Episode 0: Introductions

The Artidex is an archive of artists and creative individuals comprised of signed Polaroid portraits, conversations, and short form films. Inspired first by the idea of collecting artists like rare Pokémon cards, each entry attempts to preserve not just the work itself, but the humanity behind the artist, bearing witness to the people that exist underneath persona and performance.

What first began as a photography project has since taken on a life of its own. The Artidex has evolved into an expanding creative network built around discovery, amplification, collaboration, and mutual support. As the archive grows, it has begun naturally forging connections between artists across disciplines.

Over time, The Artidex has also become a channel through which featured artists receive direct support through creative grants, sponsorships, and community driven initiatives intended to help sustain artistic work over time.

Episode 0 serves as a candid introduction to Artidex creator Gina Frey and cohost Noah Boujikian, who also happens to be Entry #004. In this episode, we cover some of the early philosophies that inspired Artidex, the origins of the project, and what’s to come as new entries are added.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

We'll talk about how we should we introduce ourselves? I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Noah. Noah B.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

And I'm I'm Gina.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

There you go. There you go, folks.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

So how did we meet?

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Um from my perspective, and I'm sure you can tell your own version as well, which is always the fun part. But I think I found I found your own SoundCloud, 20 2808. And it was, I think it was my third year of med school.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

So what year would this have been? Like 2015, maybe 2016?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

That sounds right.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

That I would have to do big math on that. But it was definitely my third year of med school because I specifically had very long drives to some of these uh rotations in your third year. You kind of cycle through different specialties and go to different places. And I was driving to the Northport VA on Long Island doing a medicine rotation there.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Which was wild. But um, you know, I was driving like an hour each way a lot of the time through third year. So I was always listening to like full albums.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

And you know, yours was just so like atmospheric. You know what it and I'm driving at five in the morning. So like you don't want something that's like full on super intense. Yeah. And then same thing, like when you're coming down off of an intense day, like you don't you don't really want something maybe as like lyrical or theater intense.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

You just want something you can vibe to.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Yeah, or like, yeah, just to kind of like turn your brain down a notch. Yeah. And it was like so perfect for that. Uh got me through third year for sure. Um, and then I guess I added you on Facebook, which I completely forgot.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Yeah. But uh which is one of those like weird things as an artist that like, you know, uh, I guess especially for me, because like my artistic or my like creative identity isn't separate from like my identity like as a human being. Like my Facebook is it exists, and you could just like add me, it's my first and last name. It's you know what I mean. So it's like, you know, a lot of people would add me, and uh, you know, a lot of people like send me messages and stuff, but uh I don't know, you sent me a message, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:03

And that was like I feel like the only reason like maybe it worked in retrospect was because I sent you music.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

True, yeah. You did send me yeah, some of the music that you had made um back then, and and I was really fucking with it.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

But I had a band for 30 seconds, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

It was short-lived, but it was short-lived, but fun.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

It was a fun time, yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean, I you know, I get what you're saying, like people separate the artist from the art, but I think like, especially coming from medicine, I'm very much just like we're all human beings, so I kind of like lose sight a little bit of like any concept of like hierarchy or like no, I know what you mean, or just like boundaries, maybe like social boundaries, yeah. Social boundaries in general, because also like that's one really amazing thing about being a doctor is like the minute you walk in the room, you kind of step over this like hurdle, yeah. And people kind of very immediately are vulnerable with you and like share like extremely personal things about their lives and their health, yeah, right off the bat. Um, and fortunately, it's like absolutely gotten to a place where that feels really, really natural. But it's and I'm very honored to like have that privilege to just kind of like have an open doorway directly into people's lives without having to kind of go through the formality of like, hi, how are you? What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

I'm just kind of just like teleported right into their lives, and yeah, I get their story and it's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah, and the interesting thing is, I mean, I guess like hospitals and you know, doctors' offices and all that are very like equalizing places where like once you like enter, everyone is like on the same playing field. It doesn't matter if you're like a billionaire, it doesn't matter like who you are or what you do, like once you're there, you're there to like be seen and like receive care. Absolutely. Um, so it's like it's one of those things, it's like it levels the playing field for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

