Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills
Miriam Atkin
- 17
- Episodes
- 2024
- First episode
About Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills
Specific Objects is a monthly freeform radio show and podcast, hosted by Miriam Atkin, that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Sponsored by Wave Farm WGXC Intro music: "Sing Out," Joanna Mattrey Logo design: Ric Royer
- Publisher
- Miriam Atkin
- Category
- arts
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 15 Apr 2024
- Latest episode
- 29 Mar 2026
Latest episodes
17 episodes in the feed.
29 Mar 2026
Specific Objects: Ep.17 Amie Zimmerman
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Albany-based poet Amie Zimmerman. Amie reads from her new poetry collection, False Spring, published by Roof Books in January, and we discuss themes of collectivity, selfhood, and uncertainty in the poems. Also starlings. "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
23 Dec 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.16 Viktorsha Uliyanova
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Woodstock-based multidisciplinary artist Viktorsha Uliyanova. We discuss her recent solo show at Roundabouts Now gallery in Kingston titled "Quieter than Water Lower than Grass." Viktorsha Uliyanova is a multidisciplinary artist and educator working with alternative photography, installation, video, and fiber art. Her work explores impermanence, the notion of home, and cultural identity narrated through the prism of memory. Uliyanova’s practice is informed by her upbringing in the Soviet Union, political repression, and the immigrant experience. In her research, Uliyanova explores neglected and overlooked histories, often using archives as a catalyst for her work. Her work has been exhibited at Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Baxter St., MOMA PS1, Participant Inc, and Collarworks, among others. She teaches photography at SUNY New Paltz. "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
30 Sept 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.15 Erica Dawn Lyle
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with musician/writer Erica Dawn Lyle. We discuss her new album, On Fire, in which she transforms and deforms Van Halen's classic live opener and "tunes her antenna deeply to The Moment, channeling abandon and grief in equal measure." Lyle also gives a reading of recent poems that explore the body as a site of personal and collective experimentation-as-resistance. Erica Dawn Lyle is a writer, curator, experimental musician, and cultural instigator who lives in New York City and Florida. The former touring guitar player for Bikini Kill, as a solo performer, Lyle has released musical collaborations with Kim Gordon, The Raincoats, Bernadette Mayer, Kathleen Hanna, Brontez Purcell, and many more, and she performs in the improv free jazz activist duo, MYKAWARA, with drummer, Marshall Trammell. Lyle is the author of Streetopia(Booklyn, 2015) and On The Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of The City (Soft Skull, 2008) and has written for Artforum, Art in America, Frieze, and NPR's This American Life. Her most recent book is The Knight of Cups (Belladonna, 2023). "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
27 Jul 2025
Specific Objects Ep.14: A Tribute to Cole Heinowitz| Cole's Music, Poetry, and the Interplay Between Them, w/ Guest Chris Funkhouser
This month, Chris Funkhouser visits the studio to discuss the life and work of poet, translator, musician, and professor Cole Heinowitz. Chris and Cole played music together in multiple Hudson Valley ensembles; we listen to audio from those projects as well as archival recordings of Cole reading her poetry. Poet Ray'd Yo: Cole Heinowitz Tribute (https://wavefarm.org/wf/archive/32k02e) Cole Heinowitz's PennSound Page (https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Heinowitz.php) Satan's Black Acid Bandcamp Page (https://satansblackacid.bandcamp.com/) ~ Cole Heinowitz was born and raised in San Diego, California. She earned a BA in creative writing and comparative literature from the University of California San Diego and an MA and PhD in comparative literature from Brown University. Prior to coming to Bard College, she taught literature and Spanish at Brown University, Brandeis University, and Dartmouth College. Dr. Heinowitz joined the faculty at Bard College in 2004 and became full professor in 2021. Her mind and personality were magnetic and singular. She combined a mesmerizing presence, uncommon perceptions, and a deep and intense enthusiasm for scholarship and art and the community of learning. An accomplished writer, musician, translator, and scholar, Cole Heinowitz’s unique gifts spanned many literary-historical fields, genres, and languages. She was the author of three books of poetry: Daily Chimera (Incommunicado, 1995), Stunning in Muscle Hospital (Detour, 2002), and The Rubicon (The Rest, 2007). She translated widely from Spanish into