Fortnightly radio show on art and environmentalism, with poetry and field recordings. On Eastside Radio 89.7FM. Produced and presented by Ira Ferris.

This program takes place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional and ongoing custodians of this land.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

The word 'sympoiesis' is taken from environmental philosopher Donna Haraway who defines it as 'making with'. She writes: “Sympoiesis is a simple word; it means “making-with.” Nothing makes itself; nothing is really autopoietic or self-organizing. [...] Sympoiesis is a word proper to complex, dynamic, responsive, situated, historical systems. It is a word for worlding-with, in company.” (p58 in Staying with the Trouble)

SYMPOIESIS : RADIO SHOW hopes to inspire this interconnectivity and re-kindle our lost relationship with the natural world.

Sympoiesis (radio show) - Eastside Radio 89.7FM

Interviews with artists, curators, and thinkers from around the world.
#artemisprojectspodcast

ARTemis projects PODCAST

A series of podcasts created to accompany a text commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival: https://interchange.criticalpath.org.au/interchange-festivals/digital-interchange-festival-2019-20/selected-texts-why-dance-matters-now/

In it I speak to variety of people who work with or are interested in dance and movement, body consciousness and spatial awareness, the relationship between our bodies, sustainability, and politics.

The voices include professional dancers, musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, and mathematicians whom I've asked about their relationship to movement, stillness, silence, freedom, imagination, improvisation, uncertainty, and what world might be like if everyone would dance.

These podcasts were produced on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
ARTWORK by Lena Kramaric (http://lenakramaric.com/)

Transcripts of each podcast are available here: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

DANCE MATTERS (Critical Path and Delving into Dance)

These interviews took place on air, on the Eastside Radio 89.7FM (Sydney, Australia).

https://eastsidefm.org/

ARTemis Projects RADIO interviews

Conversation with eco-poet Gabriella (Gabby) Florek, on translating the enormity of environmental issues into a minute thing such as poetry. 

Recorded as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis' program on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 29th March 2021.

This program took place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

Gabriella Florek: https://gabriellaflorek.com/

Sympoiesis EP1: Gabby Florek (Eco-poetry)

Conversation with eco-poet Michael Aiken, recorded as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis' program on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 26th April 2021.

This program took place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

See more about the 'Garden Lounge', Michael Aiken's book shop specialised in poetry, which is also a licensed cafe and a live venue for kids-friendly poetry and music events: https://www.facebook.com/gardenloungenewtown/

Music in the background is from 'De Natura Sonorum' by Bernard Parmegiani, released in 1975. You can listen to the whole album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_JHjUFfOs8

Sympoiesis EP3: Michael Aiken (Eco-poetry)

Conversation with artist Penelope Cain about project 'Superorganism', part of Inner West Council's EDGE Art Camp on the Greenway: https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/live/living-arts/edge/edge-greenway-2021 

We speak about the environmental importance of collectivity and multi-sensorial experiences. 

The conversation was recorded as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis' program on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 26th April 2021.

This program took place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

Follow Superorganism: https://www.facebook.com/superorganism.collective

Sympoiesis EP3: Penelope Cain (Superorganism)

Writer, gardener, founder of The Planthunter, Georgina Reid reads her water-inspired poems and speaks about life by the river.

"There's nothing fixed about the river."

The conversation was recorded as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis' program on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 10th May 2021.

This program took place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

The Planthunter: https://theplanthunter.com.au/

Sympoiesis EP4: Georgina Reid (Writing Water)

Artist and climate justice advocate Latai Taumoepeau speaks about her work Mass Movement created for Arts House 'Refuge' program. https://www.artshouse.com.au/events/mass-movement/

The conversation was recorded as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis' program on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 10th May 2021.

This program took place on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

To experience Mass Movement audio pilgrimage click here : https://soundcloud.com/user-817526594/fonua-intro-begingo

Sympoiesis EP4: Latai Taumoepeau (Mass Movement)

Conversation with artist Elizabeth Pulie, whose retrospective '#117 (Survey)' is at the UNSW Galleries from 15 Jan - 10 April, 2022. Back in the 80s and 90s, Elizabeth Pulie was involved in a conceptual painting project interrogating the definition of art and its commodity status. What is art? has been the question behind all of her work, including the Relational Art project where she edited and published magazine ‘Lives of the Artists’ and ran ‘The Front Room Gallery’, from the front room and the kitchen of her house. She is currently - since about 2012 - engaged in The End of Art project and her practice has expanded to embrace not only painting, but also sculptural textile works, and video art. 

