Thanks to everyone who called in, and who shared the word about this little audio experiment, which I’ve called an anthology, a compilation, and now a mixtape. Phone It In, Vol. 1 [mp3] is also a reading list, with sources and links to the included quotes. As you’ll see from the playlist below, there are some classics, some fresh finds, and even a breaking news story.
Whatever it is, if you come across some art-related writing that sticks with you for whatever reason, please call and share a bit of it at 34-SOUVENIR, and I’ll bundle those up, too, and put them out here.
As I was putting the tracks together, I discovered that when I first downloaded the calls, I’d accidentally overwritten Carolina Miranda’s call over everyone who called after her. And for a minute I thought, her call is such a mic drop, I really should just go with that. Instead, I moved it to the end, one of the only chronological shifts in the compilation. [Miranda’s cold open is a lol clapback to my voicemail greeting, which I shortened from a full explanation of the project to “Whadja find??”]
Miranda’s quote, from Annie-B Parson, really laid bare the unspoken essence of what I was hoping for here: not just favorite line, or a moment of memorable or powerful writing, but something that you read now that had an impact now.
It feels like an impossible ask, or at least a daunting one, but I really wanted to hear examples, even snippets, where art-related writing mattered in this dire af moment. I think everyone came through, and I am psyched and grateful.
Play or download Phone It In, Vol. 1, an art writing mixtape from greg.org [mp3, 7.4 mb, 15:20]
Phone It In, Vol. 1, Sources and Contributors, in order:
Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot, Episode 2 (2024), William Kentridge’s 9-part video series [which is streaming on Mubi rn], shared by Noah Feehan of AKA.farm [@akafarm].
David Hammons, in conversation with Linda Goode Bryant and Marcy S. Philips (1977), quoted by Kellie Jones (2016) in Kellie Jones’ David Hammons, an October Files anthology published in 2025 by MIT Press, shared by me.
My Night with Cy/Why Cy, by Tacita Dean, published by the Menil and MACK Books in 2025, shared by me.
Kriston Capps’ review of “Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always To Return,” organized by the Archives of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery, published March 2025 by Artforum, shared by me.
Glenn Dixon’s response to that out.com article complaining about the labeling at “Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always To Return”, published on facebook, shared by Kriston Capps [@kriston.capps].
“Tables for One,” Peter Schjeldahl’s review of the Morandi retrospective at the Met, published Sept. 15, 2008, in The New Yorker, shared by Wayne Bremser [@wayneb].
“Hilma af Klint’s art could be hidden from public view—in a temple,” published by DN (Dagens Nyheter), 10 March 2025, shared by Geraldine Warez [@gwarez].
“Night Bitches,” Jerry Saltz’s review of “The Bitch,” the two-artist show of Matthew Barney & Alex Katz at O’Flaherty’s, published Dec. 11, 2024 by New York Magazine, shared by Andrew Russeth [@russeth].
“Richard Prince’s Instagrams,” Peter Schjeldahl’s review of Richard Prince’s New Portraits show at Gagosian, published Sept. 30, 2014, in The New Yorker, shared by the executor of The Estate of Joshua Caleb Weibley [@livingfake].
“A Body That’s All Surface,” by Elisabeth Nicula, published 2.27.2024 on The Back Room by Small Press Traffic, shared by Kevin Buist [@kevinbuist.com].
“According To What: Jasper Johns’ Flag,” by Anne M. Wagner, published in Artforum, November 2006, shared by me.
The Choreography of Everyday Life, by Annie-B Parson, published by Verso in 2022 [she discussed it in 2022 with Okwui Okpokwasili, btw], shared by Carolina Miranda [@cmonstah].