And that's very also specific to emergency medicine and why I like really I really respect like the job that I have, you know, as difficult as it is. Yeah, I take care of every single person, like regardless of their income level, if you're homeless, like no matter what what demographic you are, your ability to pay, completely irrelevant for me. But like if you're a plastic surgeon, you're seeing a very specific fraction of the population, only the people that can afford to actually see you and come talk to you.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

It's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

And I don't, I don't know, I don't really I don't like that. You don't like the idea of that, yeah. You know, it is what it is, but but like that wasn't like what I went into medicine for, yeah. So, but yeah, ER specifically really just like barriers down.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah, and I guess from your your perspective, it's one of those things where like once you walk in the room, you're like, I don't care like who you are or like whatever, or like where you're from, or like what you do, like what's wrong with you, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, and we need to figure out how to fix it.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

And like, and you know, I really do endeavor to like make people comfortable and like try to like exude calm and like make people like I don't know. I I the way that I like greet people and try to talk to people, it's very like conscious and like just shooting the shit with people and and being authentic and like you know, it really brings their guard down and um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Well, you don't want there to be this like disconnect between you and like whoever the patient is, no, where they feel like there's some sort of like barrier because again, like you said, this is situations where like people have to be vulnerable about their medical history, about their lives, about their personal lives, like how they got there in the first place, you know what I mean? So it's it's one of those things where like you want people to feel as like comfortable with being honest as possible.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Yeah. And it it's interesting because there is actually a very large bat barrier, but it's a different kind of barrier. It's not really like the typical social barrier, but it's like I have to almost overcome but also fulfill the archetype of doctor for people.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Yeah, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Because like you go into a place with a specific expectation. And for for many people, specifically usually like white older men, they're not like when they come to the ER, they're not like prepared to see me walk in in that role. Um, so there's like always there's like a few, and I can like see people computing it a little bit in their brain. There's like definitely a minute or two where they may be caught slightly off guard by the fact that it's me.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

But then just through conversation with them, I can kind of see them like their shoulders drop and they're like, okay, like this is yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

This is this actually is a doctor.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Yeah, it's okay, it's all good.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

So it's a different type of hurdle. And then also just like the reputation of doctors, you know, when I decided to go into medicine at like 16, 17, it was generally favorable from what I can recall. Like it was like a very respectable quote unquote job. Like it's well regarded, just like in a general sense. Yeah. And then it was like, you know, then there was COVID, and it was like, Your heroes, and then and then it like with the vaccines took this like weird sharp turn, and then now we're hated, and we just, you know, so I kind of have to almost like prove to people like because there are good doctors, there are bad doctors, there are good everything, there are bad everything, right? Yeah, I will say, in my opinion, like 95% of the people I've like trained with and met through medicine are like some of the kindest, smartest, most like wholesome people ever, which is another beautiful part of the job.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

But I have to kind of prove to patients like Yeah, I'm gonna listen to you and like because there's this inherent skepticism that people have in this day and age now. I mean, you know, with like everything, I think, and especially like anyone who's in some sort of like I guess authority position or some sort of position where they feel like um you know they're not in control.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Yeah, and I think you know, my generation of doctors is doing a really good job at dismantling that like parental sort of style of medicine that came in some of the generations before us, and we're very much consciously trying to like get down on people's level and like do a lot of shared decision making. I do a lot, a lot of teaching, um, and then kind of try to you know recommend something, but kind of just give people like A, B, or C, like I'm here to help you, and you know, you're also in control of the situation, you're not a prisoner, unless you're dangerous, then you know that's it. There's a different thing. Some people, you know, there are some exceptions, but but um I think we're doing a pretty good job, like maybe the younger generations, I help in like shifting that style of medicine out.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

But um so so Artidex.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

So the Artidex, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

What is this? What is this Artidex thing that you keep talking about, you know?

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Okay, so so the Artidex is this binder here.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

And I guess I guess uh another good thing to go with that is like how did this come to be, you know?

