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Eric Gottesman teaches, organizes, writes, and makes artworks with other people that address nationalism, migration, structural violence, history, and intimate relations. His work is always collaborative; he has never made an artwork alone. One of Eric's creative superpowers is his ability to take his time and gently notice the delicacy and hard edges of his subjects, without judgment, before capturing their images. The resulting pictures are remarkably soulful and honest. He is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, a Creative Capital Artist, a Fulbright Fellow and a co-founder of For Freedoms, an artist-led organization that centers art as a catalyst for creative civic engagement and was named the "largest creative collaboration in United States history" by TIME Magazine. He co-created the books Sudden Flowers (2014) and For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here? (2024). Gottesman is a mentor in the Arab Documentary Photography Program in Beirut, Lebanon, and the W.W. Corcoran Visiting Professor in Community Engagement at George Washington University.TedX talk Have a Swan Dive to share? Text us!We are always looking for Swan Dive Stories to share so hit us up, send an e mail to Ron: Ron@artbikesjax.com or Stu: Stuart@stuartsheldon.com
Send us a textA chat with Eric Gottesman of Everything Goes Cold, but Eric has been around the block, so to speak, performing with Caustic, Ayria, Psyclon Nine, and Deathline International. When he isn't doing that, he's working on video games. Catch Everything Goes Cold at Dark Force Fest 2025.Featured Songs:Everything Goes Cold - NadirVisit https://everythinggoescold.com/ for more Everything Goes Cold.Visit https://DarkForceFest.com for more information about Dark Force Fest.Void Signal intro courtesy of Processor. Visit https://processor2.bandcamp.com for more Processor.Void Signal intro remix by Mortal Realm. Visit https://mortalrealm.bandcamp.com for more Mortal Realm.Support the showVoid Signal is ad-free and powered by people. Visit https://VoidSignal.net to support Void Signal and enjoy exclusive episodes, series, and more.
We discuss the Wide Awakes - their origins as an Abolitionist movement supporting Lincoln’s 1860 election campaign, and their revival in 2020 as a cape-clad artist network that believes in “joy as resistance “. See links below. Ruth Barnes, Joanne B. Eicher, Dress and Gender: Making and Meaning (first published in 1992): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dress-and-gender-9780854968657/ Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, V&A, London (to 25 October 2020): https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/kimono-kyoto-to-catwalk Jessica Mitford, Hons and Rebels (first published in 1960): https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/jessica-mitford/hons-and-rebels/9781474605373/ Nancy Mitford, Love in a Cold Climate (first published in 1949): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/282/2828/love-in-a-cold-climate/9780241974698.html Gerda Taro: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/militiawoman-training-on-the-beach-near-barcelona and https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/gerda-taro?all/all/all/all/0 Jon Grinspan, ‘”Young Men for War”: The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign’, Journal of American History, 96 (Sept. 2009): http://archive.oah.org/special-issues/lincoln/contents/grinspan.html ‘Connecticut Wide-Awakes’, Connecticut Historical Society (6 January 2011): https://chs.org/2011/01/connecticut-wide-awakes/ 2020 Wideawakes: https://wideawakes.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/wideawakes/ and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wide-awakes/the-wide-awakes For Freedoms: https://forfreedoms.org/ Hank Willis Thomas: https://www.instagram.com/hankwillisthomas/ and https://www.hankwillisthomas.com/ Wildcat Ebony Brown: https://www.instagram.com/wildcatebonybrown/ Anya Ayoung Chee: https://www.anyaayoungchee.com/ and https://www.togetherwi.org/ Eric Gottesman: https://ericgottesman.net/ Coby Kennedy: https://www.cobykennedystudio.com/ Kambui Olujimi: https://kambuiolujimi.com/ Jose Parla: https://www.instagram.com/joseparla/ Matt Dellinger, ‘A Civil War Political Movement Reawakens — Complete With Capes’, New York Times (15 September 2020): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/style/wide-awakes-civil-war-activists.html Rebecca Jamieson, ‘Without Joy, Nothing is Sustainable: The Artist First-Responders Waking Up Democracy with Play, Billboards, and Capes’, Pioneer Works (10 February 2020): https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/for-freedoms-jamieson/ Jammal Lemy, ‘Wide Awakes’, Dazed (15 September 2020): https://www.dazeddigital.com/read-up-act-up-autumn-2020/article/50410/1/read-up-act-up-autumn-2020-wide-awakes-guest-edit Rujeko Hockley, ‘Joy as Resistance: Artist collective the Wide Awakes takes NYC this weekend. Why we’re marching’, New York Vulture (2 October 2020): https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/wide-awakes-march-nyc.html Brooke Bobb, ‘The Wide Awakes Are the Civil War–Era Activist Group Making a Comeback in Bold, Joyful Style’, Vogue (2 October 2020): https://www.vogue.com/article/wide-awakes-capes
