MADEXXXX MADEART
and just be completely present . It kind of surprises people when they don ’ t know you and you ’ re a complete stranger but you can be 100 % with them in that moment . You go from meeting strangers to coming across friends that you haven ’ t met yet and so I asked each one of them , maybe 200 or so people , what they felt like the secret to happiness was and I had them write it in my little sonola notepad and sign their name .
MADE : Sounds therapeutic for you , in a way ... Genesis : It was kind of therapeutic , it was beautiful and I started to get a vision of man . Like I love art so much and I love language so much I want to mesh the two to this fine art poetry thing where I can take these poems and these moments that I ’ m really dedicating my life to and put it in a different way for people to digest it . It really opened me up . Like one of the poems , it ’ s going to take a while to finish , it ’ s a few words , but it ’ s the layers inside of the words that make it so heavy . It ’ s a poem that says “ before you die , live ” that ’ s all it says . It ’ s real big like 10 feet by 8 feet , it ’ s a huge canvas and it ’ s jet black and the words are in white “ before you die , live ”. There ’ s a white box around live and “ live ” is in black but the cool thing about it is the word live is comprised with like 1,000 middle finger prints from people that have been given six months or less to live . So now you ’ re finding the poetry within a moment , now this piece of art is continuously changing and reminding us that we need to claim our brilliance while we are here . This finite slice of life there ’ s nothing that we cure more than understanding that you will eventually pass and just knowing that it will keep you from wasting time with foolish things . I ’ m so interested with finding these multiple layers within the actual poem or in the art to help push and convey that message . And that ’ s my goal that ’ s what I want to bring around the country .
MADE : That ’ s something we talk about a lot on our blog : How to turn creativity into currency . So for aspiring artists who really want to live their dream , but
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are afraid of being the starving artist what advice would you give them to achieve their goal and how can they make money early on in art ? Genesis : I think just understanding or developing a creative confidence . Remembering how valuable what you bring to the table is . The key in monetizing I discovered is learning how to communicate that value that you already possess . Just learning how to communicate , for example the show that I have here : Fine Arts Poetry Expedition . Dynamo is an accelerated logistics company ; they operate in logistics but they gave a $ 10,000 sponsorship just to see the event happen . So after getting that I went to partner with an organization called Footprint and they matched it with another sponsorship . So these are two sponsorships that supported a fine art poetry event that haven ’ t seen anything like it . I just expressed the value in bringing it to the city so it can happen .
MADE : So communication is key ? Genesis : That small way of just being able to communicate that value that you already have , a thing that ’ s already in your bones . Every artist has it , it ’ s just being confident and taking time to lock in and sit at the laptop . And if you struggle with communication don ’ t be afraid to hire or bring somebody in that is good at communicating it and put together a package that is easy for people to digest . Being able to do that it frees you up to be able to truly explore what you already have bouncing around your heart and mind . Getting that $ 20,000 granted in sponsorships allowed me to go super wild . I hired a chambered choir . I ’ m sure you know Chance the Rapper , his manager is co-managing an artist here . I hit up that artist and a few others , I was able to make an experience because I was able to support through being able to communicate the value of what I was trying to bring to the city . And so I didn ’ t even have to worry about selling any pieces , I ’ m glad that I was able to sell pieces but the profits came before the show even happened which allowed me to really do what an artist lives for .
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MADE : That ’ s great advice . What are your plans and goals , short term and long term , with everything that you ’ re doing since you ’ re so multifaceted ? Genesis : Well with the workshop I brought in Susan and Kevin Thompson to help scale it and just to bring
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