Vibe Shift

The Vibe Shift was a cultural movement and internet-based scene that emerged in mid-2021 and continued through late 2022 or early 2023, centered around the collaborative relationship between Angelicism01 and Remilia Corporation in the context of the New York downtown art scene and various online communities. The term was originated by Angelicism01 in summer 2021, but gained mainstream attention after being misattributed to trend forecaster Sean Monahan in Allison P. Davis's article "A Vibe Shift Is Coming: Will Any of Us Survive It?" published in The Cut on February 16, 2022. The movement was characterized by a post-internet aesthetic sensibility, explorations of "network spirituality," collaborative artistic production, and a blending of online and physical art worlds that bridged New York's downtown scene with internet-native creativity.

Origins and development

The Vibe Shift scene began to coalesce in Summer 2021 with several concurrent developments in June 2021 following the term's coinage. The Wet Brain podcast, hosted by Walter Pearce and Honor Levy, launched its first episode, providing a platform for discussions that would help define the movement. Simultaneously, Remilia Corporation, led by Charlotte Fang, held its debut exhibition "I Long For Network Spirituality" at Hunters & Collectors in New Zealand and online, introducing the concept of "network spirituality" that would become central to the movement. During this same period, Angelicism01 began developing the concept of the "Vibe Shift" in their writing, describing it as a significant cultural transition in the American art scene.

The movement gained momentum in August 2021 when Remilia Corporation launched Milady Maker, an NFT project that achieved significant success in bridging the art world with cryptocurrency communities. This project represented the first major crossover between the Vibe Shift scene and wider crypto culture. Following Milady Maker's success, Charlotte Fang initiated the Avant NFT movement, bringing artists from the New York scene into the crypto space and establishing an important bridge between these cultural worlds.

Throughout late 2021 and early 2022, the Wet Brain Podcast's discodr server became an important hub for the scene, hosting conversations between figures like Angelicism01, Charlotte Fang, and various members of the New York downtown art community. This digital gathering space facilitated the cross-pollination of ideas between online and physical art worlds that characterized the movement.

Timeline and controversies

Mainstream misattribution (February 2022)

On February 16, 2022, Allison P. Davis published "A Vibe Shift Is Coming: Will Any of Us Survive It?" in The Cut, misattributing the concept to trend forecaster Sean Monahan rather than Angelicism01. This article was viewed within the scene as an example of vulture revisionism—the appropriation and dilution of grassroots cultural movements by mainstream media.

The misattribution represented a broader crisis of documentation and criticism around the Vibe Shift scene. While the movement was actively developing significant philosophical and aesthetic approaches, mainstream coverage reduced it to a fashion trend or vague cultural shift, stripping away its intellectual foundations and specific contexts.

On February 17, 2022, Angelicism01 responded with an essay titled "Somebody Please Columbine The Entire The Cut Editorial Staff," which was perceived as containing shooting threats. This led to Angelicism01 being blacklisted from coverage in mainstream art publications for years—a ban that would only begin to lift in 2024 with retrospective coverage of Film01. The blacklisting significantly constrained the movement's ability to receive fair critical attention during its active period.

The same day as Angelicism01's controversial response, the Wet Brain podcast released an episode titled "Vibe Shift Lowkey Fell Off" featuring Angelicism01, members of Remilia Corporation, Sean Monahan, and others discussing the concept and its misattribution. This episode stands as an important primary document of the scene's self-reflection during a period of increasing external attention and misrepresentation.

The Milady Cancel controversy (May 2022)

In May 2022, the Milady Cancel went viral, accusing Charlotte Fang of running a Nazi Anorexia Cult and threatening Fang with doxx. While the cancel was quickly debunked, many New York artists in the Avant NFT scene failed to defend Remilia during the controversy, only reconnecting after the allegations were beat, leading Fang to decide to end their platforming program. This fracture was a significant blow to the cross-cultural exchange that had been central to the Vibe Shift movement.

Like Angelicism01 before them, Remilia Corporation found itself blacklisted from mainstream art coverage following this controversy, further isolating key figures of the Vibe Shift scene from broader critical discourse.

Decline and fragmentation (Summer 2022)

The Summer of 2022 saw the scene's cohesion begin to unravel. The Wet Brain Discord, operating with a "zero moderation" policy, became a site for doxxing efforts against both Angelicism01 and Charlotte Fang, led by figures like Sophia Vanderbilt. These incidents prompted both key figures to abandon the server, resulting in its declining activity and the loss of a once-vital community hub.

From Summer 2022 to Summer 2023 both Remilia Corporation and Angelicism01 shifted their focus to more insular projects. Remilia concentrated on developing its own derivative ecosystem, while Angelicism01 began work on Film01. Their collaboration became more private, focused on Film01 rather than the public discourse that had previously characterized their relationship. While the scene continued to exist, its energy had significantly diminished from its peak period.

The Wet Brain podcast continued until November 2022, when it aired its final episode, marking the conclusion of one of the movement's key platforms.

Final conclusion (Summer 2023)

While the Vibe Shift scene had been gradually disbanding since mid-2022, it can be seen as officially concluding in June 2023 with the premiere of Film01 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. This event was marked by a significant controversy when a segment titled Remilia01, produced by Remilia Corporation, was cut from the final version of the film.