Hank Willis Thomas is a busy man. The 44-year-old photographer, sculptor, filmmaker, and writer was already a force within the rarefied world of visual art before he decided to embrace politics on a large scale. But during the landmark presidential race of 2016, Thomas and fellow artist Eric Gottesman co-founded an "anti-partisan" political action committee called For Freedoms to empower artists to channel their creative energy into civic engagement. Along with facilitating major public artworks such as murals and artist-designed billboards, For Freedoms has since grown into a larger nonprofit organization that has held townhall meetings, organized voter-registration drives, and even assembled its own multi-day national Congress in Los Angeles. Not bad for a side hustle. The son of renowned art historian and photographer Deborah Willis, Thomas first rose to prominence for his early photography, which used the visual language of advertising to address systemic injustices such as the exploitation of professional athletes, the scourge of mass incarceration, and the original sin of American slavery. Years before the latest wave of activists began toppling statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and other problematic figures in US history, Thomas also began questioning the validity of such monuments with his own large-scale sculptures, often creating alternatives to honor the individuals whose sacrifices have been overlooked by mainstream historical narratives. Thomas once said that his personal experiences prompted him to create art that could "change the world in a more intentional way," and now more than ever, he is doing just that. Through July 16, he and his Los Angeles gallery, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, are teaming with Artnet Auctions to present "Bid for Peace," a single-lot sale of Thomas's striking sculpture Peace (2019). All proceeds from the auction including the buyer's premium will be donated to G.L.I.T.S, Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society, a non-profit organization that protects the rights of transgender sex workers. A few days before the opening of "Bid for Peace," Thomas joined Andrew Goldstein on the Art Angle to discuss the evolution of his studio practice, artists' importance to bringing about civic transformation, and whether you might someday see his own name on a ballot near you.
Hank Willis Thomas is a busy man. The 44-year-old photographer, sculptor, filmmaker, and writer was already a force within the rarefied world of visual art before he decided to embrace politics on a large scale. But during the landmark presidential race of 2016, Thomas and fellow artist Eric Gottesman co-founded an "anti-partisan" political action committee called For Freedoms to empower artists to channel their creative energy into civic engagement. Along with facilitating major public artworks such as murals and artist-designed billboards, For Freedoms has since grown into a larger nonprofit organization that has held townhall meetings, organized voter-registration drives, and even assembled its own multi-day national Congress in Los Angeles. Not bad for a side hustle. The son of renowned art historian and photographer Deborah Willis, Thomas first rose to prominence for his early photography, which used the visual language of advertising to address systemic injustices such as the exploitation of professional athletes, the scourge of mass incarceration, and the original sin of American slavery. Years before the latest wave of activists began toppling statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and other problematic figures in US history, Thomas also began questioning the validity of such monuments with his own large-scale sculptures, often creating alternatives to honor the individuals whose sacrifices have been overlooked by mainstream historical narratives. Thomas once said that his personal experiences prompted him to create art that could "change the world in a more intentional way," and now more than ever, he is doing just that. Through July 16, he and his Los Angeles gallery, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, are teaming with Artnet Auctions to present "Bid for Peace," a single-lot sale of Thomas's striking sculpture Peace (2019). All proceeds from the auction including the buyer's premium will be donated to G.L.I.T.S, Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society, a non-profit organization that protects the rights of transgender sex workers. A few days before the opening of "Bid for Peace," Thomas joined Andrew Goldstein on the Art Angle to discuss the evolution of his studio practice, artists' importance to bringing about civic transformation, and whether you might someday see his own name on a ballot near you.
