Category: About the Artist
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Pointing at Wayne Thiebaud
On Christmas day a week or two ago, an American painter named Wayne Thiebaud died at 101. I had never heard of Thiebaud, nor can I remember ever seeing any of his work. Which, now that I have, feels like a fatal flaw in my two years of higher art education. I’d like to write…
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Words from Sondheim
As I assume you’ve long heard by now, Stephen Sondheim (writer of Into the Woods, Company, and Sweeney Todd among others) passed away last week. A hero and a pillar in American theater. On a plane, two days after his death, I watched Six by Sondheim on HBO. A documentary covering the life and career…
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In Praise of Chairs
I’m writing you from a chair. A large chair. A very large chair, all my own, taking up the corner of my room nearest the window. My feet are up, as it is a recliner. A very large, brown leather recliner that I bought from a woman named Heather on the internet. She was kind…
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Nike Workwear
Today, a video from one of my favorite internet filmmakers, Van Neistat, led me to this wonderful brand, William Ellery Technical Apparel. A maker out of New York City producing “outdoor and workwear apparel from vintage wears, envisioning each garment’s unique story.” With “boyhood sentimentality” shaping the clothing and the company. I, of course, fell…
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Beautifying Scraps
This is Nicole McLaughlin, 27 year old designer based in New York. She specializes in upcycling and sustainability in her bizarre and fantastical apparel. This video dives into Nicole’s thoughts on sustainability in design and fashion, and her making-process (you can skip the in-video ad from 0:45-1:27). I happened upon Nicole’s work within the last…
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Goya and Van Gogh
Two famous painters from history – Francisco Goya and Vincent van Gogh – were born on this day, 275 years and 168 years ago respectively. I do not have anything very insightful to say, I just scanned through each of their works again this evening, and pulled several ‘comparable’ pieces (only in rough terms of…
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Less, But Better
Rams, a documentary by Gary Hustwit, paints a beautiful picture of the life, work and philosophy of one of the world’s most influential industrial designers – Dieter Rams. Kindly, organized and reclusive, Dieter Rams does not fall in with the authoritarian stereotypes of world-changing innovators – like Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison. He is generous…
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Pretend It’s a City
This is author Fran Lebowitz. She hates the world. What’s fascinating about Fran and her dismal outlook on life is the joy that she brings to others through her fickle hatred for the commonplace pieces of life. Through her vocal distaste of the news, smartphones, traffic, humans in general – she is able to bring…
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The Distraction Quandary
Tom Sachs, a New York-based sculptor, gave a interesting TED talk on creativity and standards. In it, he said: “Authenticity also demands endurance. Do it for a long time – whatever it is. Two years, it’s just an interest. Do something for five years, and it’s a hobby. Do something for 20 years, and you…
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Picasso’s Letter
“Everybody has the same energy potential. The average person wastes his in a dozen little ways. I bring mine to bear on only one thing: my paintings, and everything is sacrificed to it – you and everyone else. Myself included.” This is a quote from a letter Pablo Picasso wrote to a lover, discovered through…