The Weekly Roundup (week of 4/3)
Good stuff this week, thankfully there weren't any more bank failures so I'm not spamming you with boring finance shit.
1. Holographic Media
”Media is no longer linear. Legacy outlets fade into noise, and communities have become screens through which all platforms are diffracted.”
This article from New Models, a Berlin-based media channel and community addressing the emergent effects of networked technology on culture, details the rapid transformation of media and its respective impacts on each generation’s shared sense of reality. This gets the #1 spot for a reason.
“When there’s so much noise and so much scamming, where do we find truth and who can we trust? Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of conflicting information, hot takes, scoldcore, and didactic thinkpieces from the Professional Managerial Class, people increasingly trust only those to whom they’re directly connected—whether personally, or parasocially. And this is why non-institutional figures—Substack writers, artists, podcasters—and their wider communities will continue to fulfill the role of Trusted Sensemakers. Meanwhile, corporations and governments will need to cultivate relationships with these sensemakers in order to gain broader trust—and traction.”
2. Brad Troemel’s “Post-Internet” Report
I know this is an hour long but if you have time to kill and you’re as oddly obsessed with internet culture as I am, you will definitely enjoy this one. Brad Troemel is the foremost expert on Post-Internet art and culture. He does an intricate deep dive into the history of internet art and how the formal art world has mostly ignored its impact. Check it out!
3. How Did Hokas Become So Popular?
It’s a great question really. I feel like I see these fuckin things everywhere now. This is another one of those brands that you saw parents, old people, and generally, style-phobic people wearing. The brand is centered on comfort, and what might look ugly and bulbous to most people has now found a footing 😉 in a market that seemingly gravitates towards things that are ironically revolting.
“It’s not just ugly,” he said. “There is actual considered design that results in something surprising and genius.”
4. Elena Velez is the working-class designer raging against the system
Elena Valez is probably my favorite up-and-coming designer at the moment. Her runway shows reflect a moody brutalism underscored by her upbringing and cultural roots, while her clothes contain a rebellious confidence that seeks to impose itself with a brooding, seductive charm. Read her profile by Dazed here.