Welcome to another recommendations-only edition, preceded by some free sketches from these last days. First Summer Special of 2025! Enjoy it.
→ Reflections
The desire to achieve results without process, effort, or meaning is not limited to AI and the professional field. A similar problem exists with ranks in martial arts. There are people with a strange fixation on climbing ranks, not on acquiring the knowledge supposedly associated with them.
The problem becomes more acute upon reaching 1st Dan, where the differences between practitioners begin to blur (in some cases, in fact, become more pronounced). I imagine that influenced by that videogame-y concept of climbing and climbing levels until you can say "I'm at the top," people feel like they're in a race that must be completed as soon as possible. The worst part is to underestimate the effort and seriousness that should be associated with each new step. It's practically the casualisation of the sacred.
Given this, my advice has always been the same: don't try to achieve a new rank without it meaning something to you. Build something truly unique around that challenge. Being a 3rd, 4th, 5th Dan doesn't mean much to anyone else, believe me.
Make sure that behind that process and that small leap, there's a purpose that makes you proud and that, in some way, strengthens who you are and builds the person you will become. Anchor that otherwise simple process to a transformative movement. And you'll better understand the meaning of the journey.
→ Intermission
(Even more) tiny sketches
Continuing with the trend of the last newsletters, here are some recent sketches that are slowly filling my free time and moments of peace of mind. Let me know which one you like best ;-)
+ A coloured sketch from the last newsletter:
Recommendations: Summer Edition®
1 → Films & series
The Ghost in the Shell (2026)
Not really a recommendation. Just news: GITS refuses to die. After multiple interpretations of Masamune Shirow's work, starting with Mamoru Oshii's sublime 1995 adaptation, comes what could be the most faithful to the original comic of all those made so far. From what little has been seen so far, it seems they will respect Shirow's visual style and possibly his tone, somewhat more jovial and less dense than later interpretations. You can watch a teaser here.
The Worlds Divide by Denver Jackson
Denver Jackson decided to drop everything and invest all his time and money into a gigantic animated production, something absolutely insane for a single person. With the help of funding through Kickstarter, he finally managed to finish his project. The result of such a feat is The Worlds Divide, and it has already been shown at a number of film festivals. It's hard to believe something like this is feasible for a single person with conventional means. No AI will ever achieve such level of epicness. Read more info here.
2 → A newsletter: Converge
Converge is the newsletter from Guy Moorhouse, a British designer with an impeccable portfolio and obvious good taste. It’s similar to the ITC issue you're reading right now, in that it typically features a series of carefully curated recommendations, all centred around art, design, and culture. Some are inspirational, others downright useful. Beautiful in content and form.
3 → Quotes
Quote 1 (+ an interview)
Coming from Simon Sinek’s last interview at Diary of a CEO, talking about AI. Nothing groundbreaking, but I’m glad that more and more relevant people publicly share this kind of point of view.
I am smarter, better at problem solving, more resourceful, better at pattern recognition, not because a book exists with my ideas in it, but because I wrote it. The excruciating pain of organising ideas, putting them in a linear fashion, trying to put in in a way that other people can understand what I'm trying to get out of my brain… That excruciating journey is what made me grow. — Simon Sinek
You can read a very similar approach in my article “AI Art” & Art. And this actually has everything to do with this newsletter’s intro.
Quote 2
Coming from Eric Bourdages’ X account, as a response to a previous tweet:
AI art is expensive to make, it only cost the entire wealth of artistic labor for training, billions in investment, a good gpu, a bunch of natural resources, some subscription fees and a sacrifice of artistic integrity by outsourcing your creativity to an AI model & its dataset.
4 → An inspiration source: The Cool Hunter
A classic website that's been around for many, many years. And just as its name suggests, it offers a curated selection of… cool stuff. Beautiful examples of good taste in architecture, art, design, fashion, lifestyle, and more. Packed with articles illustrated with high-quality photography. A website to lose yourself in and dream for a while.
