Many crucial topics and “NEWS”, rapidly discussed.
MENTIONED: TAN FRANCE SPACE ODYSSEY'; NEW LENDING LIBRARY OF SORTS IN NEW YORK; IS CASSINA SLIDING?; WORTHWHILE EXHIBITIONS; MANY GOOD THINGS TO KNOW
A: AMERICA, WHERE DOES IT SHOP?
We were tasked by
to shop “WHERE AMERICA SHOPS”, and were even pressured into searching the endless cr*p of W*YFAIR for something curious. Other finds from LOWE’S and RESTAURANT SUPPLY.Results: here.
B: BLUNK (J.B.) IN LOS ANGELES
On has precious little time left to see this exhibition at “THE FUTURE PERFECT”, which is a place that leans a teeny bit “CAPITAL-D DESIGN”-MADE-FOR-”CAPITAL-C-COLLECTORS” but, in fact, this one is very intriguing.
J.B. BLUNK is a name one should know; he had a particular appreciation for the phallus, as do we. And, others included in “INNER SPACE”: the exceptional MINJAE KIM.
There is something INNER SPACE accomplishes here – where often very sturdy things feel very fragile, and very fragile things feel almost COMMANDING. In décor, “EMOTIONALLY FLAT” is AVOIDED through such dualities. In these, we have some real depth; and DEPTH = ENERGY/VIBE.
BTW, speaking of EMOTIONALLY FLAT…
C: CASSINA, WHAT HAPPENED?
Within weeks, FOR SCALE will be dispatched to “SALONE DEL MOBILE” in MILAN i.e. the most chaotic and overstuffed furniture fair of them all. The specter of that fair has us reflecting, per usual, on how DÉCOR is presented to us and the general impact of “HOW WE ARE SHOWN DÉCOR”.
LEFT: a 1980s Cassina campaign, featuring many esteemed 20th-century bits of furniture. RIGHT: Cassina “ad” (i.e. digital post) in 2024. (At the time of writing, their most recent post.)
We ask: WHY HAS “ASPIRATION” BECOME SO GENERIC AND F*CKED? Does Cassina in 2024 not feel like some blank, soulless Venture Cap*talist’s escapist fantasy? Versus only forty years ago, when we were asked to DREAM, to imagine the SHEER POWER of a sofa to make even some frigid construction site feel intolerably chic.
D: DAVIDE BIANUCCI ON INSTAGR*M
One Instagr*m account we are great fans of and has shockingly few followers (at the time of writing: “1,108”) is that of DAVIDE BIANUCCI, whom we don’t personally know but present very hazy images of often Italian origin stuff.
E: EVERYONE O.K.?
Hope you’re doing o.k. out there. We’re worried about so much, including a future of this:
F: FRANCE (TAN), AND THE MISUSE OF SPACE
We have a very occasional series that dissects ARCHI D*GEST home tours because, as the likes of FOR SCALE SUPER PAL D. ROSEN points out with great regularity, they are a f*cking wild ride.
Ours are HERE (1) and HERE (2) and HERE (3).
One as-yet-not-discussed-by-us is that of TAN FRANCE, and his “TUDOR” mansion in SALT LAKE CITY.
Within, in every room, FRANCE reveals his absurd VANITY. Their square-footery is ENORMOUS and yet the objets de décor are never enough to fill them. They are huddled together as penguins seeking warmth or pushed into corners that leave vast gulfs between said groupings. SEE BELOW FOR “SAD LONELY CHAIR IN CORNER”.
TAKEAWAY: The ego behind “MORE SPACE!!!!!!!!” is a destroyer of good décor. There is a significant reason why the most admired homespaces are so often CUTE AND MINI, i.e. EAMES HOUSE. Tiny, by FRANCE standards. And, you can see here that however much they DRENCH the walks in FLORALS, “VASTNESS” simply feels cold and a lot like sad, over-compensating WEALTH-BLOATING:
G: GLASS, AND ITS THICKENING
To return to a concept from “B”, there is a particular energy in something that contains within it a duality. It’s like this AND that-ery; or it’s like you expect this but really it’s not. ETC. ETC. ETC.
