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Good Life Project

Adam J. Kurtz | Art, Life & Backhanded Optimism

Good Life Project

Jonathan Fields / Acast

Education, Wellness, Self-improvement, Midlife, Health & Fitness, Intentional Living, Personal Growth, Living Well, How To

4.53.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Adam J. Kurtz (whose artist’s identity is Adam JK, is a designer, artist, and speaker whose work is rooted in emotional honesty, humor and even a little bit of darkness, but always with the intention of connection, honoring the reality of any given moment, and being honest. He’s been making and sharing on the internet since age creating his first fan website at twelve years old, eventually went to school for graphic design and learned to express, in his words “slightly too much." Adam’s work embraces the world with a certain "backhanded optimism" and a dark sense of humor or what he describes as "positivity adjacent." And he speaks frankly about channeling human emotion into art, and generally just trying to be more okay with whatever we've got and wherever we are in life. 

This comes out, often, in the form of hand-lettered aphorisms and illustrations that you’ll find all over the internet and social platforms, as well as in books, merch, prints, stationary and brand-focused gifts under his ADAMJK® brand. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages and his offbeat, fun and irreverent creative work has been featured everywhere from NYLON and Adweek to Vice, The New Yorker, and more. In his newest book, You Are Here (For Now): A Guide to Finding Your Way, Adam steps more fully into his writer side, sharing longer-form stories, insights, and ideas. We dive into all of this, how his lens and work have been shaped by an othrodox religious upbringing, what led him down the path of zagging when everyone else was zigging, how his move from New York to Hawaii has changed him and so much more.

You can find Adam at: Website | Instagram

If you LOVED this episode:

You’ll also love the conversations we had with Morgan Harper Nichols about art and life.

My new book Sparked

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Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I went from someone who was always thinking,

0:02.5

okay, soon, soon, everything's going to be okay soon.

0:05.7

I'm going to change soon.

0:07.2

If I just say yes to this, then I'll get to that.

0:10.7

And then I said, let's just get to that now.

0:13.2

Let me take the stairs two at a time

0:15.7

because I might only get three more minutes.

0:20.5

Hey, so my guest today, Adam J. Kurs,

0:22.8

whose artist identity is Adam J.K.

0:25.1

He's a designer, artist, and speaker whose work is

0:28.3

really rooted in emotional honesty and humor,

0:31.2

and even a little bit of darkness, but always with the intention

0:34.6

of connection and really honoring the reality of any given moment

0:39.3

and being honest about it.

0:40.7

He has been making and sharing on the internet since creating

0:43.9

his first fan website at 12 years old.

0:46.6

Eventually, he went to school for graphic design

0:48.8

and learned to express in his words slightly too much.

0:53.1

Adam is work embraces the world in a certain backhanded,

0:57.2

optimistic way with a dark sense of humor

0:59.6

or what he describes as positivity adjacent.

1:02.7

And he speaks frankly about channeling human emotions

...

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