Cosmopolitan Boys Sunday Snippets #014
Cover photo by Petra Collins for Vogue Singapore.
08/18/2024, Sunday, 12:54 @ Centro, São Paulo
The big reflection of the week was about: context. I explain better in one of the topics, but in summary, in most cases, people need context to appreciate certain things. Sometimes the elements alone are not so impactful or don't make much sense, but when you add more clues, a story develops, a universe is built… everything changes. And this applies to everything, including what I try to do with this project.
I hope you enjoy this week's selection; I liked it a lot.
*Each topic is dissected a bit more. Click on the arrows and/or links.
WHAT I'M READING:
Alaska Manifesto
Alaska is a creative and design studio founded by Virgil Abloh. I happened to be looking at their work and saw that they have a really cool manifesto hidden on the site. Virgil left a map of everything; we just have to follow it. Here is the manifesto:
ALASKA ALASKA™ MANIFESTO
courtesy of Virgil Abloh™ © V.A. 11/05/21 14:30
Non-tribal.
Of-pyramid.
Non-binary.
Free Flowing.
The mix that defines the moment.
Changing conventions.
Real Design.
Capture the zeitgeist–Contemporary Landscapes.
Relevancy is the Metric.
Readymade.
Human emotion, Irony.
Dichotomies and Similarities.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS.
Again, human interaction.
Justified in the now.
Tourist vs. Purist.
Transparency is a design tool.
Translating current social context.
Rainbow Spectrum
Being cognizant of both the measures of aesthetics and ethics.
Define a universal language that transcends cultural parameters and antiquated hierarchies.
Unlimited and Limited.
Architecting Experiences.
Modern Day Art Renaissance.
Not confined by Physical or Figurative walls that limit creativity.
Fun and Youthful.
Blank Canvas.
Black Canvas.
Cross-platform messaging.
Humble, courteous and truly inclusive.
Design by experimenting.
New New Order.
Collective of like-minded creatives.
Beyond aesthetic.
Modernity and simplicity in a three-dimensional form.
Transcends culture.
To define is to miss the point.
Hierarchies and divisions between disciplines are no longer relevant.
To learn the intricacies.
Intersections.
No linear continuity.
Need no permission to come in.
It’s OK to contradict yourself.
Inclusive exclusivity.
Anonimity as smokescreen.
Doing what we can with what we have.
The only failure is not to try.
“Two heads are better than one.”
Having a point of view.
Perfectionism doesn’t advance anything.
Exactly the opposite.
Founded by Virgil Abloh, A-Alaska is a research-based design and creative service rooted in contemporary landscapes, essentially questioning design while designing “design.”
Founded by Virgil Abloh, A-Alaska is a research-based design and creative service rooted in contemporary landscapes, essentially questioning design while designing “design.”
The Greats: How Alex Webb Found His Street Photography Style
Weekly, I research a photographer or artist to use as the cover of the newsletter and our playlist. Last week's choice was the American Alex Webb, who does street photography in a way that seems like the universe aligns everything in a coordinated manner. Here are some translated excerpts from an article about him:
Alex Webb uses street photography to make sense of the world. Having transitioned from black and white to color, and then from film to digital, Webb's evolving practice shows how the chaos of the street carries much more meaning than what is seen on the surface.
The turning point for Webb was found in Graham Greene's "The Comedians," a novel set in Haiti that details a brutal dictatorship against a backdrop of tropical heat. This vivid story inspired Webb to travel to the Caribbean nation. A few months later, he landed in the capital Port-au-Prince, finding himself immersed in colors so vibrant they seemed woven into the cultural and spiritual fabric. Never having experienced this before, Webb was inspired to start photographing in color, feeling it was the only way to accurately capture the emotion of these places.
"The first three-week trip to Haiti transformed me – both as a photographer and as a human being. I photographed a kind of world I had never experienced before, a world of vibrancy and emotional intensity: raw, disjointed, and often tragic."
Webb often says that 99 percent of street photography is about failure. It's an important lesson to learn when considering his decades-long career. Although he spends almost every day wandering the streets, the vast majority of his images never appear in a luxurious exhibition or photo book. However, Webb's ultimate goal is to be ready when those elusive and fortuitous moments happen in front of him. What makes him a special photographer is his ability to not only recognize those events but also his presence of mind to act quickly and press the shutter before they disappear.
"Take the photos you believe in. The rewards in photography are so fleeting, so unpredictable, often so insignificant, that the only true fulfillment comes from creating."
"I take complex photographs because I experience the world – particularly more and more as I grow older – as a very complicated and, ultimately, inexplicable place. My experiences in the world, my travels as a photographer, lead me to believe that there are no simple solutions, no easy answers, just many difficult and perhaps unanswered questions."
WHAT I'M LISTENING TO:
Nia Smith - Personal (Popcaan Remix)
I recently talked about this song and Nia Smith here, and now a remix with Jamaican Popcaan has come out that made the song even better.
Another Nigerian here. Asake has been breaking several bubbles with giant feats, but without losing his essence of African rhythms and with many lyrics in Yoruba.
THINGS I'M WATCHING:
Tyler, The Creator Opens Up About Art, Internet Culture, and Music on Mavericks with Mav Carter
I love Maverick Carter as a host/interviewer; the conversations are always fun. Tyler talks about many interesting things, but what caught my attention the most was a part where he discusses how the art of artists like him needs context. He gives the example of ‘New Magic Wand’, which at first people didn't like much, but it was his favorite song of his entire career, and in every show, he made a point of emphasizing that this was his favorite song, along with all the visuals, the performance, the dance moves, etc. Once he provided the audience with the ‘context’ of the entire work, they began to understand and like it much more.
KERWIN FROST TALKS TO TREMAINE EMORY, BLOODY OSIRIS, AND A$AP NAST
The best thing I saw this week. The conversation has a lot of interesting stuff, various stories about Virgil, the importance of Stephane Ashpool for the city of Paris and for Fashion Week, how the fashion scene is changing because of influencer culture, etc. A lot of what we live/know/understand today is because of these guys and people in their circle. I feel like many people arriving in fashion/streetwear now do not have a sense of this importance.
Another one from Tyler. This week, his T-shirt with Supreme was announced, and they released this behind-the-scenes interview from the shooting. He talks about his relationship with the brand, its importance for his life and for the culture, and I think it relates a lot to the video I mentioned earlier: people need to know more and understand the historical/cultural importance of things. The coolest part is when he mentions that with his first big paycheck, he went straight to eBay and bought all the Supreme pieces he wanted when he was younger and couldn't afford them.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK:
Thank you for reading, and have a good week. We are going to do a very different event on the 31st; save your afternoon. More information coming soon.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Nl1EW19QTm3t5QMA6eLtM?si=4b55e5a881ff4376
©2024, We wake up and do things, Cosmopolitan Boys.
my portfolio http://caiodosreis.com my experiences http://instagram.com/caaaaaiooooo my research http://culturalmidfielder.tumblr.com my dj sets, beats and remixes http://soundcloud.com/reisceo things I save http://pinterest.com/reisceo little notes https://twitter.com/reisceo
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