Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Living and being isolated in the desert
- The Definite Chief Aim - a concept by Napolean Hill through way of Mitch Horowitz
- Grieving the death of his girlfriend Jean Guo
- Gaining momentum through commercial success
- Understanding purpose
- Working through failures
- Accepting ourselves
- Being magick
- Balancing out the need for control
- Changing negative perspectives
- “Hollywood has this ability to arrest you in this psychosis of delusions” - Saman Kesh
- The gift of an existential crisis
- Power in analyzing dreams
- Functioning under depression
- Saman’s “Zoom” call analogy
- Martial arts
Books Referenced:
- “Fierce Intimacy: Standing Up to One Another with Love” by Terry Real
Artists Mentioned:
- The Daniels (Directing Duo)
- Martin Scorsese (Director)
- Jonah Hill (Actor)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Writer)
artistdecoded.com
samankesh.com
instagram.com/saman_kesh
twitter.com/ghibli303
- Explaining his new book Cosmic Habit Force
- Exploring the psychology of mediocrity
- Harnessing honest self-expression and creativity
- Asking oneself with brutal honesty, “What do I really want from life?”
- Breaking through social conditioning
- The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim
- Concentration producing force
- Gaining perspective on personal “failures”
- Taoism
- Paradoxical events in one's life
- Mitch gives a personal example of how a perceived failure turned into a blessing in disguise
- Rediscovering himself as a writer in his late 30s after working in publishing
- Writing his first book, “Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation”
- 2 famous definite chief aims from Octavia E. Butler and Bruce Lee
- The power of focused aims
- Healthily dealing with fear and trauma
- The law of reciprocity
- The power of the mastermind
Books Referenced:
- “Cosmic Habit Force” by Mitch Horowitz
- “Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation” by Mitch Horowitz
- “The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim” By Mitch Horowitz
- “No Longer Human” by Junji Ito x Osamu Dazai
- “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Timothy Gallwey
- “Non-Violent Communication” by Marshall Rosenberg
- “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill
People Mentioned:
- David Foster Wallace (Writer)
- Jacob Needleman (Philosopher)
- Barry Zito (Professional Baseball Player)
- Neville Goddard (Writer)
- Octavia E Butler (Writer)
- Bruce Lee (Actor and Martial Artist)
- Napolean Hill (Writer)
ArtistDecoded.com
MitchHorowitz.com
Mitch’s Twitter
Mitch’s Instagram
She has been selected for the BAFTA Breakthrough 2020, and she is also the first female DOP ever to win a cinematography award at the British Arrows, as well as being nominated for the best cinematographer in fiction at the BAFTA Cymru Awards 19', making history in both commercials and narrative categories.
Her recent narrative projects include NANNY (Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner), Euphoria (HBO/A24), and her upcoming feature with MGM Studios, entitled ‘Flint Strong’. Topics Discussed:
- Rina’s outlook creating goals for herself
- Rina’s creative stamina
- Taking breaks between shoots
- How she structures her time
- The differences between shooting a feature film, music video, and a commercial
- How she started cinematography
- Her experiences growing up in Japan then moving to London
- Working hard at a very young age
- Getting accepted into university by creating a short film about an older man’s running journey
- Technique vs. intuition
- Building technical knowledge as a cinematographer
- The importance of communicating to your crew as a DP
- Existential realizations spurred by the pandemic
- Personal values
- Her journey into becoming a successful cinematographer
- How her childhood affected her outlook on work
- The occasional lonely reality of being a working cinematographer
- Exploring purpose
- The feeling of being an underdog
- Creative longevity
- The importance of exposure and PR
- Being patient in cultivating skills in any artistic medium
- Giving up too soon
Projects Discussed That Rina Has Worked On:
- Nanny (Directed by Nikyatu Jusu)
- Euphoria
- Flint Strong (Directed by Rachel Morrison; Written by Barry Jenkins)
Books Referenced:
- “The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim” by Mitch Horowitz
- “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami
Movies Referenced:
- Tokyo Sonata (Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
artistdecoded.com
rinayang.com
instagram.com/the_rinayang
twitter.com/the_rinayang
April was recently selected for AWD’s Directing the Actor Lab. She is also an alumna of the prestigious Berlinale Talents Short Film Station. Her drama pilot screenplay for Work was a top 5 finalist in the New Orleans Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Her previous short film, After You Left, won the Shorts Jury Prize at the Milwaukee Film Festival and has screened at Academy and BAFTA-Qualifying festivals such as Palm Springs Int’l Shortfest, Flickerfest, HollyShorts, and Outfest Fusion.
