Strands of Genius: The Appeal of Garfield, The Machine Is Feeding Itself, Gathering Inspiration

Guest curated by Harvey Burton, Aspiring Copywriter

Jul 18, 2024

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, HARVEY BURTON ::

LOCATION: Southend-On-Sea, UK

My name's Harvey, I'm 23 from not-so-sunny Southend-On-Sea. I'm an aspiring copywriter and have recently finished my MA in Advertising at UAL. It was actually through this degree that I met Faris - who gave feedback on all the final projects, and chose mine, 'How can broadcasters encourage viewership of women's boxing amongst middle-aged men in the UK?' - a research project that delved far beyond sport and gender deep into wokeness and the pub as a safe haven, as one of the best. As a result I'm thrilled to be guest-writing for the Strands of Genius newsletter, and hope you find my links interesting (if a little weird).

Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We love featuring students and recent graduates, especially those from Paul Caplan’s program at the London College of Communication! Thank you for being here and sharing your crazy and wonderful links with us :)

:: THE LINKS ::

THE APPEAL OF GARFIELD

Okay, bear with me, I know how weird this one looks. I can explain. To me, this video highlights a great deal about the digital landscape we all navigate daily, and has a lot of valuable teachings about the malleability of internet culture, and the origins of fandoms and their roots. The video highlights how something as innocent as a cat from a daily comic strip can become analogous for so much more - for aspects of humanity that reside deep within us all, and how that analogy when made visible in various gruesome and creepy forms can provide the foundations for various subcultures and communities online. It is one of the most thorough studies of internet culture I've ever seen...despite being about a cat who likes lasagne... (YouTube)

THE MACHIN IS FEEDING ITSELF

This second link is a bit shorter as I'm sure any of you who watched the first link will appreciate. This TikTok, though, highlights an increasingly popular theory known as the 'Dead Internet Theory', which essentially suggests that the rise of AI is constituting a drowning out of human activity online. The evidence of this is clear - everywhere you look, there is evidence of AI infiltrating digital spaces, from bots in Instagram comments selling adult material, to strange nonsensical product descriptions on retailer sites as a result of AI autofill, to the insanity that Facebook is becoming. I chose this link as I think it is extremely important to be up to date on the changing state of the internet, as this will potentially have a huge impact on us all, especially once these AI programs become more capable of creating realistic images and believable fake news (plus spider Jesus looked pretty cool). (TikTok)

GATHERING INSPIRATION

Don't worry, we're finishing on a more wholesome link here. On the face of it this video is just a guy making his own Gameboy game, and to an extent that is all it is. What I loved about this video, though, was Jay's ability to tell a story that we can all resonate with, about childhood, about nostalgia, about regret and retrospection. The past you look back on fondly was once the present, and the present you currently sit in, will one day be the past. It can be easy, in any industry, to question yourself and your trajectory, and is something I definitely feel quite often after each rejection or less than great book crit, but it's videos like these that I find helpful in grounding me, in reminding me of the value of the present, and the value of finding the good in it, wherever it may reside. I hope if you take anything away from my guest spot here on Strands of Genius, it is just that - enjoy today. (YouTube)

Looking for more from Harvey? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Binding of Isaac (videogame)

:: City :: London (boring answer I know)

:: Book :: White Teeth - Zadie Smith

:: Song :: Twenty One - The Cranberries

:: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE ::

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my links, and hope you don't think I'm too strange.

You can find my copywriting work in my partner Lauren and I's portfolio here.

If you like what you see, please get in touch! (I can only be an 'aspiring' copywriter for so long!)

- Harvey

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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 :)

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