Serpentine Podcast

As our journey through intimacy draws to a close, it’s time to look inward and reflect on how we can get closer to ourselves. We’re considering ideas of self-knowledge and self-love, alongside what it means to draw on your own life and experiences in a creative practice.

What do artists who bring personal and intimate narratives into their work encounter? How can we open up to our vulnerability and decide when to safely share that with others? And could these acts bring us closer together – perhaps helping us build a deeper and more compassionate connection with both self and others?

Featuring an interview with Olivia Laing, an original sound work by Axel Kacoutié, audio excerpts from Agnès Varda and Luchita Hurtado from the Serpentine archive, and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and you can find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

This episode opens up to consider intimacy with the world around us. Today, many of us feel – and are – disconnected from place, and not everyone feels equally at home in the spaces we move through. Ranging from urban and built environments to social and digital worlds, this episode asks what we need to be able to feel comfortable and intimate with our surroundings.

How are artists challenging and working with different forms of space and place? And what happens when we can reconnect with the elements, environments, people, and other beings around us?

Featuring an interview with 2023 Serpentine Pavilion architect Lina Gotmeh, an original sound work by Black Power Naps, an audio excerpt from a project by Jakob Kudsk Steensen from the Serpentine archive, and Serpentine curator Kay Watson in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and you can find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

We now move from a space of fear into desire – asking how art can be a space to express, explore and experience the supposedly private sphere of sexuality.

In our desires, what is the interplay between distance and closeness? How do attraction and obsession intersect with other aspects of our lives? What happens when intimate pleasures and partnerships inform art-making – and when that work is brought before a public?

Featuring an original sound work by Pixy Liao, an interview with Tiona Nekkia McClodden, an unpublished sex column reading by Brontez Purnell, and Serpentine curator Hanna Girma in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and you can find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

Sometimes the things we fear live as intimately within us as the things we love. These fears are rarely distant from us: we are sometimes closely implicated in them, and fear is a visceral, personal experience. Fear and anxiety can be irrational, or rooted in realities that threaten us unevenly.

When can we transform our phobia into an embrace? How do we find ways to live alongside the threats of the world? And how are artists working closely – and in nuanced ways – with the instinctive feeling of fear?

Featuring an interview with Webs of Life artist Tomás Saraceno, an original sound work by Lamin Fofana, a reading by P. Staff from the Serpentine archive, and Serpentine curator Claude Adjil in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and you can find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

Following strangers, we turn to the people our lives are first entangled with: our families. Family is a contested and challenging space for some, while being a place where others find sanctuary, safety, and profound relationships. This episode considers different expectations and realities of love, care and identity within biological and chosen families, and asks how we intentionally nurture, negotiate and shift our family relationships.

How and why do artists involve their family members and homes in their work – and what do they need to take into consideration when bringing this to an audience?

Featuring an original sound work by Angelo Madsen Minax, an interview with Hetain Patel, audio excerpts from projects led by Helen Cammock and Rehana Zaman from the Serpentine archive, and Serpentine curator Lizzie Graham in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and you can find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

Reading from the introduction to adrienne maree brown’s Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation (2021, AK Press).

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

We start our journey into intimacy by considering our interactions with strangers. The unexpected crossing of paths between people who have no knowledge of each other can be emotionally impactful, whether these moments leave us unsettled, or uplifted by a sense of hope and connection.

What forms of proximity arise between strangers in public spaces? How and why do artists make work which invites new encounters between themselves and audience members? What possibilities and risks emerge when they do?

Featuring a conversation with Adrian Piper, an interview with Scottee, a performance by Cecilia Vicuña from the Serpentine archive, and Serpentine curator Tamsin Hong in conversation with Gaylene Gould.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new Intimacies episodes.

You can connect with the series on socials @serpentineuk, and find more information and full descriptive transcripts at www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/serpentine-podcast-intimacies/.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

Voice acting on Adrian Piper's contribution by Jeannette Robinson

ABOUT INTIMACIES

Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies explores the complexities of closeness, and asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves, and the world around us.Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love, and loneliness in art and life, the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

This new series of Serpentine Podcast explores the complexities of closeness. Released weekly from 22 August 2023, Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies asks how we can expand and evolve our intimacy with others, ourselves and the world around us.

Join our host, Gaylene Gould, as she gathers perspectives from artists, designers, writers, thinkers, and more on how we can rekindle trust, and open ourselves up to new possibilities for connection.

Confronting the slippery topics of fear, vulnerability, sex, love, and loneliness in art and life,the Intimacies series delves into the feelings and experiences which we don’t always voice – from our relationships with family or strangers, to the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to our surroundings and our innermost selves. Each episode combines interviews, original audio works, conversations, and pieces from the Serpentine archive. This series itself is personal, emotional, reflective, and an exploration of vulnerability in many ways.

Subscribe now to be the first to hear new episodes.

