Examining the Art in Artificial
We are used to consuming art in very specific forms, and as artificial intelligence shakes that up, we must move towards a renewed legal and cultural understanding of it.
Paths
Accessing Wellness: Exploring the Trend of Ingestibles
The concept of wellness has undergone significant changes in the post-pandemic era. Health-conscious consumers have been driving the demand for them. Equally, they have broadened the lens with which holistic health is viewed. Particularly popular within this sphere are ingestible forms of wellness: what does this entail, and why is it so attractive?
Internet Content and the Non-Genre
In the current cultural climate on the internet, there is an emphasis on the need to evade labels, regulation and commodification. Against the background of the trending #corecore hashtag, we examine how creative expression takes place online. Does internet content really need to be classified by genre?
Remembering COVID: Time and Memory in the After
A few weeks ago, the BBC published an article discussing a study that claims the mental-health crisis resulting from the pandemic was ‘minimal’. In the hours that followed the BBC’s posting on Twitter, users began quote-tweeting it alongside the most troubling experiences they underwent during lockdowns, ridiculing the idea that these findings might be based in some truth. The tweet now stands with over 45,000 quote-tweets, carrying an ‘added context’ addendum flagging the fact that the study in question was not based on populations that were likely to have been adversely affected by the pandemic. “The review did not look at lower-income countries, or specifically focus on children, young people and those with existing problems, the groups most likely affected”, states the BBC reporter in the article. “Usually this kind of revisionism takes longer” observes one user in the thread of responses to the BBC, pointing out that it hasn’t been that long since we were isolated from one another, both witnessing and experiencing incredible forms of loss. With our rapid return to normalcy, are our memories of the pandemic changing shape?
Performing Inclusion: Queer Politics in the Corporate Workplace
With organisations striving to be more inclusive in their conduct and policies, we trace the underlying sociopolitics of doing so — understanding how LGBTQ rights are viewed in association with business goals, and examining the different layers of inclusion.
Urban Living: Questioning the City and Its Resilience
What does living in a city really mean? In this edition, we draw attention to the interactions between built environments and the bodies that occupy them – exploring the many resiliences in the urban.
(Mis)Trust & (Non)Understanding
As the world grapples with the limits of artificial intelligence (AI), there is an increasing focus on aspects of transparency and trust in the human-machine relationship. Generative AI is progressing with leaps and bounds – but how is its equation with people evolving, given that one party is human and the other is technological?
Thinking Through the Pink
The Barbie movie and its associated colours, merchandise and promotions have taken the world by storm. Through this article, we think through the pink, plastic, perfect world of Barbie, and ask what the doll, the brand, and the movie mean to us as consumers.
Science as Patriotism
As India basks in the celebrations of its recent space mission, we look at how science finds a place in national sentiments. How do we make meaning of it in a democracy, and what values do we place on it as citizens?
Lightscapes
The festival season is upon us, with its eternal moorings in the triumph of good over evil, pathos and ethos, and ultimately light/darkness in binary opposition. In this edition, we explore how we make meaning with, of, and through light.