English, concentrating on 20th-Century Latin American poetry. Translated works include Advice from 1 Disciple of Marx to 1 Heidegger Fanatic (Ediciones Sin Fin, 2023; Wave Books, 2013) and Bleeding from All 5 Senses (White Pine, 2020), both by Mexican infrarrealist poet Mario Santiago Papasquiaro; A Tradition of Rupture, the collected essays of Argentine poet and fiction writer Alejandra Pizarnik (Ugly Duckling, 2019); and Primeval Wing by Mexican poet Mara Larrosa (forthcoming from Ediciones Norteadas). Dr. Heinowitz’s translations from French include Succubations & Incubations: Selected Letters of Antonin Artaud (Infinity Land, 2020). ~ Christopher Funkhouser is a writer, musician, and multimedia artist who has authored of two scholarly monographs, Prehistoric Digital Poetry: An Archeology of Forms, 1959-1995 and New Directions in Digital Poetry. I have taught Communication and Media courses at NJIT since 1997, and was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Multimedia University, Malaysia, in 2006. As a publisher he worked closely with Amiri Baraka and Kamau Brathwaite, and many other writers and artists. He was commissioned by the Associated Press to prepare digital poems for the occasion of Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, and in 2016 he performed at the Whitney Museum’s Open Plan: Cecil Taylor exhibition. Christopher is a Contributing Editor at PennSound, host of the POET RAY’D YO radio program at WGXC (Hudson, NY), and is a member of the improvisational musical ensemble Most Serene Congress. ~ "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
25 May 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.13 Robbie Wing and Ryan Skrabalak
Artists Robbie Wing and Ryan Skrabalak discuss their current projects and artistic processes with Miriam Atkin in an open conversation about art in the Catskills, offering insights into their creative practices in this interview.
27 Feb 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.12 Evan Lindorff-Ellery and Jeffrey Benjamin
This month's episode is a departure from the typical Specific Objects format. I invited two artists to the studio to share their work. What differed this time is that none of us had had prior exposure to the work in question; we were all encountering it for the first time. A meandering conversation ensued. Evan Lindorff-Ellery is a sound and visual artist based in the Hudson Valley, and he is the owner and curator of Notice Recordings. His most recent albums are Cymbals and Night, on Aloe Records from Beijing, and Church Recordings from Monhegan, on Full Spectrum Records. You can find his personal work at evanlindorffellery.bandcamp.com (https://wavefarm.org/programmer/broadcasts/dqvxj7/evanlindorffellery.bandcamp.com) and his work with Notice Recordings at noticerecordings.bandcamp.com (https://wavefarm.org/programmer/broadcasts/dqvxj7/noticerecordings.bandcamp.com). Jeff Benjamin is an archaeologically inclined writer and artist, living and working in the gently eroded Silurian and Devonian plateau known as the Catskills. He is a member of several art/archaeology collectives, including The Hub for Speculative Fabulation Upon Incidental Observations (Copenhagen, Denmark), NanaDomain (Serifos, Greece) and The International Society of Antiquaries (Beacon, N.Y.) and Pebble in My Shoe Research Collective (Helsinki, Finland). He has a PhD in Archaeology from Columbia University, New York City and a Masters in Industrial Archaeology from Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan. To find out more about his work, email him at jeffreybenjamin@gmail.com (https://wavefarm.org/programmer/broadcasts/dqvxj7/jeffreybenjamin@gmail.com). "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region, at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
22 Jan 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.11 Bryan Zanisnik
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Bryan Zanisnik, an artist working in sculpture, performance, video and photography who lives in the Catskill Mountains. We discuss his fascination with discarded objects and overlooked spaces, and the way artworks can assemble fragments of our material and cultural histories in order to tell new stories, or retell old ones. Bryan's Website (https://www.zanisnik.com/) Bryan on Art 21 (https://art21.org/artist/bryan-zanisnik/) Bryan Zanisnik received an MFA from Hunter College and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has been widely featured in the New York Times, National Public Radio, Art in America, Artforum, ARTnews, and New York Magazine. Zanisnik has been the subject of four documentaries produced by Art21, the most recent of which is titled, “Bryan Zanisnik’s Big Pivot." "Specific Objects" is a monthly freeform discussion hosted by Miriam Atkin that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region, at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
15 Jan 2025
Specific Objects: Ep.10 Jan Razauskas and Gary Kachadourian
