Dekade-Z, The Interview "Courage is Contagious" - Artists Leaking Visions Series

Wikileaks-Movie.com is pleased to introduce you to Zoe Tame (aka Dekade-Z), a courageous artist, graphic designer and contributor to the wildly popular Juice Media – RapNews starring Robert Foster.  Dekade-Z has pioneered the Courage Is Contagious website which was “…the first website to gather and promote WikiLeaks art.” This online platform has served to catalyze the creation and global sharing of WikiLeaks art by numerous people including @exiledsurfer, Dusky Ripley and Dekade-Z herself.

And by developing this platform for sharing Dekade-Z has made a historical contribution to helping shape the WikiLeaks brand and spark crowd-sourced awareness of key issues raised by WikiLeaks in the hearts and minds of people throughout the globe.

“There is an undeniable link between aesthetics and politics. Through art we can challenge many of society’s deepest assumptions. Art becomes a political act, a conscious effort to facilitate and participate in social change.” — Dekade-Z

“Every time I see that someone has submitted something to the site, I am silently rejoicing in the fact that people are taking the time to create something reflective of the times.” – Dekade-Z

At Wikileaks-Movie.com we have developed a habit of developing ideas “on the fly” for posts and articles such as the recent Greg Mitchell – WikiLeaks Tribute. In this instance we sent Dekade-Z a “request for Re-Mix” and she turned around a stellar work of art within hours. We were so honored and appreciative. Examples like this illustrate Dekade Z’s collaborative approach, speed and talent on the one hand. But on the other hand we understand she has her own hard-to-kick habit of saying “Fuck yeah!” all the time on the RapNews set just when people need additional ridiculousness injected into their day.

"Julian Assange" (by Dekade-Z)

“CourageIsContagious.net was the first website to gather and promote WikiLeaks art; it has spread the WikiLeaks meme of Courage Is Contagious far and wide to a young audience who have picked up the banner and started becoming more active in the issues raised by WikiLeaks actions.”

“Dekade-Z is fast and funny; our communication with each other is one of childish joy in a shared commitment.”

“She is worlds away from me in how she approaches “branding” Wikileaks for the JuiceRapNews videos; it is informed by a solid sense for what works on the video screen, as well as hints of “corporate branding” so prevalent in politics. Her remixes are rollicking fun pisstakes. She is still very young and i am sure she will deliver us loads of lulz in the future as she broadens her interests.”

– Comments shared by Michael Parenti (@exiledsurfer)

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We thank Dekade-Z for agreeing to this exclusive interview with Wikileaks-Movie.com. It is our hope that you find this interview both informative and inspiring. As always, we strive to bring you first-hand perspective that sheds light on modern affairs, Wikileaks and the many creative endeavors emerging to influence understanding and debate. We hope you enjoy! Click on any image to View the Full Screen Art Gallery!

Dekade-Z | The Wikileaks-Movie.com Interview

1. What inspired you to take on WikiLeaks as creative subject matter?

It really all began in my friend’s backyard several years ago. One evening we were drinking G&T’s on the patio, discussing the state of affairs in our online gaming clan. Nerds – I know. We got onto politics in general and how corrupt we thought mass media to be. He revealed to me his idea to create a NEW news frequency – one in which the truth would be told without bias accompanied by some phat beats. At the time, of course, I thought he was insane.

In late 2009, I was working in an ambiguous call centre and was feeling as if my creative compass had run into some anti-graphic granite. I was on the tram home and overheard some perplexing news. NASA was going to bomb the moon!

It was a few days later when that friend, Giordano Nanni told me that he had found a talented rapper and he was going to make a the first Rap News episode. Knowing my kind-of-sick love for Photoshop, he humbly asked me if I would create images and graphics to go along with the video. And the rest, as they say, is history!

RAP NEWS #1 “NASA Bombs The Moon” | Robert Foster & Juice Media

Through Rap News I have had the opportunity to create Pro-Wiki artwork, which has been both thrilling and challenging!

RapNews Juice Media Episode 1, "Moonwater" (by Dekade-Z)

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2. What is the role of the arts as an influencing force for political and social change?

There is an undeniable link between aesthetics and politics. Through art we can challenge many of society’s deepest assumptions. Art becomes a political act, a conscious effort to facilitate and participate in social change.

In our artistic practice, we try to be objective in our observations of subject. Often, the intent of our process is to produce a metaphorical representation of our perceptions of the subject, with the objective of shifting the perceptions of our audience. We can use art to document events, act as political criticism, or propose our own ideas and ideals. There is great power in image making and terrific potential for efficacy in visual communication.

