🍇✨The Nexialist #0123

priDEMONth | eudaimonic vs. hedonic | keys to the city | less colorful | the age of re-enchantment | the age of pleasure | pleasure activism | ARTificial | padam? | erotica

Jun 01, 2023

welcome to another week of brainsparks and goosebumps, the nexialist

hey, you! i hope this e-mail finds you ~~possessed~~ well. this week you get that big ol’ mix of serious, nonsense, thought-pieces, campy and gay stuff, business stuff, reports and maybe my record of remembering brainsparks from other editions. buckle up and read until the end for at least one delicious brainspark. thank you for reading and sharing 🫀

Buy Me a Coffee? ☕️

🏳️‍🌈priDEMONth👹

well, conservatives in the US are investing a lot of their energy in the culture wars (as usual). it’s that time of the year, where we see a bunch of rainbow-washing (aka pinkwashing) along with bigots and haters. hopefully this year, we see more authentic and actual pro lgbtqiap+ initiatives in care, employment, politics, all year long, and beyond publicity efforts. but this image has backfired and gone viral, which was almost instantly appropriated by the queer community, even originating merch and all. i personally think it’s fabulous.

🍇eudaimonic vs. hedonic

on the synchronicity of my algorithms, this article appeared to me with a new word that made me think of demons. and they are somehow connected after all:

Eudaimonic (“eu” meaning good, and “daimon” meaning spirit or soul) activities are outwardly focused and include those in which we give of ourselves to others. The term comes from what Aristotle described as the “pursuit of virtue, excellence, and the best within us.” In contrast, hedonic (meaning “pleasure”) activities are focused inward and concerned with more momentary fulfillment. Getting the latest phone, splashing out on a gourmet meal, or winning a new sales contract may be hedonic activities. None of them are bad on their own. But when your life is dominated by the pursuit of hedonic rewards, you can start to make choices that will not lead you to happiness in the long run.

it’s a short article and worth the read. in an individualistic culture that sometimes exaggerates the toxic positivity of “myself first”, this is a great reminder: To be a happier, more successful person, get off the “hedonic treadmill”

Giving can take many forms — acknowledgement of someone’s contribution, asking them how they are doing and meaning it, showing empathy, passing on a small note, or sharing an article. Even for young people who may not think they have much to give, the simple act of asking someone to mentor you can boost the self-confidence of the person you’re asking.

🔑keys to the city

this short film from the new yorker caught my mind and connected perfectly with the previous link. a retiring locksmith and a newcomer who is learning how to navigate the work and the city. it’s so beautiful to see, in such a realistic and simple film, these tensions: the old and the new, teaching and learning, simplicity and complexity. it is quite a touching film.

Leading up to his retirement, a New York craftsman trains his young protégé, in a short documentary by Ian Moubayed.

📺less colorful

talking about rainbow-washing (or color-fading?)… apparently, the world is getting less colorful (and more boring?) it reminded me of the age of average (tn#115).

👁️the age of re-enchantment

wunderman thompson intelligence’s new report was an emotional roller coaster for me. at first, i was thinking/rolling my eyes: here they go again, making brands/advertising hijack the joy out of everything (my bachelor is in advertising and communication, and at times i can be quite critical and problematize the industry—which i am part of— and i won’t stop doing it). it reminded me of rita von hunty’s video about fetish, glamour and grammar (tn#75), and how “the word fetish in German means spell, enchantment, mystification. Marx uses it to discuss the commodity form.”

It’s time to remake the world through the lens of re-enchantment, where the new brand metrics are jaw drops, heart swells and goosebumps. Whether numbed by pandemic isolation, burned out by grind culture, or shocked by the 21st-century horrors of politics, war, and climate crisis, people are feeling a sense of absence that is hard to neatly define. Brands can help them transcend these tough times and jolt them from long-standing malaise by celebrating the thrilling, the uplifting, the awe-inspiring, and the magical.

in the end, it reminded me that brands and advertising play a huge role in influencing. that is many times used to exacerbate consumerism and create the feeling we need to buy something to be happy (refer to the hedonic treadmill above), but it can also be used to educate, open minds, and push the zeitgeist forward.

