By coinnews 
0:05 spk_0
Welcome to living not so fabulously. Now, back in our Denver basement days when we were manifesting a debt-free life, you know, back when phones were still dumb and MySpace was social media, long time. We had no idea how financial security could be a survival tool. And
0:19 spk_1
today’s guest Vitaari is living proof, turning performance art, digital rebellion, and a splash of fad into resistance and rent.
0:27 spk_0
Viaar is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, performer, and digital provocateur, whose work transforms virality into vulnerability. Known for their surreal TikTok series, the craziest thing about being creative, Vita blends performance art with internet culture to explore themes of identity.Accessibility and queerness. From marrying their digital self to founding the queer community art space Vitawood, they’re redefining what it means to create and connect in the age of algorithms.
0:53 spk_1
Let’s get into how making art can pay the bills and shake the system. Welcome, Vita.
0:58 spk_0
We’re so excited to talk with you. So you’re an artist with a particular vision, but you also have to pay the bills. Can you give us a little insight into how you balance authenticity in your work while also, you know, paying rent and buying groceries?
1:14 spk_2
Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me. Transparency in money is so important, and I think that one of the biggest things, and I think misconceptions about just the art world and that entire thing is that there are a million ways to find revenue streams and diversify them within the creative space, uh, from galleries to, of course, soSocial media brand partnerships and all of those things. There’s definitely spaces to do that. And I think, of course, uh, you know, authenticity is a word that is thrown around all the time, and it’s definitely something I lean into and sharing about like hearing loss, authenticity, my life as a queer person. And I think the more I share, the more I’m received, as well as making an exaggerated version of myself, you know, make it campy. And that’s something thatI think gains a lot of affection as well.
2:02 spk_0
Oh, I love that. So you’ve been quoted as saying that your craziest thing about being creative series is a form of fine art. How did that particular series impact your financial journey as an artist?
2:12 spk_2
Yeah, absolutely changed the game. There’s nothing like going viral to, you know, change your financial game. The second you start going viral, it absolutely changes your financial situation. Brands start reaching out, um.You start to gain a revenue on, uh, not only do the platforms themselves start to pay you, although, like, it’s different depending on the platform, but, uh, brands then want you to kind of, if you use their items, you know, authentically, they want you to like kind of integrate them, or just do a an ad.And doing that is one of the biggest ways that I personally like make a revenue as well as selling my work in galleries. So going viral changed, I mean, changed my life, period.
2:55 spk_0
What is, what is going, for those of us who are a little bit older and maybe, you know, are on Instagram or Facebook, not us in this room here, what is going viral even mean? Like, what can you like, if I’m not on I’m not on Instagram, what does that even mean?
3:10 spk_2
So for me, I have a background in fine art and video art is something that I was really focused on, um, and the part of it that I was wanting to explore was, oh, can I make, uh, these videos that have like a formal background? Can I somehow con condense it into a seven second, you know, short video and put it on Instagram and TikTok and make it a series? And something that goes viral, you know.We think of it as like millions of views, 30 million, 60 million, you know, over a million. These kind of numbers are when you start reaching like virality and virality, true virality is like when you can do use consistently over years, right? And so that’s, I think, when you start seeing the revenue that is, you know, you can pay off debt, uh, start helping out your family, that kind of thing.
3:56 spk_0
Yeah, you know, that
3:57 spk_1
that was actually one of the questions I was gonna ask uh off of your, uh, one of your first comments there was this idea of how virality and uh and and your art um have been combined, but the financial impact, how has that enabled you to be the artist who you are today?
4:19 spk_2
I thinkOne of the biggest game changers is, I mean, it’s a privilege, of course, to be able to focus on art. I mean, so many people in generations before me have like struggled. No one in any generation before mine has been able to focus on art, and I mean, that’s the privilege of like being born in LA growing up in in the situation that I have, like, my grandparents are immigrants, my like dad worked so hard, of course, there was no opportunity to even consider maybe thinking about art. There was just no time for it, right? So even that in.That many don’t don’t have, you know, today. Besides the fact that it was already like, you know, such a privilege to explore it. Of course, I had like uh in undergrad I had likeAnd ready to maybe pursue like medicine, you know, and things like that. Like I was potentially gonna go in a different direction, but I really wanted to, you know, hope that exploring art was like gonna work, you know, the biggest change that going viral is is that I can invest in, you know, my time into any project that I’m interested in, and some of the bounds of is it gonna make money is loosened now because it’s kind of like, I’m gonna try to, uh, for example, I’m gonna try to likeRico Guinness Book of World Records is a performance piece in June for Pride Month. So those type of projects and never happened before, you know, the the idea of going viral, as well as, um, I had opened a community art space before going viral in LA and it was like a queer artists and, and, uh, more of a community environment and it was soHard to keep the doors open. It was impossible because just, you know, those the infrastructure of those things are pretty hard to do without, uh, just like funding and it was impossible. So if I was to do that now, it would be so much easier, and I hope to do more things like that in the future. So it just really changes the game of what you can explore, how you can live your life, and, you know, I, yeah, paying off debt in the past. Yeah, it’s just a game changer.
