WHY DO YOU DO IT? WHAT DRIVES YOU?
Culture moves society faster than politics and bureaucracy does. When I first gravitated into the creative world, I was escaping institutions and authority. I envisioned some utopian reality where everyone was free to express themselves and experiment outside the bounds of conventional society without really having to interact with it. That bubble has since popped for me and I’m still here because the deeper you get into this industry, the reality is that the economy, politics, and the law are all deeply intertwined in art and culture, and there’s huge opportunity for social change for people that can withstand the discomfort of living in both systems. I think there’s tremendous power to be learned and redistributed by gaining institutional literacy, and I think there’s also tremendous power in dreaming outside of what’s possible, organizing a collective subconscious and really activating on those values.
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO FOR SANITY MAINTENANCE?
Honestly, cigarettes. But I’m working on it.
WHAT IS THE SCRAPPIEST THING YOU’VE DONE TO MAKE OR SAVE $$?
Everything I do is scrappy, my team is scrappy too. I was trained to make things happen by creating relationships and paying favors forward.
YOUR TASK IS TO PRESCRIBE ONE BOOK OR FILM TO THE COLLECTIVE. WHAT IS IT?
There’s a banned documentary called HOOLIGAN SPARROW directed by Nanfu Wang. It’s about feminists in China who go up against a surveillance state and a corrupt and punitive government in order to document atrocities against women and young girls. To me it highlights the risks involved in creating really meaningful work in a highly censored and curated age. There are artists and activists risking death, torture, and imprisonment for their work. It puts in perspective all the editorial work we busy ourselves with here. It’s so important in this global political climate to be inspired by work like this.
Current obsession?
I recently got a Masterclass membership during their Labor Day sale and have been learning so much. I’ll fall asleep to it at night and listen to it podcast style while I clean my room. It’s like a Netflix documentary in a self-help font.
MOST USEFUL FAILURE?
The fashion industry. During my time within it I was sided with culture vultures who create value by recycling references and siphoning clout from the real movers and shakers, who exist on the fringes of society in actuality. I tried very hard to be okay working within this system, my values and relationships suffered during that time. I felt dead inside. I left in February and decided to start my own production company with the understanding that real art is not motivated by commerce; its value is determined by the impact it leaves on people. I’m really happy to be freelancing now and surrounded and integrated in this side of things, which I call the anti-industry.
People are always shocked at the length of my nails and don’t know how I get anything done. Also the height of my shoes. I don’t run and I don’t lift things. I put in the work mentally so that makes up for me being a bit of a princess, I think.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
My reputation. I just started representing myself and my projects after a long time working in media. It’s different operating with your own voice and ideas at the forefront, and it’s been a really amazing opportunity to do things differently to how I was taught. I am being very picky about who I work with on a spiritual level. It’s made this work much more fulfilling and sustainable to trust that your collaborators are both kind and talented. It makes it easier to uplift each other and support everything you do together and apart.
DISCIPLINE OR ANARCHY?
If you’re doing one without the other please reevaluate.
