cave paintings of the digital era

finds №003

gao hang was 10 when he first played counter-strike. the world inside looked real to him, and it stayed

now he paints it: low-poly bodies, mushy textures, edges too sharp for a canvas

references come from emulators and other people's gameplay recordings. a compressed game texture ends up as a 2-meter painting

the way there is 4 steps: screenshot, photoshop, canvas, then airbrush and tape

the images are simple enough that anyone recognizes them instantly. laughter comes first, then awkwardness, then something closer to nostalgia

our patron said about this:

many perceive such graphics as clumsy and outdated

while the modern world chases hyper-realism in metaverses, the artist finds beauty in simplicity

these smeared textures may not be perfect, but they hide true sincerity and nostalgia

found by @not_jammm

It costs $0 to start doing nothing

Streaming Isn’t Broken. It’s Working Exactly as Designed

new essay with jaoson deiss
producer + force user

$22 billion flowed through music streaming in 2025. the same year, Spotify ruled that 87% of the tracks on its platform were no longer eligible for royalties at all

1) what independent artists are actually for on a streaming platform

2) why nobody with the power to fix this wants to

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