SPEAKER_02 9:15

Okay, okay. So I'll start by saying the Artidex is a it's a collection of signed Polaroids, and it consists pretty much so far of like my super cool friends um who have charitably donated their time and their faith in my wild ideas. Um, but there are also artists um whose work I really enjoy. Um and uh essentially it came to me in a dream, which um I don't know if this is like some David Lynch shit, but I kind of try to listen to things that come to me in a dream state in a weird way. Yeah, and this was like I was waking up sort of in that state between sleep and wakefulness. And so it's very it's very strange. I don't know what why I thought of this, but I was kind of like, oh, like a Pokedex, kind of like really cool, rare Pokemon, and like people are going around capturing like with Pokemon Go that there was like a whole phenomenon with that with co you know COVID times and thereafter. But um, I was like, oh, I'd love to like, you know, when you take somebody's picture, you're kind of like capturing them or capturing their likeness. Yeah, and it's sort of like capturing a Pokemon sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Um, so yeah, it came to me in a dream, and um, I'm kind of learning more about it as I go, in a sense.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

So you feel like it's something that has very quickly has sort of like taken on a life of its own, and like as you have progressed with it, it like continues to reveal more of itself to you without you having to like actively seek, yeah, you know what I mean, more out of it or like find more depth in it.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

A hundred percent. Yeah, it's really interesting how like and I'm sure you've you could relate to this in your in your own way through music, but like a lot a lot of the times in my experience personally, like art teaches me something about myself.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

Um like I tried to be a I don't know if I told you this. I think I've I must have at some point, but I tried to be a horror screenwriter.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

I think you didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

I wanted to write like Ariaster and that whole crew. Like I would, I was really trying to do that, and then I like sat down at the keyboard and everything I wrote was just like comedy. Like I couldn't be that tracks, I couldn't be like dark and brooding. I wanted to be because I think that's like so cool. I like consuming that art, but that's like not who I am. So everything that was coming through me was comedy, and I was like, oh, I guess I guess I'm not scary.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Which is funny because I think at times maybe you present outwardly as somebody who is like dark and brooding, yeah. Um, like aesthetically, you know. Yeah, but it's it's so funny knowing you because it's like, I mean, I don't I like I don't think you're that person at all.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

No, you know, it's like I just really enjoy consuming that. Yeah. So I guess as a consumer, I thought that also was somehow who I was, but like absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah, just yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

Complete clown teddy gram of a person.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah, true. That's accurate. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

So what I feel like this is, you know, it's a return to myself. I'm keeping a promise I kind of made to myself when I was really young, and I was in art school at the time uh for photography. I was at Pratt in Brooklyn, and I kind of had this like sort of existential crisis thinking really deeply, as a 17-year-old does, um, about the impact I wanted to have on the world and like how I wanted to interface with people. And art is both very intimate, but there is also a great deal of distance between yourself and the people you impact. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 12:41

Yeah, like I do.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

I somehow like slithered down like the fan-to-friend pipeline with you, but like a lot of time artists aren't like meeting the people that they're impacting through their art.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

It's true.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Um, for a variety of reasons, and many of them are really reasonable. But I was like, I want to like know the people that I'm impacting through my work with my life. And so I kind of made this very rash decision to like drop out of art school to pursue medicine and become a doctor. But I always said to myself, I was like, well, I can always do art on the side of medicine, but you can't really do medicine on the side of art that's illegal and dangerous and not a good idea. So I and I I was very conscious about the idea that art is extremely expensive to make.

