How To Be An Artist

Jason Snyder is an interesting guy to follow but hard man to describe. He is a self described doomer optimist, homesteader, memetic mediator and co-host of the Both/And Podcast along with Jared Janes. He also holds a PhD from Michigan State in Economics.

In this episode we journey from the interior of the mind outward to our planetary limits and make lots of little stops along the way. We discuss embodied cognition and Jason's bespoke meditation practice, manual labor, localism and bio-regionalism, problems that have to be addressed at a planetary scale and how cosmo-localism and metamodernism might tie it all together. It's a fire hose of fascinating topics with interesting clues about how they all might connect.

Jason's discussion on Doomer Optimism at the Stoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDtDoiITi0g

Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cognazor

The Both/And Podcast: https://podtail.com/podcast/both-and/

Jason's meditation system: https://thesideview.co/journal/decentralizing-cognition/

Gregg Schigiel is a cartoonist, author and illustrator and creator of the graphic novel series PIX from Image Comics. In this episode we have a frank discussion about the realities and ups and downs of self-publishing and working with a publisher like Image. We also talk about how making comics is like baking, why you need an audience and why hanging out is the best part of conventions. We also take a moment to talk about Gregg's Jewish-Cuban heritage, swap recipes and Gregg shares his passion for Alice in Wonderland.  You can learn more about Gregg at: https://greggschigiel.com/

Geoff Shupe is one of the artists that has shared multiple art communities with me. He's part of Draw Night SLC, but we also are the only two concept artists (that we know of) that worked both at EA Games Salt Lake and Disney Interactive. He's also wide ranging in his artistic skills, constantly curious and very careful thinker about art and life.  In this episode we talk about working jobs you hate, classic fairy tale illustrators, using digital and traditional media together, and specializing vs. generalizing. We also discuss Geoff's passion for Ninja Warrior, "functional dad strength" and why it's a good idea for artists to get out of their heads and into their bodies.

Check out Geoff's work here:

https://www.instagram.com/jef_schnabadue/

https://chromiumash.artstation.com/

Jeff Speck is a city planner and walkability advocate who also happens to be the author and co-author of two of my favorite urban planning books of all time. In this episode we talk about Jeff's trajectory from Art History major to city planner, his convergence with the architecture firm DPZ and the subsequent creation of the legendary Suburban Nation. We also discuss the four elements of walkability, the relationship between aesthetics and function and the connection between urban design and civic engagement. 

Assigned reading for this episode. There will be a quiz!

Walkable City 

Walkable City Rules

Suburban Nation

You can find additional resources on walkability and Jeff's other work at jeffspeck.com 

Dustin Hansen is a writer, illustrator and creative director with decades of experience in video games and writing credits that span genres. He's the author of Game On!, a brief history of video games, the Microsaurs series and most recently The Video Game Ate My Homework for DC Comics. He also recently made the bold claim that he grew 70% of his food in the summer of 2020! In this episode we investigate this claim and talk about why chickens are magic, goats are great and how food independence makes for better art. We also talk about building art and food cultures that might some day replace the ones we currently have and why it's a good idea to think of art as a very long term project.

Dustin on twitter: https://twitter.com/DustHansen

Jeffrey Howard's conversation with Ashley Colby on Damn the Absolute: https://erraticus.co/2021/01/20/subsistence-agriculture-united-states-collapse-industrial-capitalism-ashley-colby/

Michael Bishop is the human thrall of GWAR's Berserker Blöthar who also happens to hold a Ph.D. in Music Ethnography from the University of Virginia. As a teen, Michael was one of the early members of the Slave Pit, an art collective based out of Richmond, Virginia that gave birth to GWAR. In this episode he recounts his first-hand experience of participating in the formation of the Slave Pit and describes the values of self-sacrifice, DIY culture, and chaos that generated its magic. We also discuss how "pure" art can become elitist and the value of popular, mainstream art. We also talk about how to think about money in relationship to art. 

Michael's Tedx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbQdUJILSPI

GWAR: https://gwar.net/

The Slave Pit: https://www.slavepitinc.com/

Ken Keys is a master animator and art director with a legendary career than took him from Saturday Morning cartoons with Hanna-Barbera, 2D feature with Amblin Animation, and 3D credits on Shrek, Iron Giant and Lord of the Rings. In this episode we discuss Ken's journey across mediums and around the world and how he ended up making video games with me at EA Salt Lake. Ken shares the mindset of discovery and adventure that led him through his diverse journey. 

Ken's website: http://kenkeys.com/illustration-visual-development.html

Can You Catch One -- a crowdfunded short: https://canyoucatchone.com/ 

Wildlife Demo trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7uQh25d3-c

David Habben is an illustrator and professor of Illustration at Brigham Young University. In this episode we discuss using values and intuition as a guide for your artistic path, as well as what it means to have faith in the path, escaping all the "shoulds" that can mislead you, and how finding your path is like playing an old out-of-tune guitar. We also talk about the importance of playfulness, breakthroughs, finding your voice and making the art you want to do.

More about David: https://davidhabben.com

Dave Durocher is the executive director of The Other Side Academy (TOSA), a therapeutic community based in Salt Lake City, Utah. In this discussion Dave shares his history of drug addiction and crime that led him to serve over 15 years in prison before being accepted into Delancey Street (the therapeutic community that TOSA is modeled after). We also got into details about the innovative approach TOSA takes to teaching morality, sustaining itself financially, and providing a realistic path out of drug abuse and crime. In particular we delve into the practice of "The Games" at TOSA as a tool of learning accountability, trust, vulnerability and a way to let off steam. 

The Other Side Academy: https://www.theothersideacademy.com/

David Brooks on the Nuclear Family: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/the-nuclear-family-was-a-mistake/605536/

Delancey Street: http://delanceystreetfoundation.org/

Daniel Ingram is the author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (MCTB), a team member of The Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium, and proprietor of the Dharma Overground. In this episode we discuss the impact of MCTB on my own life and meditation practice, the evolving landscape of high level practice in culture and research, how A Wizard of Earthsea describes the development of meditation practice, the varying ways that meditation can effect creativity, and why Jack Vance is rad.

More on Daniel can be found at: https://www.integrateddaniel.info/