors: Jay Handy Financial Services (for artists!) www.signalpointinvest.com/team/jay-handy/ https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.signalpointinvest.com%2Fteam%2Fjay-handy%2F&token=3326b7-1-1691115679643 Altenew www.altenew.com https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.altenew.com&token=5d83b1-1-1691115679643 Discount code: TAMAR10%OFF

30m
Aug 04, 2023
Ep. 63 - James Abbot McNeill Whistler's "Symphony in White No. 1: The White Girl" (1861-62)

See the Images: bit.ly/3PMpK3o https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3PMpK3o&token=17f8f7-1-1688573055183 Music Used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Slate Tracker,” “Laser Focus,” “The Griffiths,” “Crumbtown,” “Discovery Harbor,” “Leave the TV On,” “Pickers,” “Caraval, “Lady Marie” Support Hub & Spoke's Independence Fundraiser: www.hubspokeaudio.org/july4 https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hubspokeaudio.org%2Fjuly4&token=17ce9a-1-1688573055183

32m
Jul 05, 2023
Ep. 62 - Helen Frankenthaler's "Madame Butterfly" (2000)

See the images: bit.ly/3ChhuAE /bit.ly/3ChhuAE   Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Bedroll,” “A Common Pause,” “Palms Down,” “Desmontes,” “Delamine,” “Greylock,” “Angel Tooth,” “Dear Myrtle” Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"   Episode sponsor: The Art of Colour: The History of Art in 39 Pigments: bit.ly/43Qp1SJ /bit.ly/3ChhuAE   Support the show! www.patreon.com/lonelypalette /www.patreon.com/lonelypalette   Register for our Hub & Spoke live show in Woodstock, VT on June 15: normanwilliams.org/events/podcasts…istening-event/

27m
Jun 07, 2023
BonusEp: 12 - The Lonely Palette presents Rumble Strip

Today's episode: "The Museum of Everyday Life" by Rumble Strip The mission of The Museum of Everyday Life is "a heroic, slow-motion cataloguing of the quotidian–a detailed, theatrical expression of gratitude and love for the miniscule and unglamorous experience of daily life in all its forms." The museum's home is in a barn on Route 16 in the Northeast Kingdom. It is Erica Heilman's favorite museum. This is a show featuring the museum's creator, Clare Dolan. This show is co-produced by Erica Heilman and Mark Davis. Episode webpage: https://bit.ly/3oz1CGh Support The Lonely Palette: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=2bfde0-1-1685120656896

16m
May 26, 2023
BonusEp: 11 - The Lonely Palette presents Out There

Today's episode: "Rekindling Hope" by Out There Carolyn McDonald was struggling — hard. The depression had gotten so bad that she couldn’t see a way forward. Then, one day, she went to the beach. Story and sound design by Willow Belden.  Script editing by Corinne Ruff. Special thanks to Lori Mortimer for sound-design feedback. Music includes works from StoryBlocks and Blue Dot Sessions.  Episode webpage: https://www.outtherepodcast.com/episodes/rekindlinghope Support The Lonely Palette: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

23m
May 19, 2023
BonusEp. 10: The Lonely Palette Live at On Air Fest (and an update!)

Happy 7th birthday, The Lonely Palette! We're ringing in our itch with an quick update on next season, which starts in June, and a recording of our live show at On Air Fest, which was held in Brooklyn this past February. Please enjoy this revamped and refreshed episode of Mary Kelly's "Post-Partum Document," smash that subscribe button, and we'll see you next month. See the episode images: bit.ly/411KA0F https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F411KA0F&token=3c6061-1-1683212224984 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=487ba4-1-1683212224984

39m
May 04, 2023
Re-ReleaseEp. 36 - Behold The Monkey

See the images: www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/201…-restoration https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelonelypalette.com%2Fepisodes%2F2019%2F1%2F25%2Fepisode-36-behold-the-monkey-the-ecce-homo-restoration&token=9349ff-1-1673582279928 Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Sylvestor”, “Mute Steps”, “Mr. Graves”, “Lobo Lobo”, “Lumber Down”, “Cloudy Cider” Tracie Potochnik, “Cecilia and the Saints” Support the show! www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=676e3d-1-1673582279928

