The Birth of Hybrid Cultures

When the invisible lines of culture, class, race and politics are crossed, something beautiful happens.

The Brilliance of String

Using string that can conduct the electricity in the human body, this ad agency created a way for people to turn their existing mittens into techno-friendly winter apparel. Brilliant. Then they turned this simple idea into a product for their client, Ikea. Even more brilliant.

Creativity beats big budgets yet again.

YUNA

Yuna is dope. Her life story is about following passions. I love that. She's only 24 and has done so much. It makes you think about the conservative path of college/grad school/job and what it really gets you. A career, maybe. But not much of a life. I'd love to walk away from it all and travel the world armed with a laptop, a camera and a handful of clothes. What would I see in a year? What would I learn about myself in that time? One day I will find out. Until then I will keep myself inspired with Yuna's music.

New York Writes Itself

As a writer, few things in this world make me happier than listening to other people’s conversations. And there’s no better place to overhear conversations than New York City. Its lexicon is raw and exquisite and so varied and ever evolving that you could live a thousand lifetimes and never truly capture its voice. That’s why this idea, New York Writes Itself, is so brilliant. It’s a living script made up of conversations, phrases and stories that New Yorkers submit to a blog.

Periodically, this New York archetype, “The Chairman, ” reads sections from the script from a yellow chair placed randomly throughout the city. It’s obvious he’s an actor. But he’s a New Yorker playing a New Yorker whose screenwriter was the city itself, so I buy it. As an idea, the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach because I didn’t have anything to do with it. But as a person who strings sentences together for a living, I have reverence for the author’s mastery of the English language. Because no one person could ever write this well.

Checkout this video about letterpress artists who made posters based on quotes from the script. What a great extension to this idea.

Beats Rhymes and Life - The ATCQ Documentary

Let's get it straight off the top, this is a movie for Tribe fans. That said, first time director and fellow hip-hop head, Michael Rapport, does do a good job of telling a story that anyone could follow and enjoy.

But as a person who has literally grown up with this group (the members are only three years older than I am), I had an emotional investment in this movie. Hearing their story made me happy and ill at the same time. Seeing Q Tip and Phife beef with one another with Ali stuck in the middle reminded me of my boys. When your crew is more like your family you tend to assume roles in one another's lives that are needed, but aren't always welcomed.

This movie reminded me how much fun hip-hop can and should be. These guys rhymed for the love of the culture. Not to go platinum. Not for endorsements or ringtone royalties. This is the story of young, intelligent, well mannered kids who made a career out of street culture - a personal dream of mine.

Making the world a place for play

This is a great example of making the world better with creativity. Our surroundings should inspire us. Much love to my new Twitter friends at Greyworld.

Basquiat was complex out of necessity

Listen to Jean Michel Basquiat in this interview. His disdain for the art world and its willingness to turn him into a "black" artist versus just an artist really ate away at him. He wanted to portrait black themes and figures in his art without them overpowering the message of the art itself. It was the same thing Bill Cosby tried to do with The Cosby Show. Yes, it's a black family, but that's not the story, it's the backdrop.

Throughout his career he fought the art system for his agency. Notice how he doesn't want the art dealer (who I believe is Bruno Bischofberger) standing behind him (or "over" him) in a photo. Nor does he want him "rubbing" on him (like some sort of pet). Do you see how he changes his position to "elevate" himself to same height (or rank) as Bischofberger?

Yeah, I can hear you saying, "dude was paranoid." Well, if he was, the art world created that paranoia. When he began his relationship with Andy Warhol, it was Basquiat that was described as Warhol's pet. The reality was that Warhol used Basquiat's fame to bolster his wanning relevance.

I guess I wrote this post to say this, don't allow race, culture, gender, weight, height, or anything of this nature, fully define who you are.