Latest / philly has heART / I Wish To Say feat. Sheryl Oring

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I Wish To Say feat. Sheryl Oring · philly has heART

0:15
Hey, Typhoid Robert. Hey, Lucinda. How are you?
0:17
Oh, my gosh. Just recovering. Just recovering.
0:21
Still, like, something in the upper respiratory.
0:25
Ew. I know. I know. But first of all, I've taken
0:30
out, like, three coworkers, which has not been
0:33
fun. And from what I've heard from everyone else,
0:38
this stuff has been going around. great I'm so
0:41
glad I'm in podcast studio with you right now
0:43
right small spaces intimate and yet you have
0:48
a sunburn did you go anywhere this week oh yeah
0:51
I mean I didn't stop my life you know I had to
0:53
keep on keeping on so what two weeks ago two
0:57
weekends ago I was down for the count out like
1:01
a light two and a half days in bed this past
1:05
week it was one world day weekend it was the
1:06
kickoff of the summer it was Kate May for the
1:09
weekend It was nice. Pass it on to everyone else,
1:12
apparently. Hopefully not. Hopefully not. Okay,
1:16
you went to Cape May. Do you want to know what
1:18
I got up to? Yes. The stuff I got up to was rather
1:22
adorable. Yeah? I brought Petit Garçon to ballet,
1:26
and then we took him to get measured for his
1:32
little cello, because he's taking cello classes
1:34
this summer. I mean, it couldn't have been cuter.
1:39
Yeah. I mean, yes, it could have. It could have
1:41
been the baby doing it. Aggressive, but sure.
1:47
Perfect. Total cello prodigy. We're taking it
1:51
on. I mean, he's taking a lot on. These are a
1:54
lot of hobbies. He starts swim tomorrow. That's
1:57
a life skill, though. Yes. Real quick. Do you
2:00
want to talk about a recent art crime? Oh, don't
2:03
I? Huh. So. The article is coming out of the
2:08
Miami New Times, right? Actually, it was from
2:11
April, but I'm still shocked by it. Still. Fine
2:15
art fraud forgery. Leslie Roberts. This is a
2:19
man, not a woman. I feel the need to distinguish.
2:22
Oh, yeah. Horrible gentleman. Allegedly. I have
2:25
to say alleged. Allegedly. Had. including likes
2:31
of Lichtenstein, Warhol, Warhol's, all of the
2:38
go -to that you want on your wall. He was selling
2:43
them all fakes. Fakes! Allegedly. Allegedly.
2:48
Went even as far to say that he was already in
2:52
connections with someone from the Warhol Foundation
2:55
and that they were selling Warhol's on a Excuse
2:59
me? Red flags. Red flags all around. Then they
3:04
bring the pieces of art to Christie's to get
3:07
appraised. Christie's is like, nope, not the
3:11
painting. Oh, but it gets worse. It does. He
3:14
then comes back and brings in art experts from
3:19
an art consulting firm. Phillips, quote unquote.
3:23
Yes. Highly, highly. to the art world. International.
3:28
International. And to find out, he faked their
3:33
employment to say that they were still real.
3:37
He's tripling down on these paintings. And it's
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not the first time this son of a bitch has gotten
3:45
in trouble for this. I think this does go back
3:48
to the fact, though, that when collecting your
3:52
art, you really just need to... enjoy the piece
3:56
yourself just put stuff on your walls that you
4:01
love allegedly okay on to the conversation greetings
4:16
this is robert marsh and you're listening to
4:19
philly has heart podcast In this podcast, we
4:22
sit down with artists, gallerists, educators,
4:25
curators, and other creatives who comprise the
4:28
Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
4:32
exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
4:35
are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
4:38
is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
4:42
this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
4:45
me always is my producer, Lucinda Daggerland.
4:48
Hello, hello. And today we have Cheryl from I
4:53
Wish to Say. We're so happy to have you. Oh my
4:56
gosh, I'm so thrilled to be here. Excellent,
4:58
excellent. Cheryl, can you tell us a little bit
5:00
about yourself and kind of share your own E!
5:04
True Hollywood story? Well, let's see where to
5:08
begin. My name is Cheryl Oring. I am an artist.
5:11
I make work using typewriters. And for the last
5:15
21 years, I have been traveling around the country,
5:18
inviting people to dictate a postcard to the
5:21
U .S. president, whoever that might be. Wow.
5:25
Yeah, that started back in 2004. So you can imagine,
5:29
you know, I've heard a lot. I've typed a lot.
5:33
Yes. You know, it started in a very different
5:37
time. I started it at the height of the Iraq
5:40
War, actually, when people were feeling disconnected
5:43
from the leadership at the time and feeling like
5:46
they maybe weren't being heard. And I started
5:50
it with this goal of lifting up everyday people's
5:53
voices. And some of that inspiration was also
5:57
due to my work in journalism. That was my first
6:00
career, actually, in newspapers and seeing how
6:03
women and people of color weren't on the front
6:06
pages as much as you might think they would be
6:09
or want them to be. And I started noticing that,
6:12
you know, three decades ago. And with this project,
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I set out to listen to everybody and to hear
6:19
what everyone has to say and to lift up everybody's
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voices equally and to give everyone just a chance
6:25
to speak out. And through that, you know, through
6:27
that time, How do you then create that art? Are
6:32
you putting that on paper and then are you sending
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out those postcards? Are you keeping those postcards?
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So some details. I type everything in duplicate
6:41
using carbon paper. So, you know, the CC from
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the paper. I can still get it. It's a little
6:49
bit hard, but I can still find it. So I type
6:51
them on a blank index card with a carbon copy.
6:54
And the person who dictates the message sends
6:57
it off to the White House. I give it to them
6:58
all. stamped, addressed and ready to send off
7:00
like a postcard. And I keep a carbon copy. And
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so. That then becomes the material for exhibitions,
7:08
books, different types of artwork that I make
7:12
with the content of the things that I type. Oh,
7:15
that's great. Yeah. That's great. And I've done
7:17
a series of, well, several series of prints,
7:19
actually, where I basically highlight some key
7:23
phrases from things that people said, almost
7:25
like a headline, almost like a newspaper headline.
7:27
And then that becomes a print. You can see some
7:31
of those actually right now at the National Liberty
7:34
Museum here in Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Oh
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my gosh, I have so many questions. First of all,
7:38
stamps are getting way expensive. Oh my gosh,
7:41
I know. That's very true. Who is underwriting
7:43
these stamps? That is very true. And then we
7:48
wonder about the post office. Right. Yes. So
7:51
true. Actually, sending postage to or any letter
7:57
to the White House should be free. Just saying
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it. I agree. That would be nice. To any government
8:03
official should be free. Are you also do you
8:07
have a unique postcard? that you use do you use
8:10
special postcards oh well I use basically a blank
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index card just like a white unlined index card
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because if it's thicker it wouldn't fit into
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the typewriter especially not with The copy.
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Gotcha. The carbon copy. So as it is, you know,
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I'm putting these two sheets, two index cards
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with the carbon paper into the typewriter. And
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that's about the max thickness that the typewriter
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can take. Yes. Now, one other thing that's really
8:37
great about Philadelphia is that there is a typewriter
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repair shop called Philly Typewriter. I don't
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know if you all know about this. Oh, my gosh.
8:44
Oh, my gosh. Okay. So one other thing. I moved
8:46
to Philadelphia. Somebody. Somebody told me about
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this. Is this in the Bach building? Near there.
8:54
It's on Pasionka. Okay, okay. Yes, yes. So I
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moved to Philadelphia in early 2023. And I already
9:02
knew that Philly Typewriter was here. We had
9:04
exchanged some emails. And so, you know, one
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of my very first exciting visits in Philadelphia
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was to Philly Typewriter. And they're just amazing.
9:13
And they've, you know, being in the same city,
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given the work that I do, it's been really...
9:18
important having them here and they've been great
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friends and repaired my typewriters. It's hard
9:23
to find these days. It's very niche. Yes. The
9:27
people typically are older and they're retiring
9:30
out of the field and there's just not maybe so
9:33
much demand nationally. So it's hard to find.
9:37
Fantastic that they're here. Oh, my gosh. Going
9:39
back to your original professional career in
9:43
journalism, can you elaborate a little bit more
9:46
on that and what brought you to journalism to
9:50
begin with? Oh, sure. Well, that goes back in
9:52
time to when I was at the University of Colorado.
9:56
And I didn't exactly know what I was going to
9:59
study when I went to college. I was one of those
10:01
students who was interested in so many different
10:03
things. And, you know, one day it was like religious
10:05
studies. One day it was psychology. One day I
10:07
was like, maybe I'll go to med school. And then
10:10
I discovered the student newspaper. And what
10:12
I loved about journalism, well, there were two
10:14
things. One was that I could learn a lot about
10:16
many different things. And the other one was
10:18
that I really felt like I could make a difference,
10:20
that journalists were the watchdogs of the government.
10:23
We see that how important. that is right now
10:25
today but back then I was covering the student
10:28
government you know at University of Colorado
10:30
and felt like it was an important thing to do
10:33
so what inspired you to pursue public art it
10:38
was an evolution I went to Berlin on a journalism
10:41
fellowship and I was at the time working at the
10:45
San Francisco Chronicle on the city desk as an
10:47
editor and the fellowship was two months but
10:51
I took a six -month leave And then at the end
10:53
of that six months, I called my editor and quit.
10:56
I didn't go back. I just stayed in Berlin. And
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I started finding typewriters. So the typewriter
11:05
thing goes back to Berlin. It goes before the
11:07
I Wish to Say project. So in Berlin, I started
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seeing typewriters. And I also discovered this
11:13
place that became very important to me. It was
11:15
this place called Babelplatz, which is the site
11:18
of the Nazi book burning. And when I happened
11:22
upon that place, it just did something to me.
11:27
It was like thinking about what had happened
11:29
there, reading about the history. The students
11:32
in the university across the street in Humboldt
11:34
University took the books out of the library
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and burned them at the beginning of the Nazi
11:39
period. It was really sort of unthinkable. So
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I had this idea to make this work that I eventually
11:44
called Writer's Block. where I collected hundreds
11:47
of typewriters, more than 600 typewriters. Oh,
11:50
my gosh. Yeah, and put them in these sculptural
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cages made out of construction rebar. And that
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was a material that I saw all over the landscape
11:58
of Berlin because the city was being rebuilt
12:00
at that time, lots of construction. And so I
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made that work. I'm sort of fast -forwarding,
12:05
but it was an incredible process. You know, I
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was there. I had no money. I, you know, spoke
12:12
very broken German. You know, here it was like,
12:17
you know, American girl who kind of spoke some
12:19
German from her college German classes, but not
12:22
that much. And just tried to figure out, you
12:24
know, how I could make this really large piece
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of public art. And I did it through pure determination
12:30
and will and a lot of maybe. You know, I didn't
12:38
know how to do it. It was like one step at a
12:41
time, just trying to figure it out. And it was
12:42
a pretty amazing experience to do that. And then
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after it was in Berlin, it traveled a bit. I
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went to Budapest and to the Boston Public Library
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and to the New York Public Library. And then
12:53
later to some other universities around the country.
12:56
And it's actually here in Philadelphia right
12:58
now in storage. No way. Yeah, I'm trying to find
13:02
a permanent home for this. So this work, you
13:04
know, I made it. decades ago in Berlin. It's
13:08
never felt more timely, though, unfortunately.
13:10
All the book banning that's happening around
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the country right now makes it feel really, really
13:15
relevant and important. I would like to find
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maybe libraries, but I'm open to other locations
13:22
around the country that would take on these sculptures.
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I have 18 of them, and each one is about three
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cubic feet, so like three by three by three,
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filled with about 25 typewriters. They're relatively
13:36
easy to move. They weigh about 750 pounds. Yeah,
13:39
just not exactly a living room art. So that actually
13:47
started me onto a whole new path. But for a while,
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I was still doing journalism to make my living.