5 → A book: Playtime by Aron Wiesenfeld
Aron Wiesenfeld has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing of his new book: Playtime. A compilation of small ink drawings on post-it notes! Simple, spontaneous, imperfect. But all imbued with the recognisable character of the artist I consider my favourite in the world right now. I talked about him in the first issue of this newsletter. The entry price for a printed copy is not low, but this will definitely be a collector's item.
6 → A curiosity: What Happens Now That The Giants Are Dead? by Fixgritt
It’s hard to categorise this. I’d consider it an artistic project in the form of an editorial document. Basically, it's a manual of action and general information for a society in which all the giants (who existed in it) have died. Giants who, it seems, fulfilled specific socioeconomic functions. This piece of fiction combines a citizen manual with a whole lore surrounding a society that must adapt to the new situation.
The main, pretty brief, PDF is accompanied by a map with key locations and a small infographic serving as a quiz on how to act if you find the corpse of one of the giants. The graphic design of the booklet is irregular. It could certainly be much more polished, but it tries to emulate the sterile graphics of an instruction manual or a highly anesthetised institutional process.
It's surprising how many small aspects related to this universe have been discreetly added. And without a doubt, the final message, part of the FAQs, is what gives meaning to the project as a small artistic essay.
This is the kind of project I like to see in the world, and it was recently created by Dana McKay (aka Fixgritt), whom I spoke of some months ago when I recommended her game The Ruby Court. You can name your own price for it on Itch.io.
7 → Artists
Vincent Mahé
Just one of the 700,000 French artists I admire. But Vincent's work is not just another. His laborious illustrations are a feast of color, beautiful European clear line, and general sensitivity. Any of his everyday scenes becomes a picture to be contemplated and admired. His work has been adapted to animation projects with impressive success, not a small feat precisely. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a personal portfolio, but you can visit his Behance profile or his agent's website, Handsome Frank.
Nika Goltz
Nika was a highly productive Russian children's books illustrator, born in the 1920s. It's curious because her work reached me in the internet age, after having encountered the work of many illustrators who were likely influenced by her. Her balance between childlike themes and cold, angular, and even dark formal solutions created a truly recognisable aesthetic, probably somewhat ahead of its time. More info at Illustrators Lounge.
8 → Music
The Only Way by Tricky
“Everytime you go away I feel the pain, I feel the same. It's like a rain. I hear your name, I fall apart. Is this the end, why do we start?” Tricky. I just adore this guy.
The Same Deep Water as You by The Cure
I rediscovered The Cure when I stopped paying attention to their more popular songs and started focusing on more elevated ones. My friend Jonathan highly recommended Disintegration (1989) to me, and for months I was obsessed with the album, and more specifically with this song, which I consider perfect. I could listen to it at any moment in my life, sad or happy, melancholic, passive, excited or meditative, under streetlights in winter or watching the sunset in summer... and it would always hit the right note.
The anti-recommendation
A film: Marlowe (2022) by Neil Jordan
This film is an adaptation of The Black-Eyed Blonde (2014) by John Banville, based on the very famous original character by Raymond Chandler. So yes, Irish novel/writer, Irish director, Irish main actor :-)
I must admit that Marlowe fully coincides with many of my fiction preferences and that there is no Neil Jordan film that I haven't enjoyed in one way or another, but unfortunately I must join the unanimous negative criticism of the film.
Neither the mystery it poses is interesting, nor is the resolution original, nor is the action remarkable, nor are the performances outstanding. Some dialogues almost seem clichéd. At times, it feels like they're even trying to parody the genre. It doesn't quite hit the mark in any way.
Interestingly, the film's exteriors were shot entirely in Barcelona, Spain, apparently because Los Angeles in the late 1930s was much closer to some European cities than it was to the current LA. The result, despite the criticism, is curious. Available on Amazon Prime, in case you want to try.
Thank you for reading In the Cave. Currently, I’m using social media just to promote this newsletter, share other people’s work or send memes to friends. Nothing else. So if you like this newsletter, please share it and recommend it. You can also find me on my website.
See you soon!
You've really piqued my curiosity with the project What Happens Now That The Giants Are Dead. It seems like a very intriguing way to approach fiction. Regarding my favorite sketch, I loved the bulbous plant-like hand :-)
Me dejas con mucha curiosidad por Nika Goltz