The Monday Media Diet with Patton Hindle

Patton Hindle (PH) is a friend of WITI. She helps artists and important cultural orgs get their projects off the ground. We’re pleased to have her on the page today. Have a great week. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I’m the Head of Arts at Kickstarter where I work with artists and cultural organizations to launch crowdfunding campaigns for ambitious projects (most recently with Gavin Turk on his Piscia d’Artista). I also serve on the Board of The Laundromat Project and Arts Funders Forum as well as several arts advocacy advisory groups with Americans for the Arts. 

In my other lives, I’ve been a gallery owner of yours mine & ours, an author, a strategic business consultant in the arts, a Director of Partnerships at Artspace, and a gallery Director. I grew up bouncing between Nashville, Tennessee, and London, United Kingdom though I consider London home as I lived there the longest and during my teen years.

Now I live in Clinton Hill with my partner Brandon Capps who owns a menswear showroom, 309 Works, and my 5-year-old stepson, Rusty (and his purple Yoshi stuffed animal), and our cat Nita (General Patton’s sister’s name). 

Describe your media diet. 

I wake up and without fail turn on WNYC for my morning coffee. Growing up, my father always had either NPR playing or BBC news 24/7 on his old Bose radio system; I guess I learned the habit. I usually have to switch it off when Brandon is annoyed by some bizarre music segment that is too early for him to listen to without more coffee. 

I think it’s only fair that I admit publicly I have a habit of also checking real estate listings every morning. We’re lucky to own our apartment but there’s a special kind of New York voyeurism that comes with looking on StreetEasy every day. My more respectable media diet follows with reading the NYT and the WashPo, then listening to a podcast at the gym– usually the Daily, and sometimes Ezra Klein but only on the days I feel I can tolerate him. 

Throughout the rest of the day, I’m often reading The Art Newspaper, Artnet News, Hyperallergic, and other industry rags. I have a few good group chats and Instagram groups that help me stay alert to all things art, fuzzy animals, and memes.  

What’s the last great book you read?

Ascribing the term “great” to a book is hard for me as so many have their own particular places in my life. I guess there’s one book I frequently return to, Maggie Nelson’s The Art of Cruelty. It’s a text that is still so relevant in how we look and think about art, literature, theater, music, and more. She aims to put words and understanding to that guttural emotive feeling one has when looking at great art; even if it’s violent or hideous. 

What are you reading now?

Animal by Lisa Taddeo. I’m thrilled that Brooklyn libraries are open again; however, it always seems that my long-placed holds become available at the same time. So, I’m nearly done with Animal but have Virtue by Hermione Hoby and The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalia Harris in my stack. (Sorry to anyone waiting in the queue, I’m going as quickly as possible!)

Despite this stack, I foolishly couldn’t help myself from buying the new Maggie Nelson (I have a quote from Bluets tattooed on my arm) and pre-ordering a former high-school classmate’s forthcoming book, The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan. 

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

In recent months/years, I’ve realized I have to hide my phone away. This COVID era has shot my attention span. Aside from that, it’s waiting for quiet time or hiding in my bedroom or on our balcony in the sun for some quiet from our son. Thankfully, our family loves to read so it’s not too hard to call out for a reading hour for us all.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Agnes Martin. Along with being an exceptional painter, she was a fantastic writer. Her advice to young artists and creatives still stands and lands somewhere nicely in the realm of personal philosophy. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?

Well, I outed myself on this one above… StreetEasy. 

Plane or train?

Plane.

What is one place everyone should visit?

The English countryside. Bring your wellies and go on a jaunt; it’s beautiful.  

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into. 

I can’t say I’m really someone who goes off on rabbit holes, except for one significant chunk of my life where I was a rower. All through high school for my school and a British women’s team and then recruited to university and then the National Team but I broke my cycle and took an internship at Sotheby’s instead. Perhaps 8 years of rowing was enough of a rabbit hole for the rest of my life? (PH)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Patton (PH)

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