Materially Speaking
Sarah Monk
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Top 10 Materially Speaking Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Materially Speaking episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Materially Speaking for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Materially Speaking episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Ron Mehlman: An artist of many parts
Materially Speaking
04/26/23 • 28 min
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Ron Mehlman grew up in Brooklyn and came to Pietrasanta in the 1980s. No materials are off limits in his quest for creating sculpture infused with spirit and life.
As we settle down to talk by his warm log-burning stove, Ron describes the two walls of his studio with their alphabet of colourful abstract sculptures – created from stone, wood and bronze – each one perched on its own individual shelf. The project started as a way of making thin sketches out of the stones available in the area.
Ron talks about his family from the Ukraine, his neighbourhood and his upbringing in New York. He tells of his student days, his teaching work and how he originally came to Pietrasanta with Janice, a photographer and now his wife.
One piece which Ron discusses is an abstract metal piece called Drawing in Space. It reflects his upbringing in New York where he salvaged scrap to use in his art. This three dimensional piece is created from parts of tools used to copy a marble sculpture, as well as an old bicycle seat.
He also spoke about a work created from a stone which he fell in love with and reminded him of an intricate, Chinese drawing of a landscape. He bought the broken stone, put it together and carved a landscape in front and behind it.
Many of Ron’s sculptures play with light, and he works with the stone to reveal the geological formations and their intrinsic natural beauty.
Ron shares his home on the edge of town with his wife the photographer Janice Mehlman – instagram.com/janicemehlman. It’s a pretty house on the hillside, with neat rows of vines below it and a stone studio with high glass windows set in the garden. The studio is surrounded by sculptures and stacks of stone waiting to be worked.
Trailer: If you love Venice
Materially Speaking
11/14/22 • 4 min
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In the Spring of 2022, sound specialist Mike Axinn and I went to Venice during Homo Faber, an event created by the Michelangelo Foundation to celebrate master craftsmanship.
We wanted to discover more about the community of younger artisans in Venice - what brought them there, and why they liked it.
First we met Piero Dri, a remer who makes oars and oarlocks, or as the Italians call them, ‘forcolai’. Since he learnt to row aged 4, rowing has been his passion.
Release date: 16 November 2022
Then we chatted with Austrian-born shoemaker Gabriele Gmeiner who makes high quality shoes to measure in her workshop at Campiello del Sol. She speaks of her craft, her journey from Austria, and why she chose Venice.
Release date: 30 November 2022
Finally we had an illuminating talk with furniture restorer Alvise Boccanegra, who painstakingly repaired a crucifix which was found floating in the church of San Moisè after the floods of November 2019.
Release date: 14 December 2022
All three young artisans bring a fresh energy to the community and discuss the materials they choose with a keen eye on sustainability, re-use and repair.
Cynthia Sah: We are all connected
Materially Speaking
06/23/21 • 32 min
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Cynthia Sah was born in Hong Kong and studied in the USA. She first came to Italy in 1978 to study and came back soon after to learn with the artisans. She has stayed ever since and now works in a studio complex with her partner, Nicolas Bertoux.
Inspired by the form, movement and colours that nature gives us, Cynthia tells how she always looks for the spine in a piece. She loves how the energy of a wave – of water, sound or wind – reminds her that we are all connected.
Gallery spaces being altogether different to her studio environment, Cynthia prefers to settle her pieces into their new home personally. But lockdown entailed her having to learn to curate a show long-distance this year. Here she describes the process.
Cynthia creates public art for all over the world. She talks about a special commission she did for a grieving daughter in memory of her father, called Balance & Counterbalance.
Underpinning her public art is the idea that sculptures should be friendly and invite you to touch or sit on them.
Finally Cynthia takes me to their basement, and what was originally a trout farm feeding the Medicis in the Palace opposite. This breathtaking long gallery is now their exhibition space, where they host events for their non-profit foundation, Arkad.
Lucy Dickens: The way she sees it
Materially Speaking
05/19/21 • 36 min
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Lucy Dickens is an artist and illustrator, whose works exudes humour. Close friends since the age of three, Lucy and Sarah ramble and percolate over Lucy’s upcoming show.