I am indebted to Elizabeth Pulie's curator James Gatt for many of the questions that have informed this conversation. His exhibition tour, alongside 'The Reader', was an invaluable resource in learning about Pulie's practice and gaining inspiration for structuring this interview. 

Aired on Eastside Radio on 31 January 2022, as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis'.

About the exhibition: https://artdesign.unsw.edu.au/unsw-galleries/elizabeth-pulie-survey

Elizabeth Pulie's website: https://www.elizabethpulie.com/
Elizabeth Pulie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpulie/

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

Sympoiesis EP19: Elizabeth Pulie (retrospective/UNSW Galleries)

Conversation with artist Deborah Kelly on her multi-disciplinary, collaborative project CREATION  - a queer, science fiction, climate change religion. 

Aired on Eastside Radio on 5 July 2021, as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis'.

More about Creation: https://www.creationtheproject.com/about

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

Sympoiesis EP7: Deborah Kelly (Creation)

Conversation with performance maker Kate Sherman about the site-specific community action 'Temporary Ecosystems', part of the 2022 Inner West Festival (Sydney). 

Aired on Eastside Radio on 28 March 2022, as part of 'Arts Monday: Sympoiesis'.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temp.eco/
Kate Sherman's website: http://www.kate-sherman.com/

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

MUSIC:
Excerpt from Touching Grace by Amoraea Dreamseed

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris

Sympoiesis EP23: Kate Sherman (Temporary Ecosystems, Inner West Fest)

Conversation with Sydney-based dancer and choreographer Ryuichi Fujimura about his HER NOW trilogy; a series of three auto-biographical dance solos that address ageing and body memory; stage fright and the addiction to the audience-connection; professional set-backs and humour as a tool for recovery... 

The conversation was recorded on 27 July 2022 via a zoom call from Zagreb to Sydney, and it aired on Sydney's Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 1 August 2022. 

For more about Ryuichi Fujimura: https://www.ryuichifujimura.com/

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

Sympoiesis EP31: Ryuichi Fujimura (HERE NOW trilogy)

Conversation with Diane Busuttil, a dancer/choreographer and the founder/facilitator of Creative Caring organisation that brings dance to elderly, and people with dementia, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinson's. We speak about dance as a caring modality, and about the new series of workshops 'Spring for Seniors' held at the Sydney Opera House and designed for those 55+.  

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 24 August 2022. 
Host: Ira Ferris

For more about Diane's work: https://www.creativecaring.com.au/about-us

For Spring for Seniors, and to book see: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/events/whats-on/workshops/2022/spring-for-seniors-monthly-dance-theatre-class.html

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

Sympoiesis EP32: Diane Busuttil (Spring for Seniors)

Conversation with Alex Wisser, a co-curator of 'so hot right now now now' exhibition at Firstdraft. 

‘so hot right now now now’ exhibition emerged from the Arts Out West Regional Artist Mentoring Program, a two-year creative and professional development initiative that brought together eight artists from the regional NSW in exchange with one another, industry mentors, and the program facilitators Amala Groom, Kris Townsend, and Alex Wisser.

ALEX WISSER is a socially engaged artist, curator, and creative producer who lives and works on Wiradjuri Country in Kandos, NSW. 
He is a co-founder and Creative Director of Cementa Contemporary Arts Festival. 

This conversation was originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 12 September 2022.

For more about the exhibition see: https://firstdraft.org.au/program/so-hot-right-now-now-now

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

Image: a section of the artwork by David Doyle, presented as part of 'so hot right now now now' at Firstdraft (9 Sep - 16 Oct 2022)

Sympoiesis EP34: Alex Wisser (Firstdraft exhibition: so hot right now now now)

Conversation with artist FRANCE BARRETT whose sound installation ‘Cry’ is showing at Carriageworks as part of The National and who is also curating a night focused on the voice through poetry, improvised performance, and song. The title of this program is MOUTH and it will take place at Carriageworks 25 May 2023. 

More about Frances Barrett: https://francesbarrett.com

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP49: Frances Barrett (MOUTH)

Conversation with artist AMY PRCEVICH about a video-installation 'WORKAROUND: Claiming Time and Space for Artmaking'.

