EVERYONE IN NYC IS SINGING EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

This week, artists Wafaa Bilal, @mollycrabapple, @FendeVilliers and @Samaritual debate labor, intent, craft and class in contemporary art. Moderated by @Nadir_Nahdi.

This week on the Doha Debates Podcast, we ask: Do we need to rethink contemporary art? Featuring Wafaa Bilal, @mollycrabapple, @FendeVilliers and @Samaritual. Moderated by @Nadir_Nahdi. 1:57 Time to rethink contemporary art? 4:59 Contemporary art: more relevant than ever? 5:45 What is the role of the artist? 6:45 Craft, labor and AI 10:32 Wafaa Bilal's viral “Domestic Tension” experiment 21:23 Lasting vs. fleeting art 22:16 Contemporary art institutions and the new Left 25:15 "Generative AI is an extraction engine. It is a vampire." 27:16 AI: a problem or just misunderstood? 29:22 Who has the right to define what is or isn’t art? 42:07 Postmodernism, craft and aesthetics 45:43 Is inaccessible art a revolutionary act? 51:09 Bad art: Is capitalism to blame? 1:01:11 Artist’s ego, craft and authorship 1:45:37 Success, tech & cultural preservation 2:03:11 “The ability to create art is divine.” 2:12:34 Experts share their favorite works of art

The impact of AI feels inescapable. Will it usher in more possibilities or problems for artists? Hear what acclaimed artists @mollycrabapple and @Samaritual have to say.

The future of contemporary art is not a tech question. It's a provenance question. We got into it 🌪️

El Anatsui makes art from what was discarded and left behind after the crossing. That's the whole argument…. The episode we filmed on the Future of Contemporary Art in the age of AI is finally out 👀

Tayfurat: طيف specter, spectrum, ghost-light that persists. Khabrein: knowledge that travels and changes form in transit. unfolding over the next 9 days on @the_ai_art_mag instagram.com/p/DX4qoMAiktL/…

Where does art live when everything can be generated? Future Ancestors Radio: Resonance 001 Brooklyn ↔ Beirut. A live session in the form of digital zajal/cypher where sound leads, the body responds, and the room composes together luma.com/pz2q4pok

War. Sand. Survival. And the architecture that forms afterward... Two thresholds for 2026 Read here: linkedin.com/pulse/sand-fire… via @LinkedIn

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE: Legendary New Orleans clarinetist Doreen Ketchens serenades her grandson with a beautiful jazz tune 🥹❤️

My forever jam!

Fragment 021: Analog Accumulations A Visual Essay on momentum, cultural generation, and how we find our way back to making when the system feels too loud and the body feels too tired Image: artifact from my Future Ancestors series: ‘Not Cloud White’ 😉

What if adornment has always been interface technology? These Future Ancestors explore what happens when adornment becomes communication hardware. Prosthetics for ecological consciousness. Amplifiers for spiritual practice.

In latest issue ♥️

Last month’s deep dive open.substack.com/pub/samari…

Quantum Fragments 017 Not Centaurs but Kaleidoscopes open.substack.com/pub/samari…

Quantum Fragment 012: Frequency Jamming 📡 When creation becomes signal warfare against cultural erasure. Rick Rubin asks: art or commerce? But what if your art IS the jamming device? Future Ancestors in motion. open.substack.com/pub/samari…

Quantum Fragments 011- Reverse Archeology now live… open.substack.com/pub/samari…