April’s short films have collectively screened at over 60 festivals across 14 countries and won 8 awards internationally, such as the 100Autori Award for Best Screenplay at the Sicilia Queer Film Fest in Italy, and Best International Narrative Short at Kashish Mumbai Queer Film Festival in India for her 2012 short Polaroid Girl. April was also a guest writer/director on the lesbian web series Same Same, and her episodes premiered at Newfest in 2016.
April’s directing approach is informed by her background in working as a cinematographer, editor, and actor. She is most interested in working on stories that center on underrepresented perspectives that challenge the mainstream. She holds a BFA from Pratt Institute in Film/Video.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Destigmatizing sex work and sex workers
- Shame culture
- Her short film that premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival entitled “Work”
- Challenging the traditional patriarchal lens
- Writer Amy Tan’s Masterclass
- Following one’s own creative sensibilities
- Her writing process
- April’s experiences working with AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women
- Underground lap dance parties in New York
- “Election” a 1999 film by director Alexander Payne
- “2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything” a book by Mauro F. Guillén
- April’s advice to her younger self
- The Nostalgia Bone on the Throughline podcast
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Micol working with creators in the tech industry at Facebook and Instagram
- Artists living off of making art and tokenizing work
- The origins of her platform, Vertical Crypto Art
- Helping artists navigate the new territories within the NFT world
- The online artist residency component of Vertical Crypto Art, which consists of a WEB 3.0 educational program
- Sustainability within the NFT space
- Artists creating art through coding, smart contracts, and the blockchain
- The work that she’s doing in collaboration with Tezos
- Hic Et Nunc
- Frieze LA (Feb 17th - Feb 20th, 2022)
- Tezos vs. Ethereum
- Versum NFT Platform
- The importance of properly displaying digital artworks
Artists Mentioned:
- Sarah Zucker
- Kevin Abosh
- Sarah Meyohas (Founder of BitchCoin)
- Mitchell Dan
- Simon Danny
- Rhea Myers
- Sol LeWitt
- Lucas Aguirre
- Marjan Moghaddam
- Manolo Gamboa Naon
artistdecoded.com
verticalcrypto.art
twitter.com/verticalcrypto
twitter.com/JesseDraxler
Simultaneously with her work as a fine artist, exhibiting at institutions such as Albright-Knox, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, and MoMa, Shantell’s practice continuously pushes the boundaries of creative expression through thoughtful, innovative collaborations with artists, brands, and cultural institutions such as Pulitzer Prize-winning performance artist Kendrick Lamar, acclaimed designer Kelly Wearstler, the New York City Ballet, Tiffany & Co., and Nike. Shantell is also fascinated with the relationships between storytelling, visual art, and technology. She is an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) and completed a two-year tenure at an MIT Media Lab as a visiting Scholar, where she worked with the social computing group to use drawing as a medium to explore the interaction of social processes with physical spaces.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Tapping into child-like sensibilities as an adult
- Moving from darkness into light
- Creating artwork with a “good intention”
- “What if we asked all children, who are you at the core, instead of what do you want to be?” - Shantell Martin
- Letting go of societal baggage in order to create our own way
- Creating purpose
- Spontaneously creating artwork
- Drawing and how it can have an impact on one’s mental health
- Physically drawing vs. drawing digitally
- Expressing one’s self through various mediums, not being restricted by a single medium
- “Kites”by Martin with the Boston Ballet, ChoreograpHER
- “The Importance of Conversation” by Martin, an NFT Project in collaboration with Nifty Gateway
- “You are where you are meant to be”, Martin’s personal affirmation to herself
- “Does progress really exist, or is it the scenery that changes?” - Shantell Martin
- Having existential thoughts
- The power of making and sharing
- Finding herself when she moved to Japan from the UK in the early 2000s
- “There’s a freedom in being lost in the sense that you get to discover and find yourself.” - Shantell Martin
- The perspective of success and failure in Taoism
artistdecoded.com
shantellmartin.art
instagram.com/shantell_martin
twitter.com/shantell_martin