Emerging from the ongoing ‘problem’ of needing to maintain paid employment alongside an artistic practice, Workaround offers different strategies artists can employ to safeguard their art practice from diminishing under the weight and time constraints imposed by paid work.  

Check https://amyprcevich.com for more about Amy's practice.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP50: Amy Prcevich (WORKAROUND)

Conversation with Eora-based poet LUCIA MOON. 

Lucia is an Italo-Australian writer living on Gadigal land. She is a regular reader at venues around Sydney and, in the written form, her works can be found in Riverstone, Sydney Review of Books, and LOR Journal. Lucia’s writing is playful, ecological, and queer. She holds a Master of Research in poetics, and works for an environmental NGO. 

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP52: Lucia Moon (poetry)

Conversation and reading with poet Renay Pepita.

Renay is reading a selection of poems from their 2022 book 'Untitled [Notes for Blue]' as well as the more recent poems that will be published in 2024 as 'Untitled [The Un-forgetting of Air]'.

In between the readings we are unpacking the process behind writing each as well as Renay Pepita's overall working methodologies. 

Originally broadcast: 28 August 2023

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

GUEST: https://www.renaypepita.com

everywhere i go my body goes with me

EP 53: Renay Pepita (reading poetry)

Conversation with the Artistic Director of The Living Room Theatre, Michelle St Anne, about their latest work THE SEEPING WOMAN. 

The LIVING ROOM THEATRE has been in existence for more than 20 years and is known for giving voice to the unspoken and unseen. They create works that are non-linear and composed through movement, light, sound, and atmosphere – rather than the rigidity of the given language. 

In making the Living Room Theatre works, Michelle St Anne often reaches out to collaborators who come from diverse art disciplines. This time – for The Seeping Woman – she is collaborating with digital artist LINDA DEMENT, dancer ANCA FRANKENHAEUSER, and musicians MARY RAPP & NIKI JOHNSON.

The Seeping Woman is described as a site-specific work that focuses on gestures both human and digital held within the seepage of fluids, fabric and observations.

For more about The Living Room Theatre works see: https://livingroomtheatre.org

This conversation was originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 1 April 2024.

EP61: Michelle St Anne, The Living Room Theatre (The Seeping Woman)

Conversation with visual artist and curator BEATA GEYER about the CHAIR exhibition, showing at Articulate Project Space until 28 July 2024. This group exhibition includes 25 artists who look at the CHAIR not only as an object but also as an image and a text.

https://www.articulateprojectspace.org/project/24-07-DU

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 22 July 2024.
Interviewer: Ira Ferris 

This program airs from the Gadigal Land of the Eora nation.

EP66: Beata Geyer, curator of CHAIR exhibition (Articulate Project Space)

Conversation with performance artist BRIAN FUATA about STORY SENT – a live and mediated performance he is presenting as part of CEMENT FONDU’s exhibition – TOO MUCH INFORMATION – throughout June and July 2024. 
https://cementfondu.org/tmi-too-much-information/

Partly an email performance, partly a live improvisation, STORY SENT explores repetition, references Authentic Movement, and finishes on a 20-minute timer. 

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 8 July 2024.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP65: Brian Fuata (Story Sent, Cement Fondu)

Conversation with artist Belinda Yee about her coming solo exhibition INCREMENT at the Wentworth Galleries (Pitt St, Sydney) 7 to 10 November 2024. 

An exhibition of large-scale drawings, plus a live movement-based performance, INCREMENT explores the notion of temporality as reflected through the cold stone media – such as marble, graphite, sandstone – and soft tissues of the human body. 

Belinda’s work stands as an embodiment of time passing, with fugitive materials that reflect the fragility and impermanence of existence itself. 

More about Belinda's work: http://belindayee.com/index.htm

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 28 October 2024.

FEATURED TRACKS 
1) Roj Osa, Tu Si Di Si (album Azbetsni Krovovi) https://kopatonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/azbestni-krovovi
2) Truth ≠ Tribe, Bi ne Bi (album LIVE AT VINYL FACTORY)
https://truthtribe.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-vinyl-factory 

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP67: Belinda Yee (INCREMENT, Wentworth Galleries)

Conversation with walking-artist and curator MELINDA HUNT talking about the group exhibition WALK WITH ME, taking place at Drawspace in Sydney from 28 November to 22 December 2024.