6:10 spk_1
Yeah, yeah, I think there’s oftentimes the the this perception of artists, right? Either you’re a starving artist or you’reFor lack of a better way of saying it, maybe a Nepo baby, right? You have a family that has just funded your, your decision to be able to go off and and explore art and and do this. It’s really very interesting to see someone who is able to do it.Themselves because they have uh there are so many artists that that that it takes them years and years and years to be able to get to the point where they’re actually living a financially stable life, let alone being able to fund their own art. So it’s it’s so cool to be able to see you doing this.
6:50 spk_2
Oh my gosh, well, I appreciate it, but it really does take a village, like there’s so many people, and of course like my, like I’ve I really have like so many people have have been my like, this generations, right, for all of us have made huge sacrifices so we can all live our lives. And then not only that, I mean, I really do and queer people in general, we all come from like a village that supports us. It does take a village for anybody to do anything cool, so there is there’s there’s a lot of inherent.Privilege and maybe nepotism in a different way, maybe not nepotism, whatever the word love.
7:18 spk_0
Just a support system. So before we dive into Vitawood, before we dive into Vitawood because we definitely want to talk about that, I think I just caught you saying you were gonna go into medicine before choosing to go into art, was is that correct? And cause those seem likeThey couldn’t be more opposite career paths. So when did you, when did you decide to pivot toward art and why?
7:40 spk_2
No, I always was in fine art, like, always, always, I started an undergrad as a fine art major, you know, but I did do pre-med track, which means I did take all the prerequisites to do go to med school just because, you know.My, my family really wanted me to have, you know, it’s gonna be like, are you gonna be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, what’s up, like, you know, you don’t want to be make sure again. A lot of people maybe from understand that.
8:08 spk_0
Yeah,
8:10 spk_1
I think, I think a lot of, especially immigrant parents, uh, you know, first generation, 2nd generation kids are oftentimes expected to be the ones that, that all of a sudden are able to carry the family financially, and we hear this, right? You need to be a doctor, a lawyer, you need to be have some sort of professional career, and then you shock your parents by saying you’re gonna go into art. They’re like, oh, surprise surprise.
8:35 spk_2
But my, my parents are so proud of me and my, and my dad also, he had a professional career and he, so he knew what it, you know, what it takes, and he just wanted, you know, my parents just wanted me to be, you know, they wanted me to be good, uh, but so they were concerned, but I love uh screenshotting a big check, sending it to my dad, he is very proud when that happens, you know,
8:53 spk_0
this one’s so cool.That’s so cool. So you did give us a bit of a prelude in Defeated Wood for our listeners and viewers who aren’t familiar, can you, can you elaborate on what that is a little bit?
9:04 spk_2
Yeah, it was a community art space that was uh basically available for artists to make music videos or toUh, used for workshops, performances, whatever they basically wanted to do is have a sliding sliding scale or free, and how we funded it was by putting it out for rent, cause the whole thing was decorated, so it was decorated top to bottom with all like works of art that were at the time, like, mostly mine, like so it’s decorated top to bottom, and so the reason we decorated it like that was, uh, so it could be rented by like a big company like we hadOh, we had so many random like savage expense rented it, like just massive brands would rented out their rent for this for the whole space for like a month, and then we could just rent it out for free or give it for free to whoever wanted to like borrow it or a project. So it was available for artists in the community, but then, uh, basically the space was paid by, you know, somebody renting out. And we did it through peer space, that’s kind of how, like, we found the brands to rent it, and that was my first exposure in the brand space because that was before I was doing any videos online.
10:11 spk_0
Wow, very, very cool. So our business personally has taken a bit of a hit because of Trump’s anti-DEI efforts with recent federal rollbacks on DEI initiatives leading to the cancellation of our programs, especially those who support LGBTQ plus folks and the BIPOC community. How has that shift impacted your ability to fund the sustain inclusive spaces like Viawood?
10:32 spk_2
Oh my gosh, it’s, first of all, well, I closed the doors of that right when I started going to grad school, and like I’ve hoped to reopen something like that in the future, although there’s amazing spaces in LA doing incredible work that have definitely taken its space, so it feels OK, step away from that project. But the DI.Effort, what? Yeah, of course it’s taken a hit. I mean, we’re seeing less branddos right now for queer people in general, uh, but it’ll it’ll bounce back. It will. My girlfriend though, she, you know, has everything through the LGBT center, like all of her like HRT and everything is covered through that, and honestly everything so far has been OK, so, um, besides all the passport stuff for trans trans community, sorry, I’m not sure, but it is crazy andAnd shot and disappointed.
