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(machine clattering)

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- [Azikiwe] Hi,

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thanks for stopping by my
name's Azikiwe Mohammed.

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And we're here at my studio in Jersey city

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at Mana Contemporary.

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(upbeat jaunty music)

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I'm trying to think
what I have to take out.

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that would be fun.

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Let's see.

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(bags rustling)

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Oh, police piggy bank right.

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Check it out.

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(coins clatter)

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Tight.

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This is a fun one.

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"May your house be warm,

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your friends be many,

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and your sausages long."

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Then look, I just happened
to have one sitting here.

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This is one of mine.

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Those are the names of four
different black beaches

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across the US.

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So it's research.

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All this stuff is useful for in here

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while I'm making things.

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(sewing machine whirrs)

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My job isn't the capital "A" art person.

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The word artist feels a little funky,

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kind of like something

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emanates from you

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from your, you know, cult of genius,

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behold, right?

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That's the whole, get outta here.

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Doesn't make any sense.

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(machine whirrs)

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I'm not very good at precious things.

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So I don't use that word "artist,"

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I suppose I would self describe

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as a guy who makes stuff.

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Builder, I say a lot.

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I build a pretty wide variety of objects.

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Gold jewelry, paintings,

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neon sculpture, furniture

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photography, puppets,

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clothing, tapestries, embroidery work.

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Trying to use what I know
best as a touchstone.

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There are some things

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that are clearly very specific to

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black people and black homes.

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In general, wood is a
less expensive material.

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So you'll find it in a lot of
lower moneyed people's homes.

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Warm colors to come home to,

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are the opposite of being
yelled at by a manager

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Tones that live in spaces

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that I know have said yes to me.

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(machine engine rumbles)

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When I'm making spaces,
it needs to be inviting.

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- Hi. Hello.

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If you're interested

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we're having painting
classes here, outside today.

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So just hop over to the tent,
you have to say hi, and we'll

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we'll give you some stuff.

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Thank you very much.

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- [Woman's Voice] Can you paint anything?

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- Yeah, you can paint anything.

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This is meant to be a
starting place for you.

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- [Woman's Voice] Okay.

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- But if this starting place

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ends you up somewhere
else, that's also fine.

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The only rule is that you
get to say yes to you.

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- The thing that I hope
to make most frequently

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is something that covers
some form of a need

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for someone.

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I'm not sure what kind
of sandwich this one is.

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I think meatloaf sandwich, right?

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Ever had one of those?

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It's not a great bottle of wine, right?

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But it works.

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One of the things that's a bonus

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of the art space is you can turn one thing

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into another thing pretty easily.

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So I make fake food and then I can sell it

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and then turn that into real
food that I can give to people.

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(trolley rattles)

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(coins clatter)

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(bag ruffles)

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- [Man's Voice] Thank you, thank you

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- [Azikiwe] You're welcome.

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One way to say yes to a need
that we all have is food stuff.

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You know, you gotta, you gotta eat.

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- You're welcome.

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- Every other week

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we distribute approximately
140 bags of food

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Each bag a solid three to five meals

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- Best salad ever.

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- You're welcome.

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- Make things less shitty for whoever.

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That feels like the only thing

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that humans are supposed to do.

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Home for me is in
Tribeca, lower Manhattan.

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I've lived there my whole life.

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A lot of people talk
about lofts and artists.

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I didn't know any of those people.

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No, my dad is a working photographer

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in addition to school photographer.

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The relationship that I had to the arts

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was workers.

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It's a job like any other,

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people that live here, that work here

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those people are normally
left out of the story

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of what New York is, right?

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Like who are the people

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as part of the 42nd
street cleanup authority.

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So trying to figure out how you can add

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some of those humans

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back into this space.

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So the idea was a souvenir shop.

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Generally in black and brown neighborhoods

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is always jewelry, liquor,
pizza, thrift store.

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You can sort of start piecing together,

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both who's buying what
in the neighborhood,

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what people are interested in.

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So it's all of the things

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that are normally in those spaces.

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Just slightly different

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speaking to a New York
that I know very well.

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- [Announcer] ♪ Big Apple
Gifts And Souvenirs ♪

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- [Azikiwe] Welcome to Big
Apple Gifts And Souvenirs

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protecting you from the rain.

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Stay warm and stay cool at the same time

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Big Apple Gifts And Souvenirs.

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It's a souvenir shop.

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Yeah. Here, come on in.

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Yeah, so trying to have objects

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that include a lot of the
other people that live here

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work here, that are from here.

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If tourists are going to
be coming to that space

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to find objects and say this
is what New York looks like,

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I think it's a missed opportunity

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to not have some people that
look like us in that suitcase.

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When you can hand somebody
back an object that is them

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that has their stories inside of it

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and that they can hand to somebody else,

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there's not a lot of information
that needs to be exchanged

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cause the object is
doing the heavy lifting.

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- It's a starting place.

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Not a, not a, not a destination.

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- [Man's Voice] Yeah. Wow.

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(paper rustles)

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- [Azikiwe] The role of an artist

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is still in service of whomever.

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This should be something
that you're able to take

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or something that we can share together.

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And myself as a maker of objects,

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this seems to be useful to
humans, to whatever degree.

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So as long as it's useful
then I'll keep doing this job.