Phyllis Baldino
February 24, 2026

The great artist Phyllis Baldino graduated from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford as a dedicated sculptor. But a few years later, a chance encounter with a generous subletter with a trunk full of video cameras changed the course of her life.

She began making video pieces on her Sony Handycam in the early 90s in what would become the remarkable Gray Area Series. Inspired by books about fuzzy logic, each video records a sequence of actions by Baldino on common household objects that are—sometimes aggressively—deconstructed and repurposed. In Wine Rack/Not Wine Rack, for example, a wooden thrift store wine rack is sawed up to accommodate a 4L jug of blush wine. In April 1994: The Gray Band, Baldino gathered together four musician friends, Dez Cadena, Lynn Johnston, Tom Watson, and Mike Watt, to reconstruct instruments that she disassembled and play a single song: Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive.”

Baldino's musical selection for the show includes great songs from each of these artists as well as music that has influenced her work or been included in her work.

Baldino's abiding interest in the intersection of science and the everyday has led to fascinating works about nanotechnology (Nano-cadabra, 1998), quantum mechanics (Baldino-Neutrino, 2003), and parallel universe theory (19 Universes/my brother, 2004). She has been exploring issues of climate change in works like u_n_d_e_r_w_a_t_e_r, 2019 and Fake Nature Box, 2021.

It was through research on the Little Ice Age (1300 - 1850) that Baldino arrived at the process that is powering her current body of work. Learning about horrific stories of women accused of witchcraft and weather magic instilled in her the desire to speak firsthand with witnesses to the events. So she turned to an experienced friend and a Ouija board to find out what really happened: whether weather what was the result. Continuing this process led to Hit thegroundrunning, 2025, about immigrants to the US who came through Ellis Island in New York as children. What is it like communicating with the dead? Listen in to find out!

We discuss all this work as well as some of the vicissitudes of making video art. It’s a fascinating conversation with a truly unique artist. Information about the work can be found on www.phyllisbaldino.com.

Complete playlist below; tracks in yellow were cut for time.

1. Indeterminacy (clip), John Cage and David Tudor, 1959
   
2. Guitar Solo at Toad's, The B Willie Smith Band   
   
3. Merle Rock A Bye, Steve Baldino   
   
4. Another Day, Another Night; Steve Baldino, 2005   
   
5. You Know I Love You, The B Willie Smith Band   
   
6. No More (Dez Cadena Version), Black Flag, 1982  
7.  Walking The Cow, Firehose, 1991
8. The Letter, The Red Krayola, 1995
9. Little Rootie Tootie, CRUEL FREDERICK, 1991
   
10. Love, More Love; The United Society of Shakers, 1996
    
11. Who Will Blow and Bend Like the Willow, The United Society of Shakers, 1996
12. Auber: Manon Lescaut - C'Est L'Histoire Amoureuse, Amelita Galli-Curci, 1917
    
13. Nessuno, Mina, 1959
14. Stars (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1976), Nina Simone, 1976
15. Nell'Ufficio Di Produzione Di Otto E Mezzo, Nino Rota, 1962
    
16. Tighten Up, Archie Bell & The Drells, 1968
    
17. Kimberly, Patti Smith, 1975
18. 96 Tears, ? & The Mysterians, 1966
19. Chan Chan - Dúo con Elíades Ochoa, Cuba Segundo   
20. The Wind Cries Mary, Jimi Hendrix, 1967
21. For What It's Worth, Buffalo Springfield, 1966
22. They're Red Hot, Robert Johnson, 1937  
23. Andy Warhol - 2015 Remaster, David Bowie, 1971
24. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, Hank Williams, 1954
25. Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin, 1971

Phyllis Baldino is a conceptual artist whose work merges performance, video, sculpture, and installation combining an exploration of perception ranging from the everyday to scientific inquiry with extensive research to make work that creates its own logic. She has had one-person exhibitions at Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio and Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York. Baldino’s work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the M+ Museum in Hong Kong. Baldino received a Preservation Grant from the NEA to digitize her video work in 2021 and was nominated for the Anonymous Was A Woman award in 2020. Baldino earned a B.F.A. in sculpture from the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, Connecticut.