3. When did you first get inspired to create the Courage Is Contagious site and how has it evolved over time?

Well Giordano’s project Rap News got hot on the internet pretty quickly. They have produced 8 episodes since the first in 2009 and I have done the graphics and images in all of them! Following Episode 5: News World Order, where the REAL Julian Assange appeared and performed, we started getting heaps of requests for the images and backgrounds you see in the videos.

I decided to put together Courage Is Contagious.net – somewhere where fans could download Rap News art work. I started receiving emails from artists and wiki-supporters asking if they would be able to use and submit art to and from the site. Since then we have been taking submissions as they come in!

Within a few weeks, I got a submission from the amazing Exiled Surfer and knew the site was bound to get some internet love. Every time I see that someone has submitted something to the site, I am silently rejoicing in the fact that people are taking the time to create something reflective of the times.

"Marathon Man" (Remix by by Dekade-Z, Courage is Contagious)

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4. What is your background as a designer, artist and innovator? How did you arrive at this amazing point?

As a child I would draw and make things from scraps around the house. As a teenager I wanted to be good at art – the more I practiced the better I became, but I never really mastered fine art. I felt clumsy with pencils, blind with sculpture, useless at colouring. Paints are what really threw me off. There is something uncontrollable about paints. The only work of mine that I liked was block prints and lines. I guess I never really considered myself an artist’s until I became good at it. And that wasn’t until I found a digital outlet!

"Print" by Zoe Tame (Dekade-Z)

My first encounter with creating digital art was in 1998. It was half way through semester, and I was hating my chemistry class. So much so that I pleaded with my course supervisor to let me change classes to graphic design. Graphic Design class wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

“To be completely honest, the teacher, who was also the bible studies teacher, didn’t seem to know jack about design or computers.”

His knowledge of web design extended to hyper linking in word, and MS PAINT was the most challenging design app in his palette. Needless to say I was disappointed.

The next semester I took up an Art class. Our curriculum for the year allowed us to experiment with 3 mediums. Print, Sculpture and digital. This is when I met my true love, Adobe Photoshop. At the time it was only 5.0, but together we have evolved to CS5 – although my favourite version to date is CS4.

I have been creating digital pieces ever since, both as a freelance designer and a digital artist! Over time my skill level has grown and I’ve adapted the lifestyle of a true designer: addicted to coffee, late nights and plugins. I consider myself lucky to know and be known by such creative people, and have the chance to contribute to change even in the smallest form. History is happening, and what happens is up to us!
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"Courage Is Contagious, Get Infected" (Remix by @exiledsurfer)

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5. Anything else you would like to highlight about your work and inspiration in general or more specifically in relation to Wikileaks?

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Demand the truth!  Support WikiLeaks. Visit Courage Is Contagious.net.

… – Dekade-Z

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Dekade-Z Art Gallery  |  Click on an Image to View Full Screen

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Previous “Leaking Visions” Interviews by Wikileaks-Movie.com

Wikileaks Movie and Film Art…Artists “Leaking” Visions with Paint and Pixels

Artists “Leaking” Visions Series — Interview with “Wikileaks Inspired” Artist Michael Parenti, aka @exiledsurfer

Artists “Leaking” Visions Series — Interview with “Collateral Sounds” Musician Collin Ruffino — Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Artist to Watch”

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Icelandic Parliament Member, Artist, Activist, Poet, Former Wikileaks Spokesperson & Co-Producer of “Collateral Murder”

EXCLUSIVE “ANONYMISS” INTERVIEW – Meltem Arikan, Turkish Author, Playwright and Activist – Winner of the Turkish “Freedom of Idea and Statement Prize”

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A Big “Thank You” to Dekade-Z from Wikileaks-Movie.com!

Thanks to Dekade-Z for taking part in this interview. And just as importantly thank you for your interest in this Wikileaks-Movie.com “Artists ‘Leaking’ Visions” interview with the founder of Courage Is Contagious, a key contributor to The Juice Media | RapNews with Robert Foster and a supporter of WikiLeaks. This builds on our expanding library of “Edutaining” articles and interviews related to all things Wikileaks including recent pieces on and by @exiledsurfer, James Spione’s “Incident in New Baghdad,”Greg Mitchell, The Ireland Cables, the PBS LulzSec Hack and Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo). It continues our tradition of highlighting relevant Wikileaks and Julian Assange news and events as well as the many movies, films, DVD, televised specials and documentary film projects about this important story. Additionally, make sure to check in with Wikileaks-Movie.com with our massive “Go To” resource archive for online videos, film clips, trailers on Wikileaks as well as Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Birgitta Jonsdottir, Lulz Sec & Anonymous.