The Metaverse in Janky Capitalism (2023)
“The Metaverse in Janky Capitalism” by Daniel Felstead is presented to us by an irresistibly blasé AI-generated Julia Fox. An expert originator and manipulator of trends herself, she muses on how internet dynamics shape ideological trends in a robotic vocal fry. Capitalism has become janky for many reasons, one of them being the sloppy and frustrating interaction between online and offline life.
Facebook sees the metaverse as both an––apparently ugly––mirror of reality and an escape from it. But this vision of digital life completely misses what is actually interesting about it––in terms of aesthetics, content, and possibilities. It’s asepticized, two-dimensional, and uncannily smooth (let’s not forget the original metaverse avatars had no legs or butts). This isn’t because none of the $10 billion in funding went into design, but mainly because a VR headset can’t yet display (in real-time) a world as complex as, say, a PS5 can.
So where does the looming metaverse fit into janky capitalism––if it properly should, and will, fuck shit up, then what would be the best way for that to happen? Listen to AI Julia Fox for some grotesque, cringe, messy, perverse, and sublime analysis of the future of the internet.
Literally No Place (2023)
Hello baby dolls, it’s the final boss of vocal fry here. Daniel Felstead’s glossy Julia Fox avatar is back. Last time she took on Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. Now she takes us on a journey into the AI utopian versus AI doomer cyberwarfare bedlam, exploring the stakes, fears, and hopes of all sides. Will AI bring about the post-scarcity society that Marx envisioned, allowing us all to live in labor-less luxury, or will it quite literally extinguish the human race?
We all know Julia Fox isn’t a Manichean binary girlie. As she traverses through the AI apocalypse/AI utopia dichotomy, she shows us an uncanny array of possible futures, delving into the projections of both AI simps and manic tech overlords like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. Watch this video before picking a side.
Always On My Mind (2024)
Step right into the age of neural media, where our deepest thoughts, impulses, and even hormones are sensed and categorized. And if every new media reshapes us in profound and increasingly unhinged ways, then what and how are our bodies being understood, optimized, transformed? In Always On My Mind, buckle up for a crazy ass ride led by bad bitch AI Nicki Minaj and monstrous Elon Musk as they take you on a deranged journey through neurotech, disembodiment, and the mysteries beneath our skin.
Credits:
The Metaverse in Janky Capitalism (2023), 16:53 mins, Daniel Felstead, Commissioned by DIS
Literally No Place (2023), 18:36 mins, Daniel Felstead & Jenn Leung, Commissioned by DIS
Always On My Mind (2024), 18:41 mins, Daniel Felstead with Jenn Leung, Commissioned by Umanesimo Artificiale
Bio:
Daniel Felstead is an academic and strategist whose practice focuses on the intersection of fashion, technology, and culture. He is the course leader of MA Fashion Media & Communication at the London College of Fashion (University of the Arts, London) and co-founder of Emergence of Tomorrow, an online discussion space and community think tank.