This Beautiful Shot is Not an Accident

A podcast about the creative process, storytelling and social change.

Cleopatra Kambugu, seeds of change 02/14/2022

Cleopatra Kambugu, seeds of change “This is what I am, do you read me?” Cleopatra Kambugu is a biologist, activist and transgender film personality. Her wish to understand her gender expression led her to study genetics and molecular biology in university and later undergo surgery to help others decode what she felt she already was. In today’s episode we talk about Cleopatra’s resilience, her experience in Uganda during the threats that came in 2013 with the Anti-Homosexual Act, her participation in the award-winning documentary, Pearl of Africa, and her ideas about change, that change is a marathon, we are planting seeds take time to grow. And while they grow we must remember it is important to enjoy the life we have. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/22123493

Tom Kellner, translating culture 01/20/2022

Tom Kellner, translating culture Can books from one culture bring empathy to people from very different backgrounds and experiences? Post-doctoral research Tom Kellner is researching the translatability of Israeli literature being published in Germany. In this episode we speak about the process of understanding what books sell, why they sell, and the possible reasons for which works readers read. What readers understand and if empathy increased from reading the stories from another culture is more difficult to determine. Kellner shares a different definition of empathy, one from philosopher Emmanuel Levinus, that empathy is accepting that people are different and we do not understand them. And yet we care. Join us as we explore these ideas. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/21835811

Michelle M Wright, constructing inclusion 11/21/2021

Michelle M Wright, constructing inclusion Biases in search engines are not only an issue of algorithms, our bias is built into the beliefs we have about the world. And our beliefs are influenced by the stories we absorb through our culture and more and more the information we find online. Today I’m speaking with Michelle M. Wright, distinguished professor or literature and Emery College. She has been researching how blackness is constructed through the stories that are told in the public sphere. Today we talk about new stories coming into the culture and ways we can strive to be more inclusive when telling our own stories, looking at the questions we ask others and holding space for ambiguity. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/21233807

TRAILER: Season 4, Empathy, Storytelling & Bridging Divides 10/25/2021

TRAILER: Season 4, Empathy, Storytelling & Bridging Divides This season I’m in conversation with academics, artists and changemakers about empathy, storytelling and bridging divides. We will be talking about storytelling as it relates to economics, design, literature and beyond. We are all in the process of re-imaging our world. Can empathy help us be more inclusive, kind, compassionate and effective storytellers for change? /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20925680

Dean Dori Tunstall, designing for diversity 10/21/2021

Dean Dori Tunstall, designing for diversity Inclusion and equity don’t just happen because it is part of your mission statement. Creating a space where all members feel a sense of belonging is a process. And today I am in conversation with Dori Tunstall who has been working in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion and decolonization. Dori Tunstall is Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto, Canada. Our conversation stretches from language of inclusion to the insights that mushrooms and design thinking bring to our understanding of our fundamental interconnectedness. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20891207

Della Duncan, Reimagining Economics 10/06/2021

Della Duncan, Reimagining Economics What is needed to create an economic system that supports human and planetary flourishing? Renegade Economist Della Duncan speaks about what is needed, deeper connection with our values. Della is founder and co-host of the Upstream Podcast where she invites listeners to imagine what a sustainable, just and democratic economy might look like. In our conversation Della shares the journey she took to reimagining economics, and shares ways we can move from consumption to connection. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20725847

Misha Leinkauf, at the border 09/16/2021

Misha Leinkauf, at the border Today I’m talking to filmmaker, installation artist and photographer Mischa Leinkauf whose work explores the borders, borders of buildings, bridges, public space, laws, and nation states. This season I’ve been talking to artists about their first solo show. Many of his works are performative interventions and the definition of a show is somewhat nebulous. Who sees the work, when they see the work, do they even know it is a work? /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20496560

Wild Anima, the ecology of emotions 08/14/2021

Wild Anima, the ecology of emotions The ecology of emotions is a concept Wild Anima, musician and sound artist Alex Alexopolous has been developing. It is a practice of mending the broken parts through our inner process of photosynthesis. Her sound work and artistic practice center around the heart and healing through nature, meditation and love. Our conversation explores these connections, moving beyond the inner voice and acute shyness, and the importance of keeping a creative process. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20142602

Artist Residency Pt 4, Time & Possibility 08/08/2021

Artist Residency Pt 4, Time & Possibility Time and a sense of new possibilities are essential for the creative process. Today I speak with the co-creators of KuBa Kulturabahnhof where I’ve been in residence for a month about the artistic process and the gifts of the residency sharing space with the villages of Klien Warnow and beyond. I also speak with the artistic team of Hyenaz, Kathryn Fischer and Adrienne Teicher about their week of research on the topic of extraction, capitalism and the arts. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/20067803

