Brain Rot [12.30.2024]
the rot after Christmas
SOME PERSONAL NEWS 💬 Last week I announced that my digital fashion platform DRAUP had been acquired by TRIBUTE BRAND — the first company creating clothes for fashion’s new realities. I plan to spend the holidays reflecting on this transition, and jotting down some thoughts, but for now I’ll share that I could not be more excited for this next chapter, or more grateful to those who have supported me thus far.
Now let’s get rotten.
SQUARE EYES:
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INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS:
The bad part of getting older is that you become an NPC, the good part is being an NPC rocks. Nothing like walking down the street with a thought bubble that’s just a sandwich you’re looking forward to. Protagonism is best left to teens and the insane
— scumbagsblog via Perfect Sentences
STALK OF THE WEEK:
Alona Sobolevksa is a Ukrainian visual and performance artist who aligns with the art brut movement. Currently based in Paris, she uses SFX makeup, found materials and fashion to make work that comments on consumerism through the corporeal in ways that are both amusing and grotesque. STALK HERE.
THE DOOMSCROLL:
Robbie Williams is played by a CGI Ape in his new biopic:‘A Better Man’ – over 18 months of conversations with filmmaker Michael Gracey the singer identified himself as a ‘performing monkey’. Taking this analogy literally, Gracey has used “beguilingly expressive” CGI to give Williams “this chance to tell this story, not from the perspective of how we see Rob, but how he sees himself”. As avatar-based social networks have proven, virtual personifications allow for expanded bounds of self-expression and increased emotional access. I’m looking forward to seeing what Williams describes as "the greatest hits of my trauma for the TikTok generation" portrayed in a way that leverages the evocative capabilities of 3D.
The TikTok ban is under discussion – even before Skibidi Toilet claimed fame, US lawmakers were actively opposing TikTok, claiming it poses threats to national security, not to mention American morals. The most antagonistic bill, signed by Biden in April, mandated that the Bytedance-owned platform must cease US operations, or be sold to a US company, by January 19th 2025 (the same week all filters will be deleted from Meta). Now Trump has stepped in with a hail mary that even
failed to predict. Reneging on the sentiment expressed in his first term, yesterday the President elect filed a brief to postpone the Supreme Court’s ruling, highlighting the platforms’s importance to 170 million Americans and small businesses alongside its role in free expression. To be continued…2024 is wrapped — as the 31st approaches every tech platform, newsletter writer and brand makes their attempt to tie up the year with narcissistic grace. While the majority of predictions are, guess what, predictable, some standouts include: 52 questions for innovators in 2025 by
, the next big thing in 2025 by and a pithy close out on 2024’s cultural moments year by Spike Art Magazine.
As I’m sure you’re all overwhelmed with un-wrapping, my 2025 State of Digital Fashion will surface at some point in January. Here’s hoping it’s as optimistic as a year ago.
WHAT’S REPLACING US:
Remember bots? Accounts with hashed-out usernames that would light-up your socials with copypastaed comments? Well now they’re not only permitted by Meta but actively manufactured by the ever-more-suss social media mammoth.
In an interview with the FT, Meta’s vice-president of product for generative AI announced that the platform would be rolling out tools to helps users create AI characters on Instagram and Facebook which “have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI”.
As Rolling Stone suggests, it seems like Meta gives less and less f-cks about who or what is engaging, so long as something is. This also supports my ever growing suspicions that the platform is disenfranchising creators in order to automate them entirely.
WHY IT’S WORTH IT:
If you’re looking to spend your Chanukah gelt on something that screams ‘I <3 my laptop’ check out:
Gab bois x Black Market F/W2005: – ‘discarded devices transformed into luxury accessories’ including a flip-phone belt, webcam candle sticks and a bonnet with headphone ties as seen on Julia Fox.
Harri x Body Amplification Devices (BAD) — ‘using digital technologies to create hyper-individual non-generic wearables’ BAD has consistently impressed me by making 3D printed shoes that are more than just a tech bro’s wet dream. This collab takes the form of 3D printed ‘Khussa shoes’ —traditional Persian slippers—created in collaboration with latex savant HARRI London.
Tribute Brand’s ODDS generative sweaters – ‘this might just embody the highest form of luxury: subtle and understated, only to be understood by few’. What screams quiet luxury more inaudibly than 1-of-1, artisanally made sweaters, designed from the same algorithm used to produce artworks totalling $200 million in sales (not to be hypocritical). Available with 25% off for a limited time only.
For digital culture, and for me personally, 2024 has been a transformative if disorientating year. Thank you all for sticking around, reading this newsletter, and navigating this change alongside me. Wishing you a beautiful New Years celebration. Bring on 2025 👽 — Dani
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