Today I have a tip for you. I recently discovered an art podcast that really inspires me. "Augen zu" is an art podcast by Zeit and Zeit Online, produced by Pool Artists and published every 14 days.
The art podcast is published in German. If you don't speak German, it's unfortunately not for you. If I discover an interesting podcast in English, I will present it here.
Talking about art without seeing it is an unusual idea. But it works excellently. An art historian (Florian Illies) and a journalist and art lover (Giovanni di Lorenzo) each talk about an artist. The epoch and degree of fame are completely irrelevant.
They talk about the artists' lives in a personal and contemporary context. We learn how life influenced their art and how their work influenced art. Illies and di Lorenzo talk about the main work and tell anecdotes, talk about the creation of individual works of art, make connections etc.
That's what Die Zeit says about its art podcast:
What constitutes great art? Is it okay to call Beuys a charlatan? Do you have to love Botticelli? With passion, expertise and wit, the two hosts take their listeners into the wonderful world of art every fortnight. Each episode is dedicated to an artist, their biographical twists, their best works, their strangest views. Surprising telephone jokers offer new insights in each case. And in the end, everyone - even with their eyes closed - has a head full of paintings.
Florian Illies has been writing about art since he could think and see. After studying art history, he founded the magazine "Monopol" and was head of the Villa Grisebach auction house for many years. He is the author of the books "1913" and "Generation Golf" and a member of the ZEIT editorial board.
Giovanni di Lorenzo is editor-in-chief of DIE ZEIT and a passionate art lover.
The two of them have great knowledge, really know their stuff, but they don't lecture. There are two friends who both love art - you can feel that. And they have a conversation about it. In an amusing, chatty way. By the way, they both have really pleasant voices. I like listening to the podcast when I have to do office work. It keeps me connected to the art and the routine work flies away.
Little interludes make it even more interesting. Each of them gets to choose an "outside" interviewee to talk to beforehand. This can be an expert, a contemporary witness, or even the artist's granddaughter. Parts of these conversations are then recorded and often show a new aspect.
By the way, the art podcast is a new discovery for me, but it's been around since May 2021, starting with an episode about Andy Warhol. Since then, there has been a new episode every 14 days on Wednesdays. The last one (from 02.02.2022) was about Frida Kahlo.
I really like the fact that the artists are a mixture of some of my favourite artists, artists who were completely unknown to me until then, and also artists I don't really like that much. Even then, this approx. 45-minute talk is fascinating.
Finally, there is always a tip on how to approach the artist in question. This can be a work that represents the work particularly well, a book, an exhibition catalogue...
I can take a lot away from this art talk and always look forward to the new episode. If I've piqued your interest, you can listen to the podcast on Spotify, for example, but certainly also wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
Do you have any tips for me? Do you know of an interesting podcast or blog that deals with art? Let me know. I would be delighted.