Stephanie E. Hanes was born in Alberta, Canada in 1985. In 2009 they received a BFA from The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in Halifax, Canada. Hanes is a recent MFA Graduate of Ceramics at the Rhode Island School Of Design in 2017 and received the prestigious Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship for a graduate student with exceptional promise. Stephanie was one of the artists awarded the 2020 NCECA Emerging Artist Prize. In addition, they have exhibited Internationally with a solo show at C.R.E.T.A Rome Gallery in Italy and several group shows at Lefebvre et Fils Gallery in Paris, France. Their ceramic sculptures have been exhibited throughout the USA in New York City, Providence, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. Hanes is a full-time lecturer in 3D4M at the University of Washington in Seattle, where they teach sculpture and ceramics.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- The male gaze vs the female gaze
- The art of turning the internal world into external objects
- Female bodies always changing to suit the patriarchal norms of the time
- Using the techniques of “chiaroscuro” and “englaze luster” in their sculptures
- Their research into queer and feminist theories
- Identity and gender expression
- Pansexuality
- Grappling with pain and suffering
- “À Priori” and “À Posteriori”
- Immanuel Kant’s writing on metaphysics
- Semiotics
- Following false prophets in our patriarchal society
- Their residency in Rome in 2014 where they started creating ceramic sculptures and where they created their body of work entitled, “Into The Looking Glass” @ C.R.E.T.A. Rome.
- The Medusa in symbolizm
- The extinguishing of female powers by the patriarchy
- Their decision into why they decided to get an MFA
- Teaching her university students about gender, equality, and diversity
- Making ideas palatable in art
- “Find a way to make work no matter what”
Authors and Book Recommendations:
- Bell Hooks
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- “Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto” by Legacy Russell
- “A Cyborg Manifesto” by Donna J. Haraway
Artists Mentioned:
Films and Documentaries Mentioned:
- Promising Young Woman (2020)
- Feminists: What Were They Thinking (2018)
- This Changes Everything (2018)
artistdecoded.com
stephaniehanes.net
instagram.com/stephanie.hanes
Shari Frilot is a filmmaker who has produced television for the CBS affiliate in Boston and for WNYC and WNET in New York before creating her own independent award-winning films, including Strange & Charmed, A Cosmic Demonstration of Sexuality, What Is A Line?, and the feature documentary, Black Nations / Queer Nations? She is the recipient of multiple grants, including the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Media Arts Foundation. She is presently working on a feature film project about the crisis in water supply with producer Effie Brown's production company, Duly Noted Inc.
In tandem with filmmaking, Shari also maintains a career in festival programming, occupying a distinguished position on the curatorial vanguard through her pioneering development of immersive cinematic environments. As the Festival Director of the MIX Festival in New York (1992-1996) she co-founded the first gay Latin American film festivals, MIX BRASIL and MIX MEXICO film festivals. As Co-Director of Programming for OUTFEST (1998-2001), she founded the Platinum section which introduced cinematic performance installation and performance to the festival. She is presently in her 22nd year as a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. She is the curator and driving creative force behind New Frontier, an exhibition and commissioning initiative that focuses on cinematic work being created at the intersections of art, film, and new media technology.
New Frontier 2022 Projects Discussed:
- “On The Morning You Wake (To The End of The World)” by Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Arnaud Colinart, and Pierre Zandrowicz
- “The State of Global Peace” by Daanish Masood Alavi
- “Gondwana” by Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts
- “Suga” by Valencia James
- “The Inside World” by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy
- “Web 3.0 / NFT Meetups” by Amelia Winger-Bearskin and Jesse Damiani
- “32 Sounds” by Sam Green
- “Seven Grams” by Karim Ben Khelifa
Other Topics Discussed:
- Transhumanism
- Identity
- Futurism
- “Notes on Blindness - Into Darkness” @ New Frontier 2016
- The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan
- Projects on climate and social change
- NFTs and Web 3.0
- Handling hardship and pain
- Finding vitality in community
- Finding reasons to be optimistic
- Conscious and positive use cases for technology
- Systemic issues artists face in the US
- Building the immersive experience of Sundance’s spaceship through XR and VR with the creative studio Active Theory
Artist Decoded is a weekly podcast hosted by Yoshino.
