Lena Herzog on Reading Montaigne Through the Pandemic
From The Quarantine Tapes Podcast with Paul Holdengräber
Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicle shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.
On Episode 103 of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul is joined by artist Lena Herzog. Paul and Lena talk about what Lena has been reading lately, discussing how she has found reassurance in reading Montaigne during this pandemic. Lena tells Paul about her recent project, Last Whispers: Oratorio for Vanishing Voices, Collapsing Universes and a Falling Tree. The project focuses on the voices of extinct and endangered languages, and Lena talks about how much louder those voices sound to her at this moment. Finally, Lena leaves us with a haunting image when she describes a recurring dream she has been having since March.
From the Episode:
Lena Herzog: [A] pandemic tends to reveal the truth. I think the truth is so enormous that we can’t handle [it]. We ran out of words, we ran out of ways to see. What is in between reality and us are our old notions, our worn-out words, and our worn-out images.
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