Role Models and Formation

This episode focuses on role models, not as figures to emulate, but as background forces that shape artistic orientation long before career or identity solidifies.

Gandy: https://www.gandy.cc/art

Dared: https://dared.art/

The conversation moves between the American South and Berlin, touching on hip hop, graffiti, libraries, early internet access, and the uneven distribution of cultural resources. Rather than celebrating influence, the episode examines how artists are formed by environments, constraints, and accidents of access.

Topics include:

• Subculture as informal education

• Libraries and archives as overlooked infrastructure

• Regional difference and cultural density

• Learning without mentors

• Influence without imitation

The discussion avoids nostalgia and avoids hero narratives. It treats influence as something structural rather than inspirational - something that conditions practice whether acknowledged or not.

📍 Recorded in Berlin

🎙️ Long-form, low-intervention conversation