The critically acclaimed World of Jenks is finally returning for a 2nd season but there are some pretty major changes from the 1st season. Via the press release from MTV:
Last season, “World Of Jenks” scored MTV’s highest ratings ever for a series premiere, and followed filmmaker Andrew Jenks as he moved in with twelve inspirational individuals and lived with each of them for one week. Now Jenks is back. But this time, he’s found three young people with lives so extraordinary that he had to spend an entire year experiencing life through their eyes.
We’re going to profile all 3 people who will be featured in the show (the premiere has been moved from this November to 2013. First up is fashion designer, cancer survivor and so much more – Kaylin Andres.
Kaylin currently hails from Brooklyn, New York and has already worked with noted designers such as Betsey Johnson and Rachel Antonoff. According to her bio via her official website she received a BFA in Fashion Design from CFDA recognized California College of the Arts in 2010. Back in ’06 the young entrepreneur introduced a line of party dresses and accessories called Sweet Marie.
Here’s a sample of one of the shows for her line. This clip is from 2008 Spring/Summer entitled, “Heavy Metal.”
Via Kaylin’s site:
In late 2008, Kaylin was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. She went through a year of treatment and rehabilitation, and by the end of 2009 was ready to complete her senior thesis collection. Entitled “Le Monstre Dans”, the collection was inspired by Cancer’s growth and distortion of the human form.
One of the ways Andres looks to help and to share her story is via her insightful and no-holds-barred blog Cancer Is Hilarious. She states in the about section:
I am a fashion designer and writer diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. This is my attempt to document my process and provide inspiration for other twenty-somethings who refuse to go the way of headscarves and hospital gowns. I mean, really? Cancer is f***ing hilarious.
Andres takes cancer on with a fist full of fight and a belly full of humor. One of the consistent battles that Kaylin faces is the broken and apathetic American health care system. In an update from Sept 13 Kaylin wrote:
— aged out of my Mom’s health coverage in May, have been uninsured for almost 4 months. (feeling very grateful to have had it at all.)
— have since waged a mostly failing (and flailing, at times) battle with NY public health services, HHC, SSA, ETC ETC.
— illness is a full-time job, my friends, and I’ve been killing myself just to support myself. The American Healthcare System is beautiful in that way! It’s a mystical paradox that, with a little bit of faith, we can all buy into. Just like… oh shit.
— due to no insurance, I stopped my chronic pain regimen. plus: clear head. minus: pain.
That’s a hell of a minus… Another outlet for Kaylin’s creative fire is via a punk rock comic that she does with artist Jon Solo called “Terminally Illin’.” In regards to her graphic comic in which cancer is the villain she told SFWeekly:
“For me, humor has always been my best coping mechanism. It’s the great unifier in life — you can literally make fun of everything. Everything has the potential to make you laugh, even cancer, even death. When I was going through treatment, making jokes was my way to process what was happening to me, a way to deal with the situation. By making fun of cancer, I was essentially taking control of it and how it affected my life instead of staying helpless.”
For a taste of the uncompromising “Illin’,” here’s the Kickstarter video in which they describe the work as, “The subversively humorous, bad pun-filled, psychedelic action-adventure side of cancer.”
In her most recent post entitled, “Hi everybody, I have cancer again, awesome right?” from her blog, Kaylin reveals some extremely difficult news:
I’m waiting… still waiting to let you guys know a definitive diagnosis. It will be soon. Currently applying for Medicaid in hopes that I can get into Sloan Kettering. It’s been 3 months now that I’ve been experiencing symptoms, which have gotten progressively worse, to the point that I find it hard to walk, eat, sleep, breathe. If I had insurance I’d probably already be in treatment right now, a sad thought. I’m in a lot of pain, but the Public Health Hospitals here in NY (even the oncologists!) are not allowed to give an opiate-tolerant patient proper relief. For a tumor the size of a small cantaloupe, they’re only allowed to give me 5mg oxycodone. That’s one step above giving me a rag to clench my teeth on, so I’d say Bellevue has made considerable strides these past 100 years.
I’m looking forward to meeting Kaylin in only the way that Andrew Jenks’ unflinching camera can present someone. Everything I’ve discovered so far in regards to Andres, indicates that her story deserves the show’s new intimate, hour-long format. You can keep up with Kaylin via her Twitter page here.
