Anthony Smyrski
(United States)

“It’s been three years since I left Philadelphia to become part of The Radical Cut-Up. In completely unexpected ways, the RCU has played an integral part in my development as an artist and a human. It gave me a family when I first moved to my new home of the Netherlands. It sent me back to my University years, and also catapulted me further into adulthood. It demanded that I question how I had been working and what I had been creating for many years. It gave me something to push against, it made me feel humbled. The Radical-Cut up made me remember what I knew, and to simultaneously realize that there was so much more to discover. I learned how to move and fight again, how to listen to those both younger and older, and to those who possess completely different experiences than my own. I rebuilt my body, my mind, my creativity and my spirit. In the past year, I’ve worked on personal projects I never thought possible, been employed as a senior designer at a global agency, meditated every single day, and trained to keep my body in the best shape it’s ever been. In one week I will turn 40 years old - its the best 40 year old version of me that I can envision, and it would not of happened without the RCU.”