Triple Canopy

On February 25th, Triple Canopy hosted Productive Behaviors, a conversation about new directions in digital publishing with its first designers-in-residence, the Zurich-based duo of Anthon Astrom and Lukas Zimmer. (Click here for a version of this podcast with slides.) Astrom and Zimmer began working together in 2007, when they initiated the Café Society Project, which investigates frameworks for reading, writing, and organizing information on-screen and in print. In 2011, they founded Astrom/Zimmer studio, which works in research, design, and software development. In the past five years, Astrom and Zimmer have won the Swiss Federal Design Award twice, among other accolades. Astrom and Zimmer spent the month of February in Brooklyn, working with Triple Canopy as we develop a new publishing platform to launch in September. In the podcast they present their work and discuss issues pertaining to the shift from print to digital publishing with Triple Canopy editors. Together they ask how publishing platforms and applications might not only illuminate but also amplify the fundamental relationships between people, places, objects, and social processes that constitute Triple Canopy's expanded field of publication. Rather than shoveling all kinds of information onto the Web, how might we design interfaces, and facilitate reading experiences, that make productive use of the ineluctable differences between digital information and tangible things in the world? Moving beyond the naive fantasy of online knowledge production, how might we envision the circulation of information between those realms so as to be meaningful, even socially beneficial?

“As it curves near the guide line SING SOFTER.” The player piano roll as poem.

“As it curves near the guide line SING SOFTER.” The player piano roll as poem. Erica Baum reads from her composition on the curious charm of player piano print,

On November 16, 2012, Triple Canopy presented Lines of Sight, a public reading of passages from fiction that describe photography explicitly, as a subject, or adopt photographic strategies of framing, staging, or manipulation. What kinds of characters are photographers?

On November 16, 2012, Triple Canopy presented Lines of Sight, a public reading of passages from fiction that describe photography explicitly, as a subject, or adopt photographic strategies of framing, staging, or manipulation. Photography is often characterized by its suspension between sets of oppositional pairs: image and object, expression and documentation, icon and index, art and technology. A fictionalized photography frees the medium from the most contentious of these oppositions—fact and fiction. When encountered in fiction, how does a photograph shift from this state of suspension to instrument of the author? How does photography participate in the act of mythologizing? How are photographic methods interpreted and employed in literature? What kinds of characters are photographers? Hannah Whitaker introduces the evening (00:00-02:19). Hannah Whitaker reads from Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Oval Portrait," 1850 (02:20-11:22). Alejandro Cesarco reads from Felisberto Hernández’s "Just Before Falling Asleep," first published, 1977 (11:23-14:17). Nancy Davenport reads from Julio Cortázar’s "Blow-up," 1968 (14:18-22:56). Daniel Gordon reads from Kobo Abe’s The Face of Another, 1966 (22:57-35:54). Molly Kleiman reads from Lorrie Moore’s Anagrams, 1986 (35:55-41:44). Michael Famighetti reads from Thomas Bernhard’s Extinction, 1995 (41:45-48:28). Michele Abeles reads from Michel Houellebecq’s The Map and the Territory, 2010 (48:29-54:32). Moyra Davey reads from Jean Genet’s Our Lady of the Flowers, 1943 (54:33-1:00:29). Sarah Resnick reads from Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, 2004 (1:00:30-1:05:40). Dan Torop reads from Halldór Laxness’s Under the Glacier, 1968 (1:05:41).

