From the ancient charcoal animals of France's Chauvet Cave, to 17th century Dutch windmill paintings, art history can tell us a lot about our evolving view of the natural world. In this episode, producer Taylor Quimby (self-described art-world neophyte) searches for individual works and genres through history that reveal something interesting about human society and the outdoors.
Chasing The Light
Taylor Quimby
A tour of the "Outside/In Art Museum". While you listen, click through each image in the slide show to see each painting and piece as it's discussed in the episode.
The title image is a selection of plein air paintings depicting a salt marsh estuary in Essex, Massachusetts - from top left corner, the artists are Toni Deruntz, Marlene Zychowski, Betty Brown, and Bob Williams. Several of the artists asked that it be noted that, at the time these photographs were taken, some of these works were still in progress. All of the artists were members of the Plein Air Painters of NH.
From there, the subsequent images in the slideshow - discussed in the program- are as follows:
1. View of Egmond on the Sea, by Jacob Van Ruisdael. 1648, oil on panel.
2. Chauvet Cave paintings, by unknown artists. charcoal and animal fat on cave wall.
3. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, by Thomas Gainsborough. 1750, oil on canvas.
4. Lofty Mt. Lu, by Shen Zhou. 1467.
5. An Indian summer morning in the White Mountains, by Jasper Francis Cropsey. 1857, oil on canvas.
6. Spiral Jetty, by Robert Smithson. 1970, basalt rock, salt crystals, earth, water.
7. Blued Trees Symphony, Aviva Rahmani. 2015, casein on tree bark. Photo credit Robin Boucher.
8. Wind Farm #50, by Brian Ritchard, oil on canvas.
Episode featuring Alan Chong, Nils Buetner, Beverly Naidus, Lian Duan, Brian Richard, Aviva Rahmani, and members of the Plein Air Painters of New Hampshire.
Randall Munroe's Absurd Science for Real-World Problems
Maddie Sofia
An episode from the excellent NPR podcast Short Wave, featuring a conversation with Randal Munroe, the man behind the popular science-ish comic strip xkcdand author of several books, including How-To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Real-World Problems. You can listen to the episode in full here.
