New study indicates more women directing top Hollywood films
More women were directing in 2020 than ever before, but still only accounted for a measly 16% of the top 100 highest grossing films. How can the industry change? Last year was a particularly challenging time for films and theatre. The pandemic forced nearly everyone indoors and caused worldwide cinema...
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Juice WRLD sells 1 million units for two albums in 2020
The late rapper and singer is the only artist of 2020 to sell over 1 million units for two albums, cementing emo-rap and trap as the defining Gen Z musical genre. It’s been over a year since Juice WRLD’s untimely passing, but he’s continued to dominate the mainstream charts...
Architects create new sculpture entirely from plant waste
Installed at Tennessee’s Knoxville Museum of Art, a new sculpture made from invasive forestry and plant waste is promoting an ‘alternative material ethic’ for architecture. Who needs brick and mortar when you’re constructing the world’s next best building or architectural masterpiece? Not ‘After Architecture’ co-founders Katie MacDonald and Kyle...
CRA unveils first fully compostable marker pens
Made from natural fibres, these new marker pens from the Carlo Ratti Association are entirely compostable and could eventually replace traditional, plastic highlighters. Your local school arts and crafts box could be about to get a whole lot more environmentally friendly. The Carlo Ratti Association (CRA) has revealed the world’s...
Enormous vulva sculpture sparks controversy in Brazil
Installed days after President Bolsonaro vowed never to legalise abortion in Brazil, Juliana Notari's hillside artwork has divided the country. Though we’re less than a week into 2021, it appears as though the prize for this year’s most controversial public sculpture has already been claimed. Sparking a fierce online debate...
Quorn launches Instagram initiative to combat food waste crisis
With the UK facing new restrictions, Quorn has announced it’ll turn a blind eye to meat consumption this festive season if it means saving pubs and restaurants from a food waste crisis. Over the weekend, meatless super-protein creator Quorn announced via Instagram that it will be supporting the hospitality industry...
Mental health metaphors ‘doubled’ in hip-hop over last 20 years
New research shows popular hip-hop and rap songs of this century reference mental health and suicide twice as much as older tracks. It’s the result of a long and steady cultural shift. Anxiety, mental health, and suicide have become more prominent themes in the most popular rap songs of the last two decades, according to a new report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Researchers analysed...
The anonymous French outfit debunking anti-vax theories online
With the world on the cusp of finally beginning to administer a viable Covid-19 vaccine, an anonymous French collective is rooting out ‘the very worst’ anti-vax sentiments on social media. If you thought anti-vax demonstrations in London and California were bad, France is by definition the most vaccine-sceptical nation on the planet, with as many as 1 in 3 believing immunisation to be dangerous or unsafe. In 2017, mandatory vaccines...
Coach’s latest collection honours classic US pop culture
The NY-based label is aiming to uplift in these trying times with a collaboration between Disney and Keith Haring, one of the most influential artists of the 1980s. A testament to American pop culture, Coach’s latest capsule collection sees an unexpected collaboration between world-beloved Disney and 80s art-icon Keith Haring. Providing us with some much-needed emotional relief amid widespread uncertainty, intermittent lockdowns, and the inevitable doom scrolling...
Nine year-old Ryan Kaji leads YouTube’s top earners for 2020
Ryan Kaji, nine, has once again topped the charts of YouTube’s biggest earners, with toy unboxing and games review videos raking in close to $30 million for the child influencer. It’s time for our annual reminder that children are earning way more than us, and having more fun doing it too. Once you’re all done grinding your teeth and/or pondering your career choices, reconvene with us below and let’s get...
