Energy Sources #04 – Aug.22
Energy Sources | Issue 04 | August 2022
Season 3 of my ENERGY TRANSMISSION ended and again I need a short break from my interviews. To come back with a planned out Season 4 – thinking of doing a German-focused season... we'll see 👀
This month I resume to my other format "ENERGY SOURCES". This listicle format helps me to fill the gaps between interviews and seasons. So, here we go again!
It consists of things I found on the Internet or in streets, that infused me with some kind of vibes that I wanted to share with you. This month, I listened to my dear friend Knuth. He had the idea to share some interviews between interviews. So, we start off with 5 interviews I found on the web and then some other sources of different energies that made me think. A lot is happening right now. If you have any recommendations, links or wanna chat – please feel always free to reply to the mails. Thank you so much. 🙏
These are my new energy sources for August '22:
The first interview is a great portrait of popular german gallerist Johann König and how generally NFTs can equally be a blessing for the art market; or a curse. What I immediately liked was the story of Johann and Danish artist Jeppe Hein from 2002. They risked a lot which proved them right. And the artwork '360° Presence' is still absurdly mesmerizing. Have a look here! The other takeaway was König's latest digital venture Misa.art which I didn't know is very much his thing: "An online buying and selling platform which aims, in his words, to make the “art market more accessible and understandable for both collectors and artists”.
TREMAINE EMORY & ANGELO BAQUE TALK ABOUT THEIR UPBRINGING, STRUGGLE & COMMUNITY LOVE
My second interview recommendation is an interview by Highsnobiety and more of a talk between two big names in the culture: Tremaine Emory and Angelo Baque. Both starting in New York, both closely linked to Supreme and both making huge moves for over 20 years now. Baque successfully launched AwakeNY after leaving Supreme and Emory rejoined forces with Supreme as their Artistic Director this year. Exciting to see what will await us. As HS states it: "In a rare sit-down interview, Emory and Baque talk about their roots, how Queens and their upbringing shaped who they are, and what their experiences and vision mean for the future generation of streetwear." You can watch the whole thing on YouTube or scroll through the inspiring article on highsnobiety.com .
Matthew McCormick – Lead Me Not Into Temptation
Now the third interview is a talk by Sorcha Ní Cheallaigh for the The Fall Mag with one of my favorite artists at the moment: Matthew McCormick. (Still sad I couldn't visit his studio in LA) – Anyways, the reason for the interview was the artists' solo show in London's new OMNI gallery in Eastcastle Street, called 'Lead Me Not Into Temptation'. I really like his statement about the American Dream, with the demise on one hand and cult icons of America on the other being prominent parts in all of his work: "I wouldn’t say that the American Dream is completely dead. I would say that the harsh reality is that the white picket fence dream vs. the actual possibility of that is not as much of a reality as it was post World War II. Human greed takes a front seat to providing basic human needs, and the effects have sent shockwaves through everything from housing to education." You should also check out his playlist accompanying the exhibition here.
All Star Series: Tyler Talk, Paris
Okay, this one is FULL of energy. One of my favorite musical geniuses Tyler The Creator sits down with Converse to yeah, present his new line of shoes, but mostly give young aspiring creatives a boost of positive energy and a reason to keep going! I love his view on Logos and Corporate Identity: "We get caught up in the one logo. [...] If you build a world, people will always associate [your product] with that."; in other words: why not have many many logos?! And his talk about Modern Consumerism: "People just buy anything now; people aren't buying pieces that they truely love and wanna wear every single day." – the part where he falls in love with the voice of one of the creatives in the audience is also a sooo handsome and heartwarming moment. Loved it! And I'm sure you will too.
