Marta Pyr

y folk artist, I mean “an individual creating art reflecting a particular culture, society, or community.”

I argue that this digital folk renaissance, characterized by memes, viral videos, and grassroots content, faces an existential threat from artificial intelligence, much like folk art faced a threat from the First Industrial Revolution. As AI... See more

This is a model I also use for my creative work. Last year:

• I released an essay as a limited edition zip file to express the gravity of the work in my eyes


• The piece generated more than $1,000 from collectors in a week


• More than a hundred collectors wrote long responses that were incredibly meaningful


• The essay continues to have a strong online shelf

... See more

An easy way to think about this is many are constantly eating a form of cultural Big Mac every day, while Michelin-quality food is just a click away, but essentially invisible because it requires a tiny amount more work. They don’t even know they’re doing this, how this affects their mind, or what they’re missing.

When motion picture cameras and projectors arrived in the late 19th century, people used static cameras to film stage plays and create “animated photographs” of everyday scenes, like laborers working in a factory. But within a few years, new editing techniques, close-ups, camera motion, and special effects were used to link scenes together into a... See more

“We’ve never had more freedom, more choices. But in reality, most people are subtly funneled into the same streams, the same pools of ‘socially approved’ culture, cuisine and ideas.... You might think you’re choosing, but you never really are. When your ideas, interests, and even daily meals are largely inspired by whatever was already approved,... See more