[SIC] 158: Illegal Seagull

Vol 4, Number 2

Sep 16, 2021

Oh hi there.

Have to start this round with thanks to the mighty Why is This Interesting for the referral to [SIC] last week, and welcome to you many new subscribers who followed it. Returning the favor, a couple of theirs I noted this week: A very good Tim Sweeney DJ mix, and Jason Boog’s “shaggy dog” edition of WITI, remembering Norm McDonald, is a great one (tho maybe written by AI?!) (Substack)

On that note, thanks also to Ruju, Iolanda, Noah, Marcella and Kevin for contributions this week. Love y’all. Keep ‘em coming, please.

[SIC] Talks today is with the artist and author Ryan McGinness. I’ve followed Ryan for literally decades but only got to know him (a little) in the last few months. He’s a real intellectual mind and also a great tongue-in-cheek conceptualist, so it’ll be a great chat. We’ll be live in a few minutes (at 4p ET) @dietznutz, and in my grid thereafter.

Also, I managed to turn on paid subscriptions, with the idea that if anyone wants to help subsidize the weekly missive (and can expense it as “research” or something). There’s a button if you’re so inclined. And don’t worry, the newsletter stays free.

Couple more things: s/o to [SIC] homie Danilo Parra helped capture NY Mag’s epic Revolt of the Delivery Workers cover story. It’s a good one.

And since I've been kind of light on music lately, listening material for today’s edition, from Marcella Farman-Dietz: “CLASSICS” [on the Voodoo Ray Playlist]. (Spotify).

Enjoy,

Art / Hat by Jenny Holzer at Mass MOCA

=====[SIC] 158: Illegal Seagull=====

Trendies

When You're Living in an Immaterial World, What's for Sale? On influencers, symbolic analysts, and buying and selling in the age of turbo-capitalism.(Wired)
What younger people want from their bosses: Bigger voices on social issues (Axios)
Congrats to [SIC] Talks alum Matt Klein on his new gig at Reddit. His Zine edition with Chris Dancy is a great one, covering Interface Collapse, Coercive Convenience and Hyper Empathy, if you’re into those sorts of things ;) (Zine)
From Ruju Jasani: “The contradiction between [“In with the Olds,” from in [SIC] 157] and the latest startup making waves here is big, kind of like the cultural differences between LA and SF. Technology Review goes deep with scientists and technocrats betting on how biotech will make people younger .”
Highsnobiety’s New Normal Report on consumer behavior of youth culture amidst a global pandemic.
And from Iolanda Carvalho: “This briefing from TrendWatching is quite cool.”
Counterpoint of sorts: this is a fascinating filter on “reports” (i.e. disinformation) via Future of Transportation: Every traffic projection is wrong. Key Quote: 'The goal of traffic modeling is not to be right; it is to create a plausible narrative for more construction.' (CNU)
Meet the World’s First Carbon-Neutral Soccer Club An all-vegan stadium. A field fertilized with seaweed. How the owner of the sport’s most sustainable team is cultivating “a new kind of soccer fan.” (Reasons to Be Cheerful)
How experiential agencies are navigating the great comeback. (The Drum)
And. A cool blue paint colour called Bright Skies has been named Colour of the Year 2022 (Dezeen)

Stylies

The Best Thing About This Year’s Met Gala Are the Memes (Hyperallergic)
[SIC] homie Jian DeLeon lays down the fashion law: Muleboyz wear mules to work (NYT)
Via Music Redef: Anarchy, and $$$, in the Vintage Punk Clothing Market. Sid Vicious would never believe how much his old clothes are worth, and the lengths to which counterfeiters will go to fake them. (NYT)
Also punk: ‘Lack of strategy is the strategy’: what Comme des Garçons did next (FT)
[SIC] homie and fave artist Maia Ruth Lee x Helmut Lang! This is the kind of collab I want to see (Instagram)
These ones, maybe not as much? Apparently Dunkin’ has turned itself into a lifestyle brand. Welcome to Dunkin' World. (GQ)
Via After School: “The September Issue, According to The Drunken Canal,” (Vogue)
Also via After School: the youth culture renaissance of traditional Italian tailoring (WWD)
From Noah Bernard: Factory closing in Vietnam [might be crushing the footwear biz]. BTIG said Nike could lose production of roughly 160 million pairs of shoes from facility closures due to COVID-19. (Marketwatch)
Related, via WITI: Outlier CEO Abe Burmeister on the relationship between pay and price in clothing. (Twitter)
Fifteen years after opening a first US store, Japan's largest retailer remains a small player in America. How can Uniqlo succeed in America? (Vogue Business)
Because energy drinks aren’t warm enough, Red Bull made a premium fashion brand called AlphaTauri. (Monocle)

