Agalia Tan

“⁠The antidote to the alienating spiral of self-optimisation is collective joy, like dancing badly in the dance class,” and later, “I guess, in the end, it all circles back to the same thing as always – commodification. Is there any way to escape this loop?”

Sarah Bahbah is known for pushing creative boundaries with her work, but “Can I Come In?”, the new series commissioned by WePresent, is the multi-hyphenate artist’s most ambitious work to date. Not quite a documentary, not a podcast and definitely not your standard interview series, “Can I Come In?” is instead something new—an emotionally charged,... See more

the newness fades as the innovations are monetized to death. Any joy in the new forms of expression is ruthlessly exploited, most often in the form of increased advertising. There's something Sisyphean in the whole process. Authentic online cultures are always being ruined, as users inevitably complain, but also always emerging again. No platform

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In a workout, if you don’t feel it burn, you’re not really working out, right? I think that cognitive work is the same way. So while I am really interested in using AI, I think there is a sense where, if this is too easy, I’m probably not thinking or learning, and keeping that in mind. I can use this, but I shouldn’t be using it all the time.... See more

The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently. -David Graeber

envy as tea leaves for what we really want

Scott Belsky coined the term insecurity work to describe work that does not move the ball forward, but is quick enough that you can do it multiple times a day without realizing.

Unlike insecurity work, deep work often feels elusive because it takes time.

It requires weaning yourself from distractions and being unencumbered by the highs and lows of... See more

We think of it as three pillars: AI, human, and brand. AI brings power and speed, the human brings taste, intuition, and problem-solving, and the brand provides the framework that keeps everything on-point and relevant. Without that balance, you either get work that’s technically impressive but soulless, or work that’s imaginative but not aligned... See more