[SIC] 125: Pixel Perfection

January 28th, 2021

Hi all,

If there was ever a week in which things changed by the second, it feels like this has been it - so at the risk of saying something that will instantly become invalid, I’ll just say thanks (as always) to you for taking the time to wade through all of this. I hope it’s useful and stimulating. And of course thanks to Rob, James, Iolanda, Isaac, Martucci, Ben, Steve and Ray for suggestions this week. You all rule.

No [SIC] Talk on IG Live this week, but I’m back next Thursday with Ken Miller, whose new book project Pictures is a survey of photography and image-making today. It’ll be fun, so mark your calendars. Meantime, all my previous conversations are up on my grid: @dietznutz.

With that, welcome to the carnival…

Ben

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Big Thinking: 

• Packy Not Boring goes deep on the Metaverse (Substack)

• Alex Danco’s Michael Scott Theory of Social Class, which states that the higher you ascend the “educated gentry ladder,” the more you become Michael Scott. (Substack)

• Via 1440: How to create your own luck. (Psyche)

• Via Future Perfect: The Spanish government is funding a lab-grown meat startup to investigate how to grow meat that is lower in cholesterol.

• While the Chinese government plans to decrease the country’s meat consumption by 50% by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions and prevent obesity. (Figlobal)

Since we have to talk about Gamestonk this week: 

• From Rob Hubbert: “Meme Stock” brings a whole new dimension to the idea of activist investors.” (Time) 

• Though Marker worries about the same driving a stupidity bubble. (Medium) 

• And Quartz talked to the Redditors driving the phenomenon. 

• But the very impressive Today in Tabs really got the last word in. (Substack)

Elsewhere in Monies: 

• Via Dealbook: Robert Downey Jr founded some VC funds to bolster climate change startups with the idea of marketing to his social following. (Techcrunch) 

• While via Music Redef: BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT, the management company behind BTS, is investing $63 million in rival YG, whose clients include BLACKPINK…(Variety)

• Master P on the Trapital podcast, talks trying to buy Reebok.

• And elsewhere he’s launching an electric car company called Trion, too. (Hypebeast)

• Greenwood Financial, a digital lender focused on minority communities backed by Killer Mike, has signed up 500,000 customers in its first 100 days. (Banking Dive)

Socials-izing: 

• I resemble this remark. But I’m trying…  🥵

• Via Understanding Tiktok: Li Jin’s take on best uses of TikTok for startups.

• Via 1440; TikTok becomes the most time-consuming app. (Morning Brew)

• Via Future Party: TikTok crowdsourced a solution to a Parkinson's medicine problem. (The Verge) 

• A Vine Reunion? Video Apps Clash and Byte Join Forces. (NYT) 

• How Clubhouse Used FOMO To Become the Hottest New Social Network. (Better Marketing / Medium) 

Through the Wormhole:

• Elsewhere: The strange world of TikTok "Reality Shifters." (Hyperallergic)

• via 2pm: Hunter Walk on The Single Most Important Page On The Web (if you’re human). (Medium) 

• Related, from Iolanda Carvalho: Brain Interfaces Will Allow Us to Edit Our Feelings. (Futurism)

Audio-files: 

• Speakermeister and [SIC] homie Devin Turnbull of Ojas gets interviewed about sound system-craft by Resistor. (Instagram)  

•  From Iolanda Carvalho: And from the creator of "Hey Alexa Play Music”: (article from early December, the idea is timeless…). (A Journal of Musical Things) 

• From Isaac Dietz: “Def make it to ‘Peanuts’”: UK post-punkers Yard Act, on Bandcamp. 

• Speaking of, via musicredef,  There are a ton of iconic 1990s hip hop labels hiding in plain sight on Bandcamp (Cabbages.Substack) 

• While Big Dada is relaunching. (Hypebeast)

Creatively Speaking: 

• From James Friedman: Jenkem got Werner Herzog to talk skateboarding. (Instagram)

• Via Lean Luxe: OK but can the blog come back please? How JJJJound navigated its way to a design studio, after beginning life as merely a humble Tumblr. (GQ)

• Via Simon Owens: Tavi Gevinson on Rookie, regrets, and reboots. (Nylon) 

• Via Highsnobiety, Virgil Abloh shared over 40gb of work files from previous Off-White x Nike collaborations. (Instagram)

• Via Lean Luxe: My Modern Met asks / answers the question: What is Dada?  

• YInMn Blue is a new shade of the celebrated color available for artists. (Hyperallergic) 

• From Eric Martucci: This Quayola sculpture process is pretty wild and cool.  (Instagram)

Artists and Friends:

• [SIC] buddy Scott Patt’s got a new show of paintings. (Instagram)

• While another favorite artist and friend Geoff McFetridge talked to It’s Nice That on how he thinks through drawing.

• Speaking of Geoff, his Full Moon Ruun is here. (Instagram)  

• Corollary: Photog and [SIC] homie Brian Merriam’s GITD moon shirts are pretty great. (Instagram)

• And the homie Stephen Van Asco’s show of large-scale shots is up at Leica LA. (Instagram)

•  “Go Figure” is an art show in Hong Kong curated by fave artist Todd James. (Instagram)

• Via the excellent Rose Street skate shop, out of nowhere Barry McGee artist series decks for Baker Skateboards. (Instagram) 

Fashions:

• From Ben Pruess: “Luxury Is That Which You Can Repair” Why Renewable Fashion’s Time Has Come. (Vogue) 

• Related, via Elevator, Valet Mag on how to fix your own clothing. 

