Originally from the Navajo Nation, Raven Chacon is a composer of chamber music, a performer of experimental noise music, and an installation artist. He performs regularly as a solo artist as well as with numerous ensembles in the Southwest and beyond. He is also a member of the Indigenous art collective Postcommodity, with who he recently premiered the 2-mile long land art/border intervention, Repellent Fence.

Just one week after the election results in the United States, I had the honor to sit down with composer and artist Raven Chacon and talk about his practice. In this episode Raven speaks about the origins of his work and how he came to experience making sound. We hear about his involvement with Postcommodity, an interdisciplinary arts collective comprised of Raven Chacon, Cristóbal Martínez, and Kade L. Twist and we also hear about his work teaching youth through the Native American Composer Apprentice Project. Raven shares his varying experiences in creating chamber music and experimental noise and reflects on the ‘dues' that must be paid by artists along the way. He also addresses ideas around identity and the Indigenous artist, what the role of the artist is, and the opportunity the artist has to remain mysterious. Raven reminds us to think critically and to take time to seek the truth.

More about Raven Chacon: http://spiderwebsinthesky.com/
Blog link: http://www.brokenboxespodcast.com/podcast/2016/12/3/episode-56-interview-with-raven-chacon

Image: Repellant Fence. Postcommodity. http://postcommodity.com/Repellent_Fence

Episode 56

Interview with composer and artist Raven Chacon. Episode 56

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Launched in 2014, Broken Boxes was created to transmit ideas between working Artists. Broken Boxes shares the lived experiences and world building strategies of contemporary Artists in order to archive collective strength while considering how Art and imagining may unbind us from collective social trauma. This long-form interview podcast reflects the vulnerability and strength of the Artist while acknowledging the many variations of an Artists practiced values including those of the activist, advocate, disruptor or culture bearer. 

Broken Boxes maintains that complexity is resilience and expands on the points where we stand in accomplice-ship for one another as creatives. By actively practicing long term alliance through communication strategy, this work amplifies Artists at the forefront of global and regional impact who are creating new ways to see our existence through Art, organizing and advocacy. This project promotes deeper understanding, healing and solidarity as we move collectively towards witnessing each other and the world in new ways.

Interview with composer and artist Raven Chacon. Episode 56

Broken Boxes Podcast