There is no shortage of newness in the world. If anything, there is too much of it – a slurry of pseudo-political propaganda, memes, insane things Elon Musk has done this week, cancel culture and clickbait, all constantly churned up like a content landslide played on a loop by inexhaustible Instagram reels and TikTok feeds, subreddits and podcasts, and flashed across the myriad streaming services that seem to be multiplying, hydra-like, by the day. And then there is the looming spectre of the metaverse.
In a society where newness for newness’ sake seems to be the only mandate on the agenda (blame the ‘vibe shift’, a handy new zeitgeist-y term brought to you by the same guy – Sean Monahan – who coined the term ‘normcore’ to describe our cultural ephemerality), making any sense of the noise can be a tricky, inexact, science.
While the Youthquake issue may not be a dowsing rod for turning up cultural undercurrents, it does offer a glimmer of the SA design industry’s future. Talking about tectonic shifts, earlier this year, H&G hosted the first edition of ‘CUSP: A Unique Exhibition of Collectable Design’. In collaboration with ceramic designer Jan Ernst, 11 leading creatives were tasked with creating concept-driven, material-led pieces of functional art, elevating their craft into the strata of investment design. Read about it on page 31.
From cover to cover, we debut the breaking superstars of tomorrow’s scene – the designers and curators, tastemakers and innovators who will undoubtedly change the way we live in some way. The truth is, as we are pinballed across the culturesphere, we have no idea what to expect, but there is one thing I know for sure: the kids are alright.
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