August 27 – October 18, 2018Kathleen O. Ellis GalleryGallery Talk: Thursday, September 20, 6pmReception: Thursday, September 20, 5-7pmLight Work is pleased to announce Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul: Selections from the Light Work Collection. The exhibition is guest-curated by For Freedoms, a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States, co-founded in 2016 by former Light Work artists-in-residence Eric Gottesman and Hank Willis Thomas. Since then, For Freedoms has produced exhibitions, town hall meetings, and public art to spur greater participation in civic life. On their motivations for starting For Freedoms, Gottesman states, “Our hope was to spark dialogue about our collective civic responsibility to push for freedom and justice today, as those before us pushed for freedom and justice in their time through peaceful protest and political participation.”Borrowing its title from the Charles Biasiny-Rivera piece of the same name, Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul features more than forty photographs from the Light Work Collection that explore topics of politics, social justice, identity, and visibility. These subjects have remained significant for Light Work and many of the artists we have supported over our forty-five year history. The list of artists includes: Laura Aguilar, George Awde, Karl Baden, Lois Barden and Harry Littell, Claire Beckett, Charles Biasing-Rivera, Samantha Box, Deborah Bright, Chan Chao, Renee Cox, Rose Marie Cromwell, Jen Davis, Jess Dugan, John Edmonds, Amy Elkins, Nereyda Garcia Ferraz, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, Antony Gleaton, Jim Goldberg, David Graham, Mahtab Hussain, Osamu James Nakagawa, Tommy Kha, Pipo Nguyen-Duy, Deana Lawson, Mary Mattingly, Jackie Nickerson, Shelley Niro, Suzanne Opton, Kristine Potter, Ernesto Pujol, Irina Rozovsky, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Kanako Sasaki, Pacifico Silano, Clarissa Sligh, Beuford Smith, Amy Stein, Mila Teshaieva, Brian Ulrich, Ted Wathen, Carrie Mae Weems, Carla Williams, Hank Willis Thomas, Pixy Yijun Liao.In addition to the selections of work on view at Light Work, we have collaborated with For Freedoms to display a series of billboards throughout the city of Syracuse created by internationally-renowned artists Zoe Buckman, Eric Gottesman, Carrie Mae Weems, Spider Martin, and Hank Willis Thomas. These billboards use photography and text to address social issues and our political climate. This exhibition and related programming coincides with The 50 State Initiative, an ambitious new phase of For Freedoms Fall 2018 programming, during the lead-up to the midterm elections. Building off of the existing artistic infrastructure in the United States, For Freedoms has developed a network of artists and institutional partners, including Light Work, who will produce nationwide public art installations, exhibitions, and local community dialogues in order to inject nuanced, artistic thinking into public discourse. Centered around the vital work of artists, these exhibitions, and related projects will model how arts institutions can become civic forums for action.lg.ht/BeStrong—Special thanks to Daylight Blue Mediadaylightblue.comLight Worklightwork.orgMusic: "Bald Eagle" and "American Crow" by Chad CrouchMusic: "Vela Vela" by Blue Dot Sessionssessions.blue See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Recently of Larson / Gottesman, formerly of every band to have existed, industrial music maester, Eric Gottesman beams in to make everything go couch!