Join us as we dive into the habits, mindsets, and inner workings of some of today's greatest artists and creative thinkers.
Trailer Credits (in order of appearance):
Yoshino is a visual artist, writer, entrepreneur, and host of Artist Decoded.
Show Notes:
- The power of introspection and self-analysis
- The pitfalls of following false prophets
- “Getting lost in the forest”
- Seeking answers
- Pantheism
- Art as a communication mechanism
- Critical thinking
- “You and you alone hold the answers to your questions.”
Yoshino’s Links:
yoshinostudios.com
nohwave.co
instagram.com/yoshinostudios
twitter.com/yoshinostudios
Yoshino is a visual artist, writer, entrepreneur, and host of Artist Decoded.
Show Notes:
- Identity and persona
- Leaving the commercial and fashion photography world
- Martial arts
- Exploring the idea of what it means to be an artist
- Living a life of fluidity
- Capitalism
- Growing up Christian
- Spirituality
- Moving to the desert from LA
The Conversation Art Podcast Links:
iTunes
Spotify
Michael Shaw’s IG
The Conversation’s IG
Yoshino’s Links:
yoshinostudios.com
nohwave.co
Fashion and advertising photographer from Singapore turned 3D virtual model creator, Shavonne Wong creates artworks with her virtual models that juxtapose realism and surrealism together, placing the virtual models in scenes that cannot be done with a real human model. She is part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2020 and has recently done an NFT for the first-ever NFT cover of Vogue.
Show Notes:
- Shavonne’s past fashion photography career
- Romanticizing the struggling artist lifestyle
- Stereotypes and the importance of art
- 3D modeling and the transition into the NFT space
- The social implications of virtual influencers
- Shavonne’s NFT charity work
- The future of NFTs
- The negative aspects of NFT’s & the blockchain
- Criticism and feedback
- Krav Maga
www.artistdecoded.com
www.shavonnewong.com
www.instagram.com/shavonne.wong
www.twitter.com/shavonnewong_
Sarah Zucker is an artist + writer based in Los Angeles.
Her art merges the gorgeous and grotesque through humor, psychedelia, mysticism, and the interplay of cutting edge + obsolete technologies.
She works across mediums, specializing in mixing digital and analog video techniques and the use of VHS. Her GIF art has been viewed over 6.7 billion times on Giphy.
She has been involved in Crypto Art since early 2019, tokenizing single and limited editions of her screen-based artwork on the blockchain. Her NFTs – digital art editions – can currently be found on SuperRare, NiftyGateway, Foundation, KnownOrigin, Hic Et Nunc, and Rarible.
She holds a BA in Theater/Creative Writing for the Media from Northwestern, and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU.
Show Notes:
- Sarah’s childhood and developing interest
- NFTs and Crypto Art
- “Wrestling your angels”
- Struggling as an artist
- The call to be an artist
- Theosophy
- Humanitarian contributions in the NFT space
- Identity
- Changing the world
- Dancing with the abyss
- Exploring the concept of suffering
- The societal expectation of immediate rewards
www.sarahzucker.com
www.instagram.com/thesarahshow
www.twitter.com/thesarahshow
CJ Hendry (b. 1988) is a New York-based artist originally from Brisbane, Australia. Hendry transforms her fascination with contemporary material culture into large-scale, hyper-photorealistic drawings. Cj Hendry’s exhibits aren’t intended to be passively observed but, rather, actively experienced through engaging, fun, and thought-provoking exhibits. For her exhibit Monochrome, Hendry and her team built an entire multi-room “home” inside a warehouse with each room entirely monochrome-colored from floor to ceiling and everything in between. For Rorschach, guests jumped through a gigantic bouncy house maze in order to reach and finally view the impressive series. Each Cj Hendry exhibit, from Miami to Melbourne, draws massive crowds with attendees waiting in line for several hours - and, in the end, everyone leaves more enriched than when they arrived. With her celebrity clientele – and many works in private collections - Hendry’s waitlist is now well over 3,000 collectors with a wait time of up to five years to get their hands on a piece.
