July / August 2017 Issue
“Inspired by a True Story”

On View Now

Climate Change & Data Drawings: An Interview with Maya Lin

by Lindsey Davis | Sep 8, 2017

On View Now

Climate Change & Data Drawings: An Interview with Maya Lin

by Lindsey Davis | Sep 8, 2017

Maya Lin discusses hurricanes and climate change in relation to the work in her new show, “Ebb and Flow,” opening today at Pace Gallery.

Artist Introspectives

Objective Truth vs. Subjective Perception

by Natalia Almada | Aug 31, 2017

Artist Introspectives

Objective Truth vs. Subjective Perception

by Natalia Almada | Aug 31, 2017

Filmmaker Natalia Almada considers the subjectivity involved in the creation of both her documentary and fiction projects.

Recreating What’s Lost: Pamela Mason Wagner on Shooting Reenactments

by Lindsey Davis | Aug 29, 2017

Recreating What’s Lost: Pamela Mason Wagner on Shooting Reenactments

by Lindsey Davis | Aug 29, 2017

Producer and director Pamela Mason Wagner describes how she utilizes reenactments to fill in the missing details of historical documentaries.

A Fickle Trickster Screen

by Caroline Picard | Aug 24, 2017

A Fickle Trickster Screen

by Caroline Picard | Aug 24, 2017

Although Joan Jonas might not work in the same public, ad-hoc settings, her recent work connects live performance, drawing, and live-feed video in a circular fashion to carve out new depths.

Artist Introspectives

A Safe Place

by Jonathan Calm | Aug 22, 2017

Artist Introspectives

A Safe Place

by Jonathan Calm | Aug 22, 2017

Artist and Stanford professor Jonathan Calm reflects on the vastly different experiences conveyed in two photographs he took of the Lorraine Motel—one in black-and-white and the other in color.

Artist Introspectives

Why Wishes Matter

by Amanda Long | Aug 17, 2017

Artist Introspectives

Why Wishes Matter

by Amanda Long | Aug 17, 2017

Amanda Long shares the motivation behind her public artwork, “Wishing Well,” which gives people a space in which to dream.

Rachel Rose: The Artist as Researcher

by Anna Burckhardt | Aug 16, 2017

Rachel Rose: The Artist as Researcher

by Anna Burckhardt | Aug 16, 2017

Artist Rachel Rose spends months researching materials and methods before constructing compelling narratives for her ten-minute video pieces.

New Kids on the Block

Highway to the Sun: Truth and Fiction in Maureen Drennan’s Photography

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Aug 15, 2017

New Kids on the Block

Highway to the Sun: Truth and Fiction in Maureen Drennan’s Photography

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Aug 15, 2017

Although documentary in nature, Maureen Drennan’s photographs take artistic license in order to convey the essence of specific people and places.

On View Now

Tomáš Rafa: New Nationalisms at MoMA PS1

by Rachel Heidenry | Aug 10, 2017

On View Now

Tomáš Rafa: New Nationalisms at MoMA PS1

by Rachel Heidenry | Aug 10, 2017

Slovakian artist Tomáš Rafa’s latest film documents scenes of protests throughout the Balkans and Central Europe, capturing complexities regardless of politics.

Tommy Hartung’s Heart of Darkness: Mutant Artists, Fake News & Insta Filmmaking

by Nick Ravich | Aug 8, 2017

Tommy Hartung’s Heart of Darkness: Mutant Artists, Fake News & Insta Filmmaking

by Nick Ravich | Aug 8, 2017

Art21’s director of production Nick Ravich sits down with “New York Close Up” artist Tommy Hartung in Forest Park, Queens for a spontaneous, unmediated interview.

Automating the Pain of Others: Susan Sontag and Facebook

by Morgan Green | Aug 3, 2017

Automating the Pain of Others: Susan Sontag and Facebook

by Morgan Green | Aug 3, 2017

Writer and artist Morgan Green offers a poignant critique of Facebook’s algorithmic display of violent images.

Deep Focus: Inside Art21 Films

Six Tips for Shooting Underwater Video

by Nick Ravich | Jul 21, 2017

Deep Focus: Inside Art21 Films

Six Tips for Shooting Underwater Video

by Nick Ravich | Jul 21, 2017

Art21’s Director of Production offers helpful tips for shooting video underwater after filming Caroline Woolard’s sculptures on a Rockaway beach for a “New York Close Up” film.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Inside, Outside, Online: Dissecting social media, escape and identity

by Stacey Abramson | Jul 18, 2017

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Inside, Outside, Online: Dissecting social media, escape and identity

by Stacey Abramson | Jul 18, 2017

Educator-in-Residence Stacey Abramson relates the experience of art-making to that of constructing an identity online—both are a means of self-presentation and escape.

Now Playing

Time-Traveling Through Music: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

by Tiffany Fung | Jul 13, 2017

Now Playing

Time-Traveling Through Music: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

by Tiffany Fung | Jul 13, 2017

John Pirozzi’s documentary “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten” resurrects Cambodia’s lost popular-music scene of 1950s and ’60s, whose history was wiped out in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge came to power.

An inner truth

by Lee Plested | Jul 6, 2017

An inner truth

by Lee Plested | Jul 6, 2017

Curator Lee Plested and Anishnabe Ojibwa artist Charlene Vickers uncover the complexities of displaying indigenous work.

Machine Drawing: Shantell Martin and the Algorist

by Nettrice Gaskins | Jul 6, 2017

Machine Drawing: Shantell Martin and the Algorist

by Nettrice Gaskins | Jul 6, 2017

Artist Shantell Martin and PhD Candidate Sarah Schwettmann built an algorithm that could complete Martin’s drawings, addressing the space between an artist’s truth and a machine’s simulation.

Letter from the Editor

Using Lies to Tell the Truth

by Nick Ravich & Ian Forster | Jul 6, 2017

Letter from the Editor

Using Lies to Tell the Truth

by Nick Ravich & Ian Forster | Jul 6, 2017

Co-guest editors and Art21 producers introduce the film-focused issue of Art21 Magazine, “Inspired by a True Story,” uncovering the line between truth and fiction.