In this bonus episode, Ann and Ben talk about how they got into this art thing in the first place. Seems it helped to have artists in the family.

​Platemark series one
Co-hosts: Ann Shafer and Ben Levy
Producer: Ann Shafer
Theme music: Michael Diamond

In episode 105, Ann and Ben talk about the Western art-historical canon and recent, important efforts to redefine it, to break it apart, to destroy it. How can museums embrace multiple voices and points of view? What happens to the collections? How do we accomplish such a gargantuan task?

​Platemark series one
Co-hosts: Ann Shafer and Ben Levy
Producer: Ann Shafer
Theme music: Michael Diamond

After the debut of Platemark, the most pressing listener questions had to do with the positionality statement. That’s where Shafer and Levy introduce themselves by clarifying their gender, sexuality, and race (Shafer: cis-het white woman, pronouns used are she/her; Levy: cis-het white man, pronouns used are he/him). This bonus episode tackles the issue of positionality as well as the land acknowledgments (Shafer: Baltimore is on the land of the Piscataway Conoy people; Levy: Cleveland is on the ancestral land of the Erie people). There is a lot to unpack and it is uncomfortable. But that is the point.

Your questions are welcome. Leave them in the comments below.

​Platemark series one
Co-hosts: Ann Shafer and Ben Levy
Producer: Ann Shafer
Theme music: Michael Diamond

In episode 104, Ann and Ben continue their conversation about value but turn toward artistic value rather than monetary value. Both Ann and Ben describe their own systems for evaluating a work of art. Ben’s system centers on reverse engineering a work and looking at the decisions made at each step. Ann’s system is a long and wide-ranging list of questions that get filed into emotional impact and visual impact. All of which is to say, there is no right or wrong way to approach a work of art.

​Platemark series one
Co-hosts: Ann Shafer and Ben Levy
Producer: Ann Shafer
Theme music: Michael Diamond