Opens Dec 10th - 12th @ Brookfield Place in New York City, NY
- Cj’s NFT Release
- Stoicism and being a creative
- Her experiences creating art exhibitions
- The book “Atomic Habits” by author James Clear
- Quality vs. quantity
- Hard work vs. natural ability
- The importance of creating ideas
- Cj’s latest exhibition, “Blonde”
- The social implications of wigs
- Creative problem solving / life struggles
- Parenting
www.artistdecoded.com
www.cjhendry.live
www.instagram.com/cj_hendry
Alice Brooks (ASC) is a cinematographer who has photographed award-winning feature films, television shows, and commercials. Her next feature project is director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit musical WICKED.
Brooks most recently photographed tick tick…BOOM! for Netflix and Imagine Entertainment, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and produced by Ron Howard.
Her other recent work includes the 2021 summer release of Miranda’s IN THE HEIGHTS directed by Chu. The film’s cinematography received widespread critical acclaim.
Brooks is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600. She became a member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers in Oct. 2021.
Show Notes:
- Alice’s start in cinematography
- Her childhood & the inspiration behind the film, “tick, tick... BOOM!”
- Collaborating with director and long time friend, John Chu
- Having a “Definite Chief Aim”
- The gift of an existential crisis
- The ebbs and flows of the film industry and working as a creative
- Alice being one of 30 women to be accepted into the ASC
- Finding creative kindred spirits
- Following your dreams
- Self-preservation
www.artistdecoded.com
www.alicebrooks.com
www.instagram.com/_alicebrooks_
Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult.
Mitch is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library, lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and the PEN Award-winning author of books including Occult America; One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life; and The Miracle Club.
Show Notes:
- The power of masterminds
- The New Thought Movement
- Napoleon Hill and Neville Goddard’s teachings
- Writing and the habits of writing
- Using different platforms to test material
- The myth of the self-made person
- The significance of the word, “Miracle”
- Book recommendations on the creative process
- Mitch’s writing process
www.artistdecoded.com
www.mitchhorowitz.com
www.twitter.com/mitchhorowitz
www.instagram.com/mitchhorowitz23
Skygolpe interviewed by Jesse Draxler
The essential figures that emerge from Skygolpe’s research have an openly disruptive immediacy and impact. His work represents the artist’s tension towards the definition of a clear idea and a path outlined towards direct introspection. Skygolpe explores the NFT medium in a unique and original way. His single digital editions are sought after by major collectors and demonstrate how works created with a strong meaning and a defined concept can have a lasting place in the new world of digital collecting.
Show Notes:
- Skygolpe’s intro into art
- Art contradicting itself
- Catastrophe, existentialism, and nihilism
- The denial of the divinity
- Objective truth
- Skygolpe’s distinct aesthetic
- The power of conceptual art
- Inspiration
- Memories, traumatic experiences, and their overflow into Jesse’s artwork
- “Destroying the Belief”
- Skygolope’s NFT work
- The history of digital art / Web 3.0
After a high profile career designing, drawing and painting images for movie poster art in Hollywood — Return of the Jedi, Labyrinth, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — Chris now feels driven to produce works which celebrate compelling stories of American perseverance — the Tuskegee Airmen, First Nations peoples of America’s Pacific Northwest, and the Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during WWII.
It’s been an unusual career path, to say the least. Chris was a star on the Southern Oregon College wrestling team when he dropped out in 1974 rather than bow to the inevitable pressure to become a high school wrestling coach. He loaded up his ’68 sky blue Camaro and hit the road, picking up jobs from southern California to Montana and living out of his car. After he ran out of gas in Boise, Idaho, he settled there for a year and a half and worked as a bouncer at the Bronco Hut (the college bar where he met his wife), a lift operator at a ski resort, and as an utterly unqualified counselor at a home shelter for troubled boys. All the time he created art — drawing behind the bar, sculpting unflattering portraits of ski resort personnel, and carving the bar’s Billy club into a more appealing shape.
