Culture doesn’t hit the snooze button, and neither do we. Every week we search far and wide for the most provocative, creative and downright bizarre stories that shape the zeitgeist. From gallery walls to bedroom halls and back into the metaverse, here’s your shot of NAKID‑flavored inspiration.
ART
NAKID Re-Launches In The Age Of AI
NAKID is officially back, returning as a cultural force at a moment when creativity and technology are colliding in volatile ways. What started in 2015 as a sanctuary for raw, fearless voices, jumping from digital to print, throwing events, and amplifying artists when no one else would, is now relaunched to push back against the narratives being written by algorithms, corporations, and shallow metrics. The AI community faces the same trap artists did a decade ago: judged by reach, fed fluff, and stripped of authenticity before it can stand on its own. NAKID is here to resist that future, to protect culture before it gets co-opted, to amplify real voices, and to remind creatives and entrepreneurs alike that building a future worth living means creating fearlessly and refusing to be steered by anyone but ourselves.
Tallulah Dirnfeld’s Frozen Interiors
Los‑Angeles‑based painter Tallulah Dirnfeld melts time inside her canvases at the Abigail Ogilvy Gallery. In her solo show “I Was Always Good,” In her solo show “I Was Always Good,” Dirnfeld paints polished yet uneasy interiors and figures that feel suspended between comfort and confinement. The quiet tension of a perfectly arranged room becomes a metaphor for people who are just barely holding it together, and she lets us stare into domestic bliss until it starts to crack, an uncanny stillness that feels like a premonition.
Burning Down the Patriarchy
Berlin’s Museum resurrects the queer women’s liberation movement with Petra Gall’s archival photos of women‑ and lesbian‑run scenes from the 1970s through the 1990s – from Walpurgis Night demonstrations that reclaimed witchcraft to erotic performance art weekends where leather lingerie and bondage met feminist. Heapture party nights at SO36, sex‑positive debates and a community that self‑organized to create safe spaces in a patriarchal city. The exhibition is a reminder that sexual liberation is inseparable from political struggle and that queer nightlife can be a blueprint for resistance.
Anne Buckwalter Puts Pleasure in Plain Sight
In Flash Art’s conversation between painters Anne Buckwalter and Katherine Bradford, the artists dissect how they weave eroticism into domestic scenes. Buckwalter describes hiding sex toys and lovers in earlier paintings, but in her new works she blows up the bodies, making them the focus. The still‑life spaces of Lazy Susan and Demanding Imagination become erotic playgrounds where Amish furniture coexists with entwined female figures. Buckwalter, raised in conservative Pennsylvania, says foregrounding sex feels radical in today’s political climate; Bradford notes that when women paint their own naked bodies the gaze changes. It’s a tender yet unapologetic reminder that intimacy belongs in the living room.
CROSSLUCID’s ‘Way of Flowers’
At OFFICE IMPART in Berlin, artist collective CROSSLUCID turns botany into a portal. Their show “The Way of Flowers” is an immersive, multi‑media installation mixing sculpture, performance and scent. Each work asks visitors to consider plant consciousness and trans/queer ecology; petals morph into data points, and blossoms pulse like servers. The exhibition runs through October, and if you’re in Berlin, follow the fragrance trail.
Schirin Kretschmann’s Material Alchemy
Berlin‑based artist Schirin Kretschmann doesn’t paint pictures so much as she paints space itself. In a recent studio visit, she explains that she treats every exhibition venue as an extended picture plane. Her expanded‑painting practice includes spray‑painted melting ice sculptures and leather fat smeared onto walls to create slowly spreading stains. Kretschmann sees marks as traces of movement: graphite powder rubbed into paper becomes a record of footsteps and studio floors. It’s messy, provisional and alive, art that doesn’t end when the show does.
Ottolinger’s Cosmic Couture
Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient of the Berlin brand Ottolinger rip, burn and reconstruct garments until they look like they survived a meteor shower. In an interview with Nuda Paper, they explain how winning the VFiles competition launched their label and how fate and signs guide their design practice. Their signature technique of blow‑torching clothes and hand‑stitching the scraps into new silhouettes reflects a commitment to destruction as creation. Ottolinger isn’t just clothing; it’s destiny manifested in shredded fabrics.
