A Compost Theory of Culture

In the process of reaping what we’ve sown, we started to notice that culture is beginning to look a lot like compost. Because amid the muck, slop, brain rot and enshittification, something else is taking root: a recalibration and rewilding of the past, and the fertilisation of more hopeful futures.

We call this A Compost Theory of Culture.

It’s a way of understanding this moment as one of both cultural atrophy and regeneration. It challenges the idea that innovation is always about progress. Instead, it suggests that sometimes innovation is about decomposition – breaking things down to make space for something new to grow.

These are the four seasonal observations that underpin our theory:

1. GARDEN TIME

Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill and forced us all to slow down. But in the years since, culture has felt like it’s been racing toward the next big thing – constantly lurching forward – from Web3, NFTs and crypto to TikTok and, more recently, AI. The dominant energy has been one of acceleration: high-velocity, high-theory, hyper-futurism.

These shiny new things have all been marketed as transformative utopias. But the future we were promised hasn’t arrived. Now, we’re starting to see a quiet shift in tone. It’s not a wholesale rejection of innovation – new tools still have a place, and they always will. It’s more of a recalibration. A post-acceleration moment. A slow-down. An exhale.

It’s also an invitation to embrace a different conception of time – one more in tune with the natural rhythms of a garden.

2. BACK TO NATURE

Alongside this shifting sense of time, there’s a new feeling in the air. The energy is slower, softer, more selective. Digital burnout is everywhere. People are tired of over-scrolling and under-feeling, and there’s a growing hunger for what’s tangible, emotional, human.

We’re collectively filtering – seeking out what’s built to last, and letting the rest fall away. We’re going back to nature, and back to what makes us human.

3. SIGNS IN THE SOIL

We’re seeing an embrace of analogue rituals, shared offline moments, and tactility – think craft nights, book swaps, vinyl listening parties. In an increasingly optimised world, slowness and even friction can feel like a luxury.

While it’s often framed as nostalgia, what’s happening is more complex. Old aesthetics and practices are being revived not out of longing, but as creative tools. Cringe fashion, lo-fi tech, even medieval memes aren’t about revering the past – they’re about slowing down, expressing emotion and subtly resisting the visual language of a hyper-polished, hyper-accelerated future.

This impulse also shows up in hobbies and practices that are grounding because they reconnect us – literally – to the earth. From “touching grass” and hike beasts to urban foragers and run clubs-as-dating-apps, the outdoor boom sparked during the Covid years has taken root – and it’s still growing.

There are growing signs that people want to feel again. There’s a renewed desire for genuine human connection – for getting hands dirty, both literally and metaphorically.

4. THE WORM TURN

Timelines aren’t linear anymore. Increasingly, they resemble worms: spiralling, looping back on themselves. This cyclical sense of culture folding in on itself is best captured by what’s been dubbed the revival spiral – a term that reflects our collective obsession with the past.

Take fashion: it’s thick with near-history references – from Marc Jacobs’ Heaven-approved ’90s emo looks to Balenciaga’s revival of the Y2K cult-classic City Bag. Music is fragmented, with space for every genre to coexist. TV and film are awash with reboots and remakes. Retro tech is everywhere. Even the Furby and Viennetta ice cream are enjoying comebacks.

At a macro level, it no longer feels like we’re hurtling toward a glossy, high-tech future. Instead, we’re circling back – breaking things down, reworking what’s already here.

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