11:21 spk_0
Please hold that thought. We’ll be right back after this break.Welcome back to Living Not So Fabulously. We’re here with Vita Kari. So, revisiting current topics, how is Trump’s tariff see-saw affecting your business personally as an artist? Like, are your materials becoming more expensive? are they get harder to get, or you seeing any other collateral damage from from his tariff seesaw?
11:55 spk_2
I think the biggest thing that we’re seeing is, you know, the ebb and flow ofBrand partnerships as it happens, but actually we’re seeing Pride Month.Honestly, we’re we’re seeing a lot of reach outs for Pride Month right now, and maybe it’s just because I’m in the bubble of, you know, I grew up in LA and I do live in West Hollywood, like my grandma lived in West Hollywood, so I don’t know, but actually it’sI’m having positive feelings about, about how that’s gonna go. The biggest thing is I’m seeing the community rally together more, which is a wonderful thing, but I’m interested to see how the uhThe allocated ad spend towards content creators is gonna be for the rest of the year. In the art space, it’s, uh, honestly feels somewhat the same, so, time will tell. But on a personal level, I mean, yeah, the infrastructure of everything feels, you know, devastating, but we have to stay positive.
12:51 spk_0
So, it’s pivoting just a little bit, your performance art often critiques consumerism and commodification.How do you reconcile earning a living through art that challenges those kinds of systems? Can, I mean, can the two really go hand in hand?
13:05 spk_2
Yeah, so I mean, first of all, performance art makes no money, like,Period. I go under every time you see a performance piece, uh, like I’m going under for it, for sure, like thousands of dollars at times. Uh, the way that we run those type of projects is through, uh, pieces selling and like wall works generally, so I make tapestry wall works, and then, of course, like things in the content creator space, but performance pieces are so important, I think, because that’s where the real conversations are, are driven and where they really are.Given space to live. And I think that it’s interesting too, cause even my wall works, right, are somewhat of like a critique of how the how the rug is is pushed across different like communities and how many times it’s been replicated and and lost. And then, of course, I’m selling it on a wall, and I think that that’s an interesting thing about like,The art world and and exploring that space is that there are a lot of times where things overlap and there’s a lot of conversations to hold within there when you’re in an art market, and it’s part of what I like. I mean, it’s a it’s a conversation that’s growing and we’re all exploring it together, and something thatYou know, I’m enjoying as I’m exploring it, for sure, but when it comes to performance, yeah, there’s no money there, for sure.
14:22 spk_0
Interesting. I had no idea. Yeah,
14:24 spk_1
I, I appreciate you bringing this up at the very beginning you alluded to this idea that there are lots of income streams that folks can tap into as artists. And what, what you just kind of laid out here is this idea that maybe your performance art is your loss leader. Like we think, you know, we go to a grocery store and we see something that’s on sale, and we’re like, how the heck canCan it be that cheap? Well, we know that it’s that cheap because this item over here is helping to fund that. And I appreciate that you say that that this is a this is a piece of your business that has the, that brings the conversation, that can bring the attention, that can draw people in, and then they get to see the whole you and the other stuff that you bring to the table as an artist.
15:10 spk_2
Yeah, I would say so. I mean, there’s definitely a way to do performance art that could be funded or, you know, it could have more of aI suppose a draw for a moreSomething that could definitely get grants and things like that. There are so many grants in the art world. First of all, creative capital is a great resource for a bazillion grants that anyone can apply to at any time. That’s an amazing way to fund an art idea. But for me, I prefer to just self fund a performance piece because there’s less.Pressure of, you know, what it has to be, what if something goes wrong, and also I prefer to do it outside of a of a branded space because it just feels like there you’re kind of able to speak, you know, they’re just able to do whatever you’d like to do in that moment. So, I prefer to.
16:00 spk_0
Everybody telling you what to do.
16:03 spk_2
In a way, yeah, because also too it’s just so unexpected. You’re in public, anything could happen, so you don’t want to misrepresent anybody’s brand, of course. And when it comes to grants and and those type of financing spaces, I would love to do a public project or something like that, but I, I think it would be more different.Maybe for something different than a performance piece, because performance pieces are really the wild west, for sure, especially when you’re doing it in public. I mean, inside a gallery space is one thing, but public performance piece, like the ones I’ve done in the past, I was trapped in a can outside of uh in Miami, like Art Basel like that out on the street, you know, people were throwing cans everywhere, those type of performances are so volatile and interesting, and uh you really see all of human nature expressed and those type of things I feel like are best when left.Open.
16:50 spk_0
Yeah, I love, I love that. That’s I I just had no idea that performance art was, was, would be a loss leader. It’s just that, so that’s that’s insight for me. So pivoting a little bit again, you’ve utilized platforms like TikTok to share your art. How has monetizing your digital content influenced your financial stability and your artistic direction, and how would that be impacted if something like TikTok weren’t banned in the United States?
