Episode 14: Spring forward! 

Guests this month are Author Susan Orlean about her latest book project with Artist Phillip Taaffe: The Floral Ghost, and  visual artist Jennifer Burbank, to discuss Back To the Future, Artspace New Haven’s annual exhibition, Auction and Gala, which takes place later in the evening.

Susan Orlean is the bestselling author of eight books, including The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup; My Kind of Place; Saturday Night; and Lazy Little Loafers. In 1999, she published The Orchid Thief, a narrative about orchid poachers in Florida, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. Her 2011 book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, was a New York Times bestseller. Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992. She lives in Los Angeles and in upstate New York.

Martha will be in discussion with Susan about The Floral Ghost, a project which “unites the literary and the visual, the nostalgic and the optimistic”. Taking inspiration from the rapidly dwindling flower district of New York City, Orlean and Taaffe offer tandem musings on the ephemeral nature of all things floral. The book, Published by Planthouse Gallery, came out in March, 2016, after being an exhibition and boxed set of print, which has been streamlined into a book format. We’ll discuss the relationship between the visual and the written, and what it means to collaborate in such a fashion.

Both Orleans and Taaffe will be live in conversation at Wave Hill in the Bronx on Sunday, May 1st at 2:00 PM, followed by a book-signing. The event is free with admission to the grounds, but registration is strongly recommended as capacity is limited. Find out more about the event here and the book here

During the second half of the show Martha will be talking with artspace board member and one of the curators of the silnet auction exhibit, Jennifer Burbank, to discuss Artspace’s Back To the Future Gala and Benefit Auction. This year in celebration of their 30th anniversary, they invite us to turn back the clock to 1986. The night will feature the Live Auction of artworks, a silent auction of affordable works on paper– which have been on display to the public as an exhibit. Sarah and I will talk about the joys and challenges of putting together exhibits with donated works, the role local artists play in the organization, and how Artspace keeps it fresh each year.

It’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse of one of the most popular annual art events in New Haven. More information can be found at: https://artspacenewhaven.org/back-to-the-future/