Radio Chipstone:
It’s a Material World

Once you seriously consider the objects you use to fill your emotional and functional needs, you will never see those things the same way ever again. From delightfully intriguing to dangerously obsessive, objects affect our daily lives. They creep into our subconscious. They say volumes about who we are or wish to be, without uttering a single word.

—Gianofer Fields

Object Lessons

August 22, 2019


Educational specimen box, for the education of children, assembled in England, mahogany, ca. 1850. Photo courtesy, Victoria and Albert Museum, B.5:1 TO 5-2009. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Object Lessons Part Two

August 22, 2019


Mahogany box of specimens for the education of children, based on a scheme originally devised by the Swiss educational reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827). Photo courtesy, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. B.5:1 to 5-2009

Rebuilding The Ecosystem

July 25, 2019


Loaves of Virginia and Canada wild rye bread. Photo, Steven I. Applebaum

Among The Wonders Of The Dells

July 11, 2019


"Pouring Milk at the Wonder Spot," 1957. Photo courtesy, Wisconsin Historical Society, Gelatin silver print; 75/8 x 91/2 in. WHS–42105

That Oceanic Feeling

June 22, 2019


The Bubbler artists in residence Lydia Diemer & Riley Hanick.

'Apartment 4'

June 1, 2019


The "Apartment 4" exhibit at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center tells the public and private story of the fictional, imagined nurse Florence Hasard.

Recasting Cast Iron

May 18, 2019


Iron workers, casting iron.

Just Let Go (Of Your Stuff)

May 4, 2019


NIKITA KUZMENKOV/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Functional Fashions (Part II)

April 20, 2019


The Functional Fashions exhibit is on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum through the spring of 2020.

Tramp Art

April 6, 2019


The "Zine Library" is tramp art, which is made using found items and common tools.

Un/Seen Part 2: Cyanotype

March 23, 2019


"Cotton," 1997 Etching 11 15/16 x 8 7/8 in.

Seeing The Un/Seen

March 9, 2019


"Kara," 2007 Color inkjet print 18 1/6 x 13 3/4 in.

The Man On The Square

February 23, 2019


The man on the square

'Southern Rites'

February 9, 2019


"Amber and Reggie," Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2011, inkjet print.

Finding The Perfect Fit

January 26, 2019


Find a bra that fits.

Curating Social Content

January 19, 2019


Social media

Early African-American Communities Of Madison

December 9, 2018


After a brief return to Missouri, the elder Simms came back to Madison to settle and build a family. Simms says that her family's story is just one of many. Her book is a collection of narratives told by those who lived and remember what Madison was like for African-Americans in those early years.

Early African-American Communities Of Madison

December 8, 2018


Alpha Omega Phi committee of Madison, Wis., from Settlin': Stories of Madison's Early African-American Families WHI ID#80543 In part one of this interview, contributor Gianofer fields asks Simms to set the scene. Where did African-Americans live and what did those communities look like?

Working Metal, Building Character

November 24, 2018


White Trash Animal Accesories, fine silver.

ArtWorking Founder & Artists With Disabilities

November 10, 2018


Artist Dan Severson
Cooper's Haunted House

October 27, 2018


Up your Halloween game

Diversity In The Study Of Art History

October 6, 2018


Students visit the Chazen Art Museum in Madison, Wisc.

Creating Handmade Social Consciousness

September 22, 2018


Handmade shoes by Luisa Fernanda Garcia.

'My Bologna Has A First Name...'

September 1, 2018


Matt Treadaway is surrounded by all kinds of Weinermobiles: small whistles made of plastic, child size peddle mobiles, and even plush ones perfect for cuddling.

Transitioning In Body And Mind

August 11, 2018


Shawn Padley describes how his perspective of some objects changed as he transitioned from female to male.

Making Discarded Wood Sing

August 4, 2018


Luthier : maker of stringed instruments like lutes, guitars, and mandolins.

The Clothes Make the Man

June 30, 2018


Cedric Johnson dresses to impress.

'Old Subject, New Styles' Found in Japanese Print Revival

June 16, 2018


Japanese Print Envoy

What's in a Jug?

May 19, 2018


Gloriann Langva is a second year grad student studying Ceramics at UW Madison. Her narrative work reflects her desire to create sculptures that tell a story. This semester she decided to take class​ in Material Culture that focused on Victorian Ceramics.

Australian Aboriginal Art

April 21, 2018


This is the last weekend to see Continent for an Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art at the UW-Madison Chazen Museum. Amy Gilman is the Director of the Museum and says the collection spans the Australian continent and its many peoples.

Black Male Suffrage

April 7, 2018


In the the early 1840s Wisconsin had a high enough population to meet the criteria for becoming a state. There was a diverse group of people living here, but when Wisconsin finally became a state in 1848, black persons were not allowed to vote. 

'The Appearance of Life'

March 24, 2018


Madison writer Char Braxton found her love for writing in UW Madison's Odyssey Project. During a Humanities class, Braxton was given the assignment to write about the life of an object. She chose a cup of coffee.

Wisconsin's Effigy Mounds

March 10, 2018


Contributor Gianofer Fields digs a bit deeper into the history of Wisconsin’s remaining Native American burial mounds with historian and author Robert Birmingham, who says the mounds tell the story of cultural growth, community and change.

Bringing Ancient Craftsmen

February 17, 2018


When the legacy of artist or craftsperson is lost to history, or was never recorded in the first place.

Bound Together by Cloth

February 3, 2018


The whirling garment in the window welcomes visitors into a world where the the living and dead are bound together by cloth.

The Rebirth of Madison's Central Library

January 20, 2018


Madison's Central Library re-emerged as something that looks like a cross between a museum, student lounge, and a coffee house.

The Therapy of Silk Screen

January 6, 2018


It was a Marimekko quilt that first sparked print artist Lesley Numbers' interest in silk screening, but it's vintage everyday objects that populate her work.

'Evergleam Trees'

December 16, 2017


Shelly Torkelson and Matt Neff with an Evergleam Tree

Something Once Cherished

December 2, 2017


Matt McHugh talks about what was once something, he cherished: a Red Power Ranger toy he got from his parents when he was eight or nine years-old.

A Conversation with Dr. Amy Gilman, the New Director of the Chazen Museum of Art

November 18, 2017


Dr. Amy Gilman and her family visited Madison to meet with staff and make arrangements for their move in September.