WALK WITH ME gathers nine local and international artists-researchers who utilise walking as part of their practice, encountering and mapping the walking sites and terrains through the medium of drawing. These drawings are not only reflective of the sites seen, but also the sites felt or experienced through the multisensory phenomena and the biodynamics of the walking body. 

Some of the projects included in the exhibition also foreground responses to habitat loss and species extinction, connection with urban ecologies, and the colonial project.

More about Belinda's work: drawspace.org

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 25 November 2024.

FEATURED TRACKS
1) Nicolas Jaar, Etre 
2) Tune-Yards, Es-So

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP68: Melinda Hunt (WALK WITH ME, Drawspace)

Conversation with performance artist Alan Schacher who works across the terrain of dance and installation, with an interest in architectural experiences and the performativity of public space. His performances “attempt to eke out the essence of site, materials and objects in relation to and with the performer’s body, the situation, and memory of place.”

From Friday 27th to Sunday 29th of December, Alan will take a performative drawing residency at Drawspace gallery in Enmore. The project is titled CHASING SHADOWS and in this residency, Alan will capture the outlines of shadows and reflections as they fall onto and into the DRAW space. 

More about Alan's work: https://alanschacher.net 

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 23 December 2024.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP69: Alan Schacher (Drawspace, Chasing Shadows)

Conversation with artist Carolyn Craig about their most recent solo exhibition – ALGEIC INTENT – on at Firsdraft gallery (Sydney) until 15 March 2025. ALGAEIC INTENT investigates the ways in which Algae thrive in the wreckage of capitalism. The work intermingles breathe, sound, image and desire through diffractive echo, to leak affect and challenge conventional narratives around social responsibility that isolate bodies as discrete entities that sustain the meritocracy myths of capitalism.

Carolyn’s practice operates through conceptual ideas of how power is embedded within material exchanges – between bodies, objects and at a quantum level. They see material practices as a relational act connected to political spaces and the broader arts ecology, and have founded artist run space SCHMICK Contemporary in Haymarket with this ethos in mind. Carolyn is a lecturer at the National Art School, and a member of research group Intermedial Composition Network at the University of New South Wales.

More about Carolyn's work: http://www.carolyncraig.com

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 17 February 2025.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP70: Carolyn Craig (Algaeic Intent, Firstdraft)

Conversation with choreographer and dancer EMMA HARRISON about HIGH OCTANE, her latest choreographic work premiering at Campbeltown Arts Centre on 27 March 2025. 

HIGH OCTANE is a super-charged dance work that reflects on the forces that drive us. This electrifying performance challenges us to rethink our relationship with success, power, and the relentless pursuit of more. In a world fuelled by competition, HIGH OCTANE takes us on a high-speed ride through ambition, self-identity, and the price of making it to the top.

More about Emma's work: https://emmaharrison.info

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 17 March 2025.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP71: Emma Harrison (High Octane - Campbelltown Arts Centre)

Conversation with artist THOMAS THORBY-LISTER about his solo exhibition SITE ACTIONS showing at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf from 9th of April. to 11 May 2025

SITE ACTIONS is an exhibition of site-responsive paintings that engage with the natural environment that surrounds Woollahra Gallery. The landscape acts as an active participant in the creative process, with elements such as rain, wind, sun and water leaving marks on the sheets of linen, which are eventually rendered in subtle monochromatic tones to reflect the natural hues of the environment. 

Allowing the natural forces to shape and imprint their textures onto the fabric, Thomas Thorby-Lister relinquishes a part of his agency to give a greater voice to nature and engage in the collaborative process of ‘making with’ more-than-human. 

More about Emma's work: https://www.thomasthorbylister.com

Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 31 March 2025.

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP72: Thomas Thorby-Lister (Woollahra Gallery - Site Actions)

Conversation with dancer and choreographer JASMIN SHEPPARD about PREPARING GROUND – a new dance work that invites us to join First Peoples’ care of Land as an urgent act for our shared future.

PREPARING GROUND is a First Nations-led dance work co-directed by pioneering indigenous artist Marilyn Miller, alongside Jasmin Sheppard and Katina Olsen. It dances of the future Future—a world where care for Country and community continues generationally. It reminds us that our survival depends on an enduring relationship with the land, and that the path forward is one we must walk together.

More about this work: https://www.blakdance.org.au/articles/preparing-ground

Also featured on the show, a music from SOUND THE ALARM, a 16-piece ensemble led by double bassist Clayton Thomas, in response to the genocide in Palestine. 