We continue our exampling with the work of COURTNEY APPLEBAUM, who is Highly Skilled At Thick Glass – glass being a thing we often think of as “BREAKABLE” but this glass is glass that has the GRAVITAS to break you. EXAMPLE, TABLE:
There is also a CHUNKY-AS-F*CK dish, referred to ambiguously as a “CATCH-ALL” (ALL? Impossible. Ban this term.), that is an exceptional example of the “BLUNT OBJECT” category.
Pricey, but that never stops one from wanting a thing.
We would like to see more VERY THICK GLASS. (And we expect to.)
H: HERMAN MILLER IS A NEW LENDING LIBRARY LOCATION
NYC shop-extraordinaire “LICHEN” runs “RESOURCE LIBRARY”, which is a little itty bitty lending library. And one that has JUST NOW expanded from “Just Their Shop” to also “At Herman Miller On Park Avenue”.
We use the LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY on a weekly basis, and so the EXPANSION of the “LENDING LIBRARY” concept into new territory is HEAVENLY.
I: “INFRASTRUCTURE” AS AESTHETIC
ALERT: emerging aesthetic.
As the world becomes DESPERATELY CLOAKED by late capitalism-isms (smog, artificial “intelligence”, “content”), there seems to be a strong desire to “EXPOSE” and make a generous display of “INFRASTRUCTURE”.
Above is a prototype chair by CHRISTIAN BORGER and GREG MacGLASHING, and BORGER has many projects in this kinda category.
But such an aesthetic was also expressed recently at some little dinner thingy recently attended by FOR SCALE.
The dinner was kind of comically “by” so many partners it seemed absurd for all of them to try and name themselves – SIZED, U.S.M., WE ARE ONE, BASIC.SPACE, WILLO PERRON. Personally, we can handle max THREE.
Anyway, the bar was U.S.M.’s modular “HALLER” furniture but mainly the infrastructure bits:
Very airy, very “NOTHING TO HIDE HERE”, very skeletal.
J: JUNE ANNOUNCEMENT
We are on Holiday in June. Seems like a fine time to tell you that IN JUNE we will be on hiatus from FOR SCALE (probably?).
K: KELSEY KEITH
Read
. K. KEITH IS A “SUPER PAL” WHO IS ALSO A DELIGHTFUL SUBSTACK*R.L: LAMPS AND THE APPRECIATION OF “CORD”
We seem to be in the midst of CORD ERASURE. So many f*cking rechargeable things relying on “USB” – but we firmly believe that cords should be getting BETTER and not simply DISAPPEARING.
We appreciate, for example, “Alternative Cord Positioning” as in the case of this “NECK CORD” lamp sold by PARIS’S MAX KEYS. EXCEPTIONAL STUFF ALL AROUND from him.
M: MAX LAMB
Really, we’re living MAX LAMB’s world. And we’re ok with that. In terms of people who are “HAVING A MOMENT” right now, we approve – BUY US A DRINK AND WE’LL TELL YOU WHO’S ON THE OTHER LIST.
“SALON94” (gallery) in NEW YORK just opened up a show called “MAX LAMB INVENTORY” that is, like, MUCH of his stuff, if you seek to have a SUPER SPEEDY EDUCATION on The LAMBsphere.
3 EAST 89TH STREET until April 20.
N: NOIHSAF BAZAAR
Are we all paying attention to NOIHSAF BAZAAR? A marketplace at the VERY PRECIOUS STAGE of not yet being f*cking overwhelmed by either (a) ENDLESS CR*P or (b) “INFLUENC*R”-driven “curating” (of which are highly skeptical).
*UPDATED LINK*
https://noihsafbazaar.com/home
O: ODDEYE (VERY GOOD RESELLER IN N.Y.C.)
We are exhausting our words, and only at a midpoint here, but a very vibey NEW YORK RESELLER is ODDEYE.
Does an excellent job at bringing to you “CURIOSITY”-energy décor bits that are not so “WACKY” as to not be highly adaptable to broad varieties of aesthetic directions. To be clear, they ARE highly adaptable.
A nice off-set/BALANCE to the kind of highly polite (and also excellent, in their own way) “COUNTER-SPACE"s of the world.
WE SEEK BALANCE IN DÉCOR! ODDEYE provides.
P: “PLEASE, DEAR GOD!!!” (SOME POLITE REQUESTS)
PLEASE don’t shop on Amaz*n, even when some two-bit influencer tells you to.
