[SIC] 109: Oblique Strategies

October 8th, 2020

Hi all,

What a ridiculous week. Here’s my list of things that have taken my mind off the flies, the masks, the polo shirts and the second wave, for a little while. Lots of great audio stuff this week, in particular - it’s sprinkled throughout. Thanks to Kevin, Laura, Sam, Syd, Ben, and Michael for your contributions; keep ‘em coming - along with questions, kudos, catcalls and pointers. In the meantime, move fast and stay low.

Ben

=====[SIC] 109: Oblique Strategies=====

Start Here: 

• Other Inter’s Squad Wealth post is packed with detail and is fascinating (in a real marketing theory nerd way).  Key Quote:  “VIBE is an unstable substance of high information density. In formalizing their vibes, squads may accidentally give birth to headless brands, virtual personalities, and pseudonymous entities they may not even be able to control.”

• Real world companion: Jeff Richards’s talks small business tech stacks - and why they’ll democratize and power the economy during and post-pandemic. (LinkedIn) 

Tap Into the Zeigeist: 

• Fuck the Proud Boys. And big up the Pride Boys (CNET) 

• With Lindsey Buckingham's compliments: Post pickup full of Ocean Spray, Tiktok’s Doggface420 is back repping our buddy Fat Tony (Instagram) 

• Central Park Birder Shares Experience in Comic Form: It’s a Bird is a semi-fictionalized account of Christian Cooper’s own experiences. (Hyperallergic) 

• Teens are buying fewer clothes, less food as their spending hits two-decade low (CNBC)

• Attention Hackers fans: Cyberpunk has reemerged as a total lifestyle aesthetic for Gen Zers in China (Jing Daily)

• And Via Lean Luxe: there’s an aesthetic pattern emerging with Gen Z-focused brands that’s interesting to take note of (though these examples are kind of boring). (Thing Testing)

• From Kevin Johannessen: Spotify’s Culture Next trend report (attached below).  “They do a pretty good job with this and there are some interesting takeaways….”

Pick Yourself A New Favorite Artist:

• Tender is the new project from our buddy Jill Magid and Creative Time, offering 120,000 pennies  the edges of which she engraved with the appropriated phrase, “THE BODY WAS ALREADY SO FRAGILE and distributed in NYC bodegas and convenience stores.  Here’s the Trailer. (YouTube) 

• Awol Erizku Is Creating a New Language. The photographer, artist, and GQ contributor on art, fatherhood, and his boundary-pushing new exhibition (GQ)

• GARAGE's interview with Trevor Paglen, whose retrospective just opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in London. It's... not not terrifying! 

• More Paglen on Monocle’s weekly show, too. 

• Dinner at the core of the void: GARAGE also checks in on ceramics artist and [SIC] fave Genesis Belanger's new show at the Aldrich Museum in Connecticut. 

• Hank Willis Thomas Gives an Infamous Modern Art Diagram a Postcolonial Update. The conceptual artist provides a much needed update to Alfred J. Barr, Jr’s well-known chart. (Hyperallergic)

• Via Distracted: New glass building in Detroit’s Eastern Market is "a love letter to the city.” (Wallpaper)

• Which brings to mind Steve Powers’ Landmark 50x Mural project  A Love Letter to You, from 2009 (Mural Arts) 

• [SIC] fave artist Andrew Kuo is a basketball genius for his new NBA portraits (Cookies Hoops)

Stream a Little Stream: 

• Twitch’s Soundtrack Platform Will Allow Streamers Play Rights-Cleared Music During Livestreams (Hypebeast)

• Mood set to ravelicious: Romy’s “Lifetime” video (Youtube) 

• IYKYK: Satan’s new DJ mix is heavy. (Bandcamp) 

Follow the Leaders: 

• Rishad Tobaccawala’s Twitter Lists directory. And his 6 thoughts for the next six months (s/o to Laura Correnti)

• Speaking of Laura (and homie Alexa Christon) the legendary Adlandia podcast is back, with Malcolm Gladwell as first guest, and he’s saying he might never write another book, in favor of podcasting (Spotify)

• Via Lean Luxe: Scott Galloway’s pivot to business culture stardom (Fast Company)

• McKinsey’s latest Pocket Quarterly is the CEO Moment: Leading toward the next normal

• From Sam Baker: Digiday on Snapchat pitching high-frequency, high-reach ‘Platform Burst’ ad campaigns

Get Yourself a Brand That Can Do Both: 

• In-housing of agency capabilities by brands continues to increase momentum (The Drum) 

• Via Media Futures: Nike in Snapchat - Dedicated Bitmoji sportswear that you can buy IRL too  :a dedicated collection for people to dress their bitmojis in, which then becomes available in stores. (Geek Culture) 

• Bolt Threads partners with Adidas, owners of Balenciaga and Gucci, and Stella McCartney on mushroom leather (TechCrunch)

• Speaking of edibles: 21 UK food giants ranging from McDonald’s to Unilever and Tesco have authored a joint call to action demanding a tougher stance from the government concerning deforestation. (The Drum) 

• Also Pabst Blue Ribbon Branded Cannabis-Infused Seltzer Launches in California (Brewbound)

• Levi’s Launches Its Own Recommerce Site and Buyback Program, Levi’s Secondhand (Vogue) 

• Gucci and The RealReal Announce a Game-Changing Partnership. The Florentine house is also the first to incentivize shoppers to buy and consign its goods on TRR: For every Gucci item purchased or sold, The RealReal will plant a tree through One Tree Planted, a nonprofit working on global reforestation. (Vogue) 

• More Michele: Gucci Knocks Itself Off With "Fake Not" Collection (Hypebeast)

• Meanwhile, from Ben Pruess: Ikea’s launching refurbished furniture (Business Insider) 

• Macy's invests in installment payments firm Klarna The department store also announced a partnership with DoorDash for same-day delivery through almost 500 locations, with no minimum order. (Retail Dive). 