As a great, great granddaughter of writer Charles Dickens, writing plays an important part in Lucy’s life. Her paintings often have a narrative quality, leaving you wondering what went before, or what will happen next. As well as humour, her recent work contains a lot of vibrant colour and exuberance.
After school Lucy studied fashion journalism and started as a stylist at Condé Nast, where she soon became fashion editor of Brides magazine. Her passion for materials, and how people express themselves through fashion, continues to this day. When she started her own family she began writing and illustrating childrens’ books which were published in London and New York.
This May she has a show at Cricket Fine Art and as the catalogue arrived she and Sarah flick through it with Lucy explaining the background behind the pictures. She says she likes to portray groups of people and works in many mediums from oils, acrylics and gouaches, to bold graphic fabric collages. The series of Japanese paintings reflect her love of travel.
Lucy often puts in a cameo appearance in her own work. A self-portrait below shows her framed within a picture At the Picasso Museum and again in Cyclists and Whippets, Hyde Park Corner where you can she her as a passenger peeping out of the back of a bus, centre left of painting.
A great observer of people, lover of dogs and fan of London, Cyclist and Whippets, Hyde Park Corner speaks of Lucy’s skill to snatch a view from a bus and make it immortal.
Lucy comes from a creative family. Her mother Julia Dickens paints, while her sister Sophie Dickens is a renowned sculptor whose work you can see at Sladmore Contemporary Gallery, or on her website: sophiedickens.co.uk.
Sollai Cartwright: Finding inspiration everywhere
Materially Speaking
07/31/20 • 24 min
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Sollai Cartwright takes inspiration from everything around him creating both abstract and figurative work.
Sollai talks about his favourite stone, Bianco P, and how it responds to chisels while holding its form. He speaks about the historical resources of the area around Pietrasanta and of the extensive range of historical tools available, especially at the renowned Milani Tools shop. He describes how each tool has a different relationship with a different stone.
In 2019, Sollai exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe and Bondi and had a solo show at Harvey Galleries in Mosman, Sydney, Australia.
From the age of seven, Danica, who would go on to marry Sollai, trained as a gymnast and trampolinist, later becoming an acrobat with Cirque du Soleil where she and Sollai met. She explains a little about their team work approach with her doing the management and marketing of his art.
Sollai mentions the power of having a mentor and cites the guidance he received from Douglas Robinson, a Canadian sculptor who has also spoken to Materially Speaking.
Sollai comes from a family of artists and you can hear the stories of his father, Michael Francis Cartwright; mother, Shona Nunan and brother, Jacob Cartwright all on Materially Speaking. In 2018, along with the rest of his family, he showed his work in Australia House, London in an exhibition that celebrated a centenary since its construction on the Strand.
Notre-Dame: An acoustic reconstruction
Materially Speaking
04/19/24 • 45 min
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On 15th April, 2019 a catastrophic fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral. Parisians watched in horror as the spire fell and most of the roof was destroyed. In the aftermath it became clear that a large area was contaminated with toxic dust and lead.
The iconic building, which has dominated the Île de la Cité island in Paris since the Middle Ages, is a national symbol not only for the French but for people all over the world.
President Macron pledged to build back the cathedral as it was before, and as the planned reopening in December 2024 looms, a huge office structure has mushroomed around it and 500 workers are on site daily as the team race to rebuild it.
The eyes of the world are watching, but Materially Speaking has a story for our ears - the story of its sound.
As a sound specialist himself, Mike Axinn was fascinated when he discovered there is a group exploring the restoration of the acoustics at Notre Dame. He approached Brian F.G. Katz and David Poirier-Quinot at the Sorbonne, and their colleague, sound archeologist Mylène Pardoen, who is co-coordinator with Brian of the scientific acoustics team assisting the reconstruction of Notre Dame, and soon we were off to Paris to hear their stories. We first met Brian and David at a restaurant and then visited their simulator inside the Sorbonne to discover more.
Notre Dame has a special role in western European music’s history and is generally thought of as the cradle of polyphony. Sarah was attracted to this angle as her father, Christopher Monk, was part of the Early Music movement which restored the use of the Renaissance cornett, a woodwind instrument well known in Monteverdi’s music. He also made and played serpents, long snake-shaped instruments that had a central role in music that was performed in Notre Dame many centuries ago. So she approached Volny Hostiou, one of France’s leading serpent players, and we were delighted when he and singer Thomas Van Essen agreed to join us in Paris for some experiments with Brian and David.