On October 20, Triple Canopy hosted Automatic Reading, a seminar addressing the act of reading as a part of contemporary artistic practice. Here we present a recording of the seminar, in which Erica Baum, Franklin Bruno, Corina Copp, Jim Fletcher, Ariana Reines, Mónica de la Torre, and R. H. Quaytman discuss of how the legacy of conceptualism has challenged traditional notions of reading both as an exchange between an individual and a text and as a public activation of the written word. Reading is frequently understood as a private encounter with characters, narratives, and, perhaps, an author. Reading in the context of conceptual art, in contrast, may underscore the material qualities of the codex (the page, binding, and technologies of printing) or cultural assumptions about readers and authors bound up with the physical format of the book. Rather than producing meaning, tout court, reading in a conceptual sense may become an encounter with an object, an audience, or social context—or with discourse itself. As in the case of unoriginal composition, the act of writing can be nearly indistinguishable from the act of looking over words. Conceptual reading establishes new uses for books and texts, even as it moves reading out of the realm of contemplation and into the space of action. Automatic Reading is part two of Corrected Slogans (A Publication in Four Acts), Triple Canopy’s ongoing collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, in conjunction with the exhibition "Postscript: Writing after Conceptual Art". The first act of Corrected Slogans—Triple Canopy’s September 15th symposium, Poems for America—emphasized strategies of unoriginal writing and art making. Automatic Reading extends this line of inquiry by focusing on how conceptual practices make use of conventions of reading.

On September 15, Triple Canopy hosted the first half of Poems for America, a pair of symposia on poetics and conceptual art. Here we present a recording of the final session, Commonplaces, a conversation about how vernacular modes of writing and image-making can inspire formal innovation, moderated by Gretchen Wagner. Poems for America is part of Corrected Slogans (A Publication in Four Acts), a collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in conjunction with the exhibition “Postscript: Writing after Conceptual Art.” Poems for America considers the ways in which acts of unoriginal composition—quotation, appropriation, transcription, and so on—create an aesthetic milieu in which certain modes of cultural production become legible, both historically and with reference to contemporary experience. How do the strategies inherited from conceptual art permit writers and artists to narrate the construction and projection of the self in relation to lived experience (rather than emphasizing abnegation of the self in favor of engagement with abstract concepts)? How do artists and poets engage with systems of language and thought to investigate the construction of historical and political identity, even while rejecting traditional modes of self-expression? How is conceptual writing and art published, and how is it shaped by changing technologies and related approaches to publication?

On September 15, Triple Canopy hosted the first half of Poems for America, a pair of symposia on poetics and conceptual art. Here we present a recording of the second session, Conceptual Art History, a conversation between Michael Corris and Matvei Yankelevich, moderated by Lucy Ives. Poems for America is part of Corrected Slogans (A Publication in Four Acts), a collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in conjunction with the exhibition “Postscript: Writing after Conceptual Art.” Poems for America considers the ways in which acts of unoriginal composition—quotation, appropriation, transcription, and so on—create an aesthetic milieu in which certain modes of cultural production become legible, both historically and with reference to contemporary experience. How do the strategies inherited from conceptual art permit writers and artists to narrate the construction and projection of the self in relation to lived experience (rather than emphasizing abnegation of the self in favor of engagement with abstract concepts)? How do artists and poets engage with systems of language and thought to investigate the construction of historical and political identity, even while rejecting traditional modes of self-expression? How is conceptual writing and art published, and how is it shaped by changing technologies and related approaches to publication?

On September 15, Triple Canopy hosted the first half of Poems for America, a pair of symposia on poetics and conceptual art. Here we present a recording of the initial session, À Rebours, a conversation between poet Aaron Kunin and artist Ken Okiishi, moderated by Katie Raissian. Poems for America is part of Corrected Slogans (A Publication in Four Acts), a collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in conjunction with the exhibition “Postscript: Writing after Conceptual Art.” Poems for America considers the ways in which acts of unoriginal composition—quotation, appropriation, transcription, and so on—create an aesthetic milieu in which certain modes of cultural production become legible, both historically and with reference to contemporary experience. How do the strategies inherited from conceptual art permit writers and artists to narrate the construction and projection of the self in relation to lived experience (rather than emphasizing abnegation of the self in favor of engagement with abstract concepts)? How do artists and poets engage with systems of language and thought to investigate the construction of historical and political identity, even while rejecting traditional modes of self-expression? How is conceptual writing and art published, and how is it shaped by changing technologies and related approaches to publication?