Artist Residency Pt 3, Changing 07/26/2021

Artist Residency Pt 3, Changing This week painter Jamila Barakat and video/audio artist Laura J. Lukitsch speak about how their work has developed during the three weeks at the artist residency at KuBa Kulturbahnhof. Jamila shares how she was able to break through her previous painting style to find a new dialect to her painting language and Laura found a way to incorporate augmented audio into her installation. The conversation documents their lessons learned both in terms of their work and their way of thinking about the inner critic. And they share reminders of methods they use to reconnect to their creative flow and inner voice. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/19935740

Artist Residency Pt 2, Unfolding 07/17/2021

Artist Residency Pt 2, Unfolding The creative process is not a straight line. This week painter Jamila Barakat and video/audio artist Laura J. Lukitsch share reflections on their creative process during their artist residency at KuBa Kulturbahnhof. The conversation covers feeling like a fraud, thoughts on beauty and disgust and a discussion on finding balance between pleasant and controversial material. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/19842089

Artist Residnency Pt 1, Expectations 07/10/2021

Artist Residnency Pt 1, Expectations Have you been curious about what happens at an artist residency? Painter Jamila Barakat and video/audio artist Laura J. Lukitsch share their reflections on their first artist residency. They talk about the creative process, embracing happiness and failure, self-esteem, past projects and what they want to accomplish during their weeks at the Kuba Kulturbahnhof, 2.5 hours outside of Berlin, Germany. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/19768190

Katze Shaw, buried treasure 04/16/2021

Katze Shaw, buried treasure Katze is a Chinese artist and curator living in Berlin. In today’s conversation, we travel from a buried treasure in a school ground in China to marching down the streets of Berlin while remembering the events of 1989 in both countries. Her work is a deep meditation on freedom and the forms it takes across the spectrum of political and personal circumstances. This is a question the continues to be relevant across space and time. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/18751583

Shasta Ellenbogen, creating space 02/11/2021

Shasta Ellenbogen, creating space Shasta Ellenbogen is a musician, violist and founder of Classical Sundays, a classical music series bringing new audiences to the classical music genre through an innovative way of curating concerts in Berlin, Germany. In today’s conversation, we talk about the culture of classical music, finding the strength to do one’s own thing, the challenges of leadership across cultures, and Shasta’s hope for the future of Classical Music. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/17914187

Gabi Schaffner, recording in the field 01/21/2021

Gabi Schaffner, recording in the field Radio Producer and artist Gabi Schaffner has been creating audio experiences in the realm of field recording music fusions and collaborative garden based radio programs. In our conversation, Gabi shared insights into her artistic trajectory and the links between her work and her view of the worlds of nature and culture. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/17637131

Maria Thereza Alves: colonial echoes 01/13/2021

Maria Thereza Alves: colonial echoes Artist Maria Thereza Alves has been investigating the histories and circumstances of particular locations to bear witness to stories that have been silenced. Her work makes visible the impacts of an economic practice which fails to view nature as alive: from documenting the intercontinental transportation of seeds to the bringing to life a singular dying mountain in Brazil. In our conversation we spoke about her placed based artistic process and how it has evolved after moving to Berlin. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/17530259

Jennifer Bennett, boundaries and otherness 12/11/2020

Jennifer Bennett, boundaries and otherness Visual artist and author Jennifer Bennett’s work explores boundaries and otherness, diversity and exclusion. In our conversation, we talked about her book, SAVE, which documents her travels since 2010 from Paris to Mexico and the US. In discussing her first work she also talks about the role of privilege in the ability to become an artist. Our conversation traversed from soil and free speech and a wide range of topics in between. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/17153993

Jens-Uwe Dyffort, architecting acoustics in space 04/16/2020

Jens-Uwe Dyffort, architecting acoustics in space Sound artist Jens-Uwe Dyffort listens to the architecture of space and along with artist Roswitha von den Driesch, creates spatial audio installations and environmental audio work for galleries and public spaces. The work, through a web of sound that bounces, moves, swells, and circles, brings a new awareness to the places we occupy. In February we met up and spoke about the process of creating spacial audio work. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/14012759

Mikala Hyldig Dal: art and activism 04/03/2020

Mikala Hyldig Dal: art and activism Cultural worker, artist, curator and author Mikala Hyldig Dal today employs radical optimism combined with realism to engage with complex issues like housing in the time of gentrification. Mikala’s first solo, Who’s Afraid, looked at ISIS videos and political role plays. We talk about her work, influences, and utopian dreams. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/13830629

