Taking Note
iPhone Wabi-Sabi, oxidized vases, and vintage rugs
Tabs I’m Living In
Domenico Gnoli paintings from the late 1950s serve as a solid proof that focusing on the up-close, personal surface can be sometimes more intimate than capturing the “whole” story.
The stalactite interior of Hans Poelzig’s Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin, built in 1919, is a reminder of Expressionist architecture and its use of form, texture and light to engineer the mood. The audience walks into an atmosphere before the performance even begins.
In the details: House numbers reminds me that personality can speak through the smallest utilitarian details. It doesn’t always have to harmonize with the facade, it can be part of the story, and how a building communicates with passersby . It’s like a wine label or book cover, giving nod to what’s on the inside, outside. Make caring about micro-scale cool again.
What I read
Thom Bettridge’s “Are you Cursed or Charmed?” explains why every luxury brand thinks their creative director’s blurry iPhone photos are an artistic statement. He coins it “iPhone Wabi-Sabi.” and if you didn't hear this term enough when Kim Kardashian launched Skims, here's more. His thesis: brands spent five years reverse-engineering what teenagers intuitively knew about phone-shot aesthetics.
The essay opens with Loewe’s TikTok strategy, arguing that Jonathan Anderson’s personal doomscrolling gave the brand permission to “delve into brain rot” in ways Hermès could never access without looking desperate. All this is an expensive way of saying rich people finally realized Gen Z doesn’t trust anything that looks too polished.
He argues that every brand’s “candid” mirror selfie is as choreographed as a Vogue cover shoot, just with worse lighting. “Worse” enough to make you think they’re nonchalant enough not to care. Bettridge is Editor-in-Chief of i-D, so the call is coming from inside the house — he’s watching brands spend $50K on “lo-fi” content that’s supposed to look like their intern shot it. Now I can see it in every brand I follow, which is either a gift or a curse depending on whether you actually want to enjoy social media.
What I bought
Nothing yet (you can stop applauding). I’m dangerously close, though. I saw these verdigris ceramic bud vases by Devon Liedtke. At an affordable price, these prove you can access quality without turning to Amazon. Drop shippers beware. The oxidized blue-green patina makes new ceramics look like they’ve been aging in a garden for decades. They’re handmade by European artisans in Barcelona, and what I like is how honest they are. Sometimes sitting pretty is enough.
Question of the Week
Do vintage rugs make you a better person?
Tania