TALKER
TALKER has featured interviews with the artists Ian White, Kate Valk, Richard Maxwell, Sue Tompkins, Dora García, Spalding Gray, Kathy Acker, Jo Fong, Paul Maheke, Clifford Owens, Gustav Metzger, Barby Asante and Miranda July.
Issue #12 has been funded by the British Council and was produced in collaboration with Indonesian artist Agus Nur Amal PMTOH.
Agus uses household objects for storytelling performances and creates art objects to share ideas, knowledge, conflict resolutions and trauma healing. Collaborating with artists, photographers, videographers, and educators, he aims to entertain and educate through various methods. This interview traces the formation of his performance practice following his graduation from the theatre faculty at the Jakarta Institute of Arts and return to his hometown Weh Island (Aceh, Sumatra) where he researched and studied the art of Acehnese storytelling. We also discuss his involvement in community empowerment activities, trauma healing and peace building projects throughout Indonesia. His work was featured in a major exhibition in Kassel, Germany as part of Documenta Fifteen in 2022.
Issue #11 is a conversation with Miranda July.
Miranda is a filmmaker, artist, and writer. This conversation explores her live work, from early plays and performances for theatres to projects that are built on audience participation and take the form of apps, public talks or an interfaith charity shop in Selfridges department store. Alongside these, we discuss the significance of clothing, the ever-presence of stories and the importance of rituals. Her most recent film Kajillionaire was released in 2020.
Issue #10 is a conversation with Barby Asante.
Barby is a London-based artist, curator, educator and occasional DJ. Her work is concerned with the politics of place, space memory and the histories and legacies of colonialism. The work is collaborative, performative and dialogic, often working with groups of people as contributors, collaborators or co-researchers.
This issue focuses on her live work, from South London community intervention Noise Summit to her intricate, iterative project Declaration of Independence. The interview explores the crucial role of ‘contributor-performers’ and the challenges of presenting performances online.
TALKER is normally an interview zine about performance.
This conversation with Gustav Metzger took place in 2014 as part of a project by Leeds-based visual art organisation Pavilion and focuses on his early years in the UK and formation of his artistic identity. We also discuss how he was shaped by experiences of the natural world and his artistic and political responses to how it is threatened.
Gustav Metzger (1926 — 2017) was an artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966.
Issue #12 is a conversation with Agus Nur Amal PMTOH
Agus uses household objects for storytelling performances and creates art objects to share ideas, knowledge, conflict resolutions and trauma healing. Collaborating with artists, photographers, videographers, and educators, he aims to entertain and educate through various methods. This interview traces the formation of his performance practice following his graduation from the theatre faculty at the Jakarta Institute of Arts and return to his hometown Weh Island (Aceh, Sumatra) where he researched and studied the art of Acehnese storytelling. We also discuss his involvement in community empowerment activities, trauma healing and peace building projects throughout Indonesia. His work was featured in a major exhibition in Kassel, Germany as part of Documenta Fifteen in 2022.
This issue is supported by a Connections through Culture UK-Southeast Asia 2022-2023 Grant from the British Council.