New Archives

March 02, 2020  /  note

note from the editor

hi. it’s march, which means the beginning of our regular content schedule. before that, i wanted to take a moment to say a few things. namely, that i am very nervous. and that the process leading to this launch has been one full of lessons, growth, and change.

one: learning about your own editorial style is interesting / challenging!

there are some things i feel pretty flexible and open about: deadlines, being a conversational and relatively hands off editor when it comes to stylistic, grammatical, and structural differences in viewpoints, etc.

but i’ve realized already through this process that there are things that i am mostly uncompromising about. namely: identity politics.

the goal of New Archives is to introduce a kind of arts writing that we don’t see enough – for me, that means writing that, if it is critical of the way a marginalized artist addresses their identity, it will also acknowledge the writer’s potential misreading of the work due to a lack of lived and cultural knowledge.

this is such a common, perpetual, and systemic issue. one only need to read about what happened with simone leigh’s work at the 2019 Whitney Biennial to realize that artists of marginalized identity, no matter how rigorous or airtight their own analysis and research, or how traditionally successful their careers, struggle to escape reviews that reify how hegemonic cultural structures determine ideas of value and ‘quality’ in the arts.

in contrast, i am interested in writing that approaches rigor and criticality through a lens of generosity and self–fallibility. as Parul Sehgal said, “I think about the critics that I love – Sontag, Barthes – who contradict themselves constantly, consistently, as an ethic in their work.”

i’m still struggling with what this looks like and how to bring writers with differing viewpoints into New Archives in a productive way, but in the meantime, it feels like a value i cannot compromise due to a commitment to the most marginalized and easily dismissed folks in our community.

until i get better at this, i appreciate your patience and love. talk soon.

— Satpreet Kahlon
New Archives: February-December 2020
February 13

mission

Satpreet Kahlon
March 2

note from the editor

Satpreet Kahlon
March 3

I have it; you can borrow it

Satpreet Kahlon
March 5

travelish

mario lemafa
March 8

YES IS A FEELING

Matthew Offenbacher
March 10

I have it; you can borrow it

Satpreet Kahlon
March 12

travelish, part 2

mario lemafa
March 14

what is exciting right now?

Satpreet Kahlon
March 15

950 Gallery

Matthew Offenbacher
April 30

an unplanned hiatus

Satpreet Kahlon
May 4

Art at Home

Satpreet Kahlon
May 7

The Girl and the 101st View of Mt. Fuji

Matthew Offenbacher
May 11

A dark storm is passing

Tom Eykemans
May 14

Missing Rhoda

Asia Tail
May 18

Ask a Conjure Women

Satpreet Kahlon
May 21

Garden of Delight

Beleszove Wildish Josivu Foldlanya
May 27

Humiliation kitchen towel

Aurora San Miguel
May 29

Seamstress

Christina Montilla
May 31

Reading Lists for the Revolution

Satpreet Kahlon
June 2

Reading Lists for the Revolution

Satpreet Kahlon
June 18

Reading Lists for the Revolution

Satpreet Kahlon
June 25

Reading Lists for the Revolution

Satpreet Kahlon
July 22

note from the editor

Satpreet Kahlon
July 23

I Don’t Like Art

Ashley Stull Meyers
August 19

Artist-to-Artist Conversations are back!

Satpreet Kahlon
August 25

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
September 1

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
September 8

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
September 11

Reading Lists for the Revolution

Satpreet Kahlon
September 15

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
November 10

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
November 12

Trying to Photograph Perfume

Amelia Rina
November 17

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
November 19

Art isn’t money, real estate or objects

Matthew Offenbacher
November 24

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
December 1

Artist-to-Artist Conversation

Satpreet Kahlon
December 4

Algorithm: Archetype

Kym Littlefield
December 15

note from the editor

Satpreet Kahlon