• These platforms want to be the Farfetch of digital fashion. (Vogue Business) 

• Related: shoe brand Buffalo London has teamed up with digital fashion house The Fabricant to create a flaming virtual trainer that can only be "worn" in images for social media. (Dezeen)

• Can Luxury reach Gen Z with Anime? (Jing Daily)

• VF’s strategy for Supreme is ‘don’t mess it up.’ (Business of Fashion)

• Via the FACE: Stone Island: Storia tells the history of the Italian brand through never-before-seen photographs.

• The Beauty of Balaclavas. (Buro)

• Via Vogue Business: Technical Outwear: Bad for the planet. (GQ) 

• Via Monocle: starting today, Swedish brand Arket will be renting out childrenswear, since kids grow out of clothes so quickly. (Just-style)

Mad Men:

• But are we?! Fast Company says we're witnessing a new golden age in advertising.

• Google says it may have found a privacy-friendly substitute to cookies (Axios)

• Corollary: How NBC News is making 'many millions' of dollars on YouTube after adjusting its strategy (Digiday)

Brought to you by … The Sponsors Ship:

• How Sponsored Gallery Exhibitions serve both the art and pop spheres (Jing Culture & Commerce)

• Via CCI: Ben & Jerry’s dog treats and Porsche’s SUV shows that brands don’t need to be too cautious about staying true to a fixed image. (Marketing Week)

• Barilla made Spotify playlists to cook pasta to. (Fast Company) 

• REI produced the feature “The Dark Divide” via its REI Co-op Studios imprint.

• From Steve Reed: “I thought this was really interesting for the letter:” for next season the NHL named its divisions after sponsors. (NHL.com) 

• No brand is safe from Fortnite (The Verge) 

• From Ray Kang: More on Space Jam 2:  “Some web-savvy farmers looking to capitalize on the buzz around Space Jam 2. Pretty great.” 

• [SIC] buddy Noah Wunsch writes about his new venture Ruby Hibiscus: “Welp, I'm a Beverage Founder.” (Linkedin) 

• Pornhub’s ‘Sexstainability’ campaign asks viewers to stop screwing the planet. (The Drum) 

Newsletters Are the New ...

• Brings new relevance to “Payola.” Rolling Stone is seeking ‘thought leaders’ willing to pay $2,000 to write for their website. (The Guardian)

• While Twitter dives into newsletters with the acquisition of Revue. (Axios)

•  The Everything Bundle: a collection of Substack newsletters, is leaving Substack to build its own platform and is rebranding as Every. (Axios)

• The FACE’s recos on the 10 best Substack’s to sub to. 

• Speaking of which, this week’s standout edition of Rave New World delves into the burgeoning MDMA doctor world. (Substack) 

• Also related, via Today in Tabs: Letter of Recommendation: Sassy Magazine.

Elsewhere in Writers and Reading: 

• Fave bookstore One Grand has reading lists from Samantha Power and Bryan Ferry, and launched “The Grand Journal.” (Onegrandbooks) 

• Boys! Boys! Boys!Is a new title on queer and gay photography. 

• via Simon Evans:  How MEL is reinventing the modern men's magazine. (Substack)  

• Christie’s with the Art Books to look out for. 

Also, Movies and Watching: 

• Via: Season Tickets: S/o the homie Eddie Huang for the imminent release of “Boogie,” his first feature. (Youtube) 

• While the DJ Screw doc trailer is out, too. (Hypebeast) 

• The Ringer’s got 50 Cult Movies to add to your list. But then puckishly asks Is There Such Thing As a Cult Movie in the Streaming Era?

And Maps and Mapping:

• Via Axios Cities: the New York Public Library has the world's biggest map collection. (NYPL.org) 

• Tokyo’s top (Neopolitan) pizza spots. (FT) 

• And from Marcella Farman-Dietz: helpful list of NYC restaurants with outdoor heat lamps. (The Infatuation) 

Letting Bygones be Bygones:

• Via Public Announcement: They Say Capitalism Is Over. Want to Buy a Piece?(NYT) 

• Elsewhere in Chris Black: Farewell to the Standard, Hollywood, L.A.’s Last Bastion of Y2K-Era Celebrity (Vanity Fair) 

• But if you’re feeling nostalgic for it, you can burn the Aromapharmacy “Hungover” Candles that supplied the lobby’s characteristic scent (Acquiremag)

Fun Ephemera: 

• From James Friedman: ‘Not sure it’s for SIC, but holy shit this [Twitter thread of discontinued wax statues] is amazing. Sort of a bath salts Duane Hanson vibe”

• Drinking Smart: Writers and Writing on Booze (Drakes Diary) 

• The oral history of Guitar Hero (VICE)

• Via Gossamer:  “Animals interrupting wildlife photographers” (Twitter) 

• Related: via 2Pm: The tail of how a DTC lobster company clawed its way to success [Harrrr]

In memoriam: 

• Uniqlo’s collection featuring the work of the late, great Jason Polan is out now. 

• Via Sam Valenti: RIP Disco D. Miss you, Dave. (Instagram)

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