{"id":11144,"date":"2018-01-15T20:17:51","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T00:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=11144"},"modified":"2018-01-22T07:50:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T11:50:00","slug":"episode-252-seymour-chwast-ann-rivera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-252-seymour-chwast-ann-rivera","title":{"rendered":"Episode 252 – Seymour Chwast & Ann Rivera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 252:
\nSeymour Chwast & Ann Rivera<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_252_-_Seymour_Chwast__Ann_Rivera.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“What’s easier now is that I know the approach I need to take. What’s harder is coming up with ideas.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Legendary illustrator \/ designer\u00a0\/ artist Seymour Chwast<\/a> joins the show to talk about what it means to continue beyond “legendary” status. We get into his 60-plus-year career and why he can’t slow down (much less retire), the impact of Push Pin Studios<\/a>, the (de-)evolution of commercial art, his mutant hybrid of typography and design, the process of overcoming the anxiety that Saul Steinberg made all the great work already, the immediate gratification of woodcuts, the reason he makes classic literary adaptations, his interest in different religions’ notions of Hell, how a gay dance instructor helped him avoid the draft for the Korean war, and more! Then, our very first Virtual Memories Show<\/strong><\/em> guest, Ann Rivera<\/a>, drops in on the way home from MLA 2018 to talk about the future of the humanities, her love for Pete Bagge’s bio of Zora Neale Hurston<\/a>\"\", whether students should be seen as consumers or constituents, the success of the Yale history department’s revamp, the role of the public intellectual, the problems with academia’s insularity, and the novel she returns to every year. Give it a listen!<\/a><\/p>\n

“We’re in a state of insecurity because we’ve forgotten our public function. And a big part of that public function is to serve the people we’re working WITH, not speaking TO.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n