🏢✨The Nexialist #0048
Anthropogenic Mass | Year in Search | Ancient Computer | Memories from the Future | Samba em 3 Tempos | Heavenly Samba | Political Aesthetic Change | A Matter of Luck | Dunes
Welcome to yet another week of brain-sparking things I found on the internet.
I cannot believe it, but it’s that time of year when nature reminds me how much colder it can get. So I’m hoping to bring you some warm cuddles in form of content, at least for your heart and brain. Now, let’s begin:
🔎Year in Search
Every year, Google does this and gets me emotional. This year, in particular, it reminds me to be thankful for having my family and (most of) my health.
🏢Anthropogenic Mass
In 2020, the amount of human-made mass, or anthropogenic mass, exceeded for the first time the dry weight (except for water and fluids) of all life on Earth, including humans, animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms.
I saw this infographic while scrolling on Twitter and I could not stop thinking about it, impressed and a bit shocked. I had never thought about it before, but could this data make humans officially be considered parasites on Gaia?
Read: Visualizing the Accumulation of Human-Made Mass on Earth - The Visual Capitalist
⚙️Ancient Computer
120 years ago, this artifact was found in a shipwreck off a Greek island. Am I the only one thinking this might have been a time machine? 🙃 Jokes aside, it did change the timeline of technology.
It displayed the ancient Greek cosmos - the sun, moon and planets - in a sort of ring system. It brought back the history of technology to a much earlier time. It is completely astonishing that the ancient Greeks firstly had the conception of making this technology and secondly the ability to actually physically make it. We've had to rethink the history of technology completely as a result of this single object.
🧠Memories from the Future
BBC Future’s Memories from the Future fasts forward to 2045 looking at how we moved on to become carbon neutral. There is content about floating windfarms, lab-grown meat and a carbon-neutral fashion industry. I like the hopeful take, showing real projects that are already in motion.
Read: 2045: Memories of the Future - BBC Future
🫀Samba em 3 Tempos
Samba was certainly not something that my parents listened to, yet, when I see this performance of Criolo, it makes me so nostalgic and warm. The video is divided into 3 acts: Sofrência, Luta and Alegria. Suffering, Fighting and Happiness. Press play and let it warm you.
Actually, Sofrência is an important word to teach you: it’s a neologism that mixes suffering (sofrimento) and shortfall/lack (carência), and is a musical genre but also an emotion/mood of being sad and disillusioned, especially about love.
🌥Heavenly Samba
December second is the National Day of Samba in Brazil (which I didn’t know), and Emicida gave us this beautiful song and performance for COLORS. The song is an homage to Pixinguinha, “Brazilian composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist. One of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro.” The song is so dreamy, narrating a concert of Pixinguinha in heaven. The guests: Odoya, Maria, Jesus, Oxalá, Budah, Allah, Nanã, Omama, Ganesha, Santa Luzia. Reminded me of the syncretism Nexialist a few weeks ago.
🇧🇷Political Aesthetic Change
COLORS doesn't cease to impress me and now they’re launching an editorial platform. This time, the articles are focused on inspiring people from Brazil, which made me very happy. I was so pleased to see an interview with Erika Hilton, São Paulo’s first transgender city councilor and the most voted in the country. Something that stood out for me when talking about her presence in politics and social media: “changing the aesthetics of politics is very important”
For the past 5 years, COLORS has provided artists with a blank canvas to perform against, allowing them to share their art free from distraction. However, these artists come from diverse backgrounds that influence and are important to understanding their work. With this in mind, COLORS is launching a new editorial platform which will be home to articles, interviews, and multimedia content digging deeper into the countries our artists come from, reflecting our mission to provide space, accessibility, and representation for all forms of creativity.
As we headed to Sao Paulo for a special production period in October 2021, we sought out inspiring individuals to give us their insights on Brazilian society, visual art, religion, and politics. The result has been a wide range of articles and interviews with Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ community, followers of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé, and female MCs and DJs fighting for recognition in the Baile funk scene to name a few. Watch the introductory video we prepared above or on YouTube, discover the first stories below, and stay tuned for more to come…
Read: “We are advancing because we are united”: An interview with São Paulo’s first transgender city councilor Erika Hilton — COLORSxSTUDIOS
🇪🇸A Matter of Luck
This week I discovered Gallery Session, another great curator of up-and-coming artists. Natalia Lacunza was the first artist that appeared to me and made me love it.
🌵Dunes
I think 2021 has been the year that I integrated Spanish-singing music into my daily life. So here’s another song from two Chilean artists that I have been playing on repeat. Get ready for some 80s vibes and rhythmic moans.
❤️If anything made your brain tingle, click like and don't hesitate to share it with the world. It helps The Nexialist to reach more curious minds. See you next week!🦦
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🤙Call me…
If you like what you see here and your project, brand or business needs some ideas or inspiration from outside your bubble, maybe you need a Nexialist to help you out 🙋🏻♂️ I can participate in brainstorms and workshops, guide inspiration sessions, or provide you with creative research. You can always send me an e-mail to figure something out together.