Chris’ older brother convinced him he’d soon be too old for this bohemian, aimless lifestyle and that he might want to apply to the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He put together a crude portfolio, submitted an application and remembers “it surprised the crap out of me when I was actually accepted”.
In the middle of the college program, Chris still hadn’t figured out a painting system that he liked, so one weekend he locked himself in a room and refused to come out until he’d conquered it. In 1979, he graduated from Art Center with honors.
A diploma from art school, so what next? Pouring and finishing concrete for foundations, walkways, driveways and most everything else that required concrete until he heard that legendary illustrators Charles White III and David Willardson were starting a studio and looking for young talent. Chris’ persistence paid off and he was hired. After months of
sketching he was finally assigned to paint the marquee art for The Mountain Men. Soon afterwards he discovered the airbrush and the whole process became fun, especially incorporating brushwork with airbrush techniques. He painted the clouds, skies, and water all from his Pacific Northwest childhood memories, and was known as The Sky King, a tribute to his unmatched ability to paint natural backgrounds
After four years, Chris left Willardson and White ready for his next challenge — painting people. Yes, he learned to do that, too painting and drawing the comprehensive and finished poster and magazine promotional art for Return of the Jedi, Peggy Sue Got Married, Labyrinth, The Abyss, and who could forget the portrait of the studly Harrison Ford on the Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom theatrical advance poster art?
In 1988 he picked up his family and relocated to the state of Washington where he’s once again tackled a new, but classic, technique. Now he’s brush-painting stories of American perseverance.
Show Notes:
- Chris’s early job experiences
- Working for Charles White III and David Willardson
- Traveling as an artist for the Air Force
- Chris’s revolutionary work with airbrushes
- Painting the Tuskegee Airmen and The Japanese Incarceration
- “Hidden Heroes: The Nisei Soldiers of WWII”
- Future exhibitions
- Resilience
Colborn Bell is currently the co-founder and curator of the Museum of Crypto Art (M○C△), an immersive digital art center in virtual reality. Unconstrained by the limitations of physical reality, the aim of this project is to create bridges to Metaverse spaces and usher in a creative renaissance that empowers digital artists and reawakens the imaginations of its participants. He is a long-time blockchain and venture investor.
Guest Interviewer: Jesse Draxler
Show Notes:
- 00:15:00 - Colborn’s background
- 00:20:54 - The Museum of Crypto Art
- 00:22:57 - What Colborn specifically looks for in NFT Artwork
- 00:25:10 - The gift of an existential crisis
- 00:31:25 - The ecological effects of crypto currency
- 00:40:40 - Crypto art breaking down traditional barriers
- 00:44:27 - Preserving the pure nature of art / societal shifts
- 00:52:15 - What a good day looks like for Jesse and Colborn
- 00:55:17 - The future of NFT’s
- 00:58:57 - M.O.C.A’s Artist Residency & M.O.C.A’s Genesis Collection
- 1:04:15 - Advice to artists
- 1:08:30 - Humanitarianism
- 1:10:42 - Wrap up
Hayden Silas Anhedönia, a Florida native better known as Southern Gothic musician, Ethel Cain, creates her art with the same simple intention behind a Sunday morning sermon; to not only be heard, but also felt. Combining her Southern Baptist upbringing with her love of folk, country, and rock music, as well as all things horror and drama, she aims to create nothing other than a visceral experience that lingers long after consumption.
Show Notes:
- The meaning of her tattoos
- Religion / Hayden’s problems and fascination with Christianity and cults
- Her childhood experiences
- Social order, classism, eastern and western cultures
- Identity
- Cancel culture, honesty, and speaking freely
- The beginnings of “Ethel Cain”
- Mental health and dismantling the narrative
- Wrap Up
After studying filmmaking with Leslie Thornton at Brown University, and French New Wave director Eric Rohmer at The University of Paris-Michelet, Sam Levy began his professional career as an apprentice to cinematographer Harris Savides.
Sam first gained recognition as a cinematographer in his own right when he photographed Wendy and Lucy for director Kelly Reichardt - voted one of the “Best 25 Films of the 21st Century” by The New York Times.