At a Distance: Tony Fadell on How to Build Culture-Shifting Products
The last of my promised five interview recommendations this month takes us to Spotify. And basically I can totally recommend the podcast where I took it from first: At a Distance by The Slowdown is great for deep-diving into minds and visions. But the particular episode I wanna recommend is an interview with Tony Fadell, mostly known for inventing the iPod and co-inventing the iPhone. Yeah, I know. What I took away from the interview is that his latest book "Build" can be quite good – I love that he wrote it for our generation, for the TikTok generation; for a generation that reads sporadically. But most importantly for me was his view on real, culture-shifting ideas. Like his iPod. And how people in startups, in agencies, in media houses and big corporations should change their perspective: "Algorithm driven ad revenue is disruption of society and no innovation." For me, the worst kind of disruption. Take a look at Instagram and you see it for yourself. Change from profit to profound please!
A MILLENNIAL CONSIDERS THE NEW GERMAN PROBLEM AFTER 30 YEARS OF PEACE
This one is a heavier piece to read. And a recommendation by Knuth, who I mentioned earlier. This article was written by Dr. Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow in the European Council on Foreign Relations – one year before Russia started their large-scale attack on Ukraine. She reflects on how millennials are now in positions of power in German foreign policy and how this upbringing has shaped their thinking. I was really intrigued by the part about "Check Your History" where Frank wrote: "Generations are often defined by important events — living through the same moments and experiencing the same upheaval at the same age binds a generation together, gives it a theme, and creates points of reference." and continues "Trying to understand politics seemed as important as aiming to learn about geography, geometry, or geology — all reasonably interesting fields but without an immediate impact on our lives." Definitely worth your time and reflect for yourself about how we all grew up politically and if history really has ended for us; or if it's just beginning.
The Atlantic Ideas: Workism Is Making Americans Miserable
Another more tough-to-read article I recommend this month was published in The Atlantic and written by Derek Thompson in February 2019 – before the Covid pandemic. And this very much portrays what went wrong with the working society and work as religious gap-filler. I think, since Covid it's gotten even worse. As Thompsons states in the article about 'The Gospel of Work': "What is workism? It is the belief that work is not only necessary to economic production, but also the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose; and the belief that any policy to promote human welfare must always encourage more work." and while he is very America-centric in his quotes by experts and studies I think this easily can be projected onto the world: "Millennials were honed in these decades into machines of self-optimization. They passed through a childhood of extracurricular overachievement and checked every box of the success sequence, only to have the economy blow up their dreams." – check it out for yourself while enjoying the sunbath and think about where to spend your time and if working 12 hours the day really is your enlightenment. Will you remember the days you spent with your family or the ones working overtime?
NYTimes: Chaos and Creation – Inside the Making of Yeezy Gap
I am sorry if I bore you with all the Ye-related content but I had to put this one in. I think this triangle of brands is one of the most interesting things that happened beyond DONDA: Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga – or how they call it 'YGEBB'. This article in the New York Times by Vanessa Friedman, Jessica Testa and Sapna Maheshwari not only perfectly summerizes the over-2-year-journey of this massive project but also holds some new infos and insights on the thing. For me first and foremost how Demna Gvasalia describes Ye's vision: "Ye’s not really interested in fashion at all. He wants to know: ‘How can we make a new version of the hoodie? What’s next? What do we want to wear in 20 years?’” and he interestingly stated: “This was just step No. 1. He needed a starting point, and that was my challenge: to give him the starting point. But he is still miles and miles away from where he wants this to go.” What do you think of the products, the vision and where will it take 'Yeezy'?
TOBI.ENERGY PRINTS
If you're interested in some of my personal photographic work from my journey last year to LA click here to have a look at the prints that are available for purchase.
The first photos have started shipping thanks to Jochen Lauscher and gallery Saitling. The results are beautiful! 🥰
That's it for now. I hope you feel inspired or energized in any way by this newsletter and make the most of it!
Get out there, enjoy your summer – but protect your energy.✨
The next "Energy Sources" will drop on September 1st. It will partly be about this years gamescom and partly consist of random findings.
The next Interviews start in October. Hopefully. I will keep doing these in between Energy Transmission issues to fill the void. 🕳
See you. 🫂