The Spirit of MAHacks: An Interview with Rudy Hartt
At MAHacks IV, held in December 2018 at WordStream, we were genuinely amazed by and grateful for the generosity of our mentors, venue, and workshop leaders. Not long before the event, we realized that we had an extra item to give away as a prize, so we came up with The Spirit of MAHacks Award.
This informal award aimed to recognize something intangible that we value on the MAHacks team, essentially the experience of being part of our events. We encouraged participants to nominate anyone (themselves, a friend, mentor, organizer) who went above and beyond in being helpful — not necessarily solving a bug or doing tedious work for others, but perhaps through their attitude or advice.
Rudy Hartt, an MAHacks mentor and artist, received the majority of nominations, and we couldn’t agree more that he exemplifies the spirit of MAHacks! Recently, we interviewed him, and here are some of the inspiring thoughts he shared with us:
Tell us about yourself. What do you do? What excites and fascinates you?
I am an independent artist. What it means is that I’ve spent the last 15 years learning about the different creative disciplines, such as graphic design, illustration, animation, and filmmaking, to create meaningful experiences about what I encounter in my daily life. Through these “stories”, I hope to show things which are not apparent at first sight and ultimately which can contribute to a better understanding between people. It’s an often difficult, and never-ending process, but if I’m successful, I can be part of some important changes around me.
How did you discover MAHacks and what made you want to come?
During my studies at Central Saint Martins in London, I had the opportunity to bring together students from across many different disciplines and courses to organize a new theatre production. This experience showed me the amazing power of collaboration and that all it sometimes takes is a focus on a shared goal and the differences between us seemingly melt away.
I knew about hackathon events for a long time (my brothers work with computer science and robotics and are regular attendees), but never considered that as a designer and someone interested in humanities/arts, that I could also contribute. What I found was that anyone can bring something to the table. Even though you may have different specializations, you can still make a great idea even better by offering new perspectives and insights that are unique to you and that others may not have thought of.
The world is complex and varied, but working together on projects like those at MAHacks, we transform difference from something that is scary into a useful and necessary bond between us. When we become open to the unfamiliar, we can begin finding solutions to problems that everyone previously thought of as impossible and even realize that everything you do has become brighter and more meaningful. It’s just about seeing past those first differences and negative voices that it ‘can’t be done’ and learning to trust
again.
What does being a mentor at MAHacks involve? Did you have an experience with a team that stands out? Did you see the creation of cool projects?
I think that being a mentor at MAHacks is an incredible opportunity for anyone. You are essentially joining a group of people whose mission is to support young people while they learn about teamwork and how to turn their ideas into reality.
Young people have many dreams, but often limited ways of realizing them. So events like these are incredibly important because they offer a safe and welcoming space where they can actually make something of value. They learn how to best work with others, how to use limited time and resources to their advantage — one of the key ways in developing creative thinking — and most of all, that their work has real impact, that they can create change or
fix something that wasn’t working, if they just start doing it.
Too many people are afraid these days, feeling overwhelmed with everything that’s going on and even the scope of the project can be daunting when you don’t know how to begin. So they rather stay observers. But it’s through events like hackathons, where ideas are quickly built, tested, and enriched by the different team members that can open their eyes how much is possible, even in just 24 hours of concentrated work.
The most amazing thing was that no single team stood out — everyone was working at their absolute best. And I think it was because they were doing what they loved and had space to do so — I think that’s when the best comes out of us and we can really shine — to be the person we truly want to be. We should be focusing on creating more pure collaboration, without the fear of losing money, angering our bosses, or risking embarrassment if the project fails — I think that it would alleviate the stress many people feel and teach them that it’s alright to open up.
Anything else you want to add?
I would encourage everyone to join these young people. Don’t worry about knowing how to code, just show up, look around, and you’ll soon discover a way to help out. Whether you’re a designer, gardener, chef, or project manager — you have important insights that will help these students achieve their goal in an even better way. And you never know, at the end, you may end up learning even more yourself and gaining new friends along with it. So, why not try it and see how it goes? :)
