Air It Podcast

20/10/2023

In this episode, we catch up with on her MA Theatre and Performance practice-based research journey.

As you will hear, Nicolene has a lot to say and is very passionate about this topic, she asked that we disclaim that the speed at which she speaks might give you a little anxiety, so slow us down, pause, and breathe if necessary.

Expect discussions on Afrikanerdom, Whiteness, Christi van der Westhuizen's work on the enclaves, the fool, playing games, and so much more academic juiciness.

18/10/2023

In this episode, we catch up with Nicolene () on her MA Theatre and Performance practice-based research journey. As you will hear, Nicolene has a lot to say and is very passionate about this topic, she asked that we disclaim that the speed at which she speaks might give you a little anxiety, so slow us down, pause, and breathe if necessary. Expect discussions on Afrikanerdom, Whiteness, Christi van der Westhuizen's work on the enclaves, the fool, playing games, and so much more academic juiciness.

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Published June 2023

18/10/2023

We sat down with Prof. Stella Viljoen (.viljoen) to talk about guilty pleasures. What makes something a guilty pleasure? Why do we, as feminists, love a stukkie rom-com? In this informal and juicy episode, we consider guilty pleasure from a cultural studies perspective and share some of our guilty pleasures - like regency romance novels, period dramas, and the Kardashians. Not even to mention the mice pies!

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This episode was published December 2022. Give it a listen if you haven’t yet xx

15/08/2023

Air It podcast is in a state of change…

Over the past year we have gone back and forth and around and around with this passion project.

What does Air It mean to us?
What does it mean to others?
Where did it come from?
Where will it go (cotton eye joe)?

… this kind of spiralling reevaluating is what we are still going through
and we are still not sure what is changing, but we sense a BIG change coming anyway.

And we hope to take you there with us...

04/11/2022

The Western art and philosophy canon has been so ingrained into most of the world that it seems to be this glorious record of groundbreaking art that is set in stone. However, there are so many accounts of women creatives influencing the trajectory of culture that are not commonly acknowledged in this historical timeline. In today’s episode, we bring you stories of a few complicated creative power couples. We talk about authorship, domesticity vs. career, as well as the influence of name-dropping on the perpetual telling of the same old stories.

04/11/2022

We always laugh/ cringe whenever we look back at our Zoom video footage from episode recordings 🫠🤭

Here’s a few golden one’s from today’s recording sesh ➡️➡️

04/11/2022

Nicolene and Jana meet again in the 'genot grot' to talk about work, productivity, and the hustle in general. They recall family narratives about manual labour and a perceived sense of purpose and superiority that come from always being busy and doing something. Why is it so hard to do nothing? What does one do when you do nothing? In pondering these questions, this episode addresses topics about boredom, creativity, morning rituals, corporate culture, and rest as resistance.

01/09/2022

01/09/2022

In this episode Nicolene and Jana both need to talk through the research they are doing at the moment. 

Nicolene discusses her constant fascination with the grid in her painting works and wonders how it will morph to fit with what she is making now. From a data log to a meditation medium and now a tool to speak about political identity, the grid seems to follow her everywhere.

How do we recognise the geographic realities that are so often positioned “off the grid”? 
Jana airs out some of her current research on anticolonial and feminist geography. She draws on Sylvia Wynter’s work on humanism to explore connections between philosophy, place-making, and being human.

01/09/2022

The grid.

These early artworks of are so satisfying to look at!

Nicolene writes:

“Whenever I feel overwhelmed by negative thoughts concerning my art career, I immediately start painting a grid. Either over a finished painting, one in progress or as a base for a new painting. Reinterpreting the grid as a meditative tool instead of a measuring tool, that allows me to become present and sit with the difficult emotions I am experiencing.

Painting, concealing, scratching the grid becomes a sort of meditation of what will sit underneath or on top of it, as it compels me to patiently stay in its company until the grid is completed.

The grid and landscape exist together, blending and merging into an expression of art and the ego. This process and repetition of affirmative insights allow me agency over my inner narrative and bring insight. I see this relationship between the organic and the inorganic as an expression of the tug of war I constantly experience between logic and intuition, profession and art, structure and flow. This tug of war is a state that my art attempts to uncover, but not to solve. I allow it to exist as it is without criticism or hesitation.”

Check your podcast feeds for more reflections on the grid.

20/07/2022

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