Look closely: you never know what you might see.
September 23, 2018 11:10 PM   Subscribe

Art History for All is a young podcast by independent scholar Allyson Healey (pronouns they/them), devoted to making visual art accessible by exploring "a global history of art and material culture in a casual, conversational way. [...] This podcast is dedicated to accessibility in the practical sense, as well, providing episode transcripts for those who find the podcasts difficult to listen to or understand in audio form, or those who want to be able to access citations and sourcing. Both audio podcasts and transcripts will include verbal descriptions of the central works discussed, for the benefit of those who cannot view them." Podcast listening bonus: the soothing sounds of ambient electronic music and Healey's calm, crisp voice.

Visual reference for the first 7 artworks discussed in podcast episodes:
1. Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
2. Morpheus by Kehinde Wiley
3. Young Lady with a Parrot by Rosalba Carriera
4. Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai
5. Black Square by Kazimir Malevich
6. Three Eagles Flying by Laura Aguilar (contains nudity and violent content)
7. The Concert by Johannes Vermeer
posted by nicebookrack (9 comments total) 37 users marked this as a favorite
 
Episode 2 extra visual reference because I didn't see it linked in the transcript: the sculpture Morpheus by Jean-Antoine Houdon
posted by nicebookrack at 12:14 AM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


ahhh I knew this person as a kid. Glad they're doing well and producing such great work.
posted by desert outpost at 3:10 AM on September 24, 2018


Ohh, good to know about another art history podcast. I'm a fan of two others if people are interested in more:

The Lonely Palette
and
ArtCurious

Both are written and performed by women, both are very intelligent and well-constructed, and both enjoy drawing you in to thinking more deeply about artwork. (I find both very soothing, too.) Off to download this podcast as well - I love having so many to enjoy.
posted by PussKillian at 7:37 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Added to my always-growing podcast playlist. Thanks for this!
posted by Novus at 7:46 AM on September 24, 2018


This is fantastic. Thank you. Added to my list of podcast subscriptions.

Using the transcript as a guide, I've jumped ahead to listen to her descriptions of the art she's discussing, which are quite well done and relevant to my interests. I always get a lot out of listening to people with a serious visual art/art history background provide these descriptions because it's helpful in fine-tuning my own amateur description efforts (I have a spouse who's blind).

We've had fantastic experiences with described/touch tours at the Tate Modern and MOMA, among others. Other museums are still completely and inexcusably out to lunch when it comes to engaging with accessibility for visitors on this level (Rijksmuseum, I'm looking at you). Consequently, on that visit I had to DIY an in-depth description of "The Night Watch" along with a whole bunch of other Dutch masterpieces, so I really dug Healey's description of Vermeer's "The Concert" (wherever it may be).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:06 AM on September 24, 2018


I reached out to Allyson Healey on Twitter to clarify since I wasn't sure: Healey uses the pronouns they/them. Healey: "Thanks for asking--I am slowly shifting towards they/them pronouns, so some of my content still refers to me with she/her. But I prefer they/them." Sorry I didn't double-check before posting; could the mods add (pronouns they/them) to the main post, please?
posted by nicebookrack at 10:05 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Added!
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:08 AM on September 24, 2018


Anyone ever seen those Sister Wendy programs/dvds on Art? If so how do these compare?
posted by aleph at 10:43 AM on September 24, 2018


I was accidentally timely with this post, because there's a new episode of Art History for All out today! Episode 8, exploring the sculpture Malcolm X #3 by Barbara Chase-Riboud. I listened to this episode on my drive to work, and hmmm, I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while.

I didn't entirely agree with this episode, which strangely makes me like it better through wanting to push back at it. It felt like Healey went a little too light on exploring the artwork as a "totally aesthetic experience that is not connected to Malcolm X," with a resulting implication through emphasis that "the author claims that this sculpture isn't connected to Malcolm X, and I'm not saying she's wrong, but here's a brief explanation of death of the author! (p.s. she's wrong)" But I did end up thinking more about authorial intent here than I probably otherwise would have. Anyway, the episode was overall fascinating, especially the stuff about lingering impermanence from the bronze's wax casting and Benny Andrews's response to the racist art critic.

Also I have confirmed myself as a hopeless low-class rube, as my immediate thought at first seeing the sculpture photo was
INFINITY GAUNTLET

posted by nicebookrack at 2:24 PM on September 24, 2018


« Older Proposal for a book to be adapted into a movie...   |   “...Now we have a glue gun” Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments