Episode 905: The REAL Joey Orr!

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Live from the tailgate lounge at Chicago Architectural Biennial 6’s booth at Expo Chicago, Duncan and Ryan welcome Joey Orr, the newly appointed Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the MCA Chicago. In this densely brilliant and surprisingly hilarious conversation, Orr discusses what it means to steer a contemporary art institution in an era of deep social complexity, political polarization, and shifting museum ethics.

We cover everything from the social life of objects to the lore of performance documentation, and even pitch a game show based on the varied memories of Chris Burden’s early MCA performance. Orr reflects on social practice, audience authorship, and why curators are public servants—not VIPs. We get deep into what it means to be a meat sack in space, how to radicalize museum engagement, and why reenactments may just be the key to future institutional magic.

This is art talk that grinds, gropes, and glows in the dark. No hot dogs, just conceptual fireworks.

• Joey Orr – Deputy Director and Chief Curator at MCA Chicago
  • IG: @joeyorr13
  • Bio: https://joeyorr.com/about/

• Chris Burden – Performance artist
  • Wiki: Chris Burden
• John Cage – Composer and performance artist
  • Wiki: John Cage
  • Resource: John Cage Trust
• Dick Higgins – Intermedia artist and Fluxus co-founder
  • Wiki: Dick Higgins
• Alison Knowles – Fluxus artist
  • IG: @alisonknowlesartist
  • Wiki: Alison Knowles
• Mary Jane Jacob – Curator of public art and socially engaged practice
  • Wiki: Mary Jane Jacob
  • Bio: SAIC Faculty Page
• Pablo Helguera – Artist and educator working in socially engaged art
  • IG: @pablo_helguera
  • Website: pablohelguera.net
  • Book: Education for Socially Engaged Art
• Diana Taylor – Performance theorist; author of The Archive and the Repertoire
  • Profile: NYU Performance Studies
  • Book Info: Duke University Press
• Naomi Beckwith – Curator, formerly at MCA and Guggenheim
  • IG: @naomibx
  • Article: Guggenheim Chief Curator Announcement

• MCA Chicago (Museum of Contemporary Art)
  • Website: mcachicago.org
  • IG: @mcachicago
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
  • Website: saic.edu
  • IG: @saic_news
• High Museum of Art (Atlanta)
  • Website: high.org
  • IG: @highmuseumofart
• The Louvre
  • Website: louvre.fr
  • IG: @museelouvre
• Queens Museum
  • Website: queensmuseum.org
  • IG: @queensmuseum
• Fluxus – Movement reference
  • MoMA: Fluxus Overview – https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/fluxus#:~:text=Founded%20by%20George%20Maciunas%20and,to%20integrate%20art%20and%20life.

• Author
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Christopher Hudgens

Operations Manager at Bad at Sports

Christopher Hudgens is the Operations Manager for BaS and works in various other capacities for other organizations in the Chicago Art & Culture scene. Most recently as Business Operations Manager for the Bridge Art Fair and currently an advocate for all things art & technology.

Latest posts by Christopher Hudgens (see all)

• Episode 905: The REAL Joey Orr! - May 29, 2025
• Episode 904: Caitlin McGurk and Brian Baynes - May 23, 2025
• Episode 903: Jake Nickell & Lance Curran of Threadless - May 13, 2025