Hope in the Dark
Artists who create to reject the past and to seek new potentials.
Welcome to the eighth volume of Morning Pages, a newsletter sharing inspirations at the intersection of culture and identity, creative experiments, and occasional studio updates.
The election day is in just two days. This week’s newsletter is dedicated to artists who create moving experiences that prompt people to question the world and join together to create meaningful social change.
Stolen — Adrian Brandon
Artist Adrian Brandon dedicated this series to the many black people that were robbed of their lives by the police. This series touches on grief and the unknown. He used time as a medium to define how long each portrait is colored in.
1 year of life = 1 minute of color.
Michael Brown was 18 when he was murdered, so his portrait was colored for 18 minutes.
Adrian described this series: “As a person of color, I know that my future can be stolen from me if I’m driving with a broken taillight, or playing my music too loud, or reaching for my phone at the wrong time. So for each of these portraits, I played with the harsh relationship between time and death. I want the viewer to see how much empty space is left in these lives, stories that will never be told, space that can never be filled.”
END SARS — Nigerian Artists
End SARS is a decentralized social movement and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. Over the last two weeks, protests organized around #EndSARS—the mass action calling for a complete ban of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police force—has rocked cities across Nigeria.
Artworks were created live over the weekend alongside works by Lagos-based visual artists who gathered at the protest site.
‘DUKUMA’ (no surrender in Kalabari), 2020, by Donna Duke.
‘Ezu River,’ 2020, by Chigozie Obi.
‘For Tina’, 2020, by Jemima Arayela.
Follow @artxlagos on Twitter to stay informed on the artistic activism in Nigeria.
To read more about design for social impact and politics, check out the design book collection that I curated recently. This book collection was created to give value and bring awareness to authors who are people of color and women. I hope you find something interesting for you.
Time is running out. Vote for a better world. — Katie Rodgers (@katierodgers)
Thank you for reading this volume of Morning Pages. All views in this newsletter are my own. If you’re enjoying this newsletter and want to express your appreciation, spread the word and support the studio for the price of a cup of ☕️.
Yuan Studio is a space that explores the intersections of global cultures and identities. Currently, the studio is incubating a series of creative projects, such as Morning Pages, and offering coaching for people of color to harness the power of their creativity and leadership potential. You can reach out on Twitter and LinkedIn.