• Lowe's to offer curbside trick-or-treating this Halloween The retailer is offering candy and pumpkins as shoppers look for safe alternatives to celebrate the season in the middle of a pandemic. (Retail Dive) 

• Via RLab: Home Depot's AR tool turned a 12-foot tall Halloween skeleton into the viral star of spooky season. (The Mary Sue) 

Put An “E” in Sports:

• And in Nike's First Esports Ad, Gamers Attend an Insane Bootcamp (Adweek)

• Makes sense if 'The next billion-dollar sports franchise could be in esports': (Digiday)

• To wit, from Michael Miraflor: There's a money chart where Esports is literally the only "sport" that tracks higher than general adult pop. Very telling. (Morning Consult) 

• Via Distracted: there’s a new game on the block: Among Us. Quartz has the low down. 

• Also via Distracted: This thought piece argues that Roblox - and metaverse games in general - present the future internet experience. (The Power Up)

Do Something Selfless: 

• A group of Nigerian-Irish teens have developed an app which uses music to comfort those living with dementia.(BBC News)

• Via Good is the New Cool: Pizza to the Polls sends free pizza to polling stations with long lines, and Chefs For the Polls – From World Central Kitchen’s chef Jose Andrés, cooks free food for people waiting in long lines. 

Ask An Expert:

• The Kids Are Not Alright gives an update on how Gen-Z is feeling after almost 7 months of a global pandemic. (VICE Information Desk) 

• Kyle Chayka’s round-up of the best books to read for inspiration when you’ve hit a creative block (including the “book” this week’s newsletter title is taken from). (Artnews) 

• Kim Jones and Tremaine Emory talk in THE FACE

• From Syd Allen-Ash: “Little shameless plug here. Foresight studio From Later brought me on their broadcast to share my weak signals (aka foresight talk for distant trends). We talk about academic shitposting, communist utopias on Animal Crossing, WAP and labyrinth culture.” 

• More listening: our homie Ana Andjelic is on real tear lately promoting her forthcoming book The Business of Aspiration. Here she is on How Long Gone (Spotify) and on the Overthinkers (Instagram)

• Corollary to Ana’s argument; via Media Futures: Amazon Explore is a set of bookable, one-to-one experiences that can cost over $100 for an hour where experienced hosts will teach you a skill or take you for a walking tour, where you can speak to other locals, and buy things that you see. (PYMNTS)

• Actually an interesting list: the 15 Best DIY Streetwear Designers Right Now (Complex) 

Suck It And See: 

• Pornhub launched an SFW ad for the brand’s sex toys and it sucks. Like, actually. It’s not good. (Hypebeast)

• How Pepsi Got Suckered Into Every Hot Branding Trend (Marker/ Medium)

• Sucking, but for good: Cities like Stockholm and Seoul are using pneumatic tubes to dispose of waste (Quartz) 

• Corollary sucking: God, Reid Hoffman is hard to listen to. But BRUD’s Trevor McFedries (creator of @lilmiquela) is fascinating, when Reid’s not talking. (Spotify) 

• Lessons from the rise of OnlyFans (The Information)

Use Something Made for one purpose to do something else: 

• As The Job Market Collapses, Gen Z Is Making Résumés On TikTok (Motherboard)

• Via Protocol: Doggles is AR for your dog, and it's being designed for the military to help soldiers communicate with canines. 

• Art in America talks to Cristóbal Valenzuela, founder of RunwayML, which offers a suite of machine-learning tools for artists (IG TV) 

• Via Protocol: Twitter's testing a tool for crowdsourcing moderation, letting people flag content and add notes.

Start Again at the Beginning: 

• Accenture and Girls Who Code published a report on resetting tech culture. 

• Via Nieman Lab: MIT Technology Review is launching the Outcome, a pop-up newsletter focused on the security and integrity of the election.

• Powell's Books in Portland, celebrated Independent Bookstore Day this summer by pulling the plug on a major source of sales — Amazon's marketplace (Retail Dive). 

• This year’s Vera List Center Forum, “As For Protocols,” will turn attention to the myriad systems, structures, and language paradigms that undergird even our most everyday activities (Hyperallergic) 

• The 100 Most Influential Sequences In Animation History (Vulture)

Remember Those Who Came Before Now: 

• RIP Kenzo Takada, the first Asian designer to build a major Parisian fashion brand, who redefined a historically white space and paved the way for others to follow, write [SIC] friends and former Kenzo co-creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. (BoF) 

• Related WITI’s “Remembering Kenzo Takada” post. 

Finally: Close Your Eyes and Breath Deeply: 

• Recess is back with their typically chill October guest mixes for Intermission. 

• Also via Recess: Gerry V, Bill McMullen & Tyler Askew recently kicked off the brilliant series CoverTheVote flipping some of their favorite album covers as a reminder to vote (Instagram) 

• Discuss, debate: Instagram is the most important thing that ever happened to sneaker culture (Input)

=====[SIC] 109: Oblique Strategies=====