Tone Haldrup Lorenzen, on pushing forward 03/19/2020

Tone Haldrup Lorenzen, on pushing forward Many of us have a voice in our head that keeps us for doing our work. Tone Haldrup Lorenzen, a performance artist, director and co-founder of the feminist theater, had such a voice. This season I am talking to artists about their first solo show. Tone shares about overcoming this destructive voice and pushing forward, performing her first solo and directing her first show and learning from the bumps along the way. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/13616723

Trailer: Season 3, The First Solo 03/18/2020

Trailer: Season 3, The First Solo This season I’m in conversations with artists about their first solo show, the risks taken, lessons learned, as well as the curiosity and commitment it takes to continue exploring, creating and communicating. Over the course of 2020, I'll be talking to 10 international artists living in or exhibiting in Berlin, Germany. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/13602212

Trailer: Season 2, The Art of Listening 03/11/2020

Trailer: Season 2, The Art of Listening This Beautiful Shot is Not an Accident, is a podcast about the creative process, storytelling and social change. Each season I share conversations with international artists, thinkers and changemakers about their work and creative process with the hopes of inspiring you to share your own stories and ideas for making change. This season, I spoke with 10 artists and thinkers about the art of listening. Check out Season 2 and hear from dancers to musicians, a radio host, writer, sound artists, and more. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/13505519

Berlin Project Space bi'bak 12/12/2019

Berlin Project Space bi'bak Today I’m talking about research-based artistic practice with two members of the bi’bak creative team about the exhibition, Bitter Things, Narratives and Memories of Transnational Families (co-artistic director, Can Sungu). We speak about the process of finding a story and how a series of conversations led to two years crossing Europe and many layers of legal and personal research to learn about a part of the migration story that has had little attention. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/12381980

Artist Giò Di Sera 11/28/2019

Artist Giò Di Sera Today I’m talking to Italian artist, musician, radio host and founder of StreetUniverCity, Giò De Sera, also known as, Don Rispetto. Giò’s work focuses on bringing the history of hip hop to the youth of Kreuzberg. In today’s episode Gió shares some difficult subjects including the impact of mobbing as well as gentrification on Kreuzberg. He also talks about teaching the youth about empowerment and the rewards that come from helping the youth to move forward in life. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/12211730

Writer Mathilde Ramadier on the power of observation and importance of listening to the natural world 11/14/2019

Writer Mathilde Ramadier on the power of observation and importance of listening to the natural world Today I’m talking to French author and artist Mathilde Ramadier about the power of observation and the importance of listening to nature. Mathilde has written about work, sexism and most recently deep ecology. The foundation of much of her writing is taking time to listen to being aware of what is happening around us. Our conversation traversed the creative process, Freud’s assessment of the humiliation of man, to the philosophy of permaculture. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/12034358

Musician Marion Ruault 10/31/2019

Musician Marion Ruault Today I’m talking to French musician, improviser and composer, Marion Ruault. We spoke about the freedom and responsibility that comes with playing improvised music about the need to find a balance between one’s impulses on what’s happening in the group. Listening is an important part of this practice. We also spoke about her first solo performance and the challenge of making mistakes in public, and how making mistakes can be the best way forward for one’s development as an artist. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/11841968

Noise Artist Mathieu Sylvestre 10/16/2019

Noise Artist Mathieu Sylvestre In this episode, I talk to French noise artist, Mathieu Sylvestre about listening. As an artist, he plays live experimental works and sometimes composes for film and theater. When composing for others, he speaks about the challenge of translating what is heard and felt by one person to another. He suggests that the act of hearing reveals the personality behind the ear. This episode was recorded outside in Volkspark Friedrichshain in Berlin. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/11668286

Artist Karine Bonneval 10/01/2019

Artist Karine Bonneval In the spring of 2019 I attended a Tree Sound Walk organized by French artist Karine Bonneval, who works on the topic of human-plant relations. She was as artist-in-residence at the Berlin gallery, Gru_nd with her project, De’jardiner, or De-Gardening. We spoke about her work in finding ways to help humans share empathy with plants. As Karine states, plants don’t have eyes or ears but they can feel and see and listen. They just use other tools. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/11499437

Musician Pamela Z 09/19/2019

Musician Pamela Z In this episode I spoke with composer, performer, and media artist Pamela Z, about her process of collecting sounds to create compositions, using samples from the environment, interviews and her own voice. Her practice has shown her that observing is an active role. We spoke about how a work is not truly finished until an audience has heard it. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/11285330

Dancer Márcio Canabarro 09/05/2019

Dancer Márcio Canabarro In winter 2018 I spoke dancer Márcio Kerber Canabarro about listening as a kinetic practice. Beyond dance, he sees listening to the self as a way of understanding others better. /episode/index/show/thisbeautifulshot/id/11135183

This Beautiful Shot is Not an Accident

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