whatwemeantoeachother

[whatwemeantoeachother]

LEFT: (W)rapper by Eric Owen Moss

RIGHT: Centre Pompidou by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers

I think this comparison is fairly simple, the (W)rapper displays its structural system on the façade of the building (hence the name), using a structural steel system with the externalized structure to create open floor plans within the building. Similarly, the Centre Pompidou placed all of its structure, along with mechanical services, on the outside of the building to create an open-air and flexible floor plan.

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LEFT: Look 27 from Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2016 RTW

RIGHT: “Crystal Houses” by MVRDV

Ideas of gradation, how in YY's Look 27 the leather has been weathered to achieve this ombre in both texture and color (which I swear I've also seen in a recent Loewe runway collection as well), similar to MVRDV's project with the transition of traditional brick to a crystal brick, recreating traditional facade elements but with glass.

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LEFT: “American Fiction” (2023), written and directed by Cord Jefferson

RIGHT: “I May Destroy You” (2020), written by Michaela Coel

SPOILERS AHEAD! AND TW: SEXUAL ASSAULT

I watched "American Fiction" in this film symposium class at my university, and at the end of the screening Cord Jefferson actually came by to answer questions about the movie! It was especially interesting to hear his words (especially since he wrote my most favorite episode of television ever) because of the way he talked about how he came to that ending, which reminds me a lot of the ending of "I May Destroy You." Both endings explore different ideas for how these stories conclude, playing out each scenario one after the other as a way to see which one fits "best" into the narratives. Though this structure is similar, the result for both are pretty different. In "Fiction," there is a satire in playing out different ending ideas on how Hollywood treats and writes about the Black experience. But it is in this Hollywood machine that the protagonist alienates himself from everyone in his life, and the flashing through the different endings brings a clarity and acceptance of this larger institution at play, allowing him to get close to others. In "I May Destroy You," Arabella plays out multiple scenarios of how to confront her rapist, from murdering him to calling the cops on him. But the ending that plays out is Arabella finishing her book, suggesting a liberation from her past because she's moved on from this route of revenge. Instead, she's focused on things that are in her power, learning from those events to become a more realized version of herself, playing into the title of the show altogether.

I do find it interesting that both Monk and Arabella are both writers, what a coincidence...

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LEFT: On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt

RIGHT: “You Hurt My Feelings” (2023), directed by Nicole Holofcener

I read On Bullshit  for one of my classes, and surely Holofcener must’ve considered it when coming up with this movie. The film explores themes like “lying to be encouraging,” suggesting that “even the smallest lies can have great consequences on your relationships with other people,” even going as far as debasing the credibility of that relationship to begin with. But my favorite point of the film was how it explores the function of the lie as a means “to make other happy,” like “would we be happier if we just told each other the truth, even if it hurt, or even if that hurtful truth came from a place of love?” Tiptoeing around others feelings by lying to avoid the truth sits adjacent to Frankfurt’s distinction of bullshitting from lying, this idea that bullshit has no regard for truth/fact, whereas lies do.

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TOP: Sections of the Naoshima Gymnasium (Left) and the Community Center (Right) by Hiroshi Sambuichi (found on rb.gy/jsnhw)

BOTTOM: Sections of the Pantheon in Rome

The ideas behind these apertures in the roof speak to two different relationships human have to their environment. For the Pantheon, the “oculus” lets in light into this tall and immense space that implies this spiritual presence, not to also mention the perfect circle. The apertures on the gymnasium and community hall by Sambuichi reflects on his philosophy of using “his relation to planet Earth” as his source, playing with earthly phenomena (wind patterns, sunlight, materiality and sustainability) and bringing that out in his work. In a way, Sambuichi’s buildings literally “ground” people closer to the natural environment.

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LEFT: Looptecture A, Endo Shuei Architect Institute

In Minamiawaji, Japan, a twisted structure wrapped in a swirling ribbon of pillowy concrete strikes a mysterious pose at the edge of the sea. The 1,894-square-metre building, appearing at once friendly and formidable, is a new theatre for Ningyo Joruri, a traditional form of Japanese puppetry native to the region. Designed by Shuhei Endo, the looping form is intended to make the theatre both a sculptural centrepiece for the island city and an unusual example of efficient space planning.

RIGHT: Maison Margiela Glam Slam Large Bag

Constructed in plush quilted leather, the Glam Slam bag recalls the notion of unconscious glamour and evokes its association to ease, following the study into dressing and travelling rituals worldwide. The Glam Slam debuted in the SS18 show and has a quilted design which mimics matelassé – the style of hand-stitched quilts created in Marseilles, France.

The use of concrete to make the building façade look plushy, similar to the plushiness of the matelassé. A similar patterning design operating at two vastly different scales: a handbag and a building.

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LEFT: Andy Warhol, 13 Most Wanted Men (1964), 20 by 20 foot mural mounted on the curved facade of the New York State Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow Corona Park, Queens, New York. The photo was taken in April, before mounting political pressure led to censors painting over the mural, which depicted mug shots of the NYPD’s 13 most-wanted criminals.

(Photo: AP, courtesy the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. and the Artists Rights Society.)

RIGHT: Eberswalde Library by Herzog and De Meuron

The prefabricated concrete panels... are imprinted thanks to specialized experience in screen-printing. The basis for the motifs for the prints is photos discovered by the artist Thomas Ruff in magazines he accumulated over the years in his private collection. From this collection he selected the appropriate motifs and arranged them in the horizontal belts running around the façade. The imprint on the entire façade unifies the surface; the differences between concrete and glass seem to be annulled.

