Mary Ellen Carroll and David Freedman on Thomas Bernhard’s THE LOSER

P.3 Reads presents Mary Ellen Carroll and David Freedman on Thomas Bernhard’s THE LOSER

In conjunction with Prospect.3, the international art biennial that will open in spaces throughout New Orleans next fall, the folks at Prospect have launched a series of literary events in New Orleans Public Library branches, P.3 Reads, that will feature artists from the biennial talking about books that are central to their work.

The next installment of P.3 Reads, for which Prospect artist Mary Ellen Carroll and WWOZ’s David Freedman will discuss The Loser by Thomas Bernhard, will take place at 6 p.m. this Thursday, March 20, at the Rosa S. Keller Library (4300 Broad St.).

The Loser is classic Bernhard—it’s the story of a couple aspiring concert pianists who, upon witnessing the genius of their contemporary (as he plays Bach’s Goldberg Variations), lose faith in their own talents and enter into downward spirals (Bernhard is the maestro of downward spirals). The novel is essentially a meditation on artistic practice, and the event’s presenters will discuss it as it relates to Carroll’s work.

Carroll is a conceptual artist from New York (though she teaches at Rice in Houston) whose art often relates to architecture and urbanism. Her installation for Prospect.3, Public Utility 2.0, will be a series of transmitters mounted under the Claiborne Overpass that use new technology to transmit “Super WiFi” via unused television channels, giving people in the area free Internet.

This article was reposted from Press Street: Room 220, a NolaVie content partner.