40m
Jan 13, 2023
Re-ReleaseEp. 26 - C.M. Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" (1903)

See the images: www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/201…g-poker-1903 https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelonelypalette.com%2Fepisodes%2F201%E2%80%A6g-poker-1903&token=b45eb1-1-1673026711381 Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, "Rose Ornamental," "Flattered," "Arizona Moon," "Laser Focus," "Alchemical," "Two in the Back," "Maisie Dreamer," "Gullwing Sailor," "Maldoc" Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show! www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=ca6838-1-1673026711381

39m
Jan 06, 2023
BonusEp. 09 - Tamar Avishai interviews Avery Trufelman, Design and Fashion Podcaster

Episode webpage: bit.ly/3jtcOBl https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3jtcOBl&token=e8ad88-1-1672431908508 Music used: The Blue Dot Sessions, “Swapping Tubes” The Kinks, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” Support our year-end fundraiser! bit.ly/3An5jSd https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3An5jSd&token=d2d4e5-1-1672431908508

1h 10m
Dec 30, 2022
Ep. 61 - Under the Midnight Sun

See the images: bit.ly/3FX0S3H https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3FX0S3H&token=36b84-1-1671164573404 Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Lerennis,” “Lissa,” “Ice Tumbler,” “Mr. Graves,” “Throughput,” “A Rush of Clear Water,” “Pinky,” “The Green Room” Vivaldi, “Summer” Support our year-end fundraiser! bit.ly/3An5jSd https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3An5jSd&token=1cd74-1-1671164573404

29m
Dec 16, 2022
Ep. 60 - Caravaggio's "The Crucifixion of St. Andrew" (1607)

See the images: bit.ly/3iNqpTY https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3iNqpTY&token=123456-1-1670556662134 Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" Charles Daab, “Irish and Scotch melodies (take 2)” The Blue Dot Sessions, “Highway 430,” “Angel Tooth,” “Di Breun,” “Rainy Day Drone,” “No Smoking,” “Cornicob,” “Tarte Tatin,” “Vernouillet,” “Thread of Clouds,” “Set the Tip Jar,” “Homin Brer” Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support our year-end fundraiser! bit.ly/3An5jSd https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3An5jSd&token=98345f-1-1670556662134 Episode sponsor: www.visualartspassage.com/palette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visualartspassage.com%2Fpalette&token=597bd8-1-1670556662135

37m
Dec 09, 2022
BonusEp. 08 - Tamar Avishai interviews Dar Williams, Singer-Songwriter

Dar Williams has been described by The New Yorker as “one of America’s very best singer-songwriters,” but to thirteen-year-old Tamar she was, quite simply, a personal hero: a songwriter whose poetry, poignancy, and humor could capture at once the authentic voices of an inner child, a searching young adult, and a wizened sage. We met in person in 2013 at Dar’s songwriting retreat, and our friendship has been evolving ever since, exploring together the rigors of writing and storytelling through sound and song, and what it means to dip in and out of a creative space as a way of simply getting through the day. Dar has recently published a book about songwriting that is chock full of philosophical wisdom and applicable nuggets, many of which borne from a decade of retreats. We sat down together to talk about songwriting, art museums, the art of writing songs about art, and specifically her evocative, ambivalent "Mark Rothko Song," which tackles it all head-on. [2:05] Dar’s relationship with museums and creating a space for poetic thinking. [8:40] Specific museums, exhibitions, paintings that have inspired Dar’s songs: Dia, “Made in America,” the Fogg. [11:45] Writing Mark Rothko Song.  Where did Dar go?  Where did Dar go? [14:45] The difficulties inherent in writing about art.  What prompted the writing of this song?  Dar’s first encounter with Rothko’s “Untitled (Blue Green)” and the first verse. [20:15] Diving into the prosody of the song, how the music and lyrics support the voice of the song: finger picking, major to minor, chord to chord, key to key, mood to mood. [27:41] Return to the lyrics and narrative.  The way that Rothko encourages people to make subjective associations…but then comes the foil of the second verse, creating the contrast between subjective and objective. [33:52] The song’s dueling (or complementary?) aha moments in the bridge and final verse.  People both love Rothko and struggle to connect to him.  Following the narrator’s journey as she wrestles with seeing something versus knowing something. [45:47] Appreciating an honest song about art viewing that doesn’t flatten the characters.  Reflecting on the elements of the song that hold up as Dar has gotten older. [51:19] The similarities between art museums and songwriting retreats: opening up, engaging poetic thinking. [55:28] Also the hazards of living in a space of poetic thinking, especially as a parent.  The necessary objectivity of the caretaking space. [1:02:20] The “Five Things” Rule, and whether Mark Rothko might just be the exception that proves the rule.  Tamar meets her Rothko and gives hope to kind pedestrians everywhere. [1:09:14] Mark Rothko Song in full. Music Used: Dar Williams, “When I Was A Boy”; “Mark Rothko Song” (live); “The Beauty Of The Rain”; “Mark Rothko Song” (album version) Episode Webpage: bit.ly/3RJm9Ak https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3RJm9Ak&token=9b67b6-1-1665151544004 Support the Show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=7d917-1-1665151544004

