Bad at Sports Episode 966: Claire Ashley

Duncan MacKenzie and Brian Andrews sit down with artist Claire Ashley at the Door County Contemporary Art Fair for a conversation that wanders from broken-down minivans to Scottish standing stones, from inflatable sculpture to protest aesthetics, and from the economics of artistic survival to the philosophy of color.

Ashley discusses nearly two decades of building monumental inflatable sculptures that refuse to stay still—works that exist somewhere between architecture, bodies, creatures, performance, and public intervention. They explore why artists should embrace experimentation, why humor can be politically powerful, and how softness, absurdity, and vulnerability can become serious sculptural strategies.

Links

• Claire Ashley — https://clairehelenashley.com/

• Door County Contemporary Art Fair — https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/

• Lee Bontecou — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Bontecou

• Nick Cave — https://nickcaveart.com/Main/Intro.html

• Paul McCarthy —https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCarthy

• José Lerma — https://kavigupta.com/artists/42-jose-lerma/

• Weisman Art Museum — https://wam.umn.edu/

• Cameron Art Museum — https://cameronartmuseum.org/

• Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel — https://www.saintkatearts.com/

• Callanish Standing Stones — https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/calanais-standing-stones/

• Isle of Lewis — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Lewis