We then jumped on a train to Lyon to meet with Mylène Pardoen and learn more about her work as one of the world’s foremost sound archaeologists, tasked with recording the sounds made by stone masons and other artisans in their work, and re-imagining the church’s soundscape at various points in its history.
A key person driving the physical restoration is Pascal Prunet, Chief architect of historic monuments in France and part of the team in charge of restoring Notre-Dame. Prunet explains that their work in restoring the church has revealed many secrets about its construction and the work done by artisans. We were fortunate to hear how his team was able to discover things they never would have learned had it not been for the fire.
As we obviously could not go inside Notre-Dame, Volny and Thomas then kindly arranged for us to hear them play in the Abbey of Rouen, built on a similar scale to nearby Rouen Cathedral, the abbey is famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ. Here they talked to us about the serpent and their group Les Meslanges, showed us a serpent fresco on the ceiling of the Abbey and played in three different locations.
Finally Mike takes us back to Brian and David’s simulator to compare and contrast the sound of the musicians live in the Abbey of Rouen, and their simulated version of how the music would sound at different historical periods of Notre-Dame’s history.
Thanks also to Frédéric Ménissier who made a great video recording of our visit to the Abbaye of Rouen. You will be able to watch the result on YouTube @materiallyspeakingpodcast nearer the scheduled reopening of Notre Dame, in December 2024.
Thanks and links
We are very grateful to Brian, David, Mylène, Pascal, Volny and Thomas for giving so generously of their time and sharing their expertise and passion. You can learn more about their projects in the following links.
Brian F.G. Katz & David Poirier-Quinot
Brian Katz, originally from the U.S., is an acoustics specialist and leads the Sound Spaces research team. David Poirier-Quinot works with Brian and is a researcher, presently focused on sound spatialisation, perception, and room acoustics simulation for virtual and augmented realities.
Beginning mid April 2024, The Past Has Ears project is launching Whispers of Notre Dame...
Viareggio Carnival 2024: Confetti in their blood
Materially Speaking
02/09/24 • 28 min
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com
The flags are out, the bunting too, and the red and white mascot Burlamacco is everywhere as Viareggio eagerly awaits the start of Carnival. The trees are heavy with oranges, the sweet fried dough, chiacchiere, are in the pastry shops - there’s excitement in the air!
Dating back to 1873, Viareggio’s Carnival attracts thousands of visitors each year to watch the enormous, intricate papier-mâché sculptures dance their way along the seaside promenade.
From September through March the Citta del Carnevale - a circular complex with 16 hangars - is a hub of energy for the artisan community using boat-making skills from Viareggio, and artistic creativity from Pietrasanta. Last year we learnt how they use newspaper, along with flour and water paste, to create papier-mâché floats.
But between the audience watching and the artists creating, there’s another community: hundreds of volunteers or 'figurants' who turn up to rehearse, rain or shine, each weekend, to form the colourful dancing troupes in front of the floats.
So Mike and I are here to revisit the LeBigre family on the 20th anniversary of their La Compagnia del Carnevale to learn why their 200 volunteers return each year, and what impact one creative project can have on the wider community.
For this episode we are also proud to collaborate with Celia & Enzo of Piazza Talk Lucca - a popular YouTube channel sharing how life is in Lucca, and in the Tuscan hills. Celia, a book restorer, and Enzo, a sea captain dived right in to volunteer behind the scenes with the Le Bigre family creating papier-mâché items for the float.
Check out the videos they made of their behind the scenes experience volunteering with the Le Bigre family on their YouTube channel.
Links
Carnival parades run through the end of February 2024. You can also visit the Cittadella museum during the rest of the year.
