About this episode

Suzanne Firstenberg discusses how art can help society confront grief and foster connection amidst disconnection.

What happens when a society loses its grip on grief and numbers replace names? In this episode, social practice artist Suzanne Firstenberg turns national tragedy into human encounter, asking a simple but destabilizing question: Can art make us see each other again? From a field of more than 600,000 white flags on the National Mall to immersive installations on addiction and psychological trauma, Firstenberg's work doesn't explain. It reveals. Each project begins with a question beneath the surface: not how people fall apart, but why. Not how many died, but who they were. Her process moves through research, deep listening, and public participation to transform private pain into shared space. Whether through handwritten memorials, recorded voices, or silent visual scale, she creates conditions where strangers become witnesses. What emerges is not consensus, but connection. In a culture fractured by disinformation, fear, and isolation, Firstenberg reframes the problem: Extremism behaves like addiction because it is reinforced by dopamine and sustained by repetition. Anger is often grief in disguise. Community is not optional. It's the mechanism of healing. Her current work asks a…

People in this episode

Host: Bill Cleveland

Guest: Suzanne Firstenberg

Topics covered

• art and grief
• social practice
• community healing
• public participation
• immersion in art
• connection through art

Keywords

• art
• grief
• community
• social practice
• connection
• public participation
• immersion
• healing

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: more than 600,000 white flags on the National Mall, handwritten memorials, recorded voices, silent visual scale

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