Free Thinking

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The ideas shaping our lives today - with leading artists and thinkers in extended interview and debate.

Free Thinking: How do we look at art?

How do we look at art?

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, How do we look at art?

Turner Prize shortlist, the vogue for surround-sound projections, and shows about sight.

New Generation Thinker Vid Simoniti with his take on this year's Turner Prize, plus artist Sally Booth and Cleo Hanaway-Oakley on how sound and sight affect our experience of art.

What does sound add to looking at a painting? Four ambitious multi-media installations make up the shortlist for this year's Turner prize, addressing issues from environmental change to identity politics to motherhood. There is a trend for immersive art experiences but does triggering other senses than the visual help us understand art better? Meanwhile a set of exhibitions in London explores sight itself and how we see and are seen by others. We'll be asking what happens when we open ourselves up to the idea of seeing things differently. 
 
New Generation Thinker Vid Simoniti teaches on art and philosophy at the University of Liverpool. He joins presenter Catherine Fletcher to discuss this year's Turner prize along with Dr Cleo Hanaway-Oakley, whose research interests include the role of the senses in culture and the artist Sally Booth, who is visually impaired.

In Plain Sight runs at the Wellcome Collection in London until 12 February 2023
The four shortlisted artists for the Turner Prize 2022 whose work is on display at Tate Liverpool until to 19 March 2023 are: Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin.  The winner is announced on December 7th.
Immersive shows in London currently include Mexican Geniuses: A Frida & Diego Immersive Experience runs at Canada Water; Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, Klimt the immersive experience, Frameless, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms and The World of ASMR. 
Layers of Visions, featuring work by Sally Booth and others, is on show at the Kings' College exhibition space in Bush House Arcade, London until Dec 16th 2022 
More information on her work is at https://sallybooth.co.uk/
Cleo Hanaway-Oakley discussed James Joyce and vision on a Free Thinking episode Bloomsday, Dalloway Day and 1922 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001828l

The Free Thinking programme website has a collection of episodes exploring Art, Architecture, Photography and Museums with recent episodes focusing on shows about Plastic and Clay; The Frieze/Radio 3 Museum Directors Debate 2022 hearing about running the Guggenheim New York, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and M+ in Hong Kong; Alexander the Great, and Hollow Earth: Art, Caves & The Subterranean Imaginary at Nottingham Contemporary. 

Producer in Salford: Olive Clancy

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Free Thinking

How do we look at art?

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