SENSORY
The one you can see, hear, taste, and feel.
SEE
50 years ago, before Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive - a trained painter named David Lynch began a Francis Beacon-esque career in visual arts.
The nightmarish scenes in tranquil domestic spaces foreshadowed the way he would go on to tell stories as a filmmaker, working in the medium he’d become most closely associated with despite various gallery exhibitions.
As recently as this past week, it was announced by ArtNews that Pace Gallery would become the first ever NYC gallery space to represent the artist.
Marc Glimcher, CEO of Pace, spoke highly of Lynch’s indelible mark on visual culture. Lynch’s official statement (one with serious Agent Dale Cooper vibes) is a recount of how the representation agreement came about:
....we had a great talk and some pretty damn good coffee. I told him I would try to do some good work for his gallery. I think he smiled and said ‘You fuckin better!!!’”.
HEAR
In other sensory art news from the past week or so:
There’s a new single from cult followed, animated band Gorillaz titled New Gold, as well as an announcement of a first North American tour for the band since 2018, and a forthcoming album Cracker Island, with features from a small but vastly varied list of artists including Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, The Pharcyde (or at least one of the members), and Beck.
There’s news of widespread tour cancelations for gap-toothed, Canadian indie darling Mac DeMarco. The singer explains the cancelations in a statement on his website saying, I need to work on five easy hotdogs. The singer also promised full refunds on previously sold tickets.
Finally, both the Spice Girls and Janet Jackson announced re-releases for special 25th anniversary albums. November 4th for le Brits, which can be preordered here, and right now on all streaming platforms for Miss Jackson’s Deluxe Edition of The Velvet Rope.
Holy 1997.
Everything new is nostalgia.
Which is good news, because this newsletter is one for contemplation - which is maybe a bit more introspective than the rose-tinted look back nostalgia seems to be by default.
FEEL
Youth, chaos, & the art that makes manifest what could just as easily be an intangible energy was the premise of the films discussed in the last newsletter. The time in between has been filled with the inception of new project ideas, the launch of Coffee Socials - a full service creative service agency headed up by friend and extraordinary photographer Stephanie Rodriguez, and a personal and professional leaning toward ritual and ceremony (see Medicine Woman, MiraMichelle’s ‘Sacred-ize Your Life’ book launch, for which I worked with an amazing team on launch promo strategy).
This work and “the work” (life) has also made earth as a source (I’m currently living in a mountainous jungle area of South America) a focus, especially in terms of eating locally and well.
Food writer Alicia Kennedy - whose musings on food supply chains, restaurant culture and labor, and ethical veganism is some of the most engaging and thoughtful think piece work on the internet, recently wrote about sharing, selling, & consuming lifestyles as a creator in the digital media landscape:
Can we appreciate a lifestyle without wanting to consume destructively to replicate it?
Can we look at what someone else has and not believe we should also have it?
Different lives in different places - that should be the beauty of this whole thing.
I’d say it is. No matter if the algorithm seems to suggest otherwise.
With that said plant medicines of various sorts, alter spaces and sacred (to whoever finds them sacred) objects have been necessary near constants in this life lived in this place. This experience that is its own - but is also a sort of visual cue and connection to art and things made by hand. Specifically ceramics.
Like Lynch, many of these ceramic artists are people known for something else, comedic acting, jewelry design, & hat making - respectively. They’ve also mastered the art of visuals that set moods.
TASTE
Rihanna will not be releasing a line of ceramics as was jokingly announced in a recent issue of New York Mag newsletter Dinner Party, written by Tirhakah Love. But here’s who is.
HOUSE PLANT
Originally featuring ceramic smoking accessories and planters, Seth Rogan’s Houseplant is an art leaning interior dream brand - with many items (but probably not that record player) handmade by the dude in the brown suit from Pineapple Express, or more recently, the guy in the denim vest from the Emmy Award winning limited series Pam & Tommy.
MARK SABINO
A jewelry designer and occasional painter with one of the musicians mentioned up top as a client (do your research; Vogue can help), Sabino regularly creates pieces that make me rethink the different lives in different places thing (overseas shipping, especially to my current locale… is a bitch).
He loves good sandwiches and King Krule, and some of his artistic muses include Winona Ryder stealing that scarf from Saks. The artists’ ceramic tea set seems to be a one off, like many of Sabino’s designs.
NICK FOUQUET
Instagram suggests that the custom haberdasher with a match as his signature is making a shift into becoming a total lifestyle brand, with apparel dominating his most recent posts. Dig a little further and you’ll find these NF tea cups complete with a painting of the makers signature match - as well as his signature.
A delicate embodiment of both modern taste and timeless style, these tea cups and matching saucers are perfect for any life. Anywhere.
Displayed, filled with mushrooms (which are packed with medicinal benefits in addition to the psychedelic) or upcoming holiday season hors d’oeuvres, gifted in the coming months, or simply enjoyed for the aesthetic, these pieces are absolute treasures.
Consumption and ownership are not the (only) point.
Until next time,
RECOMMENDED
Reading:
Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, was quoted in this edition of Le Newsletter, and is a regular read - but this recommendation is about editorial Kennedy contributed to SSENSE.
The piece offers insights and inspiration around food and aesthetic, supplemented with gorgeous imagery from photographer Brendan G. Ko. If connection or even treasured alone time over good food served on ambiance creating artisan items mean something to you, you’ll likely find the information valuable year around.
Collecting:
Visual and performing artist Xxavier Carter (infamous (?) for provocation via presence - see this Hyperallergic article by Victoria D. about the artists’ removal from Miami Art Fair) is selling 36 works on paper in honor of 36 years of life.
VINTAGE INSPIRED, HIGH DESIGN. That’s the concept behind PRETTYHIGH, a conceptual smoking accessories brand and Postmodern Indigenous collaborator via social media curation work and copy.
Each and every artisan, repurposed vintage, and handmade piece - all with a story, all perfect for your personal rituals and ceremonies - is an addition to your home and lifestyle, but the Where’s The Party portable party purse is a current standout. Hydrate while you partake, sling the brass chain over your shoulder to stylishly carry your favorite cocktail to upcoming gatherings, and be extra careful with the vintage crystal ashtray that comes with.
Get yours here.
Viewing
Annual Coachella Valley art fair Desert X is hosting a free screening of Desert X 2021: The Film, at Palm Springs Cultural Center.
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