Tulsa

Silent No More: Artists Give Voice To A Stoic Way Of Life

by Ryan Anderson | Dec 15, 2023 11:30 am

Post a Comment | E-mail the Author

“STOIC: A Frequency Event“
Living Arts of Tulsa
Tulsa
Dec. 9, 2023

“Stoic” is a word we’ve all heard numerous times, but can you really understand its true meaning unless you get inside of it? Sometimes learning what a word means doesn’t require a dictionary; sometimes you live the word before you know its definition.

This deeper understanding was the focus of ​“STOIC: A Frequency Event,” brought to life by filmmaker and creative director Pade in collaboration with his company CLTRE as well as Tulsa Creative Engine and Tulsa Remote. 

Part screening, part panel, part community gathering, the event started with the opening scenes from a documentary created by Pade that highlighted local creatives.

The film — shot in black and white in a roundtable format, and projected onto a tall white block — served as an introduction to the event’s speakers: photographer Christopher Creese, emcee Mr. Wortham, filmmaker Hank Byrd, and poet Kode Ransom.

Over the course of the evening, each of them shared about their creative experience and their ​“why,” including the reason behind the ​“relics” they brought — personal items that told a story about the inspiration for their art. Pade, the night’s host, didn’t bring his own relic, but I think he would say family and community were the true touchstones and inspirations of his work. ​“Stoic” typically describes ​“a person who can endure pain and hardship without complaining,” but he expanded on that definition: ​“stoicism,” he said, ​“is giving a voice to the outcasts or the ones expected to stay silent.”

True to the spirit of Stoicism, the presenters shared a common theme of tragedy and or adversity. But they also shared the affirmation that it’s their creativity — finding their voice — that has helped them continue. With Pade’s film introducing him as the night’s first speaker, Creese, whose work has been published in the New York Times, was now in front of the camera: an artist known for capturing others’ greatest moments was now getting his. He described getting his first camera (the relic he brought) and how it sparked his becoming a creator. He spoke about the highs of his photography being featured in national outlets and the lows of losing his parents, whom he seeks to honor through his work. 

Mr. Wortham shared his origin story of going to college in Tahlequah, OK, and finding his love for music during a night in his dorm room. But it wasn’t until he received a recorder that he had the freedom to record whenever he wanted — something that was previously a luxury. With that recorder, he could make his own rules. And screenwriter and director Byrd shared how his early years as a loner and self-described ​“blerd” helped him find his creative home: movies. Scary, sci-fi, thriller, you name it. Matter of fact, he’s never lost at movie trivia or Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. His relic was an old VHS camcorder — we’re talking about the big over-the-shoulder one, and to add to that, it was used. Before ending up in his possession, his relic had been a tool used to capture so many stories. To him, the camera meant there were countless opportunities to tell our story. 

Ransom (one of the best poets in the world, in my opinion) wrapped up the night with a relic — a Sega controller — that puzzled me at first. He explained that, in his youth, it became a way for him to connect with kids his age; he had grown up in Africa, and the transition to the U.S. took time. Today, as a coach of a youth basketball team and a community activist, he said he finds video games a powerful way to connect with the youth. Ransom continued with a metaphor about play: how a person plays tells a lot about them, he explained. He left us with the challenge to stay playful. It’s through this lens that people are allowed to dream; it’s a mindset where innovation can be fostered.

To be ​“stoic” can mean different things depending on how you’ve experienced it. The format of this event — the documentary and the personal objects alongside the TED Talk-like speeches — gave the audience full-spectrum insight into what Stoicism meant for each presenter. For Pade, sharing these kinds of events (as well as a forthcoming podcast) under the Stoic name means continuing to represent his family and his community: the people who’ve helped him stay in line and who’ve been his inspiration to keep offering a voice for those expected to stay silent. (The next Stoic event, on February 24, will feature an all-female lineup of speakers.) After this night, I understand something new about the word ​“stoic”: you have to have lived it to be it.

Next at Living Arts of Tulsa: Book Club Meeting: Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over, December 15