Show notes
Recorded live from the Chicago Architectural Biennial's booth at EXPO Chicago, Bad at Sports tailgates with artist Edra Soto and designer Dan Sullivan—Chicago's unofficial art-world power couple. Soto unpacks her first solo art fair booth at Engage Projects, where monoblock plastic chairs, airbrushed T-shirts, and Puerto Rican vernacular architecture collide with memory, loss, and celebration. Sullivan, founder of Navillus Woodworks, riffs on craft, Ikea hacks, and the business of making high-end furniture while moonlighting as Soto's collaborator and fabricator. "Dan helps." What starts as a playful conversation about paparazzi, beer coolers, and chairs spirals into a meditation on grief, Puerto Rican cultural identity, and the design politics of everyday objects. Along the way, we hit Bad Bunny, the Bear restaurant, euphemisms around death, Catholic ritual, and the French (yes, the French). We close out with music talk—Sullivan on his bands Nadnavillus and Arriver—and a standing invitation for Bad at Sports to share the stage. Death, dying, lawn chairs, and punk rock. Welcome to EXPO. Artists & Designers Edra Soto Instagram: @edrasoto https://edrasoto.com/home.html Dan Sullivan / Navillus Woodworks Instagram: @navillus_woodworks https://navilluswoodworks.com/ Ryan Peter Miller Instagram: @ryanpetermiller http://ryanpetermiller.com/ Miguel Aguilar (Kane One) Instagram: @kane_one_ kane-1.com https://www.3arts.org/artist/miguel-aguilar/ Susan Gomes George Ortiz Instagram: @georgeortizphotography https://www.georgeortizphotography.com/ Bad Bunny Instagram: @badbunnypr https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast/459095/bad-bunny-puerto-rico-residency-history Institutions / Venues / Events Engage Projects Instagram: @engageprojects https://www.engage-projects.com/ Chicago Architecture Biennial Instagram: @chicagoarchitecturebiennial https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/ EXPO Chicago Instagram: @expochicago expochicago.com WBEZ Instagram: @wbezchicago wbez.org/about 105.5 FM Lumpen Radio (WLPN‑LP) Instagram: @lumpenradio lumpenradio.com The Franklin (project space) Instagram: @thefranklinoutdoor (site-run by Edra Soto & Dan Sullivan) https://thefranklinoutdoor.tumblr.com/ABOUT The Bear restaurant (Sullivan furniture) This refers to the TV show The Bear on FX, Art Basel Instagram: @artbasel artbasel.com The Armory Show Instagram: @thearmoryshow thearmoryshow.com NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) Instagram: @newartdealers newartdealers.org Color Factory Instagram: @colorfactoryco colorfactory.co Electrical Audio (recording studio) Instagram: @electricalaudio Tenement Museum (NYC) Instagram: @thetenementmuseum https://www.tenement.org/ SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Cultural Figures & References Yolanda, Lucetta, Anita (Puerto Rican celebs) Gilberto Santa Rosa Lil' Kim, Lil' Romeo, Neil Young, Slayer, Jeff Koons SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Bands & Music Navilus (Dan Sullivan's project) https://navilluswoodworks.com/ Arriver (art-metal band) image courtesy of Engage Projects