On September 15, Triple Canopy hosted the first half of Poems for America, a pair of symposia on poetics and conceptual art. Here we present a recording of the initial session, À Rebours, a conversation between poet Aaron Kunin and artist Ken Okiishi, moderated by Katie Raissian. Poems for America is part of Corrected Slogans (A Publication in Four Acts), a collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in conjunction with the exhibition “Postscript: Writing after Conceptual Art.” Poems for America considers the ways in which acts of unoriginal composition—quotation, appropriation, transcription, and so on—create an aesthetic milieu in which certain modes of cultural production become legible, both historically and with reference to contemporary experience. How do the strategies inherited from conceptual art permit writers and artists to narrate the construction and projection of the self in relation to lived experience (rather than emphasizing abnegation of the self in favor of engagement with abstract concepts)? How do artists and poets engage with systems of language and thought to investigate the construction of historical and political identity, even while rejecting traditional modes of self-expression? How is conceptual writing and art published, and how is it shaped by changing technologies and related approaches to publication?

On May 23, Triple Canopy hosted We Are All Anonymous, a conversation about the culture and politics of anonymity online with anthropologist Gabriella Coleman, writer David Auerbach, and lawyer James Grimmelmann. Participants discussed the hacktivist group Anonymous, the rich (and sordid) world of online message and image boards from which it emerged, and the political and legal implications of its activities. We Are All Anonymous also marked the publication of Triple Canopy‘s first e-book, Here Comes Nobody: Essays on Anonymous, 4chan and the Other Internet Culture, which compiles Auerbach and Coleman’s recent articles from the magazine and is available for the Kindle. Recording courtesy of Joly MacFie and the Internet Society of New York.

On April 12, Triple Canopy organized All A Are Not B a conversation about diagrams with David Joselit, Susanne Leeb, Prudence Peiffer, and Amy Sillman. This is a recording of that event, held on the occasion of the publication of Materialität der Diagramme: Kunst und Theorie (On the Materiality of Diagrams: Art and Theory), published by PoLYpeN (Berlin) and edited by Susanne Leeb, with contributions by Ricardo Basbaum, Benjamin Buchloh, Bureau d’études, Bracha L. Ettinger with Birgit M. Kaiser & Kathrin Thiele, and Astrit Schmidt-Burkhardt, as well as Joselit, Peiffer, and Sillman. Participants discussed how the diagram can break down conventional systems of signification and provide us with different ways of thinking about and acting in the world, and of making art. They may consider the role of transitiveness in contemporary painting; the humorous, mimetic diagrams of Ad Reinhardt; how chance operates in the work of Marcel Duchamp; how the circulation and disposition of images affects the way we relate to them; and how diagrams can draw a line between the body and the machine.

On March 7, as part of Triple Canopy's Miscellaneous Uncatalogued Material series of programs at the Museum of Modern Art, writer Ariana Reines facilitated a discussion of Gustave Flaubert's novella Un coeur simple and Sherrie Levine's 1990 artist book Gustave Flaubert: "Un coeur simple." Following the discussion, Reines led the other participants to MoMA's courtyard, where she read Un coeur simple in its entirety. In this podcast, recorded by Ben Sharony, Reines reads Un coeur simple again. Click here to download the PDF of Volume Number 2: Miscellaneous Uncatalogued Material, the publication produced by Triple Canopy as part of the programs at MoMA.

On March 7, as part of Triple Canopy's Miscellaneous Uncatalogued Material series of programs at the Museum of Modern Art, writer Ariana Reines facilitated a discussion of Gustave Flaubert's novella Un coeur simple and Sherrie Levine's 1990 artist book Gustave Flaubert: "Un coeur simple." Reines and the assembled participants talked about Levine's "feminist camp," Flaubert's miserable perfection of style, the relationship between gender and bronze parrots, and the possibility of making work that is at once hard and soft. This podcast is a recording of that event, which included Reines reading her essay "UN Click here to download the PDF of Volume Number 2: Miscellaneous Uncatalogued Material, the publication produced by Triple Canopy as part of the programs at MoMA.

"I seemed to vow to myself that some day I would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till I came to one of the poles of the earth, the end of the axis upon which this great round ball turns." The second annual wintry mix.