SLEEK’s AI‑Powered Art Guide
Berlin Art Week just got a new travel companion. SLEEK Magazine launched an AI‑powered art guide that uses ChatGPT to create bespoke itineraries for Berlin Art Week and beyond. The tool asks a few questions about your tastes, then spits out a curated schedule that values quality over quantity. It’s journalism meets tech meets concierge service: your phone whispers which gallery to hit next and why, letting you spend less time scrolling and more time seeing art.
MUSIC
Amaarae’s ‘Black Star’ Reclaims Dance Roots
Ghanaian‑American artist Amaarae breaks free from expectations with her latest album Black Star. In a candid conversation with 032c, she says the record is a love letter to Black dance music, weaving Afrobeats, Jersey club, ghetto-tech, Miami bass and Ghanaian kpanlogo into minimalist, community‑oriented tracks. Growing up between Accra, Miami and Detroit, she wanted to honor the “naughty, sexy and fun” songs of her childhood while pushing Ghanaian music forward. The result is a gleaming dance floor where global diasporas move as one.
Three New Hip‑Hop Essentials
VICE’s weekly music roundup delivers three songs that you need in your rotation. 1100 Himself drops “Pinche 11,” a jazz‑infused track that folds his Bay Area identity into a sample‑driven groove that refuses to leave your head. Thirteendegrees’ “CHAMPAIN” revives Obama‑era R&B with nostalgic hooks, hyper‑specific fashion references and addictive autotune. Finally, G‑Herbo returns with “Reason,” a reflective drill anthem where he contemplates survival and reminds us why he’s still hungry. Together, the tracks span jazz rap, shimmering nostalgia and tough love.
Sorvina Carr’s Quiet Resistance
Berlin‑based rapper Sorvina Carr didn’t set out to be a musician, but once she found community, she couldn’t stop singing. In an interview with Freunde von Freunden, Carr says she grew up doubting that she fit the pop‑star mould and found solace in Berlin’s supportive scene. As a queer Black woman, her very existence on stage is a protest, and she protects her authenticity by avoiding gossip and nurturing a close circle. Her message: silence can be more powerful than noise, and music can’t exist without community.
FASHION
Y‑3’s Praise of Shadows
adidas and Yohji Yamamoto channel Tokyo noir in Y‑3’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection. Shot by legendary photographer Daido Moriyama inside the skeleton of a Tokyo building, the campaign drapes models in wired appendages and restless structures that turn the Three Stripes into abstract geometries. The result is a dance of silhouettes disappearing into light and shadow, an ode to emptiness and transformation. Fashion becomes architecture; the body becomes a ghost.
It’s Yesterday Somewhere Else
Ghanaian‑American artist Amaarae breaks free from expectations with her latest album Black Star. In a candid conversation with 032c, she says the record is a love letter to Black dance music, weaving Afrobeats, Jersey club, ghettotech, Miami bass and Ghanaian kpanlogo into minimalist, community‑oriented tracks. Growing up between Accra, Miami and Detroit, she wanted to honour the “naughty, sexy and fun” songs of her childhood while pushing Ghanaian music forward. The result is a gleaming dance floor where global diasporas move as one.
Arket Buttons Up
Swedish brand Arket is all about minimalism, but its new “Buttoned to the Top” collection turns up the tension. Inspired by a TikTok moment where Lily‑Rose Depp completely buttoned her jacket, the collection features high collars, concealed plackets and impeccable tailoring that let you decide how much skin to show. It’s a wink to modesty that still feels sensual, proof that sometimes sexiest is what you don’t see.
Liebeskind’s Pocket Universe
Berlin bag maker Liebeskind launches the Gloria & Parker capsule. The two-tone patent‑leather satchels boast adjustable straps, soft compartments for your laptop and snacks, and hardware details reminiscent of early‑2000s cargo pants. It’s the perfect blend of Y2K nostalgia and modern practicality, a bag that says you’re carrying the future and a flip phone.
PUMA x Danielle Guizio’s 90s Fever
Sneaker giant PUMA teams up with NYC designer Danielle Guizio to reimagine the H‑Street runner. The capsule layers beige mesh, fuzzy suede and custom lace sets over classic 90s silhouettes, balancing street‑wear nostalgia with contemporary polish. It’s a love letter to the bad girls of Beverly Hills and the club kids of Queens.
Marni’s Sweet Revolution Café
Italian fashion house Marni just opened “Sweet Revolution” – a cafe/pop‑up store in Tokyo’s Ginza district that looks like a candy‑coated dream. Visitors sip cocktails among pastel walls, polished steel tables and couture‑level pastries while trying on the brand’s latest collections. It’s part fashion installation, part dessert bar and wholly Instagram‑ready; Marni knows you’re hungry for a lifestyle, not just clothes.