SPEAKER_04 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

It's just like incredibly expensive. And I was like, well, how how beautiful would it be if I could like earn money helping people through really difficult things or or making them more comfortable, or you know, um walking them through really difficult times and like earn my money that way, but then like take that and like reinvest it into art and creating art. And that's kind of what I'm trying to do through the Art Dex is like keep that promise to myself, like, hey, you're always gonna do art, you didn't give it up. It's still part of who you are, and then also keep the promise of the concept of like any money I make through this job, finding a way to then like take that income and reinvest it into artists and my art, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

I basically want to give people money to make art in a really cool way.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

You hear that, everyone? If you need money, hit up Gina. It's it if you want to make art.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

I still have school, she's giving it away for free.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

It's it no, no, but you heard her here first.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Uh no, but but for real though, I do want to do like grants through this. Yeah. Um it's very cool. Yeah. And like, you know, have maybe when I hit like a specific number, like you were you were suggesting, like hit a specific number and then like give, like if I hit 25, give away $2,500 or something like that as a grant to somebody who participates. Um, and you know, they can just go make a music video, it's a gift. They don't, you know, nobody owes me anything back. I think there's like also been a shift, too, for specifically with musicians of like record labels suck. Like it's just you're constantly indebted to them. They own your art and it's BS, quite frankly, and it's enslavement. And it's like it's just this, it's they're debt collectors. And I think it would be really cool if this like gets to a place where it can be monetized either through viewing through social media or fundraising events or something like that, and then that can be put into like a nonprofit grant or fund that then awards money to artists, and there's no obligation to pay it back, and you own all of your shit, you know? Like I don't want to own anything, I really just want to give people money to make great, beautiful things in the world because the world is really difficult and sad sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

So, what started as something that came to you in a dream state is uh is now becoming something that uh is having a bigger purpose than just fulfilling your desire of making things. Yeah, of making things.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

Yeah, yeah. I love making things too, in a very simple sense. But um, but yeah, I mean, I always I always want something to have a greater purpose. You know, I'm I would love to at some point work with like charities like to write Love on Her Arms, or there's like the artists fellowship that supports artists that are going through financial hardship, and then there's Backline, which is a uh charity that funds like mental health care specifically for musicians. So I would love to also like partner with those and try to like put money back into art, and so everything becomes now reconnected.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah, yeah, of course. So as you've done each one of these Artodex entries and you have done seven now, I believe. Is that seven? Yeah. Um in a short amount of time. Uh in a in a short amount of time, too. Um, how is that process? And you know, what is it like shooting those? And uh, you know, I know I know how it went for for ours that we did.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Yeah, but I'm just thank you by the way for doing it.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Oh, of course. Um, but I'm curious, you know, for each one, do you feel like um who the artist is changes how you approach it?

SPEAKER_02 17:08

A hundred percent. Yeah, it's like the environment that you're in, what your goal is, like as far as what you're highlighting about the person, and in particular, as we did with you, I'm trying to show how multifaceted people are and maybe focus on their art to a degree, but also show maybe like the things outside of their work that they also enjoy. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because you're like a really gifted musician, rapper, producer, but you also are amazing at picking up vintage clothes and reselling them. So, like we highlighted that for you.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

Um, and I really I enjoyed trying to like show the person a little bit more holistically.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah, which I think is cool because um, you know, in general, I think artists are notoriously like secretive, um, some by choice and some just by the nature of like again that disconnect between like the artists and you know the uh the people who consume their art. Um so being able to show like glimpses of people's everyday life and things like that, I think matters a lot to uh to the people who care about them and to the people that they impact with their art. You know, I know like after we did mine, I had like several people who reached out to me and were like, oh, that was so cool. Like, you know, just to see like you like in your element, um, especially because like I'm somebody who notoriously like does not post on social media or is like very like hyper curated.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

You're a rare Pokemon, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

So you are so like having moments like that, I think is uh it's it's very cool for like other people to see.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

Um absolutely is and it feels like it feels like a privilege to like be allowed to like show that to people, yeah. And also I find it very important to try to accurately represent the person or show them how they want to be shown. I feel like a lot of the times when artists are doing interviews or other things for like specific publications or other types of media, the the media company is like coming to them with a specific agenda, yeah, and they're trying to like get something out of them in a weird way. Whereas like I really just want to like see people for who they are and just and then portray them how they want to be seen and like witness them in a weird way.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Um, and give them back that the control over their image and like show what's important to them.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Yeah, definitely. And the cool thing about this is that you know, it's infinitely repeatable. Um, and then you know, as you do it more and like there will always be more artists for you to highlight. Um, you'll always be finding like new interesting artists. And like you were saying earlier, you know, as it develops, it can even become more of like a platform for you to showcase maybe artists who uh who are underappreciated, um, or people who you just want to like um you know put on a pedestal for a moment and say, hey, like look at this person, what they're doing is really cool. Yes. Um, you know, you should you should pay attention to it.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

