Severin Matusek

The co-opting of “community” into a sales strategy is insidious, not only because it reduces likeminded groups of people to consumer demographics, but because, in an era when we’re all encouraged to cultivate our own “personal brands,” it also reduces each of us to a salesperson , seeking out likeminded people in order to sell them things , whether... See more

If everyone can cheat their way to mastery, wealth, or beauty, they will see it as a giant permission slip to create new ways of finding meaning.

what I’m interested in is not only how we set the stage, but what makes a performance so good that we all end up believing it.

My friend Chris Beiser says that social forms are a kind of capital that is essential to the structure of society and production. To put it a bit differently, the repertoire of forms dictates the kinds of lives that are available to us.

That said, I’m not concerned about AI and creativity, because it does give images this very homogenous look that can look a little basic, too hyperreal. What does worry me is everything around that, for instance, corporate photography and commercials, things like that. For me, it’s the loss of authenticity that frightens me, this is why I want to... See more