Time Sensitive

The Swiss-born, London-based curator, art historian, and Serpentine Galleries artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist moves through his life and work with a deep internal sense of urgency. Among the most prolific and everywhere-all-at-once people in the world of art—whose peripatetic path has taken him from a sheltered upbringing in a small Swiss village to his current post in London at the Serpentine—Obrist has been curating shows for more than three decades. During this time, he has recorded conversations with thousands of artists, architects, and others shaping culture and society. He’s also the author of dozens of books, most recently Life in Progress, released in the U.K. this fall, with the U.S. edition coming out next spring.On this episode, Obrist reflects on 25 years of the Serpentine Pavilion, which has become a defining annual moment in culture globally and a springboard for many of today’s leading voices in architecture, including Lina Ghotmeh (the guest on Ep. 129 of Time Sensitive) and Frida Escobedo, and his firm belief that we all need to embrace more promenadology—the science of a stroll—in our lives.Special thanks to our Season 12 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes:[00:47] Hans Ulrich Obrist[5:18] Brutally Early Club[7:40] Frank Gehry[8:20 ] Bettina Korek[8:28] Luma Arles[10:21] Pierre Boulez[13:10] Etel Adnan[19:37] Giorgio Vasari[21:22] Ludwig Binswanger[27:20] “Life in Progress”[37:48] Peter Fischli & David Weiss[34:00] Kasper König[39:09] Maria Lassnig[39:35] Serpentine Galleries[43:24] Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris[48:11] Serpentine Pavilion[51:15] Frida Escobedo[51:49] Lina Ghotmeh[56:11] The FLAG Art Foundation[56:37] Play Pavilion[56:58] Serpentine General Ecology[58:00] Serpentine Arts Technologies[1:02:08] “Peter Doig: House of Music”[1:04:11] “Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: The Delusion”[1:05:00] Édouard Glissant[1:05:47] Umberto Eco[1:12:28] Lucius Burckhardt[1:12:28] Cedric Price[1:11:56]  Robert Walser

When the artist Jennie C. Jones listens closely to a piece of music, she’s particularly attuned to its pauses, in-between moments, and breaks. Widely celebrated for her abstract works in painting, sculpture, and sound art that, in many instances, incorporate architecture or space—through which she often elevates undersung or little-known Black artists and musicians—her practice is largely informed by minimalism and color field painting, as well as by jazz and avant-garde music. Jones currently has two exhibitions on view at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis (through Feb. 1, 2026): “A Line When Broken Begins Again,” which features a selection of new and existing paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and sound pieces, and “Other Octaves,” a group show she curated of works by artists who have been formative to her practice. She was also commissioned to create the 2025 rooftop installation at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.On this episode of Time Sensitive, she discusses what listening as a conceptual practice looks like in action, the art of putting together a playlist, and her deep love of things tactile and analog.Special thanks to our Season 12 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes: [04:35] “Jennie C. Jones: A Line When Broken Begins Again” (2025)[04:35] “Other Octaves” (2025)[04:57] Carmen Herrera[04:57] Agnes Martin[04:57] Martin Puryear[04:57] Alma Thomas[04:57] Mildred Thompson[05:21] A Free and Shifting Tonal Center (2024)[7:26] Ellsworth Kelly[11:44] Fred Moten[11:44] “Dynamics” (2022)[13:02] Trisha Brown’s “Leaning Duets” (1970)[14:40] Tadao Ando[14:55] “These (Mournful) Shores” (2020)[17:21] Moses Williams[17:21] Louis Dotson[18:20] Richard Tuttle[30:25] Olly Wilson[31:28] Maryanne Amacher[31:28] Arthur Russell[37:10] Jennie C. Jones: Compilation (2015)[38:30] “The Theater of Refusal: Black Art and Mainstream Criticism” (1993)[42:25] “Slow Birds” (2004) [42:25] "Slowly in a Silent Way, Caged” (2010)[42:25] Charlie Parker[1:09:47] “Jennie C. Jones: RPM (revolutions per minute)” (2018)[1:12:06] “Ensemble” (2025)