Artsies

Via Highsnob: I’m not a tattoo guy but Phil Berge’s ‘body of work’ is fun to watch (Instagram)
Via The Lindy Effect: David Hockney argued medieval artists after 1400, like Caravaggio, were essentially photographers, using Cameras Obscura to create. (Guardian)
Not so YBA Gavin Turk is definitely taking the piss with his new project, Piscio d’Artista (Kickstarter)

Art by Luis Guispert from his show “Love Like Salt” at Moran Moran in Mexico City

Takies, Bookies and Songies

Lena Dunham on Britney Spears and the girl industrial complex (The New Statesman)
Sally Rooney depicts sex in a time of catastrophe (The New Statesman)
From Kevin Johannesen: I’m almost done reading [Simon Kuper’s “The Barcelona Complex”]. It’s excellent and written at a level that I think wold be a good match for your son… (Penguin Random House)
Elsewhere en Espana, via Future Party: David Lynch and Pharrell get clubby in Ibiza with new spot Silencio (Slashfil)
Sasha Frere Jones’s Black Surrealist Summer playlist. (Spotify)
[SIC] OG Guest DJ and MP3 magician Matthew Perpetua talks playlists vs. mixtapes with Dirt
Rick Ross on the Trapital podcast (Spotify)
Via Public Announcement: Aquarium Drunkard Interviews Jason Pierce of Spiritualized about his extraordinary 1990s run, his creative process, his influences and the way that music, when done well, can transport you into different times and different places.
A deep dive into the Gizzverse: How Aussie weirdos King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard created ten videos for its recent record (It’s Nice That)

Techsies

Via Future of Transportation: England will be the first country to require new homes to include EV chargers (Elektrek).

Digi-Societies

Builders of Roblox and Minecraft have realized their potential for meeting or coworking (Digiday)
Inside the Underground Strip-Club Scene on Kid-Friendly Gaming Site Roblox. Some users are earning "Roblux" giving lap dances in virtual clubs. (Rolling Stone)
Why Social Commerce Is The Future Of Shopping Online (Ad Age)
Via After School: So you’re telling me TikTok isn’t going to replace LinkedIn after all? (HRdive)
Via Motive Unknown: The oncoming fandom crisis, brought on by China’s regulatory action.
Corollary: [SIC] Talks alum Avery Booker on how China’s Crackdowns Could Make Luxury Marketing a Lot More Boring in 2022

Mixed Realities

Another from Iolanda Carvalho: “You got this, right?” [Wunderman Thompson’s [Into the Metaverse] report].
Radiohead teams up with Epic Games for their Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition — an interactive experience coming to PlayStation 5, PC, and Mac in November (The Verge)
Related, via Marcus Bosch: Thom Yorke discusses Radiohead’s “embarrassing” TikTok stats. (NME)
Via Dealbook: “Bitcoin Cosplay is Getting Real.” (NYT)
You can now buy a $475 NFT ticket to see Beeple’s $69 million NFT at an IRL party. The ticket also includes one drink. (The Verge)

Munchies

Shroom for improvement. Why not join the fungi fad? (How to Spend It)
Also trending: the next fast-food chicken sandwich war may be a vegan one (CNBC)
But first, the future of meat needs a name (Axios)
Logically, because fake meat companies are hungry for meat-lovers (Axios)

Miscellanies

Via Ben Evans: The vehicles from the last Mad Max film are for sale. Yes, really. They work. Probably not road legal, except in Texas. (Lloyds Online)
Via Music Ally: the obesity of a country’s politicians may be a good indicator of that country’s corruption. (Willey.com)
Colorado legalized human composting (Axios)
Via Dealbook: Is uranium the new GameStop? The price of the radioactive metal has risen nearly 40 percent in the past month, with users of the influential Reddit investment board WallStreetBets talking up the shares of uranium mining (WSJ)
Ravers can be turned into an energy source. One club in Glasgow, Scotland, will trap the body heat of its clientele to use in cold months. (Quartz)
Via Today in Tabs: an “Ode to Squirrels” in The Atlantic

Art by Stephen Powers from his show at Public Access. (Go see it).

Finally(s): Things to Do

Visit fave artist Geoff McFetridge’s show at Half Gallery in NYC (Hypebeast)
Via Blackbird Spyplane, pick up some swag from other fave artist Tauba Auerbach’s Diagonal press.
Via [SIC] homie, and other other fave artist Erik Foss, check out the Free Arts Auction (Instagram)
Pick up a copy of Hamburger Eyes new old book, “Celly Brain.”
Oh and while we’re on topic -dig up a copy of Jerry Hsu’s book “The Beautiful Flower is the World” is god-level cell phone shots and is a must have. (Mexican Summer)
Final corollary: not a thing to do, but s/o to [SIC] homie Hunter Muraira’s Yashica T4 gets its moment in the sun over at Jenkem. But no shots from APT?! (Instagram)