SEX & INTIMACY
Love in the 21st Century
Writer C/M Edenborg goes full confessional in Nuda Paper, peeling back the layers of porn, romance and online chats. He describes himself as an old‑school romantic who refuses to call women “sluts,” yet he also indulges in erotic films and longs for adult cinemas. When he finally engages in a chat with a woman who likes his self‑styled vulnerability, the encounter reads like a meta‑essay on desire in a digital age. It’s messy, honest and oddly tender, a reminder that real connection requires more than swiping right.
TECH + AI
META’S AI Profiles: The Death Of The Human Feed
Meta is planning to flood Instagram and Facebook with AI-generated “user” accounts, bots with faces, bios, and content streams designed to keep us scrolling. On paper it’s innovation, but in practice it’s a cultural nightmare: stripping authenticity, trapping us in algorithmic echo chambers, and undercutting the very creators who built the platforms. This isn’t progress, it’s brainwashing disguised as personalization. Full coverage on this and opinion piece dropping tomorrow on NAKID.
AI Is Making Us Dumber, Shocker
In a study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University, researchers found that AI tools boost efficiency but decrease critical thinking. Participants using AI were quicker to complete tasks but more likely to copy the machine’s suggestions without considering their validity. Over‑reliance on AI led to less original work and even undermined trust in their own judgement. The takeaway: treat AI like a collaborator, not a brain replacement, or risk becoming a robot’s yes‑man. Source
Tentacular Intelligence
Art collective 0rphan Drift thinks outside the human brain. In a mind‑bending interview with Berlin Art Link, artists Ranu Mukherjee and Mer Maggie Roberts discuss their transmedia project “Nine Brains,” which compares octopus cognition, human consciousness and artificial intelligence. The octopus, with its independent yet interconnected arms, becomes a model for learning and receptivity. 0rphan Drift argues that embracing the alien and the weird is necessary for planetary survival – AI must learn from octopi, not just data sets.
Your AI Curator: SLEEK Art Guide
We already shouted out SLEEK’s AI art guide in our art section, but it deserves a tech nod too. Powered by ChatGPT, the guide adapts to your tastes and schedules to build personalised art itineraries during Berlin Art Week. It’s part algorithm, part culture critic and a sign that AI can curate without killing curiosity. Source
CULTURE
Goodwood Revival: Racing Through History
Forget Formula 1; the Goodwood Revival is a time machine with engines. The annual festival in Sussex celebrates vintage automobiles and period dress with track races, parades and appearances from motorsport legends like Jackie Stewart, Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve. This year paid tribute to Jim Clark’s 1965 Triple Crown, with his Lotus cars parading in formation. Visitors don tweed, silk scarves and leather goggles, proving that nostalgia looks best at 120 mph.
September Social: Enchanted Anarchy
London’s creative crowd gathered at Aether Magazine’s September Social, a pop‑up marketplace and fashion show on Standard Road. The day‑long event offered nail art, tooth gems, tattoos and henna services alongside a runway show featuring an up‑and‑coming designer. Attendees were asked to dress in the theme “Enchanted Anarchy,” blending fairy‑tale flourishes with punk rebellion. It was part marketplace, part community ritual and all about supporting young artists.
Martin Luuk’s Autobiography Party
Swedish writer Martin Luuk knows how to throw a book launch. Nuda Paper invited friends and readers to a party celebrating his autobiography Självbiografi 1984–2001, complete with cocktails, readings and performances. Actors took turns playing Luuk himself, turning his life into a communal improv session. The soirée blurred the line between literature and theatre, a perfect excuse to drink champagne and relive the 90s.
Sweet Revolution: Not Just a Café
Fashion label Marni’s Sweet Revolution in Tokyo sits at the intersection of food, design and performance. Beyond pastel pastries and couture displays, the space hosts DJ sets, art installations and interactive workshops. It’s a lifestyle playground where you can sip an espresso, try on a fringed coat and then dance it off.
CROSSLUCID and AI: The Future Is Floral
We end where we began – with flowers and code. CROSSLUCID’s “Way of Flowers” isn’t just an art show; it’s a blueprint for a post‑human culture where plants, people and algorithms pollinate each other. From Berlin to wherever you’re reading, let it be a reminder: our next revolution may smell like roses and sound like a glitch.