And that's another like really specific goal I have with the project that also kind of revealed itself to me through the process is I would love to get like one or two quote unquote larger people or more well-known people, specifically for the utility of then like following that up with someone who is very not well known.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

And kind of like creating this like artists' network where now I've had a lot of y'all ask about each other, which is really, really cool. Um, and so like if I would love if at some point, and I'm sure it'll just happen organically, like the people will work together for things.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah, it's just super interesting. And that's sort of one of those unexpected outcomes of doing this that, you know, I'm sure initially when the idea was like being formed, it was not something that like maybe that you considered, but now like in practice, it's something you're like, oh, I'm actually like not just like building this archive, I'm also like creating a network of like interconnected artists who are all like this is like it's like the um like like seven degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon or whatever that thing is, except for it's like you know, uh like seven degrees of separation from Gina, you know, it's like all these people are like connected through you as like you know the medium for like everyone.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Yeah, and that's like very kind of like on brand for me. Like for some reason, because I've just had like a million jobs. So like I was thinking about this the other day. Like, I probably know at least like a degree or two of separation. Somebody who does like anything. Like, if you're like Gina, I need to rent an alligator.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

You know, you know a guy.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

I actually know a guy. I know a guy knows a guy because they they had an alligator trainer for the weekend music video. So like I don't know, I feel like I know somebody who does everything, or at least somebody who knows somebody who does that thing. Yeah, which I think is really fun.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

That is really fun. So if you ever need an alligator, if yeah just like a funny example of

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Of like something so left field, like where can I get XYZ?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you're also somebody who I think um, you know, has this like unique ability to connect with people from like all different walks of life and like different backgrounds and different interests and things like that. And uh I think we have that in common because like I I find that everywhere I go as well. Um, so it's it's it's interesting how those kind of things like end up being something you can, you know, use to do something positive um for multiple people, right? So um, so you've done seven of these so far. And uh how many more do you have planned at the moment?

SPEAKER_02 22:38

I feel like I don't want to say like a specific goal number. Um I have an I have a number or two like in mind that I'm shooting for that's gonna take it'll take a really long time to get to. Um, but we'll kind of just see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yeah. Um well I guess part of like Pokemon rate is that like you're just kind of uh, you know, walking through the grass, having these random encounters uh you know, of like different like rare Pokemon that pop up. Um so I guess similarly with this, it's it's sort of a thing where you know more artists and things will pop up as uh as time passes. And I mean you've already done a couple where like you did one person and then you did someone else who is connected to that person. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah, yeah. So that yeah, that's really cool. And so that I'm also experiencing other artists' networks as well.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Um, and I kind of always say to everybody like, if you know someone who you think would love to do this, like let me know because I'm I'm so here for it. I really I really just love like people's stories and like getting to know people and like hear about their lives. And so this is like kind of like medicine is a doorway into people's lives and like learning about them. This is kind of my vehicle for like a an excuse to hang out with my friends, b an excuse to make new friends, yeah, meet new people.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah, definitely. So who is like let's say like top three, like art, top three rarest Pokemon now, top three like Artex candidates. Um, you know, who would like be your dream, you know?

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Okay. Um so I mean Lana Del Rey.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

There's just no Lana Del Rey, if you see this, and like how Kyle, my husband Kyle did a music video for her. So it's not like it's like that insane, and she does love shitty VHS, and I'm very shitty, and I film sort of on a super eight. So like maybe there's a chance.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yeah, I mean, you never know, you know?