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And then at some point, I went back to graduate
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school and got a degree in art and MFA and then
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started working in academia. Where did you go
14:04
to school? University of California in San Diego.
14:06
I just like to go to very distant places. You
14:11
know, San Diego, Berlin. I don't know. I was
14:17
in Detroit for a while. Yeah, I've moved around
14:19
a lot. How would you describe? I wish to say
14:22
to someone who has not seen or heard of it? And
14:26
what is the inspiration behind it? So with I
14:30
wish to say, I get dressed up like a 1960s secretary.
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I usually have a big hairdo and some really fun,
14:39
colorful costume jewelry, often sort of flowers
14:42
or something like that. And then I'm usually
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wearing something red, white or blue. a suit,
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a nice office dress, and I'm sitting at a desk
14:51
with a manual typewriter, and I have some supplies,
14:54
some rubber stamps, the carbon paper, a camera.
14:58
I usually ask people if I could take their picture,
15:00
and then someone might come up to me, and I'll
15:02
say, if I were the president, what would you
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wish to say to me? And then I'll type up their
15:07
answers. And sometimes there's a bit of a conversation.
15:11
Sometimes people know, sometimes people don't
15:13
know. It really depends on the context. I do
15:17
a lot of work on university campuses and in places
15:19
like libraries. So sometimes with students. Here
15:23
I worked with the amazing students at the Revolution
15:25
School. So high school students dictated their
15:28
messages starting last spring, about a year ago.
15:32
And then... The students also worked with some
15:35
of the printmaking students at University of
15:37
the Arts, which is where I was working. And they
15:39
printed little zines with their messages and
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then distributed them throughout Philadelphia.
15:43
Oh, wow. So that was really special. And then
15:46
the students from Revolution School joined me
15:48
as typists. So the high school students wanted
15:51
to learn how to type. Oh, great. Yeah, and they
15:54
came out with me twice, once at the Kimmel Center
15:56
and once at the Free Library and joined me as
16:00
typists. That's incredible. Yeah. That's kind
16:03
of a side question. Has anyone from the White
16:07
House ever reached out? I have never gotten contacted
16:10
by the White House. You know, it's funny because
16:12
at one point I was on ABC News and they called
16:15
the White House and got a no comment. But when
16:18
people send their... Can I ask what administration
16:20
that was? That was a long time ago. That was
16:22
in the George Bush White House. W? Yeah. Yes.
16:26
But people send their postcards. It's up to them
16:28
if they put their name on it. I don't put my
16:30
name on it. Probably I wouldn't hear, although,
16:32
you know, I've typed more than 5 ,000 messages,
16:34
and I've done a book and exhibitions. So probably
16:37
if they wanted to figure out who was typing,
16:39
they would be able to figure it out. Oh, my gosh.
16:42
That's incredible. I mean, is there nobody there
16:44
that just spots a trend? Right. You would think.
16:49
I know. I've been doing this for a long time,
16:51
and so one has to ask oneself, why am I continuing
16:53
to do this, or what's the meaning? And I will
16:55
say a couple things about that. fall there was
16:58
a young person who came up to my desk and a recent
17:01
college graduate and after she dictated her message
17:04
she said you know nobody's ever listened to me
17:07
like that before you know this young woman telling
17:09
me that and that I've heard multiple times unfortunately
17:12
especially among students and I think that this
17:15
project really does a lot to encourage people
17:18
to believe in what they say to like have a say
17:22
and then also to think about it and to believe
17:25
in it and i see it as maybe a first step very
17:27
small first step for them i wonder how many got
17:34
a response themselves right they might not have
17:38
gotten a response because if they sent it as
17:40
a postcard they may or may not have put their
17:41
return address they might have just tossed it
17:43
the mail But I do think that just feeling listened
17:47
to these days is so important. And also when
17:51
I've been in conversation with students at a
17:53
couple different universities, they mention that
17:54
when you're on social media, you have all these
17:58
people commenting, but you're not really in conversation.
