"Art is making something no-one asked for"
15 beautiful things
There was a text that writer Mira Jacob sent to her teenage son, then posted to Instagram, the morning after the election. While many other platitudes fell flat (for me), the sentiment that stuck with me:
Art is making something no-one asked for—not because they didn’t need it, but because they didn’t know they needed it until you made it, until it helped them breathe and dream and find a way forward. It’s part of a map that shows us how we get out of this place. Keep going. Do your part.
The whole text:
Here are 14 things that have helped me breathe a bit:
This video of Jon Baptiste showing Chris Wallace how he can transform a song entirely from one musical genre to the next all in <1 minute on Tiktok. What an absolute savant.
Having someone tailor a perfect pair of Stan Ray pants exactly to my body at The Consistency Project, my bday present to myself. Tailored pants are art!
“The End of the Tour,” (link to trailer) the 2015 film based on David Lipsky’s Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, which is based on a weeklong interview he did with David Foster Wallace after Infinite Jest came out. This is about writing, writers, companionship, finding humanity in an honest conversation.
Two incredible films by Jacob that released in the week before the election:
Then Comes the Body (~15 minutes): a film he made about a very unlikely ballet school on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria, which, after touring festivals this past year, has qualified for the Academy Awards.
Above (3 minutes) A gorgeous B+W short film set on the rooftop of the New York Times Building with a famous Brazilian ballerina, Ingrid Silva, a custom paper tutu made by French artist Pauline Loctin, and music from the pianist, Nils Frahm (on Nowness)
Debbie Millman’s interview with the incredible illustrator and children’s book author Carson Ellis, in which she—much to my delight—explains the secret language behind Du Iz Tak.
The Song Exploder podcast episode of Our House with Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) in which I learn the song was written about his then defunct relationship with Joni Mitchell. A gem of an episode and wonderful song.
Wesley Morris’s newest podcast project, The Wonder of Stevie, about, of course, Stevie Wonder, which is operating at a really impressive level of storytelling and production.
The Anthropologists by Aysegül Savas, a beautiful nugget of a book about belonging, home, and the perpetual projection of imaging how your next home may not just change your life, but change you.
This video of the two remaining woman at the 300 year old French pastel company ,La Maison du Pastel, who continue its legacy of hand-making pastels. Just wow.
Alphabet in Motion, an absolutely stunning book about typography by my friend Kelli, which you can back to get a copy on Kickstarter. A true magician wth design, paper, and altering the dimensions by which we understand daily objects.
All of these mind-blowing human-sized fungi costumes(?) sculptures(?) made by Riitta Ikonen and photographed by Annie Collinge (who has the best portfolio site ever) for her project about the relationship betwen human beings and fungi.
The very delicious, large, and huge-so-very-shareable soft pretzel from Werkstatt that comes with liptauer (a Hungarian cheese spread) and mustard. Pretzels are art!
Every Day is a New Day, a perfect calendar by Karel Martens with just the mantra one needs.
Ada is 9 today—an absolute miracle of a human. Make the art for the kids, at the very least.
Not art, but a few pieces I’ve done lately for The Strategist that might be useful for the kids in your life:
Lastly, and in the spirit of community, supporting artists, and supporting each other: my friend Maria, a prolific maker and creator of beautiful things, is experiencing a medical crisis and in need of both brain and heart surgery after a bacterial infection damaged her heart (then caused a brain aneurysm). She has two young children, and a partner that all now have immense costs associated with her medical, and rehabilitative needs, in addition to the generally high costs of being a human in this country in 2024. Please, if you’re able, donate to this GoFundMe.
Please share any art / projects / articles / podcasts / books / photos / videos that have helped you breathe this week.
Thank you for this; it was really lovely to receive today.
Thank you for this inspiring and thoughtful list.