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with painter Jan Razauskas and printmaker Gary Kachadourian, both based in Lanesville. We talk about chance and control in abstract painting, and get deep into the nuts and bolts of analog processes for the reproduction of photographic images. Jan Razauskas is a visual artist who creates paintings, drawings and mixed media work. She moved to the Catskills in 2018, from Baltimore, by way of a few years in Tulsa, Ok. Her interests in abstract painting include the invention of the image, and the possibilities in combining methods of chance and control. Razauskas has shown extensively in the Mid-Atlantic area and beyond, recent exhibition venues include Monopractice Gallery, Current Gallery and the Maryland Institute College of Art, all in Baltimore, and Twoforty Space in Brooklyn. In addition, she worked for several decades as a non-profit gallery administrator, as well as teaching in various colleges. You can view her work at https://www.janrazauskas.com/. For the last six years Gary Kachadourian has been operating Lanesville Press where he publishes small open edition books on an engraving press in his garage. Most of the books comprise four mezzotint copies of photographs or video stills made in collaboration with artists. Before moving to Lanesville he lived in Baltimore where he worked as an art administrator for the city’s arts council for over twenty years while also working on his own art. You can view Lanesville Press projects at www.instagram.com/lanesvillepress/.
23 Oct 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.9 Larry Chernicoff
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Catskill-based composer and instrumentalist, Larry Chernicoff. We discuss his new compositions, which are informed by a long-standing interest in cloudy skies, architectural forms, the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, and numerous other elemental, spiritual, and aesthetic influences. Larry’s most recent work has been in collaboration with the Higher Octave Ensemble—an 8-piece group comprising seasoned improvisers, composers, bandleaders, and educators—and our conversation comes just ahead of two performances with the ensemble, on 10/25 and 10/26 in Catskill and Pine Plains. For more information, visit www.larrychernicoff.com. Larry Chernicoff is a self-taught composer and instrumentalist, an award-winning recording artist, a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Fellowship, and a record producer. His compositions combine jazz and classical elements, composition and improvisation, and unusual instrumental colors (often with “orchestral” instruments (clarinet, bass clarinet, cello, violin, oboe, English horn, bassoon, etc.)) in addition to traditionally “jazz” instruments (saxophones, trumpet). He has written for dance, theater, and film. Whenever possible, his ensembles perform with no amplifiers or microphones. He has a strong sense that the world needs acoustic music now more than ever, so his sound is organic, acoustic and unplugged – brass, metal, wood, reed. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region, at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Specific Objects is a monthly freeform discussion, hosted by Miriam Atkin, that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
23 Sept 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.8 Stacy Szymaszek
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Catskill-based poet Stacy Szymaszek. Stacy reads from their forthcoming book-length poem titled ESSAY (Krupskaya, 2025), and we discuss the poems, covering topics such as loving beyond usefulness, the essay as form, literary lineages, cows, and poetry as a means of / challenge to survival. You can read learn more about Stacy's work at www.stacyszymaszek.org (www.stacyszymaszek.org). Stacy Szymaszek is the author of seven books of poetry: Emptied of All Ships (2005), Hyperglossia (2009), hart island (2015), Journal of Ugly Sites and Other Journals (2016), which won the Ottoline Prize from Fence Books and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in 2017, A Year From Today (2018), The Pasolini Book (2022), and Famous Hermits (2023). They are the recipient of a 2014 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, a 2019 Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant in poetry, and are a 2024 MacDowell Fellow. From 2007-2018, they were the Director of The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. They live in New York’s Upper Hudson Valley. ~ Specific Objects is a monthly freeform discussion, hosted by Miriam Atkin, that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region, at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
23 Jul 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.7 Archival Recordings | William S. Burroughs and Will Alexander
