Time Sensitive - Hank Willis Thomas on Acknowledging the Multitudes of Truths Among Us

Hank Willis Thomas on Acknowledging the Multitudes of Truths Among Us

12/07/22 • 63 min

The artist Hank Willis Thomas is a voracious reader, not only of books, but of the world around us—and particularly, of images. Through his practice, Thomas interrogates and investigates, probes and prods, and ultimately helps make sense of various strands of visual culture—advertising, photographs, videos, clothing and ephemera, monuments—to tell necessary stories and shape new forms of meaning and memory. While Thomas’s roots are in the medium of photography, his work also extends far into other realms, including sculpture and memorialization. A prime example of this and a collaboration with MASS Design Group is “The Embrace,” a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, that will be unveiled in the Boston Common in January 2023. Another is the Gun Violence Memorial Project, organized with the prevention organizations Purpose Over Pain and Everytown for Gun Safety, and also with MASS.

Central to Thomas’s art are the subjects of truth and reality (best illustrated by his traveling “Truth Booth” installation, which toured all 50 states in the lead up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election), how they’re shaped, and by whom. Many of Thomas’s more conceptual projects also tend to be collective. Most notable among these is For Freedoms, an artist-run coalition he co-founded in 2016 as a super PAC that serves as a platform for artists of all kinds to meaningfully contribute to public discourse and help raise political awareness in the United States.

On this episode of Time Sensitive, Thomas speaks with Spencer about identity as a figment of our imaginations, race as the “most successful advertising campaign” ever, and quilt-stitching as a metaphor for all that he does.

Special thanks to our Season 6 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Hank Willis Thomas
[06:36] “Remember Me”
[06:56] “Digging Deeper”
[12:12] MASS Design Group
[15:27] “The Embrace”
[18:02] “Raise Up”
[19:27] Gun Violence Memorial Project
[23:21] “Unity”
[27:59] TED Talk: “A Mother and Son United by Love and Art”
[38:31] “Along The Way”
[39:08] “Branded”
[39:08] “Unbranded”
[39:08] “Rebranded”
[39:23] “Absolut Power”
[43:55] “A Place to Call Home”
[44:01] “Question Bridge: Black Males”
[47:00] “Truth Booth”
[49:01] For Freedoms
[49:01] “For Freedoms News”
[58:46] “Guernica”

Special thanks to our Season 6 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Hank Willis Thomas
[06:36] “Remember Me”
[06:56] “Digging Deeper”
[12:12] MASS Design Group
[15:27] “The Embrace”
[18:02] “Raise Up”
[19:27] Gun Violence Memorial Project
[23:21] “Unity”
[27:59] TED Talk: “A Mother and Son United by Love and Art”
[38:31] “Along The Way”
[39:08] “Branded”
[39:08] “Unbranded”
[39:08] “Rebranded”
[39:23] “Absolut Power”
[43:55] “A Place to Call Home”
[44:01] “Question Bridge: Black Males”
[47:00] “Truth Booth”
[49:01] For Freedoms
[49:01] “For Freedoms News”
[58:46] “Guernica”

Previous Episode

Tina Roth Eisenberg on the Deep Value of Heart-Centered Leadership

The Swiss-born, Brooklyn-based designer Tina Roth Eisenberg has, over the past 15 years or so, built a cult following of creatives around the world who, like her, constantly seek to connect, reflect, and grow together—and who view her as an inspirational curator and guide. In 2008, Eisenberg founded Creative Mornings, an egalitarian platform that hosts free talks and events, with chapters currently in 225 cities and 67 countries. A serial entrepreneur and the creator of the widely followed Swissmiss design blog, Eisenberg also founded that same year Studiomates in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood; a predecessor to WeWork, it was the borough’s first co-working space. (Eisenberg now operates the co-working space Friends Work Here in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood.) Also over the past decade-plus, she has founded and launched the aptly named to-do list app Teux Deux and the temporary tattoo company Tattly, the latter of which she sold to Bic Group earlier this year.

On this episode, Eisenberg talks with Spencer about why she views the idea of time as a farce, her spiritual belief that everything is vibration and energy, and her mantra of leading with a sense of gentleness and what she calls “an extra layer of love.”

Special thanks to our Season 6 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

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On the episode, Vestergaard talks with Andrew about the values of equity he was raised with in Scandinavia, the importance of maintaining rigor and commitment over time, and why doing good and doing business aren’t mutually exclusive.

Special thanks to our Season 6 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.