18:01
And maybe you're afraid to say something because
18:04
you don't want to hear what comments might be.
18:06
But with this, it's just you. I've had some great
18:10
responses this year that have really kept me
18:12
going and made me feel like it's important. And
18:14
then I've also thought back to the time, 2004,
18:18
when the project started. Of course, there were
18:20
no social media, Facebook, no Instagram, all
18:24
that kind of stuff. And so it's really changed
18:27
our world and how we function. And I think there's
18:31
something really special about the way the typewriter
18:34
forces people to slow down a little bit. have
18:38
this one -on -one conversation with me as the
18:41
typist, it's taken on some sort of deeper meaning,
18:45
I think. Has social media changed your art at
18:49
all? Well, you know, I am posting things on social
18:54
media and I ask for people's permission to post
18:57
it. And of course, you know, 20 years ago, that
19:00
wasn't a thing. So it's changed it in that sense.
19:03
I think the way it's changed it is more like
19:05
the cell phone itself. makes it harder and harder
19:08
to interact with people in public space and so
19:11
it's become more important for this project to
19:15
work with partner organizations that for instance
19:17
let people know ahead of time and there's some
19:20
expectation that I'll be there versus at the
19:22
very beginning I would just show up at Bryant
19:24
Park in New York and set up with my typewriter
19:26
and people would stop and talk to me But that's
19:28
hard now. Really? Yeah, I don't get as many people
19:31
who just stop and talk. Wow. It depends where
19:34
I am. Yes. It really depends because I was in
19:37
Chicago last summer while the Democratic National
19:39
Convention was happening. So there was a lot
19:41
of people thinking about politics out there,
19:45
enjoying it in some way, the convention. So there
19:48
I did have a really good response, just setting
19:50
up on the street without much notice. But that's
19:53
not always the case. And I think it does have
19:56
something to do with people just being attached
19:57
to their phones and not, you know, taking a break
20:00
to talk to some strange woman with a typewriter.
20:04
So where can... people find you online? Either
20:08
on my website, which is CherylOrring .org or
20:10
my other one, which is called IWishToSay .org.
20:13
And then same on Instagram, Cheryl Orring or
20:16
I Wish To Say. Can you spell Orring? Oh yeah.
20:18
And it's Cheryl with an S, S -H -E -R -Y -L and
20:21
O -R -I -N -G. We're going to close out with
20:24
some rapid fire questions for you. What is your
20:27
favorite beverage at the moment? Jamaica. What's
20:32
your favorite Philadelphia neighborhood? Chinatown.
20:35
If you could have any piece of art in your home,
20:37
no limitations, what would it be? That is a hard
20:41
one. I like to have art around me by people who
20:44
I know and I have a special connection to. So
20:47
I have art by former students and artists who
20:51
I've done residencies with or something. But
20:53
there is an artist who... was a student at University
20:57
of North Carolina in Greensboro when I was teaching
20:59
there. Her name's Carmen Neely. She's now in
21:02
Chicago and she's doing great. And I absolutely
21:05
love her paintings. They're just gorgeous. Excellent.
21:09
Really, really beautiful. So Carmen Neely. We're
21:11
going to share her in the show notes. Okay. Excellent.
21:14
Great. I'm going to also add that to the artists
21:17
that people are sleeping on. The Philadelphia
21:19
art scene in one word. Spunky. Spunky. Nice.
21:24
Nice. Wait, the artists that people are... Did
21:27
you ask me that question? I did not. Oh. If there's
21:29
another one. Oh, there's another one. Oh, perfect.
21:31
Okay. Because Carmen's in Chicago. Okay. Yeah,
21:34
she's not here. Then which Philadelphia artist
21:35
is the city sleeping on? I thought about that
21:39
question. I think it's Jessie Mochran. I don't
21:41
know if y 'all know Jessie. She shows all over
21:43
internationally in New York and LA, but she moved
21:46
to Philly, I think, a couple of years ago, and
21:48
I'm not sure. The city is aware of that. So Jessie
21:52
Mockren, she's amazing. I found her on Instagram.