SPEAKER_02 24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Um we're putting it out there into the universe right now.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Yeah, it's out there in the universe. Um I I just really want to make it like as diverse as possible. Like I'm talking to like uh a couple of chefs.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 24:49

Yeah, because I I absolutely consider that art.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

And on that note, one other thing that I'm doing that I don't even know if you know this, but like I'm putting Easter eggs in the artidexes of other people that I'm trying to do. Oh, really? I'm either trying to get into Artidex or have already spoken to it.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Interesting, interesting.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Okay so like for somebody who's for a musician, I just use their music, right? But for somebody who's maybe not a musician, I'll be I'll use the music of somebody who I'm like either already have spoken to about like they're gonna do it as an Easter egg, or like maybe it's a conversation opener.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

That's cool. So a bit of foreshadowing and a bit of wishful thinking minded.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Yeah, but it's worked already.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

So yeah, no, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Yeah, so I'm like, you know, putting the vibes out there. I'm like, hey, maybe if I if I put this in there, they'll think it's cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yeah, definitely. Well, this is a very cool project, and uh I'm I'm absolutely excited to see where uh where you go with it, you know. And I know it's like difficult to uh to I'm sure like the logistics of you know managing trying to uh you know get in touch with and create time and space for all these people is like insanely difficult. Yeah. Um, especially given that you're a doctor, and you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 26:05

You know what it's insane, like the hardest thing about this has been exactly what you're describing, like the logistics and the planning and physically like aligning schedules. And it's not even really my schedule. I feel like people are somehow like busier, they're just busier, yeah, busier than me. Um, and also, you know, this is like my baby, so like I'm willing to do insane stuff to make this work. Yeah, like if someone's like, Oh, I live here, I'm like, I'll fly. Like, I'll I'll come wherever you want, I'll come to your front door if you want me to do this. So, like, let's let's go, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah, I think that's kind of if you want to um undertake something this ambitious, you you almost have to go into it. Yeah. Uh, you know, with that mindset of like, I will do what it takes to uh to highlight these people and that like dedication, um, you know, it shines through in each one that you do, but also just in the project as a whole, you know, that's like the the passion part of it. You know what I mean? It's like it's it is truly a passion project. Um, and you like really have to, you know, be passionate about it to even be able to uh to accomplish any of it.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

That's another like huge part of it for me as well. Is I have realized over the past decade or so, kind of just like learning about myself as a person, an artist, that I am a I am more successful at short form art. And I'm also more successful when I center my art on other people or it feels like I'm doing something for somebody else or to celebrate somebody else, that will like get me up out of bed. Like it got me up out of bed at like 3 a.m. in medical school. So I was like, well, I have to get up because I have to learn these things because I have to learn how to find people sufficiently. And so if I'm like, well, I have to I have to do this because you know I want this to be successful so that all of the artists in it are successful and they can support each other, maybe we can raise money and get you know. So if it's for other people and it's short form, I I've learned that I can maybe make that happen.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So what happens when you uh when you fill the binder?

SPEAKER_02 28:02

I don't know, man. I'm sure the binder the binder will tell me I'm just a channel for the binder, man.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Well, even though, like I said, this is something that's like infinite re infinitely repeatable, and uh you could you could carry on doing something like this for you know an indefinite amount of time. Um eventually, I think we we may have to have the Gina entry to the Redex as well, you know.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

It's at the end, maybe the last one. Yeah, you're not the only person who has said that. It makes me like uncomfortable a little bit in the way that like hearing your own voice makes you uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

Um, but uh I'm also a people pleaser, so like I'll do whatever people want. Yeah. So um, but yeah, that would be that would be cool at the end of all this. And then, you know, I mean, if I fill this binder, that's a lot of people. And I would hope that maybe by the end of that I do have like a nonprofit that is uh able to offer grants to people, and then we're able to like do the podcast, do a podcast where we interview people, talking to people.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Yeah, definitely. Because that was another kind of question I had about it was like, do you see it uh, you know, you doing like follow-ups with some of these artists and things like that, and like finding other ways to highlight them as well, like under this ArteDex umbrella.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Yeah, I feel like I have to actually because uh it's so short that so many people are messaging me or like talking to me in conversation in real life, like, oh, why did you why why'd you pick this person? Or like what does that person mean to you? Or and um what I will say is there's a shared theme amongst all these people that is almost like a mirror of myself, where like I said, these everyone is so multifaceted and complex, and like you all have so many different sides to yourself that it like makes me feel at home in a way because I have so many, I have two very different sides to myself.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

So where's the furthest that you've gone for this so far?

