Art of Interference

Art of Interference

The AoI Collaboratory

Episodes 28
Avg. Duration 49m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 5.0 (13)
Since May 2023
Latest Episode Jun 2026

Outreach Signals

Features Guests

Publishing Details

Schedule
Monthly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
78%
Hosting
rss.buzzsprout.com

About This Podcast

Art of Interference explores creative responses to climate change. We feature artists whose images, sounds, and performances encourage us to retune the relations of nature and technology, the human and the nonhuman. We ask climate scientists about their research and how it chimes with the interventions of contemporary artists. Additionally, we speak to activists, cultural critics, and policymakers about the need to develop a new ethics appropriate to our twenty-first century of planetary crises. In each episode, we discuss timely and untimely perspectives on how we, amid our human-made emergencies, may act in the world and allow this changing world to act on us.

Our third season investigates different Earth materials--metals, minerals, rocks, soil, moss, or wood. How, we ask our guests, does organic and inorganic matter in all its elemental states and shapes inspire their artistic creativity? And in what way does their work challenge prevalent notions of agency and entanglement, care and co-dependency, control and disturbance? By pursuing these questions, we present contemporary art as a unique laboratory to reevaluate common notions of interference and what it means to be alive amid the ecological crises of our present.


Our first two seasons featured artists whose work collaborated with water and air, or fourth and final season will discuss artistic practices that use fire as a medium to address the challenges of our over-heating planet.

In our AoI Special Editions, we present thought-provoking conversations about the arts as transformative media of inquiry, the role of art within the landscapes of higher education, and the interplay between artistic research, climate studies, and technology development.

Art of Interference is produced at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. It has been made possible with the financial support of “The Science Communication Media Collaborative “ of the College of Arts & Science.

For more information, visit us at https://artofinterference.com.

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Recent Episodes

S3E5 Earth 5: Salt

Jun 02, 2026 53m

Hosts: Tori Hoover and Emma VendettaSalt: Homer called it “a divine substance.” Plato considered it as the element most dear to the gods, a distinction awarded for its central role in human life.…

S3E4 Earth 4: Forests

Feb 27, 2026 59m Transcript

Host: Lutz KoepnickIn today’s episode of Art of Interference we speak with Ursula Biemann, a Swiss artist based in Zurich. Her work over the last decades has explored forests in the Amazon and the…

S3E3 Earth 3: Soil

Dec 23, 2025 47m Transcript

Soil is the foundation of life, but how often do we recognize it as such? On this episode of the Art of Interference, we speak with visual artist Allie Horick about her soil quilts—works that stitch…

S3E2 Earth 2: Wood

Dec 03, 2025 46m Transcript

In this episode of Art of Interference, we explore the medium of wood as a means of rethinking traditional ideas of human and nonhuman being amid a world of planetary emergencies. “People are really…

S3E1 Earth 1: Lithium

Aug 28, 2025 48m Transcript

Lithium plays a key role in the green energy transition. Its extraction, however, comes at considerable costs for the environment and for local communities, particularly in the so-called lithium…

Special Edition 3 | Connecting the Dots

Dec 06, 2024 48m Transcript

Diné artist and photographer Will Wilson has been photographing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines and remediation site on the Navajo Nation over the last few years. In this episode, we speak with…

S2E10 Air 10: In the Air

Nov 02, 2024 56m Transcript

In this final episode of season 2, we talk with dancer and dance scholar Mariama Diagne about the art of “heavy hovering”—the ability of modern ballet and dance to teach us a different way of moving…

S2E9 Air 9: Smoke

Oct 17, 2024 50m Transcript

Smoke is a beautiful—yet sometimes strange, or even terrifying—phenomenon. In today’s episode, we explore how the mysterious qualities of smoke open up possibilities for exploration and better…

S2E8 Air 8: Wind

Sep 13, 2024 45m Transcript

“Wind, wind, wind. If you repeat the word wind often enough, then it will blow by itself.” These are the poetic words of this episode’s featured artist, Theo Jansen, who has spent the last three…

S2E7 Air 7: Oxygen

Aug 16, 2024 56m Transcript

Our air and atmosphere require 21% oxygen to sustain life as we know it. Human-induced climate change has put this ratio under pressure. In this episode of Art of Interference, we feature Santiago…

S2E6 Air 6: Air Conditioning

Jul 23, 2024 49m Transcript

Temperature regulation has become a deeply political issue in our boiling world. In this episode, we speak with London-based artist Susan Schuppli about her work on the violence of temperature and…

S2E5 Air 5: Smog

Jul 06, 2024 58m Transcript

“I am working very hard, although this morning... I was terrified to see that there was no fog, not even a wisp of mist: I was prostrate, and could see all my paintings done for, but gradually the…

S2E4 Air 4: Carbon Dioxide

Jun 13, 2024 55m Transcript

In this episode, we turn our attention to the carbon footprint of the contemporary art world. What can galleries and museums do to reduce their CO2 emissions? How do curators and museum directors…

S2E3 Air 3: Clouds

Jun 03, 2024 52m Transcript

In this episode of Art of Interference, we turn our attention to the larger-than-life cloud creations of Tomás Saraceno, an artist who creates cities in the clouds and flyable cloud sculptures as a…

S2E2 Air 2: Breath

May 15, 2024 48m Transcript

In this episode, we talk with Grammy-award winning fluteplayer Molly Barth about the relation of breath, contemporary flute music, and climate change. We also hear from pulmonologist Dr. Priya…

S2E1 Air 1: Ether

May 02, 2024 49m Transcript

In this first episode of our second season, we speak with three artists and scientists who reach out beyond the atmosphere of our planet in distress: astrophotographer Gerhard Huedepohl, photography…

Special Edition 2 | Holding Impact: Art, Science, and the Tasks of Contemporary Museums

Mar 01, 2024 42m

Amie Esslinger’s site-specific installation Holding Impact is currently on display in Cohen Memorial Hall on the campus of Vanderbilt University. In this program we hear from Amie and from Amanda…

Special Edition 1 | Reverberations: Ancient Rock Art Today

Sep 28, 2023 43m Transcript

This special edition of Art of Interference explores echoes between ancient rock and cave art and our contemporary moment. We feature the work of photographer Stephen Alvarez and visual artist Dustin…

S1E10 Water 10: Water Protectors

Sep 15, 2023 53m Transcript

In the final installment of Art of Interference’s first season, we feature a contemplative conversation with Cannupa Hanska Luger, an artist of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota heritage, who…

S1E9 Water 9: Rain

Sep 01, 2023 48m Transcript

“Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon,” wrote poet Edward Thomas in the trenches of the first World War. Today’s episode deals with two different sorts of grief: climate grief, as inspired…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Art of Interference have?

Art of Interference has published 28 episodes since May 2023, covering topics in Arts, Nature.

Is Art of Interference still active?

Art of Interference is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 49m.

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