21:55
She's going to get linked. She steaks with Wiz
21:58
or without? Wiz. Are you a Carrie, Charlotte,
22:02
Miranda, or Samantha? Not Charlotte, but a mix
22:06
of all the rest. Well, Cheryl, thank you so much
22:08
for your time today and joining with us at Philly
22:10
Has Heart. Oh, my gosh. Thanks for having me.
22:12
It was really fun talking to you. Hey, Lucinda.
22:26
Hey, hey. All right. So what are we getting into
22:29
this weekend? I'm going to a concert, actually.
22:32
Oh, really? I'm going to go see the Kooks on
22:35
Friday. Very nice. Do you remember them? Yes.
22:37
I saw them back in 2011 at the 930 Club in D
22:42
.C. Also, Vampire Weekend is in town. Oh, I know.
22:46
This weekend. I know. Pricey. Pricey. I think
22:48
it would be worth it. I wish I were going to
22:50
that instead. So good. Such a Sophie's choice
22:53
for the millennial. Oh, yes, definitely. There's
22:56
going to be a lot of those this summer, I think.
22:57
Yeah. Nostalgia. Yes, it's coming back. It's
23:01
coming back. I'm also going to a very exclusive
23:03
performance. My oldest dance showcase is this
23:07
weekend. Tickets were capped at two per person.
23:11
Wow. Because he's feeling a little stage fright.
23:15
Yeah. I told him if he didn't like it, he doesn't
23:18
have to do it next year. He just has to give
23:20
it a shot this year. He has to finish out the
23:22
year this year. And he has to finish the summer
23:26
because I already prepaid for that. Yep. Well,
23:28
encouragement. What are you into? So it's finally
23:32
the Red Rose Farm benefit weekend. Not sure about
23:37
weather yet, but hopefully it goes off without
23:39
a hitch on Thursday. That'll be the benefit night
23:42
for the Philadelphia Ballet Red Rose Farm performance.
23:46
Tickets, I believe, are still on sale. And then
23:49
rain date is Friday, so we'll shift if we have
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to. Saturday is picnic day. So if you have any
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free time on Saturday and you want to go out
24:01
and see some ballet on a beautiful lawn and enjoy
24:04
a nice picnic, there's still tickets available
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for the Saturday event as well. If it rains on
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Saturday, then they'll shift it to Sunday. Love
24:13
a contingency plan. You know it. We have some
24:17
more stuff for this weekend. John Poblador, Chapel
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of Color, is opening on June 3rd at Bridget Mayer
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Gallery. Cecilia Paredes, By My Side or Back
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of Me, is ongoing at the Print Center. Chris
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RWK Show is ongoing at Works on Paper Gallery.
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That's going to be going for another two weeks.
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Buy your tickets for the Philadelphia Theatre
24:41
Company production of Small Ball. Let's support
24:44
the PTC in the wake of the cancellation of their
24:47
NEA grant. We have more ballet for your calendar.
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Not only are tickets of BalletX's Summer Series
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on sale for July 16th through the 20th, but the
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company also has a June 5th stop at Longwood
25:01
Gardens and will be popping up June 12th at Dilworth
25:05
Park. And with that, Philly has art. And art!
25:15
Do you have a favorite typewriter? Wait, you
25:17
know how difficult that is? Because I have about
25:19
150 typewriters that are not in the sculptures.
25:22
Like in the sculptures, there's about 650. But
25:24
I have about 150 other typewriters. Of your own?
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Yeah, of my own. But I've been traveling around
25:29
this year with a little tiny princess typewriter.
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That's the model. And it's from Germany. It's
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in a little teeny case. It's very compact and
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easy to travel with. So I do love my princess.
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And I have... And Olivetti Valentine typewriter.
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This is one that's in Loma, you know, in the
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design section. It's a really beautiful red typewriter.
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And I really like my Erica typewriters, which
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are German models as well. German typewriters
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are really amazing. They're pretty amazing.