J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Teju Cole
Episode #39, Summary
Teju Cole’s composition of still life images and prose essay is an invitation to illuminate the shadows of a dark time.
Episode Notes
Golden Apple of the Sun animates the quotidian elements of Cole’s kitchen countertop in unposed meditations of color and form captured during a perilous 5-week period. This tapestry of image and text exposes the power of everyday objects to reflect the prismatic spaces we hold during our brief and precious life.
In this conversation, Teju Cole discusses, among other things:
Still life images as biography
Disappointing expectations
Postponing reaction
#nofilter
Dead bird syndrome
Incorporating accidents
Positioning and modifications imposed by ethnocentricity
Translucence and opacity
Being difficult
Listening foremost to one’s self
Going your own way
Referenced in the episode
“A Photograph Never Stands Alone” - New York Times
“In Flagrante Two” - Chris Killip
“Black Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments” - Saidiya Hartman
“A Black Gaze: Artists Changing How We See” - Tina L. Campt
Shadows in Nature, Life & Art - William Vaughan
The Practicing Refusal Collective - The Sojourner Project
Published by MACK
*Note: Due to technical issues, a Vimeo video for this episode is not available. Vimeo videos are available for most episodes.