(gentle dramatic music)
- To have an idea in your mind
when you have no control over anything else,
just being able to touch a material, and think of something,
and try to make it, and that is a real...
It's a real pleasure.
When it became evident that this virus
was going to have a significant impact,
it meant that I would have
to shift significantly how I work.
And I knew that I wanted to spend
a portion of that time being selfish
and enjoying the isolation in a way.
My studio is a second home.
It has all of the things that excite my imagination.
But the other part felt like I would have to
also maybe try to figure out how I could be of service,
and the service part was a little bit more complicated.
A big part of my artistic practice
is using abandoned buildings to create cultural spaces
on the South Side primarily.
I have a space called the Stony Island Arts Bank.
We've had to close it.
I never thought that the best thing I could do
for people is stay away from them.
It's such a strange notion.
There are moments when I feel like I'm
not exactly sure what I can contribute.
I don't feel like an artist whose practice
could lift the heavy veil of this moment.
(slapping)
I don't feel like an activist.
I really wanna feel like a neighbor.
That in this moment it feels like it's
everyone's duty to be kind, to be generous.
(cart rumbling)
In the moment when I didn't know what to do,
I would call my friend, Jared Freedman,
who happened to be the creative director
of this company, Citizens of Humanity.
And he said, "Hey man, we're gonna stop making jeans,
"and were gonna make these masks."
And I was like, "I want in."
And it felt like I could function
as a kind of conduit from this fashion company
that was willing to make masks to my city.
They had so many cool materials around.
They ended up making these out of a kind of camo motif,
and obviously it's the one that I like a lot.
We will direct 1,000 masks to the Chicago Food Depository
because it felt like those workers
and those in need of a meal
could both benefits pretty quickly.
It's clear to me that it actually requires times of crisis
for the everyday person to also recognize
that they're are extremely creative and resilient.
They're actually not far from the solutions,
it's just that life has been so comfortable that we
actually don't have to worry about solutions often,
but I think in this case, more and more people
will find themselves functioning as artists and creatives.
When I think about what culture
might look like at the end of this,
I think it's gonna be less about market-driven things
and more about creative people who want to get together
in their living room or get together in the basement
and spend time together.
I think that I'm just gonna be able
to be present more in Chicago
and present with the people who I love.
And I'm gonna try to focus my resources,
which are really space and a big smile,
I'm gonna try to focus those resources
on the people who I care about
and try to do as much as I can locally.