“This is what I don’t understand about the Conservatives: They love every child until it’s born and then they couldn’t give a shit about it as far as funding for lunches and schools and breakfasts. I don’t understand this idea of every life counts until we have to pay for it. It just drives me nuts.” — @TedMeyerArt
We continue our discussion with artists participating in Indivisible 2020 today with Anna Stump, Erin Yoshi, Ted Meyer, and Kalynn Campbell. In this jam-packed show, the guests address various pertinent social and political issues.
We begin by hearing what indivisibility means to everyone, where Anna and Ted, who live in a rural, red part of the country share why they have chosen not to publicly express their political views. Both Erin and Kalynn feel that while indivisibility is possible and has been achieved at times, the current moment is deeply divided. We then talk about the rise of political discourse in popular culture and how the art reflective of this, such as Black Lives Matter murals and poster art, inspires our guests.
We could not have a discussion about indivisibility without touching on the election, and we hear everyone’s take on Joe Biden as the candidate, why this election is more about voting against Trump than anything else, and how we might see the positives in the voter suppression tactics.
“It’s really a renaissance period for political art.” — @erinyoshi
Increasingly, people –particularly Gen Z, as Anna highlights – are becoming aware of the role they play in shaping society and are taking actionable steps to shift the narrative. We also touch on climate change, where the guests share their respective stark realizations they have had about this issue.
As the show wraps up, we get a glimpse into the rationale behind the work everyone has submitted to Indivisible 2020. This insightful, powerful conversation left us with a sense of hope that artists have a big role to play in uniting our divided country. Tune in today to hear more!
“You can feel the emotion in the work [of the Black Lives Matter murals] and that’s what makes good art. When you drive by some of these murals that just popped up, nobody put money down and said, ‘Come paint the mural for Black Lives Matter.’ It’s from the heart. And when you see that, it feeds my own art because it excites me, that kind of love, people coming together, that kind of ground force, and building from the ashes. We haven’t seen too much of that in the last 20 years. At least, I haven’t. It's been homogenized for a long time. Now, we’re getting to where the culture has become politicalized. And once the culture becomes politicalized, then you get the feedback from the people, and that’s what feeds the culture. It's all intertwined, and I see that happening in art now.” — Kalynn Campbell
Key Points From This Episode:
- What indivisible means to Anna and the difficulty she has living in a very red state.
- Why Anna and Ted feel unsafe to express their liberal political views where they live.
- The meaning of indivisibility to Erin and the work she feels needs to be done in this area.
- Moving away from the ‘oppression Olympics’ and seeing the humanity in everyone.
- Kalynn’s understanding of indivisibility and how he thinks we can work towards it.
- The inspiration Kalynn has drawn from the murals that have come from Black Lives Matter.
- Ted’s understanding of the ‘Other’ and its origins as a social construct.
- Why Erin is most inspired by poster art and murals over the recent years.
- Finding hope in troubled times – How Anna and Kalynn are digging deep in the current moment.
- How people who would have preferred Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as the presidential candidate are choosing to vote.
- Erin’s empathy for people who feel frustrated with the Democratic Party.
- Hear Erin’s take on the Democratic Party’s strategy for choosing a center-right candidate like Biden.
- All the gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics are a sign that things are changing.
- Why Erin feels that hopelessness is a good sign and how it in turn makes her feel hopeful.
- Ted’s feeling at the Republican Party’s hypocrisy undoing the separation of church and state.
- The intersectionality of the social issues we face today.
- Erin’s experience of the orange sky in San Francisco during the wildfires.
- Anna, Ted, Kalynn, and Sourdough’s personal experience of climate change.
- The hypocrisy of the ruling party given the fact that the military is preparing for climate change.
- Lessons in consuming less that we can take from the pandemic.
- Why Ted doesn’t have much faith in enduring long-term positive change post pandemic.
- The urgency of climate change and why we all need to make changes now.
- Hear more about Ted, Erin, Anna, and Kalynn’s work they submitted to Indivisible 2020.
- Where to find everyone online and projects the guests have in the pipeline.
“You can feel the emotion in the work [of the Black Lives Matter murals] and that’s what makes good art. When you drive by some of these murals that just popped up, nobody put money down and said, ‘Come paint the mural for Black Lives Matter.’ It’s from the heart. And when you see that, it feeds my own art because it excites me, that kind of love, people coming together, that kind of ground force, and building from the ashes. We haven’t seen too much of that in the last 20 years. At least, I haven’t. It's been homogenized for a long time. Now, we’re getting to where the culture has become politicalized. And once the culture becomes politicalized, then you get the feedback from the people, and that’s what feeds the culture. It's all intertwined, and I see that happening in art now.” — Kalynn Campbell
“For me, indivisibility seems like something really difficult to have.” — Anna Stump
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
- Indivisible 2020 — https://creweststudio.com/indivisible-2020/
- Karen Fiorito — https://karenfiorito.wixsite.com/buddhacat
- Karen Fiorito on Twitter — https://twitter.com/buddhacatpress?lang=en
- Sugar Press Art — https://sugarpressart.com/
- Erin Yoshi — https://www.erinyoshi.com/
- Erin Yoshi on Twitter — https://twitter.com/erinyoshi
- Erin Yoshi on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/erinyoshi
- Ted Meyer — http://www.tedmeyer.com
- Ted Meyer on Twitter — https://twitter.com/tedmeyerart
- Ted Meyer on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/tedmeyerart/
- Anna Stump — http://www.annastump.com/
- Anna Stump on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/amstump/
- Desert Dairy — https://www.desertdairy.com/
- Kalynn Campbell — https://www.kalynncampbell.com/
- Joe Biden on Twitter — https://twitter.com/JoeBiden
- Donald Trump on Twitter — https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
- Black Lives Matter — https://blacklivesmatter.com/
- Nancy Pili — http://www.trustyourstruggle.com/a/about/nancy/
- Bernie Sanders — https://berniesanders.com/
- Elizabeth Warren — https://elizabethwarren.com/
- Kamala Harris on Twitter — https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Twitter — https://twitter.com/RTErdogan
- Greg Abbott — https://gov.texas.gov/
- Roe v Wade — https://www.britannica.com/event/Roe-v-Wade
- Karl Marx — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Marx
- Haudenosaunee — https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/timeline/opendoor/roleOfChief.html
- Marc Chagall — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marc-Chagall
- The Loft at Liz’s — http://www.theloftatlizs.com/
- Man One — http://www.manone.com/
- Man One on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ManOneArt
- Scott “Sourdough” Power — https://www.instagram.com/sourdoughpower/
- Not Real Art — https://notrealart.com/
- Not Real Art School — https://school.notrealart.com/
- Not Real Art on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/notrealartworld/