Introducing Brain Rot [12.13.2024]
a segment on internet culture you can read in 3 minutes
Nothing captures the zeitgeist like the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year, and in 2024 that word was ‘Brain Rot’.
Brain Rot · Noun · (slang, derogatory):
the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging
Growing up I was warned that too much TV would make my eyes go square. Now it turns out that manic scrolling rots my brain. Since my decomposition is inevitable, I decided to do something useful and share my favourite maggots via brain rot – a segment on internet culture you can finish in just 180 seconds.
SQUARE EYES:
Éamonn Zeel Freel X Alizee Gamberini: 👅 + 🎂
INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS:
“Nearly all events are disembodied, experienced through a phone screen or 'simulation pod', which has the same sensory impact as watching a Netflix show, the hyper-flattening effects of the algorithm juxtaposing totally unrelated bytes of content together, which only fuels the pervasive sense of weirdness”
– Günseli Yalcinkaya’s When Weirdness Goes Mainstream for BURN AFTER READING
STALK OF THE WEEK:
Texto Dallas is a multi-hyphenate [illustrator, painter, writer, director, editor, composer, singer, tattooist] nail artist known for 3D printing, or hand sculpting, talons.
His works draw inspiration from technology and nature, but it's the existential threads that set him apart. One Final Fantasy - The Spirit Within inspired nail set bears the caption “If fingers are the extension of human’s brain, nails could be the extension of our soul. Slipping out from the cuticle only visible to a certain kind of people”. His most recent work ‘Sensors’ imagines an post-apocalyptic reality where nails serve as the only sensory transmitters. STALK HERE
THE DOOMSCROLL:
The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO inaugurated a new celebrity — if you liked Jools Lebron you’ll love Luigi Magione. Combining leftist philosophies with the ability to handle an automatic weapon, the 26-year old thirst trap has something for everyone. Capturing our current state of culture in the most dystopic way a Shooter Lookalike Contest was held in Union Square last week. This accompanies online publications of Luigi’s entire Good Reads history, a $LUIGI memecoin with a $76 million market cap, and Magione themed merch going rife on X and in the Union Square Christmas Market. Read more
Virtual sneaker brand RTFKT announced its closure — just two years after its Nike acquisition, OG NFT brand shared it would be winding down in the coming weeks Some lamented the shutdown as a sign that digital assts were NGMI, most accused the team of rugging fans. Meanwhile I wrote this rant about why conflating cultural assets to their price is detrimental. Read more
Bitcoin tipped $100K — following a series of signals from the US government (Donald Trump being renamed President-elect and his appointment of pro-crypto Paul Atkins to lead the SEC) Bitcoin passed the 6-figure mark. Whether this alleged ‘bull run’ will actually further digital culture outside the ‘Bro Economy’ is still to be seen, but the degens are overjoyed. Read more
WHAT’S REPLACING US:
SORA – After an early test leak OpenAI’s video tool Sora, was released on Monday. Free for students but costing the rest of the world between $20 and $200 per month, the software allows users to generate videos from text and image and make granular edits. Creator sentiment ranges from excitement to apprehension, with some early testers levying accusations of “art-washing” from the giant who allegedly ‘exploited labor by relying on unpaid or undercompensated artistic contributions to refine the model’ (Moin Roberts Islam for Forbes). Learn more
WHY IT’S WORTH IT:
In 2015, some genius created the account bowiebranchia with the sole aim of sharing ‘Nudibranchia or other opisthobranchia compared to the various looks of David Bowie’. The account has run for six years and contains close to 50 images.
As this is the pilot of brain rot I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you found the segment relevant? interesting? enjoyable? Are there sections you’d like to add? Or is it completely missing the mark? Please SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK, and in return I’ll give you a one-year free premium subscription to This Outfit Does Not Exist