RESET THE ALGORITHM

Season 1 Episode 16

This week on Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors sits down with the team behind the SXSW film, “Songs From The Hole”. JJ'88, richie reseda, and Contessa Gayles offer us a poignant reminder that a commitment to our artistic expression, is a commitment to heal, transform and inform our communities. A documentary visual album, "Songs from the Hole '' made its premiere at SXSW last month. Directed and co-written by Contessa Gayles, the film follows JJ'88 and his innermost experience as he serves a double-life sentence in prison. Introducing the public to the life and music of JJ'88, the film uses imaginative creations of memory, dreams, spiritual experiences, and interviews, set to JJ'88's original music, produced by richie reseda. Exploring the intersection of art and accountability, this weeks’ conversation explores the process by the team collaborated on their film, and the importance of centering the artistic voices and experiences of incarcerated individuals. Through the process of creating his music with richie reseda, and bringing his album to the screen with Contessa, JJ’88 reflects on the power of finding community, and the deeply cathartic, healing and artistically triumphant film they created. Contessa, JJ’88 and richie are a brilliant example of using film as a conscious, authentic medium to highlight a narrative that has the power to re-shape our society. “Songs from the Hole” is currently being shown at film festivals and plans are underway for an impact campaign to bring it to prisons, jails, and communities impacted by state violence and gun violence. Contessa continues to spearhead poignant documentary narratives. JJ’88 has released his fourth single, "Hustla's Lament, and richie reseda serves as the Creative and Political Director of For everyone Collective, a space dedicated to supporting the artistic and economical contributions of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. This week, we call you to revolutionize your ideas of documentary filmmaking, examine your personal sense of expression, and open your ears to the authentically human, raw, and inspirational journey this film has shared with the world.

10.13.2024
54 MIN
Share this post

Tune into the latest episodes

5.28.2024
 • 
41 MINS

Season 1 Episode 20

This week on Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors joins a discussion of heritage, art and the resistance of reimagination with artists and mother-son duo, Shahla Dorriz and alexandre ali reza dorriz. "You're the only person in the world who could get my mom and I in a room together to do a podcast of all things”, ali reza says to Patrisse… and while that may be true, we are so grateful they came to chat. This episode is an authentic reminder of the importance of personal expression in conjunction with legacy, and how the representation of heritage can transform future generations through art. Shahla, a fashion designer and creative consultant, shares her journey to finding her most authentic artistic medium through fashion, and the importance of the multi-generational approach to her work that centers the inclusion of her Iranian heritage, often in collaboration with her son. Ali Reza, an artist with a research-based practice, sheds light both on his own work with Crenshaw Dairy Mart in Los Angeles, and his work in creating localized hubs for economic, artistic and agricultural autonomy for his community, but on the awe and inspiration instilled in him through both his own experience of his artistic practice and in the one that has been nurtured between himself and his mother. In conversation, the trio explore the waters of storytelling through fabric, the influence of the duo's Iranian heritage on their work, and both the challenges and rewards that arise when one sets an intention to preserve cultural design and promote diverse, unique perspectives within the fashion industry. This mother-son duo are an impactful showcase of how divergent ideas can curate something beautiful, created through that unique channel that each of us has access to; of how that channel becomes ever more powerful the more honest and collaborative we open ourselves to be. This episode reminds us all that artists have the ability to challenge oppressive systems, to create in a way that reminds consumers of times past from which they have the opportunity to learn, and that in embracing ourselves and the roots from which we grew, we become unshakably planted in our identity. "Value your work. If you know what you're working on and if you see that work as valuable, it is valuable."