Suggestions
Alexi Gunner
independent cultural strategist | ex-AKQA, Zalando, We Are Social
Alexi Gunner is a cultural futurist and the Berlin chapter lead at RADAR. He is recognized as an independent cultural strategist with a strong background in creative, brand, and communications strategy. His previous experience includes roles at notable companies such as AKQA, Zalando, and We Are Social, where he honed his expertise in digital marketing and public relations.
In his current position, Gunner focuses on innovative strategies that shape cultural narratives and trends. He is also involved with the initiative RADAR, which aims to explore and influence the future of culture and technology in Berlin and beyond. His professional journey reflects a commitment to understanding and leveraging cultural dynamics in various contexts.123
Highlights
The idea of ‘slowing down’ - once derided as weak and lame, a feeble surrender to apathy - has increasingly taken on an empowering and commanding vibe.
In the long lineage of punk subcultures, from the King’s Road punks of the 70s, through to the cyberpunks of the 90s, this is it's next iteration: slowpunk.
The latest edition of idle gaze tracks this loosely connected - but determined - constellation of collectives and behaviours fighting against the unbearable speed of modern life.
Pubs are always on my mind nowadays, not just because it's one of the things I really miss about not living in the UK - but because they're a cornerstone of a bunch of different trends I've been following lately: the demise of third places, the meme-ification of gentrified neighbourhoods and impact of social media on the aesthetics and ambience of restaurants and drinking establishments.
With this in mind, I was keen to reach out to one of my favourite pundits of proper boozers on TikTok - writer and expert pintman Jimmy McIntosh, who runs 'Dead pubs' - a channel that posts surreal reviews of London boozeboxes.
I'm obsessed with his videos, not just for their entertaining approach to championing the dying breed of ‘proper’ pubs across the nation, but because, on a deeper level, they perfectly capture a certain haunting undercurrent that flows through London. An inescapable feeling that the city is entrapped in a sort of liminal space; where old boozers in forgotten corners of the city - warm, welcoming, anachronistic relics of the past - mingle with the city’s steely push towards a dystopian future: high rises filled with vacant luxury condos, cut-and-paste retail box parks and soulless winter wonderlands.
idle gaze 067 features a conversation with Jimmy about what makes proper boozers special, and how to celebrate them on social media in a way that does justice to their unique aura.
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