Just about every corner I turned, I was faced with some kind of internet subculture insignia, only no longer confined to my screen, no longer flattened into pixels behind aluminosilicate glass , but tangible, moving past me. It felt less like entering a party and more like stepping into a feed: fragments of identity collaged together, references atomized in front of you, everything instantly legible if you’ve spent enough time online and done the “work” of cultivating a privy algorithm.
When asked to cover Welcome JPEG’s first party hosted in Los Angeles, I wasn’t entirely sure where I’d position myself. I figured I could write about it the way I do every party in Los Angeles, which is something I do often for my narrative project. I’ve learned to write about the commonalities amongst all of these events with relative ease. not bragging, its rather self-explanatory, if you’ve been to one Los Angeles party, you kind of have been to all of them. Occasionally, it can even prove difficult because it is so monotonous in nature. But the general milieu felt different, not because it was unfamiliar, in fact, because it felt pre-seen, like something I had already encountered in fragments.
Upon receiving the address via text from somebody on the Welcome JPEG team, I wasn’t surprised to see it was being held at Plaza Nightclub. Pre-pandemic, Plaza functioned as a kind of mecca for the Latino queer community. While its intended audience may have shifted slightly in recent years, with people like Jasmin Johnson often throwing parties there, I think a skate video also premiered there (?), the emotional architecture of the space, the openness, the permissiveness, remains intact. It’s a venue that absorbs identity and reflects it, regardless of who occupies it.
Unlike Los Angeles parties, which practically involve some mild form of self-imposed humiliation, whether it's asking for a list spot, waiting in line if you couldn't actually make it on the list, or all together rejection, the internet proffers a space of radical acceptance due to the abolishment of proximity. Everything is within reach. You just have to be willing to look for it.
Upon arriving, I’m was struck by how literal it all felt. The internet, once ambient, docile, and intangible, had suddenly become corporeal.
Upon arriving, I’m immediately struck by how literal it all feels. The internet, once ambient, docile, and intangible, had suddenly become corporeal.
You noticed it immediately upon walking in. People aren’t just dressed well or dressed badly; they’re dressed in reference points. (which im aware has a negative effect, but with everything being a reference point now I mean this from the utmost neutral and genuinely observant standpoint one could have)The night adopted was this semiotic language supported by the “core” suffix; norm-core, bloke-core, sleaze-core, so on, that occupied a third space beyond verbal language, which asserted itself throughout the whole event palpably, one you knew you were fluent in because you could practically imagine your conversation partners feed through their choices on how they outwardly expressed themselves.
Again, I mean this from the utmost neutral standpoint, there were clear references, like the younger kids I had spoken to outside, dressed in what I could only describe as an “opium assemblage.” Their look felt unmistakably lifted from Playboi Carti’s “Sky” music video, a kind of visual kinning made tangible. Their chains rattled against their legs as I asked them what brought them out, they made this almost clacking sound which reminded me again; that I wasnt on reels watching a kid describe his outfit into a clip on microphone atop of an iPhone outside of a vintage consignment store on the lower east side; they were very real and in front of me, their chains refusing to let me forget that.
Girls wore rare Dsquared2 jeans, the kind of piece you only really recognize if you’ve spent enough time consuming substacks of niche fashion influencers or if you’re a listener to podcasts like Nymphet Alumni. Hair is threaded with dyed faux raccoon tails, something that feels pulled from older internet aesthetics and reintroduced through the Myspace scene revival we have seen recently. Boys wear grills, which I’m told are tied to Nation, who are performing later in the night. Even small details carry context if you know where to look.
The styling and attitude of everything doesn’t feel like a cheap imitation, but more like absorption and execution. It’s become part of a broader visual language, one that, if you have spent enough time on your iPhone, you too could speak and perform.
It reminds me of the Welcome JPEG events I saw online before coming here; especially the New York party they held during Fashion Week also hosted by Welcome JPEG, backed by Los Angeles Apparel, Red Bull, and Posh (all of which also sponsored this event. Guy asked me if I wanted a free red bull and I said “what the hell, sure” a la Jemima Kirke story post which felt very apropos), Those images already felt like a preview of something shifting; like internet-native aesthetics starting to organize themselves in physical spaces.
And being there, that read clearly. There’s a sense that people are pulling from the same ecosystem of references, but using them in slightly different ways. Nothing feels randomly styled. Everything feels chosen from a shared pool of imagery that’s been building online over time. Much like hosts, Welcome JPEG’s archival Instagram feed.
What stands out is how normal it all feels. Not in the sense of predictable, but in the sense that this is just how culture moves now. The internet isn’t separate from real life anymore—it’s where most of the reference points come from, its where intangible aesthetics are tested via algorithms, through amalgamated data from which one could test which visual identity performs best and transpose their findings onto the tangible; their life, their body.
The result of a culture moving at this pace and with this sort of pre-ordained knowledge is a space where people arrive already fluent in each other’s visual language. You don’t need much explanation, sans the context, because it has already been on your feed. It just shows up on bodies instead of feeds.
*all photos courtesy of Tommi Rico
*Thank you to Welcome.Jpeg for having me