You can find out more at www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/serpentine-podcast/ and on socials @serpentineuk

TRANSCRIPT

[curious, warm, ambient tones]

Ident: Serpentine Podcast: Intimacies (echoes).

Gaylene Gould: What does intimacy mean to you?

[slow, thoughtful ambient music continues under voices]

Tiona Nekkia McClodden: I think of intimacy generally as the things that I know about myself that other people don't know.

Adrian Piper [voice actor with effects]: A meeting of minds.

Tomás Saraceno: Sometimes it's so precious that you're afraid to share it and you want to keep it as your last resource because you're afraid to be too vulnerable. It's important to share that, let's not be afraid.

Gaylene Gould: How can we expand and evolve our intimacy with ourselves, others, and the world around us?

[birdsong alongside music]

Olivia Laing: Intimacy requires risking something of your own ugliness, your own sort of less flattering angles. You can't get intimate when you are trying to present an armour.

Gaylene Gould: I’m Gaylene Gould, an artist, and explorer of ideas. I host Serpentine Podcast, and in our new series we are exploring the complexities of closeness. Last series, wewere reimagining the world, and it's now time to look within ourselves, and our relationships with those around us. Getting up close, personal and raw.

Scottee: If I spot something in somebody that I feel is close to me, I feel like I understand you, or we might understand each other. I think you start to find parallels between people that maybe are slightly abstract from your own, but you can see a gauze through the world in a similar way.

Gaylene Gould: I feel my sense of intimacy has been disrupted in recent times. So, I want to challenge myself to connect with more courage and ask braver questions. That’s what this series represents. We’ll be interrogating intimacy in unexpected ways. From our relationships with family or strangers, the things we fear most and our deepest desires, to the way our surroundings influence our intimacy, and of course, intimacy with our innermost selves.

Hetain Patel: It was kind of a mind-blowing experience, you know? It was very emotional, probably for all of us, for me and my family. I don't think it's an understatement to say it changed our relationship and things changed from there.

[sounds of a surrounding park]

Lina Ghotmeh: There's this moment of peacefulness, actually, where you're really in a timeless kind of bubble or environment. And there's a lot of wonder and, and intimacy, actually, because you feel how belonging we are to nature, to Earth, in a way…

[running water]

Pixy Liao: We are creating a world just for the two of us. A place we can always go back to that is safe and warm. A cult with only two members…

[music returns to curious, ambient tones]

Gaylene Gould: Each episode we’ll be untangling webs of intimacies through interviews with artists, writers and thinkers. We’ll be featuring new sound work, as well as diving into Serpentine’s huge archive of past programmes.

You can find Serpentine Podcast, Intimacies, on any podcast platform weekly, starting on Tuesday 22nd of August.

Subscribe to Serpentine Podcast now to be the first to hear new episodes.

CREDITS

Hosted by Gaylene Gould

Produced by Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Production support by Nada Smiljanic (Reduced Listening)

Executive production by Anishka Sharma (Reduced Listening)

Curated by Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen

Mix engineering by Jesse Lawson (Reduced Listening)

Theme music by Hinako Omori

Visual identity by the unloved

What changes can we carry forward from our REWORLDING journey – and how has it changed us? In this bonus episode, our host Gaylene Gould shares personal reflections on REWORLDING, connecting the moments that moved her with projects, ideas and understandings that have emerged following the series. This moment to pause and look back is also a chance to look forward, as we reveal exciting news about our next series.

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You can read more about REWORLDING and access a full transcript of this episode here.

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Subscribe now to never miss an episode of Serpentine Podcast. Rate and review to share your responses to REWORLDING with us.

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Credits

Serpentine Podcast: REWORLDING is presented by Gaylene Gould. The series was produced by Katie Callin, with production support from Nada Smiljanic at Reduced Listening, and curated by Serpentine’s Editorial team, Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen. Thanks to all members of Serpentine’s Programmes, Communications and Audiences teams for their direction and contribution. Special thanks to Serpentine’s leadership team Bettina Korek, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Yesomi Umolu. The theme music for REWORLDING was conceived and produced by KMRU, and the visual identity is by the unloved. Jesse Lawson is Executive Producer at Reduced Listening, and Arlie Adlington is the sound mixer. Our thanks go to all guests, contributors and advisors on REWORLDING.

How can relationships transform us, and our world? The final episode of the series explores how artists are actively collaborating with communities to change their daily realities, and how they are engaging collective dreaming and challenging their own ways of connecting to others.

Featuring Rory Pilgrim, Richard Sennett, Sumayya Vally, Amal Khalaf (Civic Curator, Serpentine), and music, performances and contributions from collaborators on Rory Pilgrim’s concert work, RAFTS Live. These collaborators include Hugh Prior, Carina Murray, Liam O’Connell, Mark Jones, Emily Butterfly Khoury, Catherina Rowland, Rome Martin-Whilby, Declan Rowe John, and Kayden Fearon.

You can read more about REWORLDING and access a full transcript of this episode here.

Subscribe now to never miss an episode of Serpentine Podcast. Rate and review to share your responses to REWORLDING with us.

Credits

Serpentine Podcast: REWORLDING is presented by Gaylene Gould. The series was produced by Katie Callin, with production support from Nada Smiljanic at Reduced Listening, and curated by Serpentine’s Editorial team, Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen. Thanks to all members of Serpentine’s Programmes, Communications and Audiences teams for their direction and contribution. Special thanks to Serpentine’s leadership team Bettina Korek, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Yesomi Umolu. The theme music for REWORLDING was conceived and produced by KMRU, and the visual identity is by the unloved. Jesse Lawson is Executive Producer at Reduced Listening, and Arlie Adlington is the sound mixer. Our thanks go to all guests, contributors and advisors on REWORLDING.

RAFTS Live Credits

RAFTS: Live at Cadogan Hall is a project by Rory Pilgrim, created in partnership with Green Shoes Arts, Barking and Dagenham Youth Dance, Project Well Being (Interfaith Sanctuary, Boise, Idaho) and the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Civic Curators: Amal Khalaf, Elizabeth Graham and Layla Gatens

Executive Producer: Holly Shuttleworth

Production Manager: Andy Downie 

RAFTS Collaborators heard on the podcast: Hugh Prior, Carina Murray, Liam O’Connell, Mark Jones, Emily Butterfly Khoury, Catherina Rowland, Rome Martin-Whilby, Declan Rowe John, Kayden Fearon.

Music

Tomorrow’s Gentle Rain

Sung by Declan Rowe John 

Song by Rory Pilgrim and Declan Rowe John

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

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Rafts of My Mind

Sung by Robyn Haddon

Song by Catherina Rowland

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

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Flowers

Sung by Kayden Fearon

Song by Rory Pilgrim and Kayden Fearon

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

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Rodeo Music 

Sung by Declan Rowe John 

Song by Rory Pilgrim 

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

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The Towel

Sung by: Declan Rowe John

Song by Rory Pilgrim, Declan Rowe John, Robyn Haddon

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

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An Amazing Purse

Sung by Robyn Haddon

Song by Rory Pilgrim and Robyn Haddon

Arranged by Rory Pilgrim 

Concert Musicians

Harp and Piano: Rory Pilgrim 

Conductor: Jack Sheen 

London Contemporary Orchestra Players: 

Flute: Clare Bennett

Clarinet: Alastair Penman

Horn: Anna Drysdale 

Violin 1: Sophie Mather

Violin 2: Blaize Henry 

Viola: Freya Hicks

Cello: Sergio Serra 

Drums and percussion: Kai Akinde-Hummel

Choir: Marged Siôn, Ben Francis, Rick Leigh, Todd Harris, Dan Lewis, Karoline Gable, Kate Marlais, Levi Heaton, Sophie Galpin, Seraphina D’Arby

RAFTS Partners:

Green Shoes Arts

Barking Dagenham Youth Dance

London Contemporary Orchestra 

Interfaith Homeless Shelter, Project Well Being 

RAFTS was commissioned by Serpentine Civic for Radio Ballads, in partnership with New Town Culture, a Cultural Impact Award-winning project, part of London Borough of Culture, a Mayor of London initiative.

How do we co-create our world with other species, and how are artists working with these beings in response to ecological instability? This episode of REWORLDING reflects on the need for reconnection, healing and regeneration, and showcases art that celebrates our connection to a wider web of life and plays an active role in nurturing other lifeforms.

This episode features: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Kamala Ibrahim Ishag, and Sarah Hamed; audio from Hans Ulrich Obrist & guest fauna; music by Sulafa Elyas; 12 Dreams as Coral Hair, a sound work by Yussef Agbo-Ola; Es Devlin and Apichatpong Weerasethakul reading their contributions to 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth, and contributions from Yube Huni Kuin and Mashã Huni Kuin, agroforestry agents with AMAAIAC (from Maria Thereza Alves’s Back to Earth project, To See the Forest Standing).

You can read more about REWORLDING and access a full transcript of this episode here.

Subscribe now to never miss an episode of Serpentine Podcast. Rate and review to share your responses to REWORLDING with us.

Credits

Serpentine Podcast: REWORLDING is presented by Gaylene Gould. The series was produced by Katie Callin, with production support from Nada Smiljanic at Reduced Listening, and curated by Serpentine’s Editorial team, Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen. Thanks to all members of Serpentine’s Programmes, Communications and Audiences teams for their direction and contribution. Special thanks to Serpentine’s leadership team Bettina Korek, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Yesomi Umolu. The theme music for REWORLDING was conceived and produced by KMRU, and the visual identity is by the unloved. Jesse Lawson is Executive Producer at Reduced Listening, and Arlie Adlington is the sound mixer. Our thanks go to all guests, contributors and advisors on REWORLDING.