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Probably is it no New York. New York. That's the furthest, yeah. But I'm going to LA soon.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

And I have like three or so, I hope. Yeah, I mean if they pan out, they're on the ball.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yeah, get as many as you can, Doug, while you're out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

It's yeah, that's another that's another thing, is like it can be challenging to have people commit. Everyone's schedule is so busy, but like thankfully, again, like I said, I have a lot of friends that are are willing to participate. And like, I'm like, hey, I will spend three to four grand to fly to LA and like get like an Airbnb and stay there for a couple days so we can film this. But like, I do need you to like actually really put it in pen, not just pencil.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

Yeah, but yeah, well, there's that part of it where like you can meet people where they're at for this. Absolutely instead of having to say, well, you need to come to this place at this time and you know, all that. At least there's that that flexibility where it's like, no, I'm coming to you for sure. Where wherever you wherever you're at, you know, whether you're like asleep in bed or whether you're at work, like exactly I'll be there, you'll be able to do it. I'll show up wherever you want. I'll show up with my camera and like we'll we'll get it going.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Exactly. Yeah. And I think also for musicians, too. Um, if they tour near me, that I've I've been having like a lot of discussions with artists that are like touring in Charlotte, Atlanta, Asheville. And um, and so it'll kind of we'll we've been having conversations like, okay, well, when you when you come through for that stop, we'll we'll do it. Um, so I have I have some some planned to do that way, which is pretty exciting because I think I'll be able to do like some like backstage fun stuff for them, like capture that for them. So that's that's gonna be pretty cool too.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yeah, yeah. I wonder if also as you do this more, if like the uh the production quality of it and like other things like that will start to change. Do you do you see yourself like changing the format at all, or do you think you're gonna keep it relatively the same going forward?

SPEAKER_02 31:46

I mean, I think it's it's evolved already a little bit just with seven, just because like I'm still I'm learning how to edit. Yeah, I do have the best teacher in the world through Kyle, who is a professional director and editor. So it's like it's like having an expert next to you where I'm like, oh, how do I how do I extend this frame to black if I want like a blooper after he can just like come over and he like shows me once and then I like I know how to do it.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Um so are you editing this on your phone or on on the computer?

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Um my laptop, like my Mac.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Okay, on your on your laptop. I didn't know if you were using like Cap Cut on your phone or something.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

I'm using Cap Cut, but I'm using the desktop Cap Cut.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Okay, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

I feel like I'm too blind to like do it on my phone. Like it's too small. Like I need like a big display to like get it done efficiently.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

I'm able to edit them in like five hours or so.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

That's really that's really quick.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

I feel like it's I feel like it's quick.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Yeah, no, that's pretty good. I think I think a lot of people who are like in new to editing, it would take them far more time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Um probably maybe.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

I like I feel like, well, you know what it is? I have a formula now.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

And also like uh we were talking about before, which I don't I don't know if we were on camera yet, but we were talking about like filming for the thing or shooting for the the end product. It's like I think now I have a better idea of the rhythm and the kinds of content that I need to capture. Yeah, exactly. So it's all very like intentional, and then I already have this like blueprint now at this point where it's just a formula that I'm replicating, so it's a little easier.

unknown 33:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Well, cool, dude. It's been uh it's been really cool talking to you about this, and uh it's also been cool being a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Um yeah, and I'm excited to see uh what happens next. Do you have any um I guess like hints about uh who we have upcoming? Don't don't necessarily like give anything away, but you could maybe just like drop a hint or two.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

Oh gosh, that's like really hard. Because I feel like everyone's so specific. Yeah. Um there's a person that if you were on MySpace when you were younger, like heavily into the MySpace Tumblr scene era, you may recognize.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

That's a hint that's a hint. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Well, it's super cool, dude. And uh yeah, Artedex. Go watch all seven.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Coming to a city near you probably probably.