The track was recorded during their live performance at Johnston Street Jazz (June 2024). The music is a composed improvisation, described by Clayton as “a sonic allegory and a simple way to collect human energy in the right place for the right reasons.”

All the proceeds from the album go towards humanitarian aid in Gaza: https://claytonthomas.bandcamp.com


Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 12 May 2025.

The track featured at the very beginning is by Samuel Pankhurst who is a sound designer on PREPARING GROUND. 

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP73: Jasmin Sheppard (Preparing Ground)

ASTRID LORANGE is Sydney based poet, performer, researcher and academic whose book ‘How Reading is Written’ (2015) explores the legacy of Gertrude Stein and challenges the settled conventions of language. Astrid believes that language – both in writing and reading – should be open to experimentation; always kept fresh and innovative. Language, in other words, should be a constant discovery. On 27 February 2015, Ira Ferris interviewed Astrid on Eastside Radio 89.7FM. 

For more about this episode see: https://artiris.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/queering-the-language-with-astrid-lorange/

Interview with poet and researcher Astrid Lorange: QUEERING THE LANGUAGE (Feb 2015)

Recorded on the occasion of DEAR SYLVIA exhibition, a group photomedia exhibition inspired by life of American poet Sylvia Plath.  

The Australian Centre for Photography (ACP)exhibition was curated by Claire Monneraye and featured works of nine female international artists who examine the representation of the female body and the female condition in contemporary society – whether this society is a developed, Western world (i.e. France, UK, Australia, Netherlands) or a country such as Romania, Ukraine, Palestine, South America, and Israel where not only female but human rights in general are under constant and extreme threat.

Through variety of photographic styles and genres, these nine female photomedia artist depict female body as both fragile and suffocated, as well as a powerful and vibrant agent of revolutionary change. In doing so they portray the complexity of Sylvia Plath’s own condition as unconventionally passionate women, a spirit eager to fly high and free in a society where freedom, joy and superfluous love was discouraged, perhaps even ridiculed.

On Thursday 5 February, Ira Ferris spoke to Claire Monneraye, the exhibition’s curator and Marlous van der Sloot, a Dutch photographer whose body of work features in the exhibition and examines the ways photography can be used to restore physicality to our overly rational minds; to encourage return to senses in what could be seen as a “touch starved” society. Marlous images re-establish connection between animal and human creating distortions that prompt us to re-learn to see.

“So we shall walk barefoot on walnut shells
of withered worlds, and stamp out puny hells
and heavens till the spirits squeak
surrender: to build our bed as high as jack’s
bold beanstalk; lie and love till sharp scythe hacks
away our rationed days and weeks.” ~ Sylvia Plath

Interview with curator Claire Monneraye & photographer Marlous van der Sloot (Feb 2015)

Sydney-based performance artist Frances Barrett discusses the long-durational performance art: the strategies employed in physical and mental preparation for the endurance pieces, potential ethical concerns involved, questions of time and altered state of consciousness this genre of performance art elicits, and much more. 

Is the intention behind the long-durational performance to put the audience in an uncomfortable position? Click play to find out. 

This show was inspired by the visit to Australia of the renowned New York based artist Tehching Hsieh, who is considered a “master” of the durational performance genre.

More info:
https://artiris.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/on-endurance-art-with-frances-barrett-2/

Interview with performance artist Frances Barrett: ENDURANCE ART (April 2014)

Macushla Robinson, assistant curator of contemporary international art at the Art Gallery of NSW, talks about Sol LeWitt, conceptual art pioneer whose 40 years of practice is currently showing at the Art Gallery of NSW. 

In late 60s Sol LeWitt wrote famous Paragraphs and Sentences on Conceptual Art and forged a new way of thinking about art practice, where idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work and the execution is only a perfunctory affair. 

More info: https://artiris.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/talking-sol-lewitt/#more-574

Interview with curator Macushla Robinson: TALKING CONCEPTUAL ART PIONEER SOL LEWITT (March 2014)

When we think of Pop Art we usually think of it as being a male dominated movement. Names such as Warhol, Lichtenstein, or Hamilton immediately spring to mind while it is almost impossible to recall a single female artist. But back in the days (1960s) pop art was not all about the blokes; female shared the art scene and the success with their male peers grappling with sexuality and consumer culture as much as their male counterparts. What has happened since and why have they fallen off the art historical map?