In this episode, we explore creative projects that attempt to reconstruct the past—at least a version of it. Plus, we take a look back at some personal moments from the first 10 years of Kickstarter, as told by creators and backers. Say Something Bunny Interdisciplinary artist Alison S.M. Kobayashi came across a seemingly mundane audio recording of a family gathering in 1950s Long Island. It was garbled, filled with obscure references, and she set out to unlock its mysteries. Her unique one-woman show, based on six years of research on this recording, has garnered rave reviews and played to sold-out audiences since 2017. Roger Peltzman Norbert Stern’s career as one of the most promising concert pianists in 1930s Europe was cut short when he and his family were captured by the Nazis, along with other Jews, and sent to Auschwitz, where they ultimately perished. His nephew Roger Peltzman, an acclaimed pianist himself, decided to travel to Brussels to record a program of the Chopin pieces that were Norbert’s speciality in the concert hall where he regularly performed. 10 Years of Kickstarter To help us celebrate our 10th birthday, we asked some other creators who have brought ideas to life with Kickstarter to share some memories—snapshots from different points in their Journeys. Here’s who we heard from: Emmely Elgersma—creator of the world’s largest papier-mache sculpture Hank Willis Thomas & Eric Gottesman—creators of The For Freedoms 50 State Initiative Zoe Mendelson—cocreator of Pussypedia Paul Saisset—screenwriter of Paris Est à Nous Alice Oseman—creator of Heartstopper Eu-wen Ding—cofounder and CEO of Lumos Taneka Stotts—cocreator of The Beyond and ELEMENTS Anthologies Lucien Zayan—founder and director of The Invisible Dog Art Center Raja Feather Kelly + the feath3r theory Ema Ryan Yamazaki—director of Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators Joel Hodgson—creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k) Simone Giertz—creator of The Everyday Calendar Tom Putnam—cofounder of Beeline Stevie Ronnie—creator of 'and for you (love)' Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari, and Alyssa Stonoha—the comedy trio Three Busy Debras Gifts From the Grave Peter Hicks tells the story of what happened when he introduced Kickstarter to his father, Ray Hicks. Goodbye, Zakiya—we love you! Sadly, this is the last episode of Just the Beginning featuring producer and cohost Zakiya Gibbons. She’s off to work with WNYC’s wonderful podcast Nancy. She'll also continue her work building a directory of people of color working in the audio industry(site coming soon!). Find a full transcript with photos here.
This month's We Have A Commentary podcast takes a tour through the diabolical world of Everything Goes Cold. "Vs General Failure," the first LP of Eric Gottesman's coldwave project brings all of the manic suppervillainy that we've come to expect from EGC, but also has a surprisingly human and vulnerable core. Alex and Bruce discuss the history of coldwave, the horrors of the American health care system, and the shadowy conspiracy at the heart of the second law of thermodynamics on the latest installment of IDieYouDie.com's Patreon supported podcast series!
This week on Talking to Ghosts we have a very SPOOKY Halloween special episode. We reached out to some of our friends and fans and asked for Halloween stories and got some great stuff back! This episode features stories from: Alex Kennedy from the fabulous website I Die: You Die (and the podcast they do called We Have A Technical) Matt Fanale from Caustic and Klack and The Causticles and Beauty Queen Autopsy and Daddybear and who knows what else! Eric Gottesman from Everything Goes Cold and every live band ever. And Sophie. Thanks again to all of our contributors! We might do this again next year and give everyone way more time to think about it. Our next episode will be out on Monday 11/19/18.
In the third episode of the Hyperallergic Podcast, we talk to artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman about the For Freedoms Super PAC, which promises to shake things up during the 2016 US Presidential election by inviting artists to reflect on important topics during the run up to Election Day.
Bruce and Alex flip through the Rolodex for the 75th episode of We Have a Technical and have eleven friends of the podcast drop in to comment on albums they hold near and dear to their hearts. Special Appearances by Matt Fanale of Caustic, Adam Williams of amodelofcontrol.com, Ned Ragget, Kathleen Chausse, Rexx Arkana of FGFC820, Sara Taylor of Youth Code, Eric Gottesman of Everything Goes Cold, Wes and Michael from Talking to Ghosts, Rev John from Das Bunker, Sharon Kyronfive and Michael Arthur Holloway of Dead When I Found Her!
In this installment of the official www.idieyoudie.com podcast Bruce and Alex talk about how much fun they had at Terminus Festival in Calgary, chat with friend of the site Eric Gottesman about the new album from his band Everything Goes Cold and reminisce about the first three years of ID:UD.
"Part II" of my interview with Brian from The Gothsicles and Eric Gottesman of Everything Goes Cold. Eric just got to the party. Let the stupid flow...
I intended to do 2 separate podcasts-- one with Brian from The Gothsicles and one with Eric Gottesman of Everything Goes Cold, but due to time constraints and Eric showing up at the end of Brian's segment we just forged through and now this is actually part ONE of two. Eric's interview will be next week. Enjoy.