Celia & Enzo
Le Bigre
- viareggio.ilcarnevale.com
- Benjamin Le Bigre’s theatre group in Paris
- instagram.com/elodielebigre_babskin
- instagram.com/benleb
Credits
Producer: Sarah Monk
Producer/Editor: Mike Axinn
Music : courtesy of Audio Network
- Gypsy World, Haris Custovic
Special thanks to Linda Nari for sharing her vibrant photos
Steaven Richard: Artsmithing
Materially Speaking
07/19/23 • 19 min
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com
Steaven Richard evolved his craft as an apprentice to several artisan blacksmiths over many years and in many countries, before establishing his own atelier in Paris specialising in artistic metalwork
Soon demand for his work, from architects and designers, grew - and he needed more space. To accommodate this, he moved to a large warehouse in Valenton and expanded his team of blacksmiths and metalworkers who combine traditional skills, and new technology.
Atelier Steaven Richard has become famous for its artistic metalwork. Prestigious designs include a bespoke metal floor for the studio of Karl Lagerfeld, the elevator doors for the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and a ‘Steaven Richard’ limited edition bottle for Remy Martin.
We started to interview him in front of his wall of gorgeous wall samples in a colourful array of textures, patinas and designs and then went through to the workshops.
And we also tour his huge hangar-like workshop, which is buzzing with activity and the thrum of machinery.
Enormous shelves hold sheets of carefully-labelled metals. There’s large-scale equipment, and workers hand-finishing on long benches. It’s artisans work on a grand-scale. We see some samples of his finished work.
Mike Axinn and I took the train 50 km south of Paris, through the suburbs, to the dense wooded area of Bois le Roi, next to the forest of Fontainebleau. As the train slowed into the station, a bright blue sky is visible above the dense forest of wintry trees, and we see the lanky figure of Steaven waiting on the platform to greet us.
Xavier Montoy: Sternocera aequisignata
Materially Speaking
07/05/23 • 24 min
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com
Xavier Montoy grew up in a family of doctors and was always keen on biology. When he chose an artistic route he wanted to focus attention on endangered insects to highlight how we should honour and conserve them.
As part of our Paris series, Mike Axinn and I go to the 11th arrondissement of Paris to meet Xavier and see how he creates jewellery with the Sternocera beetle.
Sternocera aequisignata live in Southeast Asia, especially in northeast Thailand. Their life cycle is two years, of which the period when they live above ground and reproduce and then die, lasts only a few weeks. Once a year, in September and October, villagers harvest and sort the elytra (fore-wings), and then Xavier sources them for his work.
Xavier’s workshop is in the artisan complex at the Cité des Taillandiers, in rue des Taillandiers, where around twenty artists and artisans have workspaces thanks to an initiative of the mayor of the 11th who is working to support historic craft activities in the arrondissement.
In his shared, neat workspace we find a magical display-box of beetles and butterflies, a case of jewellery tools and some 3D printing equipment. On a high shelf are some sheets of the precious material he has created from beetles in bright iridescent colours.
Robin Bell: Pioneers and famous Canadians
Materially Speaking
12/13/23 • 22 min
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We settle down to chat outside Robin Bell’s home at a sheltered table with a spectacular view of the sea, from Pisa to La Spezia, and the never ending horizon. An exterior storage space against a yellow wall reveals shelves laden with maquettes and sculptures in various stages of completion.
Robin discusses his move from working with marble to bronze and his focus on creating larger sculptures. He shares stories about some of his notable commissions, including sculptures of Winston Churchill, Ulysses and the hockey star and Canadian politician, Ken Dryden.
Robin talks about his Irish heritage and how he loves telling stories through his sculptures. He also describes his working process and how he immerses himself in the characters he sculpts. He recounts the preparations he took to sculpt a Canadian cutting horse called Peppy San, which took three years to make.
Coming from a military family involved Robin in much travelling and he acknowledges the influence his grandfather’s pioneering spirit had on him. He reflects on how attached he is to the view of the horizon over the sea from his house near Pietrasanta. Nowadays Robin creates a drawing daily, which he posts on social media.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Materially Speaking have?
Materially Speaking currently has 62 episodes available.
What topics does Materially Speaking cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture, Visual Arts, Italy, Artists, Documentary, Podcasts and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Materially Speaking?
The episode title 'Viareggio Carnival 2024: Confetti in their blood' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Materially Speaking?
The average episode length on Materially Speaking is 26 minutes.
How often are episodes of Materially Speaking released?
Episodes of Materially Speaking are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Materially Speaking?
The first episode of Materially Speaking was released on Feb 26, 2020.
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