We speak to curator Maura Reilly and art historian Catriona Moore to shine the light back on them and expand the preconditioned understanding of what falls into the pop art movement.

Maura Reilly is a New York and Sydney-based curator, arts writer, and educator. In 2007, together with Linda Nochlin, she co-curated critically acclaimed Global Feminisms exhibition, a major international exhibition of feminist contemporary art. Maura is also a Founding Curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, the very first exhibition and public programing space in a U.S. museum devoted exclusively to feminist art. Her most recent publication Curatorial Activism: Toward an Ethics of Curating will be available in 2015.

Catriona Moore is art historian and the University of Sydney lecturer specialised in modern, postmodern and contemporary art with particular interest in feminist art and writing. In 2013, Catriona co-founded Contemporary Art & Feminism project steered by academics and curators with a long-standing commitment to the making, documentation, analysis and promotion of art practice and art writing informed by feminism.

Interview art historians Maura Reilly & Catriona Moore: DESTABILIZING THE POP ART CANON (Dec '14)

Interview with David Roesner, a co-author of Composed Theatre and Australian theatre maker Michelle St Anne who is founder, director and a creative engine of The Living Room Theatre, a theatre company known for unconventional approach and surprising outcomes. 

We chat about the Composed Theatre, a theatre practice that applies musical or compositional thinking to all elements of performance including text, gesture, speech, light, costumes, and stage design.

How does it work in practice and why might this approach to theatre have greater impact on the audience?

Interview with David Roesner and Michelle St Anne on Composed Theatre (16 Jan 2018)

Recorded in Belgrade, Serbia, 17 May 2019.

ON SLEEP: Fanny Hellgren (artist)

Conversation with Swedish artist Fanny Hellgren whose works explore the properties and agencies of materials - be it paper, concrete, cloth, or water - and the way they transform when exposed to the elements such as sun or time. 

In this podcast recorded in Belgrade, Serbia where Fanny was on an artist residency, we delve deeper into Fanny’s interest in materiality and in-between spaces, the process and methodology of making works, her preferred ways of exhibiting them, and what role patience plays in both making and viewing art.

Fanny's website: http://www.fannyhellgren.se/

Jingle designed by @trevorbrownmusic

Conversation with artist Fanny Hellgren (May 2019, Belgrade)

Podcast with Artistic Director of the Living Room Theatre and Deputy Director of the Sydney Environment Institute, Michelle St Anne. 

Created as part of the WHY DANCE MATTERS NOW project, commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival.

Recorded on  8 January 2020 on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
Recording location: Sydney Environment Institute (The University of Sydney)
Artwork by Lena Kramaric (http://lenakramaric.com/)

For the full transcript of this podcast and additional information about Michelle St Anne see this page: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/dance-matters-michelle-st-anne

To listen to other podcasts on this theme click here: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

DANCE MATTERS: Michelle St Anne

Podcast with Croatian dancer, author, performer, and producer of Improspekcije festival for improvisation and live art, Sonja Pregrad. 

Recorded as part of the WHY DANCE MATTERS NOW project, commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival.

Recorded on 15 January 2020 on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
Recording location: online, via Skype
Artwork by Lena Kramaric (www.lenakramaric.com)

For the full transcript of this podcast and additional information about Sonja Pregrad see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/dance-matters-sonja-pregrad

To listen to other podcasts on this theme click here: www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

DANCE MATTERS: Sonja Pregrad

A conversation with Slovenian puppeteer, musician, PhD of puppetry Matija Solce during his tour in Australia in December 2019/January 2020. Featuring a surprise appearance of panda Fergus Walker Junior, who would like to make a point that even though he is not a person he has a personality. 

Recorded in Sydney on 20th January 2020 at the Alpha House Gallery.

Music used is by Matija Solce's Skandi-Balkan, folk-punk band @triokatastrofa

Conversation with Matija Solce: Slovenian puppeteer & musician (January 2020, Sydney)

Podcast with dancer and filmmaker Diane Busuttil who is also Artistic Director of Creative Caring, organisation that facilitates healthy ageing using dance as a creative tool. 

Created as part of the WHY DANCE MATTERS NOW project, commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival.