Sam went on to shoot three films for director Noah Baumbach: Frances Ha, Mistress America, and While We’re Young.
Sam’s recent films include Lady Bird - nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture - as well as two projects for director Spike Jonze: Changers and Untitled Frank Ocean Project.
Sam has photographed commercials and music videos for such directors as Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek, Fredrik Bond, Stacy Wall, Randy Krallman, Lisa Rubisch, and Brigitte Lacombe among others.
Show Notes:
- New experiences while shooting “Mayday”
- Sam’s experience being a producer and cinematographer
- Logical and emotional headspaces
- The genesis of “Mayday”
- Women filmmakers
- Using reference material
- Sam’s path into cinematography
- Spirituality
- The role of a filmmaker / How it’s changing
- Sam’s upcoming project
- Wrap up
John Wentz is a contemporary painter born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His interest in art began at the age of 6 when he first discovered Batman and Spiderman comic books. After years of copying comics panel by panel, he worked in the commercial arts as a muralist, billboard creator, and freelance illustrator. After learning to paint by doing airbrushed billboards, he decided to pursue fine art and work in oils. Since then, he has had 3 solo exhibitions in San Francisco and numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His works have appeared in many publications and have won multiple awards.
Show Notes:
- Cultural nuances
- John’s shift towards digital artwork
- Imposter syndrome
- The effects of COVID on people’s consciousness
- NFT’s
- The background to John’s latest gallery show, “Liminal Spaces” at Stolen Space Gallery in London
- The Liminal Space
- Grieving
- The concept of “ritual”
- How painting has changed for John over the years
- The idea of self-expression
- Voice and style
- Intentionally living
- The future of gallery exhibitions
- Wrap up
Books Referenced In This Yoshinocast Episode:
- "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley
- "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel
- "Atomic Habits" by James Clear
- "The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim" by Mitch Horowitz
Link To Yoshino's Strava Profile:
www.strava.com/athletes/63049717
Other Links:
Joe Sill is a filmmaker and founder of world-building lab Impossible Objects.
Joe likes to think big. He forged his path as a live-action feature and commercials director, often using visual effects to bring new worlds and ideas to life. His love for telling grand visual stories has led him to work with top brands such as Apple, NASA, Nike, and Tesla, as well as his first foray into feature filmmaking with "Stray”.
Recently, Joe decided to double down in the landscape of animation and virtual production, energized by the constant innovation and ability for artists like himself to imagine and create without limitation.
Joe is currently developing an original television series with writer Matisse Tolin based on their short film, “Autonomous”, with Jon Berg and Greg Silverman of Stampede Ventures producing.
Show Notes:
- Joseph Campbell on giving meaning to life
- Honestly expressing oneself
- Being journey focused vs. being results focused
- Turning interests into a career
- The role of the director on set
- The potentially toxic ideology behind the “self-starter”
- Joe’s work as a director
- Bruce Lee’s impact on culture
- The process of creation/ego
- Joe’s reflections during the pandemic
- VR in cinema
- Social media
- Seeking validation
- Relinquishing ideas of ownership
- Joe’s company, “Impossible Objects”
- Wrap up
Liana Finck, New Yorker Cartoonist, who has been deemed by ELLE, "Instagram's favorite cartoonist," and has been featured on Adult Swim and HBO's Very Semi-Serious, as well as authored multiple graphic novels and a cartoon book (and a forthcoming novel as well), and has drawn the cover for a Justin Bieber + Ariana Grande single.
Show Notes:
- 00:03:34 - Artistry and childhood
- 00:05:26 - Different modes of creating art
- 00:10:45 - Finding one’s voice as an artist
- 00:12:54 - Liana’s artistic evolution
- 00:15:11 - Naive art and perfectionism
- 00:18:12 - Finding one’s rhythm
- 00:20:55 - Cities being a hub for a variety of people and perspectives
- 00:26:45 - What we say vs. what we mean
- 00:31:02 - Personality tests
- 00:34:20 - The anxiety of being around people
- 00:40:58 - Life changes
- 00:47:55 - Wrap up