Jack Radley

What do you do when you’re not on the clock?
I’m working on a few exhibitions outside of work with my collaborator, Constanza Valenzuela. Currently, we’re curating Canal Street Research Association, a temporary center of operations for itinerant research unit Shanzhai Lyric. Bringing their roving investigation of bootleg goods to the epicenter of counterfeit culture in New York City, Shanzhai Lyric repurposes an abandoned storefront as space for gathering ephemeral histories, mapping the major thoroughfare’s lore, past and present, and tracing the flows and fissures of global capital. We screen films in dialogue with the storied block and invite the public to spend time with their archive of T-shirts. It’s been an absolute dream. This summer, we are excited to also curate an exhibition, Transient Grounds, on Governors Island.

What’s the biggest project you ever carried back from Bixby to the dorms?
Conceptual work prevails.

Favorite WashU memory that you can share with the general public.
Wrightonpalooza.

What is your favorite thing about St. Louis?
How close-knit it is. There’s so many people producing great work. The community is not cut-throat, it’s welcoming—the collective energy and available space foster amazing possibilities.

What advice would you give to our students?
Sometimes what you do outside of school is equally or more important than what you do within it. Also, hot take, but learn Microsoft Excel.

Tell us something we should know about you that we forgot to ask.
I want to thank the amazing faculty in Sam Fox who taught me lessons I’ll always carry with me (consideration, fearlessness, failure, hard work) and helped me grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Sometimes I still hear your voices echoing in my head, usually in a good way.