A Conversation with Taylor Baldwin

Taylor Baldwin is an artist and Associate Professor who serves as guest curator for 'Everything is Change,' the first solo exhibition of Bobby Anspach at Newport Art Museum.

As Graduate Program Director of Sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design, Taylor taught and mentored Bobby, bringing years of experience as both an accomplished artist and educator to guide students in the program.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

My name is Taylor Baldwin. I am an artist and educator who primarily works in sculpture, installation, and drawing. I've been an artist my entire life, but practicing with a studio for over 20 years. I'm currently based in Providence, Rhode Island, and I teach at Rhode Island School of Design in the sculpture department, which is where I initially met Bobby Anspach when he enrolled in the MFA program in Fall 2015. I was the graduate program director running the MFA program and later became Bobby's professor and graduate thesis advisor.

What was Bobby like as a student? How would you describe him during that time?

I first met Bobby during graduate interviews. What immediately stood out was how after each question, he would lean forward and make continuous eye contact very directly while listening. Then he would respond very sincerely and directly before moving on to the next question. His answers were straightforward and sincere—very emblematic of who he was and how he thought.

That direct engagement characterized how he moved through the RISD community. He was extremely dedicated and committed to his studio practice and his peers. He was the first one to arrive at the studio and the last one to leave. He was supremely committed to his vision throughout his time in school, and that commitment was contagious, inspiring many other students around him.

How did you become involved with curating the exhibition for the Bobby Anspach Studios Foundation?

A year or two ago, the Anspach family started the Anspach Studio Foundation and held a series of events at Bobby's studio featuring his installed machines. One evening was specifically for the RISD community. I was asked to speak at this event, which gave me an opportunity to write and reflect on my experiences with Bobby as an artist, educator, and peer.

During that process, I thought deeply about how he operated as an artist, how he engaged with his community, and what I wanted to communicate to his family about the perspective I had of him. After connecting with Bobby's family at that event, someone from the foundation reached out and asked if I would help organize and curate this exhibition.

At first, I questioned whether I had the expertise for this role, but then I realized that having spent two years in regular, in-depth conversations with Bobby about his work, his intentions, and his vision, I had a unique perspective to offer. While there are many people who knew Bobby better in other aspects of his life, I felt I could help communicate his interior studio world and artistic vision effectively.

What pieces did you select for the exhibition, and what was your curatorial approach?

The centerpiece of the exhibition is certainly the "Places for Continuous Eye Contact" machines, which are these monumental, complex works developed over a long period. What I wanted to showcase in this exhibition is how these incredible works evolved from much simpler elements.

We'll include not just the final machines but also prototypes and early iterations—some even made from cardboard boxes—to show the progression from everyday materials to the sophisticated final versions. The exhibition will feature many paintings, drawings, and smaller-scale sculptures that demonstrate how Bobby isolated specific elements that would later become layers within the machines.

For example, there will be paintings where he's experimenting with the patterns of pom-poms that he later incorporated inside the machines, and playful sculptures coated in pom-poms as he explored textures, colors, and patterns. We'll also showcase Bobby's writing throughout the exhibition.

My goal is to help visitors see that the path from everyday inspiration to these monumental works is something accessible to everyone. I want people to leave understanding that creativity and transcendental thinking isn't limited to genius but is something everyone can participate in.

How do you envision Bobby's work fitting into the Victorian mansion setting of the Newport Art Museum?

The contrast between Bobby's work and the Victorian mansion setting creates a fascinating dynamic. Some galleries in the museum have modern white walls like contemporary art spaces, while others maintain their historic character—like the Victorian library with its wood paneling.

The DIY, exuberant, colorful nature of Bobby's sculptures will create an intriguing contrast with the formal, historical architecture. I'm excited to see his brightly colored, contemporary machines in these traditional spaces—I think they'll play off each other in visually striking ways.

But beyond the visual contrast, there's a conceptual coherence too. Bobby was interested in creating transcendental experiences for people in positions of power—people who could address urgent issues like climate change. His vision was that if he could provide an experience where people gazed deeply into their own or another's eyes, they would recognize the fundamental interconnectedness of all things and leave with a deep sense of needing to protect humanity and the planet.

The Newport Art Museum was built from 19th-century wealth and power—it was a mansion for a trading magnate involved in the China trade, including the opium trade. Bobby was interested in his work operating in environments connected to power and influence. So conceptually, his work in this legacy space aligns perfectly with his vision of reaching those who could effect change.

What experiences do you hope visitors will have when engaging with Bobby's work at this exhibition?

First and foremost, I hope visitors receive the experience that Bobby intentionally built into these works. He was incredibly thoughtful about how these pieces operate; the mechanics of how visuality flattens space, how color works (I'm convinced he figured out new aspects of color theory in making these works).

At the core of his intention was creating wonder—to completely disarm viewers with the full experience and wrap them in a state of presentness and wonder, both at the world around them and in connection with another person. These machines have consistently shown their ability to bring people into an immediate, present moment.

I hope people approach the works with openness and receive that sense of wonder and awe Bobby designed them to evoke. What conclusions they draw from that experience should be entirely their own, but I hope they connect with what Bobby fervently desired these machines to accomplish.

Bobby Anspach guiding guests in Place for Continuous Eye Contact at Studio 3X, his Brooklyn studio

The project has drawn together many creative people. Can you speak to that collaborative aspect?

Through working on this project, it's become clear that Bobby's work has a remarkable power to draw people in. There's Eluvium (Matthew Robert Cooper), the musician who worked with Bobby to create soundscapes for his work; the people who assisted in his studio or continue working there; and now the documentary project.

What's consistent is that people are drawn in by experiencing the power of Bobby's vision—its clarity, coherence, and innovation—and being touched by its emotional resonance. It's created this network of people connected through his work, which I find incredibly powerful.

How do you see this exhibition advancing the Bobby Anspach Studios Foundation and its mission?

This exhibition gives Bobby's work a chance to live on. What the foundation and family are doing is extraordinary and rare—collecting, curating, and cataloging this body of work. It's uncommon for an artist's vision to be preserved and presented to the public so thoroughly.

The exhibition makes Bobby's life's work visible and coherent, both literally in the gallery space and intellectually through its organization and presentation. Visitors will be able to experience not just the machines themselves but also see the larger connective tissue throughout his creative process.

The foundation is doing an excellent job of making this vision accessible to all who can visit the Newport Art Museum, and potentially beyond as the exhibition could travel to other venues.

My hope is that this retrospective of Bobby's life's work will be seen by as many people as possible.

A look into Taylor Baldwin’s work.

The Oracle, 2016 96in. x 36in. x 36in. Mixed media installation incorporating salvaged materials, electronics, and found objects

This sculptural installation combines a Christmas tree trunk, oscilloscope, LED elements, and various salvaged materials to create an interactive audiovisual experience. The work features a 45-minute soundscape of algorithmic stock trading data transcribed into audible frequencies and mixed with the Om frequency, played through speakers and visualized on the oscilloscope while powering LED elements in a constructed light-box. Materials were sourced from abandoned flea markets near the artist's studio and businesses in Guangzhou's special economic zone, connecting the physical materials to the financial data comprising the soundscape. The piece also incorporates every used copy of I Ching translations found within a 20-mile radius of the artist, purchased between January-August 2017.