Kinference ’23 — Part 1 of 2

Back in 2012, 2013 and 2014 I had the privilege to attend?Brooklyn Beta, a small conference with friendly people working on the web. It was a special event unlike anything I have ever experienced (and wrote about it?here?and?here) and I was happy to see the same spirit return this year in the form of?Kinference.

The conference aimed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our industry today. And also do something of a mid-career check-in and a shared exploration of things to be hopeful for and excited about in the decade to come.

Here’s what I heard on day 1:

Gabe Whaley

The first speaker was Gabe, the founder of?MSCHF?— a platform that’s difficult to describe but I’ll just call it an art collective. During his presentation, Gabe showcased some of MSCF’s latest projects, including an?Astroboy-inspired?Big Red Boot, an?Anime Dating App?that helps you file your taxes (for real), and an?ATM?(also real) that was displayed at Art Basel in Miami featuring a leaderboard showing checking account balances.

He also discussed their work with Boston Dynamics’ dog,?Spot?, which was used in a?rampage-themed art piece. One of their most notable projects involved purchasing a?Damien Hirst painting of dots, cutting it up, and selling each dot as a separate work of art.

Although Gabe didn’t reveal their creative process, he did mention that they do try to get almost sued and that they approach brainstorming as a discipline.

?????Read more about MSCHF

Haraldur Thorleifsson

Haraldur Thorleifsson (Halli) is a designer and entrepreneur who’s best known for founding digital agency?Ueno. Recently, he made headlines for an?argument he had with Elon Musk on Twitter. In his talk he explored the question of why he has such a strong passion for creating.

During the talk, Halli showcased some of the work Ueno has done for clients such as Google, Dropbox, and Lonely Planet. He also discussed his project,?Rampur, which aims to make services, shops and restaurants in Iceland more accessible for people with a disability. They’ve built almost 500 wheelchair ramps all across Iceland and are aiming for 1000 more in 3 years.

In addition to his work in design, Halli has also pursued music as a creative outlet. He recently released his first single of his album, which he started working on two years ago.

Halli drew parallels between his personal struggles and the research of Harry Harlow on rhesus monkeys. Harlow’s controversial research involved separating infant monkeys from their mothers and raising them in isolation with surrogate mothers made of wire or cloth.

The monkeys raised with the cloth mothers fared better than those raised with the wire mothers, indicating the importance of touch and emotional connection in early development.

Halli shared that he had struggled with alcoholism and the loss of his mother at a young age. He explained that he had withdrawn into his work as a way to cope with his pain.

Through his hard work and creative endeavours, he was able to find a way to honour his mother and connect with people on an emotional level.

Halli answered his own question about why he obsessively creates by saying that it’s the only way he knows how to connect with people. For him, creating is not just about providing food and shelter but also about trying to create an emotional connection with others. By pursuing his passions, Halli has found a way to make a positive impact on the world and to find meaning and purpose in his life.

?????More about?Halli?on his website

?????Maykel Loomans?spoke to Halli at Kinference?(30 min. podcast)

Deepa Subramaniam

Deepa Subramaniam started her career at?Adobe, where she played a leading role in the creation of Creative Cloud. She then moved on to lead product at?charity: water?and later became Director of Product at?Hillary for America. After working at?Kickstarter?and the?ACLU, she has recently returned to Adobe.

In her talk, she shared that her time at the Hillary campaign was a challenging and rewarding experience, as she worked with a small team and put in (very) long hours. Her advice to others is to seek out opportunities that push you to the limit of your comfort zone.

?????More about?Deepa?on her website

David Rudnick

David Rudnick, a graphic designer from Ghent, Belgium began his talk by discussing art history and how printing technology played a role in the split of the Catholic Church.

His talk took a strange turn when he then introduced the concept of “Primacy”, which refers to “the struggle between virtual and physical sources as the primary value in the world”. He elaborated on this idea by showing his NFT project,?Tombs, which includes 177 mini-disk images, and a (physical) book that uses six colors instead of the conventional four.

Then he talked about the “third-generation” concept and how individuals are “raised in the systems.” I thought it was a challenging presentation to follow, but his NFT-project does look nice.

???? More about?David and Tombs?in this interview

And that concluded day 1, stay tuned for day 2!