We recently connected with Jamal Thorne and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jamal with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I mainly get my work ethic from my parents, but my family has always emphasized the importance of hard work in anything. My mother always worked two jobs and my father is still working at 80 years old. He never really had a whole lot to say, but one time he said “you can have anything in the world as long as you work for it.” Naturally my interpretation at the time came in the form of finding a job so I could buy clothes that I liked with my own money. However, now it’s something that I always hear in my head when I’m involved in a project, experimenting with different ideas in the studio, and in teaching.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Right now I’m really interested in how and where creativity shows up in education. With the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence in so many different areas, it will inevitably become a ubiquitous tool. To ensure AI stays in the category of “tool” rather than “replacement,” I believe one’s ability to channel their experiential vocabulary into fresh ideas will be more important than ever. In my profession, I see students that aren’t confident enough in their creative impulses (that we’re all born with), and they would rather rely upon convention. The growing issue is that AI will develop mastery of convention, which will render this practice ineffective. I am interested in developing engaging teaching methods that empower young people with the confidence to leverage unique aspects of their identity as they explore unconventional ideas and use AI as another tool for materializing those ideas.
At the same time, I am interested in the possible intersections between extended reality technologies and traditional studio art practices. While I am trained as a draftsperson, painter, and photography, I have been increasingly curious about the use of virtual reality as a tool for artistic expression. The most exciting quality of virtual reality is its ability to reposition the user and an entity that is entirely different from the physical body. Essential, VR presents the affordance of enabling someone to exist in my skin for a day or during a scripted interaction. My experiments and work in this medium will hopefully see willing immersants entering an interaction with police officers during a traffic stop while playing the role of an African American male. During this scripted VR interaction, users/immersants will have to be conscious of verbal responses, body gestures, and involuntary physiological responses in their effort to safely exit the encounter.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say patience and creative resilience are the two qualities that have been the most impactful. When I speak of creative resilience, I am speaking of one’s ability to attempt something, fail, and learn from the experience. I have learned far more from failed creative projects than I have learned from “successful” ones. When I am experimenting, I look at my work through the lens of frivolity, which means I’m more comfortable if something doesn’t unfold the way I imagined. Patience comes into play because it takes time for an idea to fully materialize. Part of the creative’s journey is to hold on tight, work, and wait for preparation to meet opportunity.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Time management. I have far too many interests and obligations to not manage my time properly. This is something that I have to work on every single day. I use a calendar, but I often manage to overbook myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jamaldraws.com
- Instagram: ajani_peace
Image Credits
Edward Boches Instagram – @edwardboches
