What is the Dada Nouveau Society?
The Dada Nouveau Society is just a fancy name dreamed up by an artist named Jess for the community of eclectic friends she always hoped to gather in her living room someday. It is an urgent reaction to the massive global change sweeping across humanity and technology at this time in history. We believe this is a pivotal moment in the evolution of humanity and the state of our mental health. We seek to respond with embodied human creativity and close relationships, as opposed to remote engagement, social media, and artificial intelligence.
WHO IS JESS?
Jess is an American immigrant who got a bachelor’s degree in Art and Art History from McDaniel College, Budapest, after spending her tender years dabbling in all kinds of art, music, theater, writing, religion, and psychology. After moving back to the US, Jess got bitten by a tick (kullancs), which gave her several systemic diseases and high possibility of death or permanent disability. For 10 years, she battled a hopeless medical system, C-PTSD, constant uprooting in the housing crisis/rental market, and faced the losses of career, identity, purpose, and community. A lot of hard work and a few miracles put Jess in remission and offered a second chance at life... but feeling very alien in society, very alone, and very far behind.
But while that degree in Art History didn’t get Jess into any museums or payrolls, it did offer a life-saving insight: she is not alone. Society’s misfits have long been wallowing in their “otherness,” pining for – and bringing to life – vibrant creative communities in which to endure the unexpected and sometimes horrific events of nature and politics. Most true artists and visionaries remained unknown and un-exhibited in their lifetimes. Rather than being failures, however, they are inspirations, having left a buried treasure for us to discover and emulate long after they’re gone: the gift of the dirty, messy, mundane – and a little mad – “here and now" of life.
Jess's personal project of creative expression and professional development is Joyclam Studio.
WHY SO WORDY?
First, Jess likes to write and read, and since life circumstances robbed her of a PhD, she likes to wax philosophical for fun. Since she fully intends to share the floor with The Dada Nouveau Society, she's using this personal space to get it out of her system, so others will have a chance to speak and be heard in-person.
Second, there's a lot of neurodiversity in the world, and especially when creating a community for "different thinkers" and "others," there is a high likelihood of attracting shy, introverted, anxious, traumatized, and/or neurodivergent people, who don't feel safe exploring new social settings unless they know exactly what they're getting into, who is going to be there, and what will be expected of them. Jess's health journey has taught her to be sensitive and accommodating to people who need a little (or a lot) more information and private time to process before engaging, and being one of those people herself, she strives to BE THE CHANGE she wants to see in the world.
Third, Jess has personal experience with miscommunication and misunderstanding breeding contempt, abuse, trauma, manipulation, and gaslighting in social organizations. To form an intentional community means to be vulnerable to disagreements, criticism, hurt feelings, abuse, and accusations. Jess is an over-explainer to protect herself from repeating the type of emotional trauma that stole decades of her life, and to protect others from any type of social pressure or coercion without fully-informed consent.
We strive to make this community, and the world, a SAFE PLACE for everyone, and we start with ourselves.