53. Micro Reliquary VI
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53. Micro Reliquary VI
For this month's (belated) newsletter, I wanted to keep things short and sweet and celebrate the things that helped me stay sane during this chaotic time.
Hello friends,
Apologies for the radio silence in April. I ended spending the past month getting squeezed between end of the semester deadlines, final projects, and even ended up taking a weekend trip to Montreal in the middle of everything. Within all of this whirlwind, time felt like it was moving so fast and so slow at the same time. No matter how hard I tried to manage my hours, I found myself in a state of constant frenzy, mentally bouncing from one point of my to-do list to another. So for this month's (belated) newsletter, I wanted to keep things short and sweet and celebrate the things that helped me stay sane during this chaotic time.
TOUCH
Rhythm Zero in Greenpoint might just be one of the best-designed cafes in the city. A friend took me there recently to get sorbet after spending a hot afternoon walking around the neighborhood and I fell in love with the space's airy high ceilings and curated design. A citrus tree fills up one corner of the white-walled room with a burst of color. A few massive rocks add an unexpected texture to the simple concrete floor. At the time we visited, someone had created a dreamy floral display using piles of stones, ribbons, silver goblets, and whimsical arrays of flowers. This spot is definitely going to be a go-to for when I'm in need of a caffeinated creative boost.
Abel is a fragrance brand that truly never misses. My partner wears their musky aquatic perfume Cyan Nori all the time so, when he needed a restock, I decided to give another fragrance from their collection a shot. I ended up settling on Pink Iris. To me, this smells like springtime in a bottle. It's feminine and super sweet, with notes of Sichuan pepper and musk that add a juicy bite to its more saccharine notes. This perfume, which to me always opens with a sharp burst of bubblegum, is not for the faint of heart. Think of it like picking a rose and getting nicked by its thorns.
After months of admiring them on friends, I finally caved and treated myself to a pair of Meals Chef Pants. They’ve quickly become my favorite travel pants. I wore them on the 11 hour train ride up to Montreal and the 1 hour long flight back to NYC and they were an absolute dream the entire time. They are perfectly oversized and they have such cavernous pockets perfect for storing snacks and tickets (I've seen people also fit whole books in there). No adventure of mine will ever be complete without them.
I’ve been working on a public history project about Miami for almost year and, as I compiled my reading list, I came across Mario Alejandro Ariza's Disposable City. I immediately added it to the top of my pile. Equal parts journalistic investigation and memoir, Ariza paints a vibrant portrait of a complicated city under threat. When we talk about coastal cities being threatened with sea level rise, it's oftentimes as a problem for a far-off future. Yet Ariza's sharp insights remind us that the fight for Miami's future (and cities like it) are already taking place on our streets and in our governments. This read hit particularly close to home, and I'm so grateful that Ariza undertook this impressive task of documenting Miami's recent environmental history.
LOOK
Finnegan Shannon's practice centers around rest and accessibility, particularly in public spaces. I remember first encountering their work during the pandemic when the museum world was debating over the loss of public rest areas and the removal of seats for social distancing, critical resources that aided visitors in navigating these physically demanding spaces. Since then, their blue benches (and their invitations to rest) have influenced the way I engage with galleries, making me more mindful of accessible design and my bodily needs. Some of my other favorite interventions include their Alt Text as Poetry project and their Anti-Stairs Club protest.
I've really been loving the illustrations of Taehyoung Jeon lately. I don't know how the algorithm gods got my eyes on her work, but I'm so happy they worked their digital magic on me because I've been in love with her art ever since. Jeon creates these vibrant botanical and mycological compositions, stretching the organic forms of plants and fungi into renderings of surreal patterns and saturated palettes. I love how they balance their minimal line work with prismatic colorscapes, each one like a piece from a garden of dreams. You can find prints of her art in her shop.
LISTEN
I’ve been keeping Yaeji’s latest album, With A Hammer, on heavy rotation these past couple of months. This album feels like an important turning point in her growth as a musician, a wonderful distillation of her synthy signature sounds that isn’t afraid to draw influences from other influences in electronic dance music. We tumble through intermissions of drum n bass, slow down with ambient interludes—an emotional rollercoaster in the best way. Key tracks: “Fever,” "For Granted," and "Ready or Not."
I’ve never been a big literary podcast person but If Books Could Kill has earned a special place in my heart. Hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri, each episode debunks popular junk science and self-help books. You’ll probably recognize some of these bestselling titles (like Hillbilly Elegy, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and Outliers) from seeing them in airport bookstores or referenced in pop culture. I’m sure you never thought to question the information discussed between their covers, yet Hobbes and Shamshiri’s dissection reveals their deceptive impacts.
If you’re looking for a cinematic music escape, I’ve really enjoyed getting immersed in Flying Lotus’s 2021 album Yasuke. The 6-track album was originally made for a Netflix anime of the same name that follows the adventures of a Black samurai. It’s got a sweeping epic quality to it without feeling too much like your typical adventure show soundtrack, masterfully blending your typical array of guitars, drums, and strings together with fantastical electronic textures and spacey ambience.
LICK
Extraordinary isn't your average superhero show. Set in a world where everyone gets a power when they turn 18, we follow one girl navigating adulthood completely powerless. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started watching this, but it was so refreshing to see a show that focused on the experiences of people in their earlier twenties (no longer in high school but also not quite 'proper' adults yet) trying to figure everything out. It's a funny, mostly lighthearted, watch if not a bit predictable at times, and a nice break if you've been on a binge of heavier dramas.
I recently learned that in 2006 Nike partnered with Bausch & Lomb to create the MaxSight Contact Lenses. Their amber tint were designed to block blue light and UV rays, enhancing visibility for athletes while also reducing glare outdoors. The lenses’ lifespan wasn’t long (a combination of the eye brand going out of the business and being banned by sports administrations) but their sci-fi effect still looks really cool.
La Patria is a digital archive dedicated to the preservation of Uruguayan graphic design. You can spend hours browsing through their collections that range in scale from stamps and tickets to movie posters and book covers. This historical resource is such a wonderful way of engaging with design history through objects and materials people encountered in their everyday lives. I hope you get lost in these archives too.
CLICK
I haven't had the attention span to read longform essays or non-school related books lately, but The Dial has gotten me out of that slump. The Dial is a (truly) global publication of politics and culture, sourcing beautifully-crafted stories from writers around the world. Each piece is made with thoughtful reporting and great care for its subjects. I can’t recommend it enough. If you want some suggestions for where to start, I’d recommend this piece on the Costa Concordia and their Egg issue.
As New York City dipped back into its familiar rhythms of humid summer nights, I was reminded of Anne Carson’s poem “Saturday Night as an Adult” I encountered in The New Yorker years ago. It’s a poem that has shifted in significance for me as I’ve aged, the way it manages to capture so perfectly those grown up anxieties, that nervous meeting of acquaintances, trying to make the most of a rare night out. Carson writes: “We eat intently, as if eating were conversation. We keep passing the bread.”
I’ve been a subscriber of passerby magazine for a while now and, even when I’m at my most overwhelmed and busy, I delight in getting one of their interviews or stories in my inbox. If you’re looking for thoughtful interviews with interesting women or perfectly-curated guides that cut through the noise of what’s trending now, I’d recommend giving them a read. My experience, recently, has been made even better with my friend Em’s addition to their editorial team. Since then, they’ve take me into Youtube rabbit holes and through poetry books I instantly added to my reading list.