Jonathan Perez
Photo by Alba Castro
(323)719-4410
nadidah23@yahoo.com
My name is Jonathan Perez and I'm a creative spirit from the city of L.A. (June 5th 1988.) The name "Nadidah" is originally Arabic and means, "Equal to anyone else."
As we head into the witching season and a new political decision within the United States, I wanted to highlight a collection of work that explored darker & challenging yet hopeful themes.
"Alebrije" is a short story based on the the idea of a spirit animal guiding people after death. I remember being scared of Dia De Los Muertos calaveras and Alebrije sculptures as a kid but was reintroduced to them via the film "Coco" by Pixar. Its a beautiful film that touched me in a lot of ways that I felt reimagined elements of the Day of the Dead while staying in touch with its roots. I was inspired to write a piece that celebrated such a dedicated being with respect as well as show that no matter who we are, we all eventually pass away. In Life as in Death, we are all the same, and despite our differences we are all sharing this experience together, just through different lenses.
"Sueños Zapatistas" is a short film I made a few years ago with my girlfriend as a submission piece for an art show called "Into Action". It was an obvious response to my feelings about our current president but more towards his position and the way he acted in it as opposed to him as a fellow human being. Filming it, and specifically editing it, was a real challenge as I saw myself speaking in a way that I felt was very extreme. The tone and the anger. I was simply acting as a character I wrote and envisioned based on a revolutionary icon filled with a sense of burning justice, yet the darkness that it espoused was more than I expected to see myself portray. Especially when I myself don't agree or condone violence. It was not my intent to incite a violent sentiment either, but to elicit an emotional reaction and mirror the anger that may hide within each of us, even those who may yearn for peace.
I completely agree and stand by with peaceful protesting, but do not agree with any violent behavior. That is simply me.
I understand that some people may feel that is the best way to respond because other means of communication may seem ineffective, and it may be true, but the idealist and optimist in me believes we can work past that. I am aware that may take time and not everyone may agree, but that's what I respectfully believe.
Finally, Pau Marti Riembau is a my friend and former bandmate from The Absynths. The song he plays is incredibly moving and always expressed a sense of hope in me even if it seems to be filled with a sense of longing and melancholy. Perhaps its is a desire to find a sense of peace in a sea of inner turmoil. Either way, I deeply admire him as a musician and appreciate his willingness open up and write about the struggles he has with his own mental health and creativity, Something I know other people are struggling especially now.
In the end, I hope we can see that we can all be filled with a sense of doubt and anger, hate and frustration, but not be so quick to judge one another so quickly as we are more then our base emotions. We are human beings. That is not to say that I think its okay for people to act in harmful and misleading ways, but that there is probably a reason for it, and if we can look a little deeper, maybe we can find a way to root out these problems and discover different ways to resolve them while providing better solutions for the future.
May we find a better sense of understanding and work towards a brighter future.
-
Peace + Love
Photo by Alba Castro
(323)719-4410
nadidah23@yahoo.com
My name is Jonathan Perez and I'm a creative spirit from the city of L.A. (June 5th 1988.) The name "Nadidah" is originally Arabic and means, "Equal to anyone else."
As we head into the witching season and a new political decision within the United States, I wanted to highlight a collection of work that explored darker & challenging yet hopeful themes.
"Alebrije" is a short story based on the the idea of a spirit animal guiding people after death. I remember being scared of Dia De Los Muertos calaveras and Alebrije sculptures as a kid but was reintroduced to them via the film "Coco" by Pixar. Its a beautiful film that touched me in a lot of ways that I felt reimagined elements of the Day of the Dead while staying in touch with its roots. I was inspired to write a piece that celebrated such a dedicated being with respect as well as show that no matter who we are, we all eventually pass away. In Life as in Death, we are all the same, and despite our differences we are all sharing this experience together, just through different lenses.
"Sueños Zapatistas" is a short film I made a few years ago with my girlfriend as a submission piece for an art show called "Into Action". It was an obvious response to my feelings about our current president but more towards his position and the way he acted in it as opposed to him as a fellow human being. Filming it, and specifically editing it, was a real challenge as I saw myself speaking in a way that I felt was very extreme. The tone and the anger. I was simply acting as a character I wrote and envisioned based on a revolutionary icon filled with a sense of burning justice, yet the darkness that it espoused was more than I expected to see myself portray. Especially when I myself don't agree or condone violence. It was not my intent to incite a violent sentiment either, but to elicit an emotional reaction and mirror the anger that may hide within each of us, even those who may yearn for peace.
I completely agree and stand by with peaceful protesting, but do not agree with any violent behavior. That is simply me.
I understand that some people may feel that is the best way to respond because other means of communication may seem ineffective, and it may be true, but the idealist and optimist in me believes we can work past that. I am aware that may take time and not everyone may agree, but that's what I respectfully believe.
Finally, Pau Marti Riembau is a my friend and former bandmate from The Absynths. The song he plays is incredibly moving and always expressed a sense of hope in me even if it seems to be filled with a sense of longing and melancholy. Perhaps its is a desire to find a sense of peace in a sea of inner turmoil. Either way, I deeply admire him as a musician and appreciate his willingness open up and write about the struggles he has with his own mental health and creativity, Something I know other people are struggling especially now.
In the end, I hope we can see that we can all be filled with a sense of doubt and anger, hate and frustration, but not be so quick to judge one another so quickly as we are more then our base emotions. We are human beings. That is not to say that I think its okay for people to act in harmful and misleading ways, but that there is probably a reason for it, and if we can look a little deeper, maybe we can find a way to root out these problems and discover different ways to resolve them while providing better solutions for the future.
May we find a better sense of understanding and work towards a brighter future.
-
Peace + Love