SIC] 137: Helixophile and Associates

April 22, 2021

It’s Earth Day; every day is also earth day. But in light of our annual marking of that fact, let me say that a couple of recent conversations around sustainability have me approaching it through dual lenses: incrementality and scalability. In other words, what small changes can I make myself, and how can I effect wider change by influencing systems-level behavior (in my work, and by better informing you, my audience).

To that end, a RAFTM (reader and friend to me, to borrow a term of art from the excellent Opulent Tips) recently told me that she uses [SIC] to research anecdotes and factoids she uses in ongoing job interviews. That made me smile. I love the idea this weekly brain dump is useful to you. Let me know how I can make it more so. And if you do find it useful - please feel free to share it. It’s free. Here’s a button:

Speaking of sharing, I live for links shared from friends. Thanks to David, Iolanda, Kevin and Rich for tips this week. Keep ‘em coming.

xo B

=====[SIC] 137: Helixophile=====

The Zeitgeist and other Starting Points:

• Jing Daily looked at Luxury’s conversations on Clubhouse (with quotes from yours truly)

• Related, seminar alert! Jing is digging into Luxury’s NFT Obsession: Determining Legality and Longevity next Tuesday, April 27 at 10am EST with The Fashion Law’s Julie Zerbo, digital luxury brand RTFKT, and global digital disruptors in the market. 

• With Eye-Popping Auctions, News Outlets Are Jumping on the NFT Gravy Train. The New York Times, Time, and the AP have racked up six-figure sales of digital assets that could be a future revenue stream—or the next bubble to burst. (Vanity Fair) 

• Meanwhile via Dealbook: LVMH, Richemont and Prada have formed a blockchain venture (huge deal) (NYT)

• And Playboy is planning NFTs - which I can tell you more about next week. (CNBC)

• Corollary via Marginal Revolution: The NFT craze is helping Nigerian artists.

• And via Howard Lindzon: this roundup/essay/podcast by [my Audio Collective colleague] Josh Constine titled ‘How the Creator Crisis forced artists to be founders‘, [is great, and here's] a creator economy market map to help you catch up on the sector.

Arts, Events and other Downtown Developments: 

• In the Shadows of This New World: A Summer of 2020 Scrapbook launches this Saturday with a cool DIY block party from the folks at Printed Matter

• And the Devolve show at Public Access looks like it’ll be cool too. (Instagram) 

• Via [SIC] friend and fave artist Erik Parker: Ross + Kramer’s got a new show by fave artist Todd James opening next week (Instagram)

• Via Gossamer: Artist and videographer Manon Macasaet, known for her previous collabs with Stussy and X-Girl, recently released a variety show, Story of My Fucking Life. Episodes chronicle her life in New York in a style that blends a 90s-era Sofia Coppola downtown aesthetic with that of “an old PBS special.”

• Speaking of ‘cool downtown NYC’ stuff, via Public Announcement: A Canal Street Media Scene Report, Filed From Los Angeles (Study Hall)

• Which leads to an audio rebuttal of sorts: Drunken Canal’s Claire and Gutes graced the pod at How Long Gone: (Spotify) 

• Related, from Kevin Johanessen: A page in the Drunken Canal costs $400. (Support their Negroni habit). (Morning Brew) 

• Also, Public Announcement goes paywall: Now $99 / year for top links. 

• Corollary: An hour on Clubhouse costs $5-10k to sponsor - and dollars flow to live audio as moderation problems loom (Axios)

Music and other listening: 

• The Benji B episode of How Long Gone is one for the heads. And the reflective tape heads. Everything is DJ’ing, apparently. (Spotify) 

• Via the FACE: Benji B’s Deviation Classics (BandCamp)

• Same same but totally different: Deviation Classics (Spotify)

• Via 1440: A 153-track playlist of Quentin Tarantino's favourite songs (FarOut Magazine) 

• Via WITI: The Afrofuturist Sounds of Dawn Richard (The New Yorker) 

• Recording legend and record label don Marshall Chess on the Advertising Week Pod

• Why Soundcloud Has The Music Business Right Where It Wants It (Music Business News) 

• Via Music Redef: Digicore captures the angst of coming of age during a global pandemic (I-D) 

• Via 1440: How to get out of your geographic music bubble (Pudding) 

  

Thoughts and other thinkings: 

• Re: NFTs Memes are dying faster than ever (The Dirt) 

• Via Marginal Revolution: the world is more right-wing than you think (NYT) 

Digitalia:

• Via Marcus Bosch: TikTok has 732 million monthly active users globally now, a new leaked TikTok deck reveals. According to this sales presentation users spend an average of 89 minutes on the app and open it an average of 19 times a day. And: 92% of TikTok's users are not on LinkedIn

• From David Bloom, observations on the 15th annual digital media trends survey from Deloitte.  Gen Z prefers  video games, music and social media over movies and TV shows at home as their No. 1 preferred source of entertainment. That's great news for the Metaverse, less good for Hollywood. (Forbes)

• From Iolanda Carvalho: Meet Your New Consumer Target: Their Avatar. Brand disruption is nothing new. Every year a new app emerges that literally changes everything forever. Think Netflix or Uber or TikTok. The list goes on to include all the many platforms that have significantly altered consumer expectations and behaviors. (Muse By Clio)

• Has Snap laid the foundations for AR to be taken seriously? (The Drum) 

  

Products and other purchasing: 

• From Iolanda Carvalho: London's Design Museum circumvents lockdown restrictions by opening artist-designed supermarket. (The Art Newspaper) 

• Noah talks to the legendary Ralph Bakshi about his classic animated film Wizards, in advance of a collaborative collection 

• Via Stay Silent: The Patta x Tommy film and collab goes.  More tie-ups like this please. 

