Fusebox Podcast

Episode 15: Fusebox 2020 artist Gesel Mason is interviewed by UT Austin professor Lisa B. Thompson about her archival dance project “No Boundaries: A Journey to Embody the Work of Black Choreographers,” which will be presented at Fusebox Festival in April, in partnership with The Carver Museum. Save the date for Fusebox 2020, April 15-19th!

EPISODE 14: Using a string, cardboard and magnets, the Rude Mechs' "Not Every Mountain" invites us to watch the collective effort of making and unmaking a series of interlocking mountain ranges. We watch minutes, or perhaps centuries, unfold, as mountains rise and fall, clouds dance, birds alight and depart, and a moon delicately hangs overhead. "Not Every Mountain" is a joyous and poignant meditation on the fleetingness of time and the many lives of rocks, underscored by a poetic recitation–or perhaps a spiritual incantation. In this episode, Shawn Sides, Thomas Graves, and Peter Stopchinski of the Rude Mechs speak to us about the process of creating the performance "Not Every Mountain," which will premier at Fusebox Festival 2019 (April 17-21st).

EPISODE 13: Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson's dreamy and fantastical kinetic sound sculpture, S.S. Hangover, consists of a hand-painted 1930s boat sailing on the lagoon, carrying a party of six brass musicians performing ethereal music by Kjartan Sveinsson for several hours. We've teamed up with The Contemporary Austin to present a special sunset performance of the S.S. Hangover on Sunday, April 22, from 4–8P. In this episode, Director of Public Programs and Community Engagement at the Contemporary, Andrea Mellard and Fusebox curator Anna Gallagher-Ross speak to Ragnar about his artistic practice, the inspirations for his kinetic sound sculpture, and his favorite toast.

Episode 12: Live artist Tania El Khoury joins Fusebox curators Anna Gallagher-Ross and Betelhem Makonnen for a conversation on her research-based and socially engaged audience-interactive practice. Tania's work has toured internationally, and she is the recipient of the Anti Festival's International Prize for Live Art 2017, the Total Theatre Innovation Award, and the Arches Brick Award 2011. Her powerful one-to-one performance piece, a conversation through a gallery wall between an audience member and an artist who was born a Palestinian refugee in Damascus, will be at Fusebox this April!

EPISODE 11: Fusebox curators Betelhem Makonnen and Anna Gallagher-Ross have a phone conversation with Brussels-based artist Kate McIntosh whose practice spans performance, theatre, video, and installation. Her intimate work "In Many Hands" will be at Fusebox this April!

EPISODE 10: Fusebox artistic director Ron Berry and curators Betelhem Makonnen and Anna Gallagher-Ross hang with multidisciplinary art collective House of Kenzo at their club house on top of a metal bar in San Antonio. #waysofworking

Fusebox curators Anna Gallagher-Ross and Betelhem Makonnen have a Skype conversation with multidisciplinary artist Mihret Kebede about her work on silence.

Fusebox curators Anna Gallagher-Ross and Betelhem Makonnen have a Skype conversation with performance artist boychild about the need to sometimes stop working in order to keep working.

Fusebox artistic director Ron Berry and curators Anna Gallagher-Ross and Betelhem Makonnen have a phone conversation with Lola Arias about her work in documentary theatre, and how performance can reshape and rethink history.

Team Fusebox (Ron, Brad, Kim, Betelhem, and Anna) talks about who we are, how we work together, and how Fusebox came to be.

EPISODE 5: Fusebox artistic director Ron Berry and curator Anna Gallagher-Ross talk to artistic director of The Chocolate Factory Brian Rogers about the exciting programming possibilities of their new building in Queens, NY.

We talk to Priscilla Hale, director of allgo, about the organization’s 32-year history creating space across Texas for queer people of color with programs that integrate cultural arts, wellness, and social justice.

Fusebox artistic director Ron Berry talks to director of community engagement at the Guthrie Theatre and former Fusebox scholar-in-residence Carra Martinez on the history of performance and activism in East Austin and her work on the thinkEAST Project.

Fusebox artistic director Ron Berry and curator Anna Gallagher-Ross talk to Andy Field, Deborah Pearson, and Ira Brand of Forest Fringe about the exciting, undetermined future of their organization beyond its venue.

Welcome and thanks for listening! Fusebox curators Betelhem Makonnen and Anna Gallagher-Ross talk about our new website and our online initiative Written & Spoken.