Ep 14: Cyphers and public art as spaces of encounter with Flux Projects and Soul Food Cypher
Listen to the Common Good Data Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week, Drew and Roger share practice stories and highlight how moments of encounter often come through ordinary interactions. Anne Archer Dennington and Floyd Hall of Flux Projects discuss how artists serve as our community’s best storytellers and documenters of culture, as well as how public art creates spaces of encounter. Alexander “COSTxONE” Acosta of Soul Food Cypher describes how a cypher builds community with youth through celebrating identities and drawing upon the positive aspects of hip/hop and rap. Cost also talks about how cyphers, rap, and hip/hop serve as medicine and spiritual practices for the black diaspora communities. Don’t forget this week’s trivia question featuring an actor from John Singleton’s 1991 film Boyz n the Hood.
Key Takeaways
Encounter takes place through ordinary interactions, But it’s important to create spaces for these encounters to take place, which can include some of examples discussed in the episode like public art, cyphers, or a soccer game.
We make ourselves open to encounter by saying “yes”.
Arts, drama, music, and culture serve as rituals that reflect community values and allow communities to tell their stories. Creating spaces for these rituals can in turn create moments of empathy and connection.
Listen to your audience. Ask your clients/community what they would like for your organization to do.
Remember your why and your purpose: what inspires you? Sharing passions and finding others who share your passion create moments of encounter and connection.
Resources and Links
Our Guests
Anne Archer Dennington is the founding Executive Director of Flux Projects, an organization that produces temporary public art projects that connect and grow artists and audiences in Atlanta through the creative power of place. Dennington has led three previous organizations and worked across the commercial, government, and nonprofit art sectors. Under her tenure, Flux Projects has commissioned 130 works and engaged over 650 artists. Dennington has produced projects for artists ranging from those making their first venture into the public realm to the internationally celebrated Nick Cave. She has worked with esteemed curators including Helena Reckitt and Nato Thompson. And she has built a diverse group of community partners from the public and private sectors, both in and out of the arts community.
Floyd Hall, cultural producer and media strategist from Atlanta, Georgia and Brand Manager at Flux Projects. His professional work often relates to the intersection of art, media and technology as platforms. As an artist, he is interested in the process of how we come to define and design ourselves, and is passionate about how history, culture and art blend together to construct narratives of place.
LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bottom of the Map: Southern Hip-Hop: Explored. Explained. Exalted.
Alexander “COSTxONE” Acosta is an Atlanta-based producer, multi-disciplined artist, and Community Builder. Even before his birth, his life was shaped and directed towards music. In 1979, COSTxONE’s parents meet in a small record store in Florida. Seven years his Mother would give birth to him one the same day widely accepted as the birthdate of the culture – August 11th. It is the spirit of this culture that lead him to work with “at-risk” teens in East Atlanta in 2011. Originally, he hosted photography workshops with the teens but quickly found he connected with the teens in more meaningful ways when they would rhyme during their freestlye cypher sessions at the clubhouse. Experiencing the teens brilliance and improvisational ingenuity, he became a believer in their ability to improve themselves and their communities through their words. Concurrently, he was having similar cypher sessions with his closest friends who happened to be highly skilled professionals and looking to broaden these freestyle sessions. By bringing these individuals together and bridging this generational and socio-economic gap, Soul Food Cypher was born in early 2012.
COSTxONE | Instagram | LinkedIn
Soul Food Cypher | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
