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Welcome to the Dope Art Here experience: a quick mind quencher & snack for your artistic tastes.
WE CURATE ART AS DOPE AS YOU.
This month's spotlights!
- GET CLEAR ON YOUR CREATIVE PURPOSE: Justin helps us find our inner life and evolution with THE WAR OF ART - a book that will give you a jump start, no matter your goals.
- BARISTA BANTER: Adrienne is inspired by BROOKLYN COFFEE SHOP... a cheerfully absurd Instagram series that reminds her of the hey-day of web-series.
- ART AS HISTORY: Andrew had a profound realization as he watched I'M STILL HERE - a Brazilian film based on a true story - he needs to direct a movie.
- APOLOGIES TO YOUR NEIGHBORS: Dara gleefully recommends NORTH OF NORTH, a crackling new comedy that gave her goosebumps.
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Happy Friday!! I am writing to you dear reader...yes, you - looking at this through a screen of some sort. I am writing you to talk about James Baldwin, one of my favorite artists of all time.
In 1963, Baldwin (Jimmy to his friends)...gave a speech on “The Artist's Struggle For Integrity" that serves as a continual touchpoint for my creative practice. He believed that only the artists can share and make plain, what it is to be a human being. What it is to live and die, to love and lose love, to find joy and experience pain. I believe that art is a lifeline and a lighthouse...it shines on that which we believe is our own inadequacy and exorcizes the shame that we have falsely come to believe is our birthright.
It is in this spirit that I curate, and create, art. Doing so with the belief that to express my own creativity and to celebrate the creative expression of others, is to contribute to society in a meaningful way.
This month's spotlight prompt was: "Art that makes you want to make art" and so we have curated for you a selection of art that inspires us and makes us want to be creative. We hope you are inspired by the works as we have been!
Thank you for reading our spotlight and spending some of your valuable time with us. You are appreciated!
/ Andrew
Our first spotlight is (very) practical guide to overcoming Resistance...the enemy of creativity, the force that stands in our way whenever we endeavor to evolve into a higher version of ourselves...
BOOK: THE WAR OF ART (2002) / written by Steven Pressfield
Every artist, or creator on any journey – even if on the adjacent and seemingly unrelated journey one might find themselves on in order to support, resuscitate, or fundamentally reset their creative purpose – should read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (2002).
When all sides of the ego can’t be controlled, and the friends you’ve bucketed as the supportive ones aren’t blowing you up serendipitously in those moments of need the way they do in HBO ensemble dramedies, this book will continue to be there.
Resistance is the primary enemy of creativity – War helps one find their inner life and evolution. A realer, less avoidant, super relatable medicine is in these pages.
This day and age profits off of us being stuck, but here’s the thing: the more scared you are to do something, the more certain you can be that you MUST do it. Fear is your compass pointing true north. Trusting the most uncomfortable places in your body means you're, literally, onto something vital. Your soul knows. If you’re buried in work, might as well do this work. - Justin
READ: THE WAR OF ART (Black Irish Press)
Let's be very clear...overcoming Resistance is a daily practice...one that we must continually engage in. But we have to remember that while it is a battle to make any piece of art...the reward for putting your weird, wild self in a place of vulnerability is the opportunity to deeply connect with others, as our next spotlight reminds us...
INSTAGRAM SERIES: BROOKLYN COFFEE SHOP (2024-Present) / created by Pooja Tripathi
Back in the day, a web series could break the internet— like The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, or Very Mary-Kate. I got so lit up by that era of short-form storytelling, I produced Quirky Female Protagonist, a cheerfully absurd series written by a close friend. It took nearly two years from idea to release, but it was worth every minute.
Lately, that spark’s back. Brooklyn Coffee Shop, Pooja Tripathi’s bite-sized Instagram series about two holier-than-thou baristas, made me laugh out loud—and made me want to make something. With minimal setups, razor-sharp writing, and a brilliantly cast rotating door of guest customers, she skewers the hypocrisy of "for the people" elitism with charm and bite.
