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Matt Hope's avatar

Wow that IS a loud thought. I had to re read that a few times

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Nikita Walia's avatar

hahah

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a dose of dev :)'s avatar

I read your full piece on Print's website, and my GOD. You are so incisive with how you unravel cultural trends. I'm primarily a theatre artist and this is timely given how many regional theaters are actively panicking given recent arts funding being slashed. In order to stay afloat, I'm noticing that season announcements are getting 'safer' (re: White, aggressively heterosexual, as politically inoffensive as possible) as a means of securing more conservative patrons.

This also has me thinking about certain famous artists like Beyoncé, who are utilizing corporate investments (Levi's, Sir Davis, Cécred, etc.) to fund a massive cultural project such as "Cowboy Carter". And she's an extremely unique example, but I'm thinking about your mention of some artists choosing the corporate project with constraints to fund the more risky (I wouldn't call it radical given her absurd accumulation of capital) work. I'm thinking in draft, but your work makes me think big thoughts haha. Thank you!

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Nikita Walia's avatar

this is so kind, thank you! and absolutely, it's all come down to a weird calculation of capital x risk x survival!

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Nicolas Cevallos's avatar

Thank you for putting this tension into words. As a both cultural enjoyer and strategist, I totally feel seen by how much I push a brand to certain culture, artist or aesthetic. It seems like the most leverage I get, the more responsible I should be to protect the culture on the other side. always love reading your takes. :)

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Nikita Walia's avatar

thanks so much for reading and your thoughtful comment! it's certainly a fine line to walk, being (re)generative + additive instead of extractive. If this is a thread you want to follow, I'd highly recommend Nick Susi's the culture is the client: https://nicksusi.substack.com/p/culture-is-the-client

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