Does art have to be beautiful, or can everyday stuff be made into art too? Abbi Jacobson brings her friend comedian Hannibal Buress to look at sculptures by Dada and Surrealist artists, who upended the definition of what art could be. Marcel Du

If It’s Got Naked People, RuPaul Is In

Jul 26th, 2017 26m 21s

A dozen dancers rolling around in their underwear, rubbing raw chickens and fish on each other. No, it’s not some weird ‘60s porn, it’s a performance -- Abbi talks with the feminist artist behind the piece, Carolee Schneemann. Performance art l

The Writing on the Wall

Aug 9th, 2017 21m 15s

There are new paintings and drawings by Sol LeWitt being made all the time -- even though the artist died in 2007. That’s possible because LeWitt’s wrote instructions for creating his works art, for other people to make. Abbi and writer Samant

Questlove Hearts Emojis

Aug 7th, 2017 20m 2s

Emojis, video games, even the humble “@” symbol -- all these staples of digital life have been as carefully designed as the most sleek furniture or fancy architecture. But do they belong in a museum? Hell yes, says Abbi’s friend Ahmir Thompson

Andy Warhol’s Art of Self-Promotion

Aug 2nd, 2017 22m 18s

Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans” has got to be one of the most famous images of the 20th century. But at the time, Warhol’s use of advertising and imagery from consumer culture was super controversial. So was his unabashed desire to become

You’ve Got to Watch This!

Jul 31st, 2017 22m 2s

Way before viral videos, since the invention of the medium in the 1960s, artists have made video to critique the culture around them. Howardena Pindell delivers a direct-to-camera account of the racism she experienced coming of age as a black w

Minimalism to the Max

Jul 24th, 2017 16m 44s

Some artworks seem crazy simple -- like a stack of metal boxes or a group of white paintings. Minimalism rejected the idea that art should express the artist’s feelings or depict the visible world, or even be made from traditional art materials

Samantha Irby Gets High on Light

1 Jul 19th, 2017 19m 3s

Abbi brings her friend the hilarious essayist Samantha Irby to MoMA PS1 to see one of the trippiest works they’ve ever experienced: “Meeting” by James Turrell. Turrell’s work is immersive, mind-blowing, deeply moving -- and made entirely of lig

How Questlove Learned to Love Silence

1 Jul 17th, 2017 23m 37s

Ahmir Thompson (a.k.a. Questlove of The Roots) is a very busy dude. He was feeling stretched thin, until he discovered the power of silence to let his creativity cut through the noise. To help him find that silence, he’s got one of Yves Klein’s

Tavi Gevinson Wonders When It’s Done

Jul 12th, 2017 14m 58s

When you look at abstract art, what are you supposed to see among all those splatters and blobs? Abbi sorts out her feelings about Jackson Pollock’s monumental action paintings with a little help from the dancer and choreographer Mark Morris, a

Presenting: A Piece of Work

Jul 6th, 2017 2m 56s

Yes, she’s the hilarious co-creator of Comedy Central’s “Broad City.” But before discovering her gift for comedy, Abbi Jacobson went to art school. Now she’s getting a refresher on everything from Jackson Pollock to Marcel Duchamp, from Pop art