17:14 spk_2
Ithink we’re already kind of seeing the shift of less.Digital ad spend on TikTok already, so it’s kind of like we’ve been weaned off that, and I think it just pushes, you know, us as creators to find other ways or more, you know, time on other platforms or just diversifying content, which has honestly been good, I think, um, as well as it’s definitely taught me a lot about budgeting.I’ve made a lot of financial. For sure. Oh my gosh, I have no. You. You tell.I’ve been in the trenches, for sure. I mean, me and my girlfriend, we’ve been together for, it’ll be 6 years this year, right? So that’s through COVID, that’s through a lot of tough times, you know, and then to come into, you know, the TikTok era where it’s brand deals are so, you know, generous, and then, you know, you’re able to pay off debt, you’re able to take everyone out to dinner, and then, you know,Then there’s less ads then, so now you’re like, oh my gosh, how am I like month to month, but like we’re here and then now you’re like back and you’re now paying for projects, you’re more responsible, you’re gonna do it right this time, yeah, it’s
18:24 spk_0
I love that. I love that.
18:25 spk_1
Yeah. Do you, do you mind, I, I wanna ask you just 11, question here, um, to kind of square this idea of umSpeaking out about consumerism and the and the consumer culture that we have, but at the same time being an artist that uh that makes a living off of corporations that tap into that consumerism culture, that capitalism.How do we square this? How do we say, OK, I am against capitalism, I’m against consumer culture, but I’m also taking a paycheck from from Google or Coca-Cola or companies like that. How, what, what kind of conversation do we have in our our heads that’s that allow us to do stuff like that?
19:07 spk_2
No, it’s interesting because, so for my craziest thing about being creative series, a lot of it isYou know, interrupting the doom scroll was really important, kind of critiquing how much time we’re doom scrolling, and then it wakes us up out of it. That was a big part because the pieces are printed out in those videos. So, uh, like the video will come on the screen and then maybe the text will just be like actually printed out and that.Wakes people up, hopefully, or it gives you a moment of pause as you’re on the screen for like 3 hours, at least for me, that was my intention because I spend so much time on the screen. And after I was posting it, what meant was initially a critique of these, you know, ultimately like super.Apps and things like that. Of course they, you know, reach out, they want to work with me like, and recently like meta, you know, I’ve been working with them on like some accessibility features cause I’m hard of hearing. I’m, I have like lowercase d deaf and hard of hearing deaf, so I wear hearing aids. So what it is is like, although it was originally started out as more of kind of like a que or something cheeky, now I kind of get the opportunity to make kind of meaningful change that matters, especially to like my community.Yeah, likedisability, so, so special. So,In some ways,When it comes to the ability in my work, especially, right? It’s like I’m, I’m talking about whether it’s like my wall works, which are kind of a critique on like.How rugs have been consumed and then spat out, or in these performances and then ultimately in other ways, I’m like,Funding my life from my work, and it’s supposed to critique, yeah, these like massive.You know,Capitalist institutions, but then of course I’m like part of being a cog, right? I think all of it goes back to like, it takes privilege to dismantle privilege, which is definitely both my girlfriend I mean on I see, and it’s just really important to stay focused that.We are kind of all working within it, no matter what, and the best we can do is just toYou know,Ultimately, where people were, you know, people with accessibility needs were, you know, showing up in the world and just by doing that, and hopefully like trying to do what we can, that, you know, art, which is the way to communicate, you know, our ideas into the world, the best way we can, and that’s how I explain it.
21:29 spk_0
I love that. Vita, thank you so much for coming on our show today. We really appreciate it. David, what’s your takeaway? Well, I I think I,
21:37 spk_1
I reallyloved your last explanation here of this idea of um changing the system within the system.Um, because we all live within this system, it’s really difficult for us to, to remove ourselves from the system completely, but there are ways that we can change the system from within and that I think that’s a responsibility that all of us have when we want the system tochange.
22:02 spk_0
Yeah, my takeaway is, I think you’re such a great example of being able to be creative, and not just as an artist, but as a business owner, being able to create different income streams so that you’re not solely reliant necessarily on TikTok should it get banned, um, and that you’re able to have some of your income streams subsidize your passion projects like being a performance artist. I had no idea that that was a loss leader for you, um, but you’re able to uh clearly to to to make money in other areas of your business to be able to make that amazing performance art that that you’re known for.So thanks for tuning into another episode of Living Not So Fabulously. If you like what you see, scan the QR code to follow Yahoo Finance podcast for more videos and expert insight, because if you do, performance art will remain weird, queer, and get better funded. And until next time, stay fabulous.
22:53 spk_3
This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services.