• Learning from 4/20: Stoners just don't need this much stuff (Vox)

• Balenciaga's Rammstein Collaboration Is Modeled by the Band's Diehard Fans Limited edition merch and a playlist curated by the German group. (Hypebeast) 

• OG US leather goods brands Mark Cross is reselling vintage handbags dating back to the late 1800s. It’s an unusual move for a high-end brand but should help to tell the story of the company, which is largely unknown outside the industry. (Monocle) 

• Allbirds is making its proprietary Carbon Footprint Calculator free, open-source, and available to all retailers. (Footwear News) 

• Magic mushrooms: the next big thing in beverages? (The Drum) 

  Newspapers, Magazine and Other Publishings: 

• Why do people still get print newspapers? Well, partly to start up the grill (Nieman Lab)

• Via Lean Luxe: Every publication is a streetwear brand now. (Twitter) 

• Corollary: via Stay Silent: the Hypebeast Magazine archive

• [SIC] buddy Jaime Perlman on pod talking More or Less Magazine (Instagram) 

• Room Journal is a new architectural publication with each issue focused on a different room (It’s Nice That) 

• Via We Are Definitely Screwed, Maybe” OptOut describes itself as “a forthcoming nonprofit news app where you can completely bypass the corporate media and read, listen to, and watch exclusively independent content.”

Sustainability and other regenerating: 

• The Whitest Paint Ever Created Is the Opposite of Vantablack, Basically (VICE) 

• Via Music Redef: record labels Beggars Group and Ninja Tune have jointly announced plans to become carbon negative (Ninja Tune by the end of this year, Beggars by the end of 2022 in the UK and 2024 in the US). (Pitchfork)

• Almost skateboards is making more sustainable decks (Instagram) 

• Via Elevator: How Drug Lords Saved the Planet (The New Yorker)

  

Surveillance and other capitalism: 

• Marc Teyssier's "Eyecam" Is the Creepiest Webcam Ever The eye moves, and it even blinks (Hypebeast) 

• Via Jing Daily: Hundreds of Drones Create Cyber-Dystopian Advertisement in the Sky. The drones formed a scannable QR code above Shanghai. (Radii China) 

• Via Music Redef: BBC story about how digital technology is allowing film studios and advertisers to add product placements after the fact and change them as often as they want. 

• Also via Jing: Digital Yuan Gives China a New Tool to Strike Back at Critics (Bloomberg) 

• Corollary: Via WITI: A radical guide to spending less time on your phone (Medium) 

Ads and other marketing: 

• Morning Consult’s Most Trusted Brands report

• 15 years on, Dos Equis is no longer “Interesting” (Ad Age) 

• Taco Bell Introduces New Plant-Based Innovation: The Cravetarian (QSR Magazine)

• WeTransfer launches arts foundation The Supporting Act, endowed with €1 million for emerging creatives (It’s Nice That)

• “Brands need to reach diverse audiences or they won’t survive”: Brand Advance on authentically inclusive advertising (It’s Nice That)

Durable Goods 

• Via Lean Luxe: The historic Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc turns 150 (Air Mail)

• Market for horse portraits keeps trotting along (Jasper52) 

• Via Colossal: “The Artifact Artist,” is a short film archaeologist and artist Scott Jordan as excavates NYC’s residential areas, pulling glass bottles, Civil War-era garments, and small ephemera from the earth to restore or create jewelry and assembled, sculptural works that he sells at flea markets. (Vimeo) 

• Related, via 1440: The Secret Mission To Unearth Part Of A 142-Year-Old Experiment in the longterm viability of seeds. A century and a half later, the weeds still go. (NPR) 

• But conversely: Sorry, 14 year olds: An Impending Boba Shortage Is Set To Hit the United States. Reportedly set to last months. (Hypebeast)

Suedeheads and other random diversions: 

• From Rich Hartell: “Don’t know if you follow this [Instagram account] or not …  sometimes you get pure gold like these Suedeheads from 1971.” (Instagram)

• The jogger that talked a bear out of attacking him. (The Guardian)

• NoseID can scan your dog’s unique nose print to help find them if they get lost (It’s Nice That) 

• Paul Mason on the defeat of the Super League and why another football is possible (The New Statesman) 

• Finally, in an act of defiance of White Boy Summer rules, J.Press launched a collaboration with Murray’s Toggery that’s super-salmon (ok, it’s Nantucket red, but same idea). (J.Press)