Strands of Genius: Huge Strides for Representation but Make it Fashion, Sustainable Words We Don't Have in English, Taking the Gender Inequality in NFTs Head On

Guest curated by Steph Morrow

Apr 01, 2021

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, STEPH MORROW ::

LOCATION: Amsterdam
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Virtue

Hey, I'm Steph. I'm writing to you from my home in Amsterdam where I head up strategy at VIRTUE, the creative agency within VICE Media. Faris and I met back when when I was 21 and first starting my advertising career at KBS+. I have a strong point of view and no filter, so we clicked immediately. I probably owe him the tuition of an MBA for the amount of fundamentals he taught me in that period of time. And for the amount of beer. I can spend hours talking shit with Rosie & Faris about culture, what makes people tick, why brand advertising sucks so hard most of the time and technology is amazing. And then go dancing. Which is why I love them so much and am honored to be a Guest Curator for their brilliant Strands of Stolen Genius.

Editor’s Note (Faris): Steph was brilliant as soon as I met her and has continued to flourish, blossoming in Amsterdam as a head of strategy for an agency built around culture. Incredibly fast and smart strategically, with an intuitive empathy for consumers and co-workers (but that doesn’t mean she won’t tell you exactly what she thinks.) She introduced us to her lovely team in Amsterdam and then suddenly it was 4am. We can’t wait to get back to hang out again. Miss you Steph!

:: THE LINKS ::

HUGE STRIDES FOR REPRESENTATION BUT MAKE IT FASHION

Lil Nas X's queer fever dream of a music video, Montero (Call Me By Your Name), is a masterpiece. Our VICE LGBTQplus slack channel was going off when this video dropped this week and it's no surprise. The importance of a queer black superstar like Lil Nas X owning his sexuality on a global platform, not with coded language or visual metaphors, but a proud anthem cannot be overstated. I spend a lot of time talking to brands about the importance of being big, brave and unambiguous in their DE&I commitments, and giving intersectional creators a global stage. This is why. This legendary music video will go down in history as one of the most important moments for inclusion in hip hop. Period. (YouTube)

SUSTAINABLE WORDS WE DON'T HAVE IN ENGLISH (BUT WE NEED)

I got tipped off to this awesome Instagram post by my friend Jessica Marati Radparvar's brilliant Reconsidered Newsletter that she curates for people who want to use business to make the world a better place. I grew up in NYC with an Italian mom, have an Italian/Brazilian girlfriend and have spent the last 6 years living in Amsterdam. I can't count the number of times that I wished we had a translation for the Dutch word "gezellig" in English, which means cozy, nice and fun all in one impossible to pronounce little word. So much of the culture of the countries and people I love sits in their languages. That's why I love the idea so much of being able to look to language to find tips for sustainable practices that are commonplace in other countries. One of the tips I can vouch for first hand: "fare la scarpetta", the Italian practice of mopping up leftover sauce with bread. Yummmmm. (Instagram)

TAKING THE GENDER INEQUALITY IN NFTs HEAD ON

It wouldn't be 2021 if we weren't talking about NFTs. But with any emerging space, it comes loaded with the same ol' biases. In this case, the NFT world, like the traditional art world, is still very much dominated by white men. Two of my brilliant colleagues, Maria Cristina Sega & Christine Smith, have started this amazing initiative called MCCM to support female crypto artists. They even have a Freshly Minted GAL program where they help fund female crypto artists mint their first NFT (minting, or uploading your crypto art to be sold on digital auctioning platforms, can cost up to $100 per piece or more. MCCM's Freshly Minted GAL program covers the minting costs, with a fraction of the sales of each Freshly Minted GAL piece going towards covering the costs of the next Freshly Minted GAL piece). Not only is MCCM's crypto art amazing, their existence raises an important conversation about the type of digital art world culture we want to create and makes space for more female creators in the process. (Instagram)

Looking for more from Steph Morrow? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from her in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Codenames

:: City :: Amsterdam

:: Book :: Bluets by Maggie Nelson

:: Podcast :: Sway by Kara Swisher. Got all the time in the world for a lesbian with a point of view.

:: Album :: Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79

:: B in LGBT ::

If you liked reading about what I'm into, you can check more of my writing on my medium page, follow me on LinkedIn where I offer hot takes about pop culture, technology, and queer issues, or Instagram, where I mostly post pictures of my cats and RuPaul's Drag Race memes.

Steph Morrow

steph.morrow@vice.com

medium | linkedin | instagram

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

Strands of Genius