Recorded on 21 January 2020 on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
Recording location: Alpha House Artist Cooperative (Sydney, Australia)
Artwork by Lena Kramaric (www.lenakramaric.com)

For the full transcript of this podcast and additional information about Diane Busuttil see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/dance-matters-diane-busuttil

To listen to other podcasts in this series click here: www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

Dance Matters

DANCE MATTERS: Diane Busuttil

Podcast with a multi disciplinary performer, choreographer, movement researcher and educator, Kate Sherman.

Created as part of the WHY DANCE MATTERS NOW project, commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival.

Recorded on 26 January 2020 on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
Recording location: Alpha House Artist Cooperative (Sydney, Australia)
Artwork by Lena Kramaric (www.lenakramaric.com)

For the full transcript of this podcast and additional information about Kate Sherman see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/dance-matters-kate-sherman

To listen to other podcasts on this theme click here: www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

DANCE MATTERS: Kate Sherman

Podcast with the Artistic Director, choreographer and founding member of "Dusha Balkana", the Australian Academy of Balkan Dance & Culture, Yorgo Kaporis.

Created as part of the WHY DANCE MATTERS NOW project, commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival.

Recorded on 30 January 2020 on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and dance. We pay our respect to their elders, past present and emerging.

MUSIC by @trevorbrownmusic
PRODUCED by Artemis Projects
Recording location: Alpha House Artist Cooperative (Sydney, Australia)
Artwork by Lena Kramaric (www.lenakramaric.com)

For the full transcript of this podcast and additional information about Yorgo Kaporis see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/dance-matters-yorgo-kaporis

To listen to other podcasts on this theme click here: www.artemisprojects.com.au/why-dance-matters-now

DANCE MATTERS: Yorgo Kaporis

This Artemis Projects podcast is with Croatian multi-media artist Petra Mrša with whom I spoke over Skype, between Sydney and Rijeka, on 30th April 2020 during the Covid19 lock downs.

I was drawn to Petra’s work after coming across her multi-disciplinary propositional works ‘Rehearsing Family’ and ‘What about the body?’ both of which were particularly relevant now that our homes became our universe and the technology took over our bodies in unprecedented ways.

I was interested to talk to Petra, who holds degree in sociology, psychology and photography, about the body in the time of social distancing and online streaming; what direction might art take after the Covid; and how might our relation to nature be affected by it all.

Around 56'00'', we also spoke about a 'voice rally' project Petra initiated during the Covid19 lockdowns. This project is now completed and available here: https://soundcloud.com/user-219510566/sets/message

For the full transcript of the podcast with Petra see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/conversations/podcast-with-petra-mrsa

Sounds used in the podcast:
- excerpt from Kompost 3 feat. Mira Lu Kovacs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57snfRG-XgA&feature=emb_title)
- excerpt from Petra Mrsa's audio installation 'Chapters of Attachment' (http://petramrsa.com/portfolio/chapters-of-attachment/)

You can follow Petra Mrsa's practice here:
Website: petramrsa.com
Instagram: @petramrsa

Conversation with artist Petra Mrša(April 2020, Sydney/Rijeka via Skype)

Read and remixed: extract from Jacques Derrida 'The Animal That Therefore I Am'.

If you'd like to know more about this text, check out this podcast: mixcloud.com/livingtheory-mcmasteruniversit/podcast-episode1-on-jacques-derridas-the-animal-that-therefore-i-am/

For the video version see: https://vimeo.com/422456220

Reading Jacques Derrida: mixed extract 'The Animal That Therefore I Am'

This Artemis Projects podcast is with Belgrade-based filmmaker, performer, and video-artist Anja Dimitrijević recorded via Skype on 17th May 2020 during the Covid19 lock downs.

We speak about the online education, performances, connections, and new art languages that are emerging as a consequence of physical distancing. 

We enquired about the state of our bodies in increasingly digitised world and what are some of the ways to keep our bodies and our senses alive and active while engaged with the screen.

We also spoke about Anja’s recent dance video ‘Blokovi’, made during the social isolation and featuring the building and the neighbourhood in which she grew up and where she currently lives. The film is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4hD9xbq6A&list=UUaeBBG2VBDbhD6gQhFHV8ow&index=1

Towards the very end of the podcast, I ask Anja to describe the Covid19 experience in three words. I was also curious to know what are her hopes for the future and where would she like to see the humanity go.