It makes me want to pick up a camera again—not to go viral, but to tell something weird and true, beautifully. - Adrienne
WATCH: BROOKLYN COFEE SHOP (Instagram)
It only takes one inspiring piece of art to make you realize that you need to make the shift from consumer to creator...for Adrienne, BROOKLYN COFFEE SHOP was the most recent spark, for me it was this next spotlight that reminded me of the transcendent possibilities of long-form storytelling and bearing witness to history through art...
MOVIE: I'M STILL HERE (2024) / directed by Walter Salles
The simplest way to say it is this - the first 10 minutes of I'M STILL HERE made me want to direct a movie. As I sat in the theatre, I felt the raw ignition of the fire of inspiration to make a film. I leaned into my partner Fimi and whispered (I know, bad theatre etiquette), "I NEED to direct a movie."
Set against the backdrop of the military dictatorship in Brazil, I'M STILL HERE tells the story of Eunice Paiva, a mother of five children, who is forced to reinvent herself after her family suffers a violent and arbitrary act by the government. As I watched the film, I could not help but think of the parallels to our time.
Fernanda Torres is spellbinding as the matriarch of the Paiva family...she was nominated for Best Actress at the 2024 Academy Awards and the film was nominated for Best Picture and won Best International Feature. The soundtrack is a phenomenal mix of Brazilian music from the 1970s that will make you want to book a ticket to Rio De Janeiro.
The trailer is here...though I will warn, it shows a lot. My recommendation...don't watch the trailer, just dive in. It is well worth it. - Andrew
WATCH: I'M STILL HERE / (Available for Digital Rental/Purchase)(Available on Netflix on Saturday 5/17)
It only makes sense that as we switch to a different climate we should change the tone...so for our final spotlight, we'll travel from the heat of 1970s Brazil to its polar opposite (...yeah...i couldn't resist...I'm sure this will elicit a groan-laugh from Dara...so it's worth it!)
TV SHOW: NORTH OF NORTH / created by Aglok MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril
Has a TV show ever made you scream? I mean an IRL, pause the video, I need to physically scream about what I just saw- scream?
If not, you NEED to see North of North. We watch Siaja’s, a young Inuk woman, learn how all the parts of her that get her in trouble are also her secret weapons. That maybe, in a town that reveres her husband and casts her aside, she can have a life she dared not dream of and be a kickass mom at the same time.
It’s a, sorry-to-my-neighbors-for-laughing-so-loud comedy, with a banger after banger soundtrack full of Native music you’re going to LOVE.
When I feel someone getting to tell a story I haven’t gotten to see before … when I watch someone excelling at their craft … when I get that “wow something special is happening here and I get to witness it” feeling, I get goosebumps. And I was chilled and thrilled all through this crackling, hilarious story.
Go get you some. ~ dara
WATCH: NORTH OF NORTH (Netflix)
FUN FACT:
The title of this month's letter comes from WE NEED YOUR ART: Stop Messing Around And Make Something, an inspiring book recently published by Amie McNee, an artist and creative coach whose work you may have come across on Instagram via her account inspiredtowrite.
I recently sped through the book in a few days and was filled with the motivation to get out of my own way. I highly recommend it as a companion piece to THE WAR OF ART...it is filled with journal prompts and creative exercises to help you get unstuck and to power through whatever might be stopping you from being your most creative, expressive self - whatever that looks like.
Remember...you matter, your voice matters, your creativity matters. We need you to put your energy in the world, if only to help us make sense of ourselves.
SEND US A NOTE!
Remember, we want to hear from you!
This month, I'm curious to know what art inspires you...what makes you want to create, to express yourself...doesn't matter the medium or genre, anything that gets your creative flow moving, I'd love to know about it.
Also! Feel free to share some of your favorite ART you've made...you've got 4 fans in waiting.
Email me at yo@dopearthere.com
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With love + respect, your comrades in creative solidarity...
Andrew + The Curators
DOPE ART HERE
We curate art as dope as you.
