The Jealous Curator: Martha Rich
It Is Time To Get Down//Martha Rich
The Jealous Curator podcast is a new addition to the blog and website with the same name, featuring curated experiences with contemporary art and artists. An interview with Martha Rich is the inaugural podcast, and The Jealous Curator captures stories about the artist life, art, and pop culture references through a casual but intimate conversation. Intuitive questioning and a genuine, curious perspective results in Martha revealing inspiration, meaning, and complex emotion when reflecting on her work.
Authentic, relatable stories emerge, and a portrait of Martha and her life is revealed. The stories of the podcast are clearly articulated with a sometimes nostalgic theme, and a prevailing sense of humor. I was compelled to see images of the artist's work when listening to the description of her inspirations, experiences, and visual vocabulary.
As a storytelling device the podcast brings the accessiblity of interaction to the listener. Accompanied by The Jealous Curator blog, the experience across media grows in richness with the addition of images of Martha Rich's artwork. The media grammar, or mechanics of the media, are also of note in this experience, and if listening to the podcast via iTunes the listener doesn't have the same access to visual media as on the website. It is possible to listen to the podcast from The Jealous Curator website, but on a mobile device the player controls are challenging to use on a mobile device.
Ultimately, the voice, creativity, and originality of this podcast is accessible and charming. The Jealous Curator uses a conversational approach to talking about art and flawlessly transitions from subject to subject without any rigidity whatsoever. A friendly and likeable voice emerges, and encourages interest and engagement with art through a very original source.
While I am not including the digital craftsmanship of the podcast into my critique, it is relevant to note that this is a new podcast and some issues with sound quality are currently being resolved. That being said, the very slight echo on the audio only makes the voice and authenticity of the conversations more prevalent. Without being overproduced and controlled, The Jealous Curator successfully creates an accessible, wonderfully curated experience with art. One addition I might suggest for further development for experience on a mobile device would be to include images of the artist's work in a slideshow in the iTunes version. However, if the goal is to attract more visitors to the blog, a more mobile friendly version of the player on the website would add to the experience.
Story
***** (5/5)
Media Grammar
**** (4/5)
Voice, Creativity, and Originality
***** (5/5)