For the full transcript of the podcast see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/conversations/podcast-anja-dimitrijevic

Sounds used in the podcast:
- Буерак - Страсть к Курению (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxLYYf5bz0M&list=LLaeBBG2VBDbhD6gQhFHV8ow&index=12&t=0s)
- Soundscape from Anja Dimitrijevic's video 'Blokovi', created by Anja Dimitrijevic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4hD9xbq6A&list=UUaeBBG2VBDbhD6gQhFHV8ow&index=1)
- Dorian Gray, 'Tonemo u Mrak', 1985 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EwyMjRYkXA)

You can follow Anja's practice here:
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user54244873
Instagram: @elesmera

Conversation with artist Anja Dimitrijevic (May 2020, Sydney/Belgrade)

This Artemis Projects podcast is with Melbourne-based theatre and performance maker Mish Grigor whom I Skyped on 20th August 2020 during the second wave of Covid19 lockdowns and shortly after her first ever digital performance titled 'Wasting Wasting Wasting Time' performed as part of Taipei's ADAM.

In this podcast Mish and I talk about her experience of performing via zoom - what were surprises, what challenges, and how does she feel about the liveness and the intimacy of the ‘in real life’ or ‘in person’ theatre being replaced by the digital interface. Can the same or a similar level of intimacy be achieved online? 

The question we keep asking is: are we rushing to go online and therefore missing on an opportunity to slow down, rest, and cultivate deeper thoughts? Is speeding up in order to adjust and catch up with changes, blurring the clarity of our vision? Could ‘wasting time’ and doing nothing be the most responsible thing to do right now? And what do we even have in mind when we suggest that time could be wasted? 

For the full transcript of the podcast see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/conversations/podcast-mish-grigor

This podcast was produced on the stolen lands of the people of Eora and Kulin nations, traditional custodians of the country and we pay our respect to elders past, present and emerging.

Conversation with performance maker Mish Grigor (August 2020, Sydney/Melbourne)

This Artemis Projects podcast is with Australian artist Elia Bosshard, whose conceptual art practice is informed by her interest in the relationship between the body and space and the impact of spatial configurations and constructed environments on our perception and our intercorporeal behaviour. 

Big words! But basically, we will be speaking about the impact that spaces have on our emotional, physical, and mental states. 

What is the difference between spaces of safety and spaces of control is, for example, one of Elia’s field of enquiry which is particularly relevant to our current Covid19 context. 

In this podcast, we will also consider the importance of open spaces, such as vast horizons, on our creativity and our ability to imagine, to think beyond existing frameworks.

For the full transcript of the podcast see: https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/conversations/podcast-elia-bosshard

This podcast was produced on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land. We pay our respect to their elders past, present, and future. It is our hope to learn from their wisdom on cultivating and caring for the land.

For more about Elia's practice see: https://www.eliabosshard.com/

Music credit: Filter Flute from Nexus Destiny by Utility

Conversation with artist Elia Bosshard (September 2020, Sydney)

A conversation with Sydney-based artist Victoria Hempstead whose work is a dialogue between the intention of the artist and the agency of the material; a reminder of the limit of our human control and certainty. 

We speak about:

- her fascination with metal and ephemerality
- intuition and importance of slowing down
- connection between confidence and the value-systems
- role of beauty in dealing with trauma
- fine line between resting and falling into lethargy
- value of collaboration and creative conversations
- embracing mistakes and the importance of playfulness
- notepads, voice memos, and dream diaries

For the full transcript of the podcast see: www.artemisprojects.com.au/conversations/podcast-victoria-hempstead

This podcast was produced on the Gadigal land of Eora nation, traditional custodians of the land. We pay our respect to their elders past, present, and future. It is our hope to learn from their wisdom on cultivating and caring for the land.

For more about Victoria's practice see: https://www.victoriahempstead.com/

Music credits: 
- an excerpt from 'Tihilele' by Les filles de Illighadad
- an excerpt from 'Galop' by Lena Platonos

Conversation with visual artist Victoria Hempstead (October 2020, Sydney)

PODCAST-CONVERSATIONS with artists and art theorists, from visual to performing arts, discussing conceptual frameworks and philosophical outlooks. Also some SOUND-COLLAGES, assembled together on variety of themes, such as: sleep, silence, intuition, collaboration, failure, and more. 

Available via iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/artemis-projects/id1462300886

PRODUCER & HOST: Ira Ferris (https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/projects-ira-ferris)

Artemis Projects

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks