Season 1, Episode 1 — Jordan Weber with John Peterson

Artist Jordan Weber joins us in the ArtLab studio to discuss race, identity, and the intersections of design, environment, and art-making within historically white spaces.

Weber’s sculpture Perennial Philosophies, recently comissioend by ArtLab and the Harvard University Committee on the Arts has recently been installed outside the ArtLab. This public sculpture combines slick black obsidian stone and chrome rims—materials that evoke what the artist calls a “dark sea we must wade,” a line drawn from poet Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb. A passage from Gorman’s poem is inscribed in the work as a memorial to the social upheaval of the summer of 2021.

At the midpoint of his year-long Loeb/ArtLab Fellowship at Harvard, Weber reflects on how he uses utilitarian materials to construct sculptures and social spaces that confront the physical and psychological constraints imposed on racially oppressed communities.

In this episode, Weber speaks with John Peterson, Curator of the Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design; Bree Edwards, Director of the ArtLab; and co-host Kristian Hardy, Harvard College sophomore. Together, they explore how art can transform built environments into sites of reflection, resistance, and renewal.

Jordan’s residency page on the ArtLab website: https://artlab.harvard.edu/jordan-weber-0

https://artlab.harvard.edu/event/new-sculpture-jordan-weber

http://jordanjweber.com/

https://loebfellowship.gsd.harvard.edu/

Works in Progress is recorded and produced in the Mead Production Lab, located on the traditional territory of the Massachusetts people, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. The show is hosted by Bree Edwards and Kristian Hardy, engineered by Kat Nakaji, edited by Jemma Byrne, and produced by the ArtLab at Harvard University with help from Thinkubator Media. Theme music by Kicktracks and Gvidon.

For more information about the show, the ArtLab, and the artists featured, visit artlab.harvard.edu. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching ArtLab at Harvard.

Thanks for joining us for Works in Progress. We hope these conversations give you a glimpse into the creativity, collaboration, and experimentation happening at ArtLab. To learn more, visit artlab.harvard.edu.

The podcast is recorded in the Mead Production Lab at the ArtLab in Boston, Massachusetts.

Hosted by Bree Edwards
Audio by Luke Damroch
Production by Kat Nakaji
Research by Sadie Trichler & Ria Cuéllar-Koh

Design by James Blue & Sonia Ralston