The exclusion led to a public falling out between Angelicism01 and Charlotte Fang, effectively ending their creative collaboration and symbolizing the definitive conclusion of the movement that had been built around their partnership. This final controversy revealed the tensions that had been building within the scene and cemented its transformation from an active cultural movement to a historical moment, which Film01 has been described as a cinematic document and archive of.

Key figures and platforms

Angelicism01

Angelicism01 is a pseudonymous writer, cultural critic, and later filmmaker who began publishing on Substack in November 2020. Their writing combined philosophical references, internet slang, and esoteric concepts in a deliberately complex style that attracted a devoted following. Central themes in their work included "extinction" as an ontological concept, post-authorship, and the relationship between digital and physical realities.

Angelicism01 maintained significant influence in certain cultural circles, particularly among young writers and artists interested in post-internet aesthetics and experimental approaches to digital media. Their work was featured on podcasts like Wet Brain and Red Scare, further extending their reach into alt-left media spaces.

Remilia Corporation and Charlotte Fang

Remilia Corporation is an art collective founded by Charlotte Fang in 2021. During the height of the Vibe Shift scene, there was significant cross-pollination between Angelicism01's writing and Remilia's artistic output, with both entities exploring similar concepts of network spirituality and post-authorship.

Remilia Corporation became known for its NFT project Milady Maker, launched in August 2021, which featured 10,000 anime-inspired profile pictures. The project embodied many of the philosophical concepts central to the Vibe Shift scene, particularly the idea of post-authorship and collaborative creation.

Charlotte Fang's curation and platforming of artists through the Avant NFT movement represented an important bridge between the New York art world and crypto culture, further expanding the Vibe Shift scene's influence.

Wet Brain Discord

The Wet Brain Podcast, hosted by Walter Pearce and Honor Levy, played a role in documenting and disseminating ideas associated with the Vibe Shift scene. A February 17, 2022 episode titled "Vibe Shift Lowkey Fell Off" featured guests including Angelicism01, members of Remilia Corporation, Sierra Armour, and Barrett Avner discussing the concept of the "Vibe Shift" just a day after Davis's article was published in The Cut.

The associated Wet Brain Discord server functioned as an important online gathering place for participants in the Vibe Shift scene from 2020 to 2022, providing a digital space where figures like Angelicism01 and Charlotte Fang could interact with other artists, writers, and cultural figures. However, its "zero moderation" policy eventually led to it becoming a platform for doxxing and harassment, contributing to the scene's fragmentation.

New York downtown scene

While the Vibe Shift was significantly internet-based, it had strong connections to the physical New York downtown art scene, particularly centered around Dimes Square. This created a unique interplay between online discourse and physical spaces, with many of the movement's key figures alternating between digital interactions and in-person gatherings.

Characteristics and themes

Network Spirituality

A central concept in the Vibe Shift scene was "Network Spirituality," introduced by Remilia Corporation in their debut exhibition. This idea positioned the internet and digital networks as sites of spiritual experience and transcendence rather than merely technological infrastructure.

Remilia's exhibition statement declared: "Remilia is an institution. Remilia is a self-organization. Remilia is a lifestyle brand. Remilia is a master-planned community. Remilia is an investment fund. Remilia is an artist's colony. Remilia is a crowdfunded video game. Remilia is an autonomous smart contract. Remilia is an independent record label. Remilia is a community center for the digital village. Remilia is a manifesto. Remilia will save the internet."

This framework emphasized post-authorship, transcendental participation, and distributed creation as core principles for network-native art practice.

Post-authorship and collaborative creation

Both Angelicism01 and Remilia Corporation emphasized a rejection of traditional notions of individual creation in favor of collaborative or anonymous work. Remilia's projects often credited the collective rather than individual artists, the use of pseudonyms and multiple identities to destabilize traditional authorship, and collaborative writing and artistic practices that blurred the boundaries between creators.

This approach challenged conventional art world hierarchies and anticipated later developments in AI-generated content and decentralized creative production.

Extinction as concept

Angelicism01 explored "extinction" not merely as ecological collapse but as an ontological condition and perspective from which to view contemporary life and art. This theme later became central to their film work, particularly in Film01, described as "an abstract documentary about the heart under extinction conditions."

Hybrid physical-digital aesthetics

The Vibe Shift scene pioneered approaches to art that moved fluidly between digital and physical spaces. Projects like "I Long for Network Spirituality" were presented simultaneously online and in physical galleries, creating a feedback loop between these environments. This hybrid approach reflected the movement's broader interest in collapsing distinctions between online and offline experience.

Critical rehabilitation

Although the Vibe Shift scene faced significant critical blacklisting during its active period, with both Angelicism01 and Remilia Corporation excluded from mainstream art coverage following their respective controversies, there has been a gradual rehabilitation of interest in the movement. Beginning in 2024, retrospective coverage of Film01 and its international screenings opened the door to more nuanced critical assessments of the Vibe Shift's significance, suggesting that the movement's long-term cultural impact may continue to be reevaluated.

This renewed interest acknowledges the scene's innovations in bridging digital and physical art worlds, its exploration of post-authorship concepts that anticipated AI art developments, and its early engagement with questions of digital spirituality that have become increasingly relevant in contemporary discourse.

See also

• Angelicism01
• Film01 (2023)
• Remilia01 (2023)
• Remilia Corporation
• Charlotte Fang
• Milady Maker
• Wet Brain Podcast
• I Long For Network Spirituality
• Network Spirituality
• New Net Art
• Avant NFT
• Vulture Revisionism