A new AI-powered social network, immersive art & questioning our questions
February 2, 2023 Edition
The Weekly Digest is back, and it’s now a standalone newsletter, under the banner of the Mettā View. Distributed weekly to your inbox, it will remain composed of two sections, Looking Out and Looking In.
In Looking Out, expect commentary on the world of fashion, design, leadership, culture, social media and technology.
On the other hand, Looking In concentrates on resources, recommendations and other valuable insights for conscious work, mindful communication and generally things that can help nurture us, body and mind, whether we need tips around work or personal matters.
I hope you enjoy this week’s edition.
As always, thank you for reading me.
Have a good one.
Much love,
LOOKING OUT
There’s a world of difference between insisting on someone’s doing something and establishing an atmosphere in which that person can grow into wanting to do it.
– Mr Roger (quote via Dense Discovery)
THE CO-FOUNDERS OF INSTAGRAM ARE BACK
And with a new social network up their sleeve.
Named Artifact, it’s meant to represent articles, facts, and artificial intelligence, the new platform is like Twitter, a modern-day twist on Google Reader (an RSS feed) and TikTok for text.
The two tech entrepreneurs are leaning on algorithmic predictions, inspired by the TikTok revolution. They are even perplexed as to why other platforms still only recommend content from your friends and those you follow.
However, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have a strong stance when it comes to factual information, and their plan is to work with big-name publishers and smaller sites. Though the concept of curated news isn’t particularly, well, new, they'd be taking on Google News, Apple News and even Substack. I’m interested to see more. Register for Beta use of the new platform here and read more about it on the Verge.
NIKE & TIFFANY’S NOT QUITE THE HEAVENLY BRAND COLLAB EXPECTED
This week’s inescapable story is the release of Tiffany’s x Nike. Premiered by LeBron James on Instagram yesterday (a post that already garnered over 270 million likes by the time I’m typing this), it made its debut away from the catwalk, in the NBA tunnel.
The intention behind this collaboration and several notable ones (including Beyoncé and Jay Z) is for the newly-owned LVMH brand and 200-year-old company to become part of the cultural conversation, says Alexandre Arnault, the CEO of Tiffany’s. I’d say they have achieved what they set out to do. As to the tone of the conversation? Not great. The response to the collaboration has been lukewarm in China, as reported by Jing Daily. Maybe they should have been a little clearer about their intention? Read more here.
FASHION & POLITICS, WOMEN’S EDITION
Having worked in and around the fashion industry for a couple of decades, I’ve rarely seen myself in any of the women leaders, be it in Europe or elsewhere. Of course, like most of the world, we were enthralled by Michelle Obama’s style, her exquisetely defined upper arms, and how she wielded her fashion as a powerful tool in her official duties as a First Lady.
Jacinda Ardern ushered in a new era as a fierce and kind leader who understood the importance of cultivating her personal style without embracing a version of the male uniform.
In this piece by Vanessa Friedman from the New York Times, I learned that she also almost exclusively wore New Zealand designers, but defining that term broadly: “Wearing a traditional Maori kahu huruhuru feather cape — a symbol of power and respect — to the Commonwealth dinner in Buckingham Palace in 2018 and donning a feather stole for the queen’s funeral in September, custom-made by the Maori designer Kiri Nathan. (She also wore the feather cape for her last official speech to the country, given in honor of the 150th birthday of the prophet Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the Maori spiritual leader.)”
Her choices move me. The symbolism behind the pieces illustrates to the world what fashion can achieve for a woman in politics. I must also mention how awed I am that she is leaving her position on her own terms. What an inspiration. Read here.
Thankfully, while Adern is leaving the public eye, I still have OAC (Alexandra Occasio-Cortez) to fangirl over.
In the same theme, but exploring the exact opposite stance, this piece by the same editor documents the new Italian PM’s style, and the radical shift in her choices since her election. Black pant-suits all the way. Read here.
MMERSIVE ART EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN OURSELVES AND NATURE
I was enraptured at first sight by this new immersive exhibition by TeamLab in Tokyo and one of their recent large-scale artwork additions, including a garden with over 13,000 live orchids. As Dezeen explains in this article, announcing the expansion of TeamLab’s museum:
“By immersing the whole body with others in these monumental works of art, the boundary between the body and the artwork dissolves. The self, others, and the world become one, creating a new relationship without boundaries between ourselves and the world.’”
This inner journey is proving so tempting that if I hadn’t vowed to fly less, I’d be booking a flight to Tokyo for this unique experience. Discover here.
Looking In
BUILDING A BRAND, THAI SILK AND STAYING GROUNDED
I interviewed the bright entrepreneur Kate Socatiyanurak for my latest Out of the Clouds episode. It was a thoughtful conversation, and it was fascinating to hear Kate share her journey from boarding school to the London School of Economics to returning to her home in Thailand and working in content creation for luxury brands. Then she tells me how her startup, Merandi, was born from a single conversation with her friend and co-founder, Grace. The savvy marketer also talks about branding, the importance of a strong unique selling point and corporate social responsibility and reminding herself it’s good to build a brand and create thoughtful products (all made to order), but that it’s equally important to stay grounded and to find ways to give back to society.
Kate offers lots of good thoughts about both business and mindfulness, exactly what Out of the Clouds is meant to explore. Have a listen to the interview here. Happy listening!
QUESTION YOUR QUESTIONS
I learned something great a couple of weeks ago:
The quality of our questions can directly impact the quality of the answers. Have you heard this before? I certainly had, but I forgot how applicable this was and helpful to practice in daily life.
Is there a recurring question that comes to you, like ‘how can I do this’ or ‘will I ever make it work?’ There can be undue pressure hidden behind these seemingly normal interrogations.
As demonstrated by Tara Mohr, the Playing Big coach, over Zoom the other week, this simple act of reframing your questions to serve you rather than pressure you can result in freedom and opportunity.
My first question shifted from ‘Can I make this work?’ which was a binary yes/no question that offered me no path towards solutions or possibilities to ‘How can passion drive me towards what I want to achieve?’
Reframing is easy, if you can rembember to do it, and here’s what to look for if you want to give this a try. Make your questions:
Simple
Open-ended
Inspire curiosity
Point you towards somwehere helpful
You can watch the recording of the Sunday Session with Mohr via this link if you want to get into it a little deeper.
Let me know how you get on!