This month's broadcast is different in that, rather than conducting an interview, host Miriam Atkin shares archival recordings of conversations with artists she admires. The first half of the broadcast is an interview with WIlliam S. Burroughs by Kathy Acker. The second half is an interview with Will Alexander by Douglas Manuel. Videos of these talks are available at: https://ubu.com/film/burroughs_acker.html https://youtu.be/xB_IGH8Nw9k?si=xQgMUB0f5ukwBW67 Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
25 Jun 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.6 Patrick Costello
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Athens and NYC-based interdisciplinary artist Patrick Costello. We discuss some of Patrick's recent projects (My Pizza, My Idea!, And Eat It Too, and Privy Privy), as well as his experiments in collective art-making and ecological horticulture on 10 acres of raw land in Greene County. And Eat It Too (https://sqhap.org/happenings/patrick-costello) Privy Privy (https://www.patrickjcostello.net/privy-privy) My Pizza, My Idea! (https://www.patrickjcostello.net/my-pizza-my-idea)
23 May 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.5 Lina Azalea Dahbour and Matt Luczak
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Kingston-based movement artist Lina Azalea Dahbour and Cairo-based noise musician Matt Luczak. We discuss their sound-movement duo DSM-69. Specific Objects is a monthly freeform discussion, hosted by Miriam Atkin, that invites artists from a variety of disciplines to describe, ponder, interrogate, interpret, and celebrate their current projects. The focus is on guests who live and work in the Hudson Valley/Catskills region, though people will occasionally visit from farther afield. Tune in to learn what artists in your neighborhood are thinking and making right now. Miriam Atkin is a Catskills-based writer whose work concerns the possibilities of poetry as a medium in conversation with avant-garde film, music, and dance. She is cofounder of Pinsapo, an international publishing collective, and teaches writing around the Hudson Valley region, at Bard College and the Otisville Correctional Facility. Intro music: "Sing Out" by Joanna Mattrey
24 Apr 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.4 Kimberly Alidio
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," host Miriam Atkin speaks with Kimberly Alidio (https://www.kimberlyalidio.com/), a Catskill-based poet, essayist, historian, and teacher. We discuss Kimberly's summer 2023 book of poems, Teeter (https://nightboat.org/book/teeter/) (Nightboat), and the essay she wrote about it, "On Being Porous," (https://www.e-flux.com/journal/144/599224/on-being-porous/) which was recently published in e-flux journal. The show concludes with a reading of "Dread Poem," which is part of Kimberly's forthcoming book, slated for release in 2025.
24 Apr 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.3 Amanda Turner Pohan
On this month's edition of "Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills," (https://wavefarm.org/radio/wgxc/schedule/s3z66z) host Miriam Atkin speaks with Amanda Turner Pohan (known as Pohan), a Lanesville-based interdisciplinary artist. The discussion revolves around Pohan's outdoor sculpture titled between Scylla and Charybdis, which was created in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey and is currently installed at the RIT campus. The piece was supported by a NYSCA Media Arts Assistance Fund grant and Wave Farm Radio. We also discuss her recent video work, Alexa Echoes, which screened at the 36th edition of Images Festival in Toronto. You can experience between Scylla and Charybdis at https://betweenscyllaandcharybdis.pohanamandaturner.com/ (https://betweenscyllaandcharybdis.pohanamandaturner.com/) and also at wavefarm.org/listen (https://wavefarm.org/listen). You can view Alexa Echoes at https://empac.rpi.edu/events/2021/alexa-echoes (https://empac.rpi.edu/events/2021/alexa-echoes).
24 Apr 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.2 Lea Bertucci
On this month's edition of Specific Objects: Talks on Art in the Catskills (https://wavefarm.org/radio/wgxc/schedule/s3z66z), host Miriam Atkin speaks with Lea Bertucci, a Kingston-based artist, composer, and performer. The discussion revolves around Lea’s 2023 album, Of Shadow and Substance, and her forthcoming album, I Know the Number of the Sand and the Measure of the Sea. We also talk about Lea’s graphic scores, one of which can be viewed here (http://lea-bertucci.com/Compositions.html). Download Of Shadow and Substance here (https://leabertucci.bandcamp.com/album/of-shadow-and-substance). More information about Lea’s work can be found at http://lea-bertucci.com/ (http://lea-bertucci.com/).
15 Apr 2024
Specific Objects: Ep.1 Charlotte Stickles
Specific Objects welcomes Hudson-based movement artist Charlotte Stickles to the studio to discuss her recent projects in performance, film, choreography, and education. More information about Charlotte's work can be found at charlottestickles.com. (https://charlottestickles.com/)
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