Mission:
talkPOPc is a multi-modal project of Dena Shottenkirk’s that engages the public in philosophical thought by inviting participants to explore the role of conversation in both art and philosophy, and to discover what they themselves think about a particular topic. Incorporating Shottenkirk’s published philosophy and her visual art, which has consistently focused on philosophical investigation, and public (one-to-one) philosophy, talkPOPc embraces empathetic dialogue. By activating public spaces for events and staged public philosophy, and by using galleries as activated stages, talkPOPc makes both art and philosophy accessible to the public and re-instills the role of listening within conversation - in art, philosophy, and everyday life.
Vision:
Pursuing the task of encouraging empathic listening, talkPOPc aims to build a community of participants, philosophers, and listeners. Our curated encounters spark individuals’ thoughts so they can speak, think, and listen to others. We want to help minds, so that participants can to get know their own thoughts, to care about the thoughts of others, and to build empathic communities.
Our Story:
talkPOPc began, accidentally almost, in 2012 with an exhibition I, Dena Shottenkirk, did at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It differed from the usual exhibition in that I devoted one room to philosophers: they were the first talkPOPc Resident Philosophers, though we didn’t know it at the time. Noël Carroll (the well-known philosophy of film expert from CUNY’s Graduate Center), Lindsay Fiorelli (another aesthetician now at Claremont), David Post (technically a professor of law who was also Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s clerk, but philosophically inclined!) and a few PhD students from UPenn milled around and answered questions from those who had come to the opening. The exhibition was work I’d done around the topic of nominalism and Nelson Goodman. I had also just published a book (with Springer) on Goodman, and it was part of the exhibition. There were drawings (depicting the whole of ontology broken apart into individual qualia), a video (about Goodman), and an artists book (about the problem with Goodman’s metaphorical exemplification). All in all, a bit heady. Therefore, (clearly) the need for The Philosophers.
Amazingly so, the conversation room was buzzing with people. Milling around, everyone was asking one or another of the philosophers questions about nominalism, or Goodman, or platonism, etc. People engaged with one another. I thought, “how amazingly cool just to focus on people’s conversations.”
And so talkPOPc was born.
I knew even then that this focus on conversation was something more than just tapping into a basic human need, more than just a remedy for what’s wrong with today’s society (although that is true, too). It was also a confirmation of my belief that art and philosophy are both just fundamentally about conversation. They are the two most important ways we have to take our first-person experiences of the world and give them over to someone else. Art and philosophy are conversation. And talkPOPc is the union of them.
I corralled a few other enthusiastic and kind-hearted philosophers, notably Adam See and Kate Pendoley, and we began, in the winter of 2012-13 and on through 2014 to hold conversation sessions back in NYC on the topic of nominalism, platonism, and how we come to identify our ontology. Primarily in bars, we met in Brooklyn at HappyFunHideaway, at Flowers For All Occasions; and at the Cipriani club (on 42nd street), and Harry’s Bar in Manhattan.
In 2015, we had grown to several organizing volunteers and even more kind-hearted philosophers, and we moved on to the next project that I had published a book on (with Cambridge Scholars) and also made artwork about, which was Censorship. Many, many conversations were had about this, especially since it overlapped with the election. Hate speech, racism, the silencing suffered by victims of sexual assault, censorship in various countries, personal experiences and political thought. People said the most amazing things.
Our current topic is Art as Cognition (with a related book that I edited and is published by Routledge). Craig Agule (Rutgers) has been one of our Resident Philosophers, and again the conversations have been shatteringly profound. We’ve met in bodegas, in parks, in front of City Hall in Philly. There are now nine of us who are regularly involved in the organization and design of the programs (this includes our mascot, PUPPET), assisted by varying and indispensable philosophers from many different institutions. We have delivered dozens and dozens and dozens of meaningful and intellectual conversations to many people – a great deal of whom would never have had an opportunity like this.
— Dr. Dena Shottenkirk
Change happens when people talk.
Who We Are:
talkPOPc Founder: Dena Shottenkirk
As both a professional philosopher and artist, I have received terminal degrees in each: my MFA in painting from Rutgers’ University Mason Gross School of the Arts, and my PhD in Philosophy from the CUNY Graduate Center. I was also staff art critic for both Artforum and Art in America. I have been working with the team at talkPOPc since our formation in 2012, while continuing as a full-time faculty member in the Philosophy Department at Brooklyn College.
For more information on Dena visit denashottenkirk.org
talkPOPc Curator: Veronica Cianfrano
Veronica is the Curator at Large for talkPOPc. She is a full-time curator for the University of Central Oklahoma’s Melton Gallery. She is also an artist and educator, originally from Connecticut where she studied studio art and education at Southern Connecticut State University, later receiving an MFA in Painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where there she discovered the need for better access to the arts.
talkPOPc Audio engineer and Podcast director: Andrey Ligayi
Andrey is the guy wearing the headphones, adjusting mic stands and volume knobs! He assists with all audio production for the talkPOPc project, and also runs a podcast of his own while working full-time in pharma/biotech marketing. He’s a Brooklyn College graduate, and does the behind the scenes work for our conversations. Evidently, that makes him a good listener!
talkPOPc Research Assistant: Stephen Hanson
Steve is an experienced Museum professional specializing in Art Services and Arts Administration. Steve completed the CUNY Baccalaureate program for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies at Brooklyn College, dual majoring in Art, Design & Culture Studies and Cognitive Studies in the Arts and minoring in Philosophy of Art. Steve provides administrative and creative assistance for the project and has worked at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Museum of Modern Art, The Phillips Collection, SFMOMA and David Zwirner.
talkPOPc Photographer: John McCarten
John McCarten is a photojournalist and our photographer for gallery talks and public philosophy events. He is also the photographer for New York City Hall, where he documents all that goes on there as well. Always able to get the most vivid shot, it is John who sees the pleasure of the participants and captures it. johnmccarten.com
talkPOPc Videographer & Programming Consultant: Ulysses Pizarro
Ulysses (NYC Department of Subculture Commissioner) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a maker of objects, collector of nostalgia and taste connoisseur.
talkPOPc Puppeteer: Christina Rodriquez
Christina is an NYC-based puppeteer, puppet designer, and educator whose original puppet works have been featured at venues across the U.S. and as far away as the Czech Republic. She is the creator/puppeteer of ShakesBEARS, a puppet content platform that introduces children to classic literature and inspiring BIPOC figures (www.shakesbears.com). She also teaches puppetry at an arts-oriented school in New York and is the puppeteer for "Popsy"--the talkPOPc Puppet.
talkPOPc Intern: Aharon
Aharon Grama is a Senior majoring in Philosophy & Law at Brooklyn College. He was raised in an ultra-orthodox community and left his community to live a self-determined life. He served 3 years in the military. He entered Brooklyn College with an HSE (high school equivalency) in the BC bound program which he is now a peer mentor in. Aharon currently serves as the President of the Undergraduate Student Government at Brooklyn College.
talkPOPc Project Assistant: Moksha Mehra
Moksha began as an intern with talkPOPc, she assists with the social media handles, works to enhance our network and create meaningful content. As a pre-med student, “philosophical thought has always been something that intrigued me and working with talkPOPc allows me to explore different aspects of philosophy and how it intersects with everyday ideas”.
talkPOPc Puppet: Popsy
This is our mascot. Always willing to listen and to philosophically ruminate, our puppet is a stand in for all our many Resident Philosophers: professional philosophers from many different universities who participant in talkPOPc and are the ones who are really the beneficiaries, for they get to LISTEN, first-hand, to the amazing things that participants say.