1h 13m
Oct 07, 2022
BonusEp. 07 - Tamar Avishai interviews Adam Gopnik, Critic, The New Yorker

Episode webpage: bit.ly/3COhnOp https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3COhnOp&token=ccc69b-1-1662133328274 Music used: The Blue Dot Sessions, “Balti” Mandy Patinkin, “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=9f1b04-1-1662133328274

1h 7m
Sep 02, 2022
BonusEp. 06 - Tamar Avishai interviews Dr. Charlotte Mullins, Art Critic and Broadcaster

Music used: The Blue Dot Sessions, "Spark" Rod Stewart, "Every Picture Tells A Story" Charlotte's book: amzn.to/3TksKDl https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F3TksKDl&token=f8bfac-1-1661522677869 Episodes referenced: Anselm Kiefer: bit.ly/31gUSwW https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F31gUSwW&token=e098a5-1-1661522677869 Sarah Sze: bit.ly/3NRnGmr https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3NRnGmr&token=f6d8bd-1-1661522677869 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=4ee026-1-1661522677869

57m
Aug 26, 2022
Re-ReleaseEp. 49 - Claes Oldenburg's "Giant Toothpaste Tube" (1964)

Today, the art world - and, as he would attest, the world world too - lost a giant, and we're re-releasing our episode from September 2020 in his honor. RIP, Claes Oldenburg, and thank you for plucking art from its spotless frame and returning it to our messy, magnificent plane. Hope you're enjoying that great big floor pie in the sky. See the images: bit.ly/3hcHjVq https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3hcHjVq&token=7482ef-1-1658173459433 Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Cradle Rock,” “Sylvestor,” “A Little Powder,” “Our Only Lark,” “Town Market,” “Contrarian,” “The Rampart” Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=f0892b-1-1658173459433

34m
Jul 18, 2022
Ep. 59 - Sarah Sze's "Fallen Sky" (2021)

What goes up into the sky must come down into the earth, and fortunately for us we’ve got Sarah Sze, mistress of materials, memory, and meaning, helming the journey. This episode was produced with support from Storm King Art Center. See the images: bit.ly/3NRnGmr https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3NRnGmr&token=51b33c-1-1654283965757 Music used: Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger” The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, “Plate Glass,” “Leatherbound,” “The Onyx,” “Silent Ocean,” “ZigZag Heart,” “Curious Case,” “On Top of It” Evan Blanch, “Where The Streets Have No Name (Instrumental)” (U2 cover) Episode sponsor: www.visualartspassage.com https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visualartspassage.com&token=fe581e-1-1654283965757 Support the show: www.patreon.com/lonelypalette https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Flonelypalette&token=348dce-1-1654283965757

30m
Jun 03, 2022