another reminder: in the end, this is an open report, and these learnings and insights are available to anyone, from students and small businesses to freelance workers (like me) and people who want change. the material can also inspire and be applied in ngos, social enterprises and other initiatives that are shaping the futures that we want to build. maybe we can hijack the re-enchantement framework for these causes? here’s an outline i made for future reference (and to make you read it)

drivers: generation dread | the hyperrational world | attention for sale | the joy deficit | fraying social fabric.
elements of re-enchantment: awe & wonder | joy & fun | fear, dystopia and the uncanny | thrill and adventure | serendipity and surprise | magic and mystery
trends:
01 - awakening: three-quarters of people say they “just want to feel something, to feel alive.” Brands can help people feel excited and inspired, shaking off malaise and emptiness with a dose of curiosity, magic, and wonder. Darker themes, and even difficult emotions, can help people make sense of real-life complexity.
02 - transcending: experts say that when we feel part of something that’s bigger than ourselves, it’s good for our wellbeing. We quiet the chatter in our minds and focus our attention outward instead—it’s prosocial. From the wonders of nature to the dazzling power of AI, there are many ways brands can tap into the power of transcendence, delivering experiences that enthrall the senses and spark imagination.
03- reimagining: the final stage of re-enchantment imagines a better future, challenging the status quo and fostering optimism for what comes next. There are opportunities for brands to help reimagine our connections to each other and to nature, to build better relationships with technology, and to reassert the right to fun and joy in our lives.

this report also goes very well with radar’s play-full futures (tn#121).

🍑the age of pleasure

janelle monáe’s new album, the age of pleasure, is coming soon and i can’t wait. the title fits in perfectly with this age of re-enchantement. she just released a clean highly pixelated version of her sunny naughty ‘lipstick lover’ video (against her will), but you can still see the original full of sexy moments here. also, the release date is clever: 6/9 (in the american date format, june 9th).

🥰pleasure activism

this book on pleasure activism has been on my to-read list for a while and i have to bring it up here. i just ordered it and i’ll keep you updated. adrienne maree brown has one of these minds that the present and future need (thank you gustavo for introducing me to her work).

[for those of you in amsterdam, she will be holding an event on june 18th. i wish i could join, but go for me: to feel a thing: a ritual for emergence. it seems like a much

How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life? Author and editor adrienne maree brown finds the answer in something she calls 'pleasure activism," a politics of healing and happiness that explodes the dour myth that changing the world is just another form of work. Drawing on the black feminist tradition, she challenges us to rethink the ground rules of activism. Her mindset-altering essays are interwoven with conversations and insights from other feminist thinkers, including Audre Lorde, Joan Morgan, Cara Page, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Together they cover a wide array of subjects'from sex work to climate change, from race and gender to sex and drugs'building new narratives about how politics can feel good and how what feels good always has a complex politics of its own.
Building on the success of her popular Emergent Strategy, brown launches a new series of the same name with this volume, bringing readers books that explore experimental, expansive, and innovative ways to meet the challenges that face our world today. Books that find the opportunity in every crisis!
adrienne maree brown, author of Emergent Strategy and co-editor of Octavia's Brood, is a social justice facilitator focused on black liberation, a doula/healer, and a pleasure activist. She lives in Detroit.

🖼️ARTificial

i’m back to dutch lessons this year, and then a new word appeared. kunstmatig. the translation: artificial. wait, isn’t kunst art in dutch? then i felt a close-up on my face realizing that ARTificial also has its root in art. i think i have been using this word every other edition of the nexialist and i had never made that connection.

artificial:
late 14c., "not natural or spontaneous," from Old French artificial, from Latin artificialis "of or belonging to art," from artificium "a work of art; skill; theory, system," from artifex (genitive artificis) "craftsman, artist, master of an art" (music, acting, sculpting, etc.), from stem of ars "art" (see art (n.)) + -fex "maker," from facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").
The earliest use in English seems to be in the phrase artificial day "part of the day from sunrise to sunset" (as opposed to the natural day of 24 hours). The meaning "made by man, contrived by human skill and labor" is from early 15c. The word was applied from 16c. to anything made in imitation of, or as a substitute for, what is natural, whether real (light, tears) or not (teeth, flowers). The meaning "fictitious, assumed, not genuine" is from 1640s; that of "full of affectation, insincere" is from 1590s.
Artificial insemination dates from 1894. Artificial intelligence "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines" was coined in 1956.

since we’re in #priDEMONth, the brainspark here was susan sontag’s notes on camp (tn#12): “the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural.”

❤️‍🔥padam?

i couldn’t help but add kylie’s new song here (which has been living in a triplex inside my head), for its campiness and it’s unexpected memeability and inherent earworm quality. kylie is again serving us great bops and i cannot wait for her new album.

🪩erotica

thanks to the endless well of nostalgia that twitter (and the internet) is, this iconic live version of erotica by madonna resurfaced. the trend was: share a live version which is better than the studio. and i couldn’t agree more. it connects so well to erotic intelligence (tn#1), even with lyrics, and just the fun disco choreo. maybe a stretch, but in this version it seems to shift for the original hedonic lyric to a more eudaimonic nature:

You are who you are... (And I)
Wouldn't want to change a thing... (In spite of)
All the pain that love can bring... (So tell me)
What can I do?
I'm so in love with you

You thrill me, surround me
You fill me
You send me
You put me in a trance

see you next week, sweet demons 😈

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