As the CEO of Art Basel, Noah Horowitz has made it his mission to ensure that the international art platform is seen, valued, and experienced—far beyond its art-fair roots—as a cultural catalyst and “opportunity accelerator.” Over the past 55 years, beginning with its tight-knit origins in Basel, Switzerland, in 1970, Art Basel has evolved into an international juggernaut, with best-in-class fairs also in Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris—and soon, under Horowitz’s leadership, Qatar, with an edition debuting there in February 2026. With more than two decades of experience, and as a tireless advocate and enthusiast for all things art, from artists and galleries to collectors and institutions, Horowitz is exactly the right person for the job.On this episode of Time Sensitive, Horowitz details his ambitious agenda to stretch Art Basel’s reach into realms far beyond what would traditionally be considered the art world; shares his long-view perspective on the economics of art; and considers the centuries-old history that, in a roundabout way, helped lead to—and continues to inform and shape—today’s art market.Show notes: [05:13] Art Basel Paris[05:13] Art Basel Qatar[05:13] Art Basel Miami Beach[05:13] Art Basel Hong Kong[07:54] Frida Escobedo[10:41] The Art Basel and UBS 2025 Survey of Global Collecting[10:41] Art Basel Awards[21:27] Rei Naito[23:51] Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market (2011)[27:42] Rirkrit Tiravanija[41:18] High Art Lite: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art (2020)[32:42] KAWS[39:04] Princeton Record Exchange[42:18] Frieze[42:52] Hans Ulrich Obrist[42:52] Okwui Enwezor[45:00] Rem Koolhaas[45:57] Kirk Varnedoe[45:57] Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock (2006)[50:05] Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art (2005)[51:49] Clare McAndrew[54:42] The Experience Economy (2019)[58:43] Vincenzo de Bellis[1:03:04] Pérez Art Museum

Over the past two decades, the artist Theaster Gates has poured himself into his multifaceted practice that spans pottery, painting, sculpture, urban development, performance, archival research, and arts administration. Along the way, he has risen to become one of the most widely celebrated figures in the world of art, transforming abandoned, dormant buildings in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood, on the city’s South Side, into dynamic third spaces for social, cultural, and spiritual communion; linking his hometown of Chicago with Japan, where in 2004 he trained with master potters in the coastal city of Tokoname and has maintained a deep connection ever since; and effectively rescuing, recontextualizing, and resuscitating culturally significant archives.On this episode of Time Sensitive, our latest “site-specific” recording, Gates sits down with Spencer inside his personal library in Chicago to talk about his current exhibition, “Unto Thee,” at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art (on view through Feb. 22, 2026); his forward-looking vision for his latest project, The Land School, which he and his Rebuild Foundation have reshaped into an arts incubator; and the vast, alchemic impacts of music on his life and work.Special thanks to our Season 12 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes: Theaster Gates[1:21] Dorchester Art and Housing Collaborative[5:07] The Land School (2025)[7:30] St. Laurence Elementary School[7:42] Solange Knowles[9:07] Stony Island Arts Bank[9:07] Rebuild Foundation[9:07] Black Cinema House[9:07] The Listening House[13:06] Jane Addams[13:06] Jane Jacobs[13:06] Jesse Jackson[13:23] Frederick Law Olmsted[13:23]  Huey P. Newton[13:31] Chicago Transit Authority[19:45] Cicero[23:24] Søren] Kierkegaard[23:24] Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel [25:31] “Unto Thee” (2025)[29:12] Fred Moten[29:29] “Art Histories” (2020)[35:18] Tokoname[42:26] “The Listening House” (2022)[49:29] “Afro-Mingei" (2024)[49:29] Mingei[51:24] Black is Beautiful and Black Arts movements[1:07:02] Theaster Gates’s record collections[1:15:07] Martin Puryear[1:17:00] László Moholy-Nagy[1:17:00] Josef Albers[1:17:00] Carrie Mae Weems

The British designer Jay Osgerby believes in designing rigorously simple objects that are deeply felt and, hopefully, appreciated for generations to come. As the co-founder of the London-based industrial studio Barber Osgerby, Jay and his partner in the firm, Edward Barber, emphasize experimentation, innovation, and a material- and craft-forward design approach to their products, furniture, architecture, and interiors. Across their nearly 30-year history as a studio, Barber Osgerby has taken a “fewer, better things” approach and along the way built a rich and varied body of work that includes the 2012 London Olympics torch, a commemorative £2 coin (2012), a Victoria and Albert Museum installation with BMW (2014), Vitra’s Tip Ton chair (2011), and paper lanterns crafted by Ozeki & Co. in Gifu, Japan. Each project exudes clarity, calm, and consideration—and always a sense of character. On this episode of Time Sensitive, Osgerby shares his optimistic views on A.I. as a means toward more people engaging in craft and handwork; considers what his years inside factories and surrounded by craftspeople have taught him about human ingenuity; and reflects on objects as vessels for memory, history, and soul.Special thanks to our Season 12 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes: Jay Osgerby[05:08] Flos[8:37] 2012 London Olympics torch[8:37] £2 coin (2012)[8:37] Victoria and Albert Museum[8:37] London Design Biennale[14:18] Design Museum in Tallinn, Estonia[14:18] Isokon[15:58] Dieter Rams[15:58] Ettore Sottsass[15:58] Memphis Group[15:58] Rationalism[20:25] Pitt Rivers Museum[24:56] Vitra[28:49] Arts and Crafts Movement[29:09] Glenn Adamson[31:01] Bill McKibben[36:38] Blueprint[36:38] Paul Smith[38:01] Galerie Kreo[39:00] Tyler Brûlé[41:36] Venini[51:34] Vico Magistretti[51:34] Achille Castiglione[53:07] Ozeki & Co.