Artwork hung on the building façade versus being embedded in it. The imagery displayed is also brought into question, something "collective" like criminals or something personal like private art.

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LEFT: Ellsworth Kelly, "Green Relief with Blue"

RIGHT: ERL, Swirl Hoodie in Green

Something struck me when I saw this Kelly piece at the Broad the other day, the curvature and the shadow of the front panel immediately reminded me of this exact swirl hoodie by ERL, arguably the brand's most iconic and recognizable clothing item. And how crazy it that the two have the same/similar colors? Coincidence?

[whatwemeantoeachother]

TOP: Still from Noah Baumbach’s “Frances Ha” (2012)

BOTTOM: Still from Celine Song’s “Past Lives” (2023)

I think these two scenes pair well together in how they describe love. 

Frances’ talks about wanting a relationship in which you see someone and it’s as if there are other dimensions, this secret world that no one notices except the two of you- how one person can open up the world for you.

Song’s framing of love comes from the Korean term “inyun,” needing 8,000 layers of “inyun” for two people to be together in a lifetime. It speaks to how people come and go in your life, but Nora and Hae Sung’s case is unique in that you know in another (or in a million other) lifetimes they would have been together, but just not in this one.

One film speaks to how love can be so big, so infinite, and conveys it with such youth. The other takes that idea of infinity while presenting people as so small, that one lifetime is so devastatingly little compared to 8,000 of them.

There’s also a line from “Past Lives” along the lines of “I hope I’ve opened your world as much as you’ve opened mine,” which I think is on the nose to what Frances wants in a relationship/life.

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LEFT: John Pawson’s Wooden Chapel in Unterliezheim, Germany (Photo by John Pawson)

RIGHT: Tadao Ando’s Church of the Light in Ikbaraki, Japan (Photo by Adam Friedberg)

Ideas of the relationship of singular materials and light to create phenomenological and spiritual spaces, similarities in iconography but differences in scale and spatial arrangement, all to define the relationship between spirit and individual.

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LEFT: Look 7 from Comme des Garcon’s Spring 1997 RTW collection

RIGHT: Le Corbusier’s Modulor

The Modulor was Corb’s desire to bring together architectural space and the human body, which was preceded by years of other architects like DaVinci finding mathematical standards between human dimensions and the natural environment. In this is a strong and constant desire to standardize and to create a sort of precedent.

One of Kawakubo’s most iconic show is nicknamed the “lumps and bumps” show for rethinking and warping the traditional female silhouette and its material construction. There is a point to question traditional beauty conventions, to platform a non-fit form, and to deviate from ongoing standardization.

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TOP: Toni Collette in Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” (2018)

BOTTOM: Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu in The Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022)

Both Collette and Yeoh's characters say the same line in both of these scenes: "I am your Mother." I just find this to be an interesting comparison because the same line is charged with completely different meanings. In fact, one disowns her child while the other attempts to save her child.

[whatwemeantoeachother]

TOP: Padma Lakshmi and Ginger Lim-Dimapasok in Season 2 of “Taste the Nation”

BOTTOM: Pages 193 and 194 of “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang

Two different takes on assimilation into American culture. Lim-Dimapasok speaks about fearing for her children forgetting about their Filipino heritage while being American. Yang explores that journey of a cultural loss through assimilation from that of a young man, wanting to become something he is not while losing who he is to begin with. Speaks to the idea of who we are with and without our cultures, and navigating that from an immigrant lens.

A clip of Padma Lakshmi and Ginger Lim-Dimapasok's interview can be watched here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuNVlC7NxNT/

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TOP: Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle

BOTTOM: Michaela Coel winning Best Writing for a Limited Series at the 2021 Emmys for “I May Destroy You,” Photo by Cliff Lipson for CBS/Getty Images

"In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to, in turn, feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success. Do not be afraid to disappear, from it, from us, for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence."

An invitation to reject "modern-day" spectacle in pursuit of artistry and individuality, quite lovely.

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TOP: Renate Reinsve as Julie in Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” (2021)

BOTTOM: Quote from Joan Didion’s 1975 commencement speech for UC Riverside

This film and Didion's quote compliment each other so well, both speaking to different parts of what it means to just be alive. Didion alludes to this bravery of living in the moment, whereas Trier's comes from this idea of regret and being our own harshest critic. Empowering this idea of "living" is such a radical stance, imo.

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LEFT: Midge Maisel in Series Finale “Four Minutes” of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

RIGHT: Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor at the 2023 Oscars for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Photo by Todd Heisler of The New York Times

I think about what it means "to make it," and more importantly what the journey looks like. I'm sure there are moments of doubt, questioning if you've already had your last opportunity or if you have anything worthy to share. But for it all to culminate in knowing that you have finally "made it," whether it be from an Oscar or a (fictional) feature on the Gordon Ford show, makes your journey unique to you.

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TOP: Agnes Martin, Taos, New Mexico, 1999 by Annie Leibovitz

BOTTOM: Social Housing in Mulhouse, France, 2005 by Lacaton & Vassal

I remember watching Leibovitz's Masterclass and she talked about the picture of Martin and said something along the lines of her "sit[ting] here and wait[ing] for inspiration to come to [her]." A minimal room without personality, perhaps a space of meditation.

The bottom image from Lacaton & Vassal's housing project suggests a "lived-in" space that reads (to me) as a collage of some sort. The photo exemplifies a space with personality, a dwelling imbued with memory and narrative, things to draw inspiration from.