PLEASE attempt a trip to the Libary, public or (if in N.Y.C.) Lichen-y “RESOURCE” variety.
PLEASE exercise your right to DENY “TREND” and if you feel compelled to chase down some “FAMOUS” piece of furniture – sleep on it first!
Q: QUESTIONS FOR US?
In the comments, pls.
R: RIPPON (ADAM), HOW CAN WE BE MORE LIKE HIM?
Just to say there are only THREE HOME TOURINGS in this whole wide-wild world that we give a sh*t about. They are, in order of significance:
Julia Fox self-guided apartment tour on TikTok (which we wrote about here in reference to EXQUISITE CHAOS)
The TWINKSPHERE tour of TROYE SIVAN for Arch*tectural D*gest (which we wrote about here)
and, one that we haven’t yet dissected but SHALL EVENTUALLY:
ADAM RIPPON (former figure skater of the U.S.A.) – whom, in fact, we spotted recently at FOR SCALE satellite office “CANYON COFFEE” in Echo Park
Adam demonstrates what is REALLY at stake with “furniture”. It is a crucial décor mindset of: “?” He cares, but he doesn’t; he lays it bare.
S: SALONE DEL MOBILE, WE SHALL REPORT
Don’t bother going – because we will, and we’ll tell you about it.
Dispatches from MILAN and The World’s Most Party-Circuit Furniture Fair coming to you here (a special week of THREE POSTS in mid-April) thanks in part to some FINANCIAL SUPPORT from the dreamboats at U.S.M.
Also, FOR THOSE WITH INDUSTRIAL-PROFESSIONAL INTEREST in Salone del M.: expect a very VIBEY and CULTURALLY ZOOMED-OUT report on what the f*ck the state of décor is (according to SALONE) to be produced by FOR SCALE and available on the Intern*t in May.
T: TUSCANY, A REPORT COMING THIS SUMMER
We said we’re on hiatus in June, but really we’re going to be at two important “ANTIQUES” MARKETS. One in LUCCA and one in AREZZO.
We shall be on the prowl for “GOOD THINGS” and the prowl will be exposed via our under-used INSTAGR*M. This will be good for you if you like to punish yourself by looking at things you can’t get. (A KINK WE SHARE WITH YOU.)
U: U R AMAZING
Thank u. We hope to see u MAY 17TH AT COLBO (NEW YORK CITY) at the launch of FOR SCALE IN PRINT. (It’s a newspaper.)
V: VEPSÄLÄINEN, JANNI (AND IITTALA REVAMP)
What happens when you f*ck around with a “HERITAGE” brand? Many attempt, and one of the latest versions of this is happening with Finnish glass-magnificos IITTALA, at the hands of Janni Vepsäläinen (who is, as you might guess, ALSO FINNISH). (She is their new CREAT*VE DIRECTOR.)
TANGENT: what is it with the Finns and being kind of TOO SAFE?
We don’t know, but that era is ending/
First, we get VAARNII that is really letting pine be KNOTTY and chunky, and they are a half-step from being “VERY COOL”; then, we have IITTALA going from “Monocle magazine”-style “NOSTALGIC-SLEEPY” to f*cking bizarre handblown kind of made-up instruments and stuff. Not a clear commercial play, but we think of it as an intention to kinda “BREAK UP” WITH the IITTALA of last year.
= ERGO, WE ARE READY FOR SOME ENERGY IN THE WORLD OF “ARTEK”, also Finnish. And we would like to see it happen in their AHEAD-OF-IT’S-TIME-JUST-BARELY resale project “ARTEK 2ND CYCLE”.
MEGA POTENTIAL there, and also LOTS OF brands taking control of their own resale HAPPENING! Christofle will start ASAP (if not already?); and, for example 2, Herman Miller (2ND MENTION TODAY!) did a big sale for their 100th BDAY.
W: “WRONG ANSWER” (IS THE RIGHT PLACE TO BUY PARAPHENALIA ETC.)
FOR SCALE MEGA SUPPORTER SUPER PAL and “FOR SCALE IN PRINT” LAUNCH EDITION party co-conspirator GEOFF SNACK runs “WRONG ANSWER”. And, if you are lucky enough to be in NEW YORK CITY then you can even visit his quite stylish and INTERESTING-THINGS-FILLED home “BY APPOINTMENT ONLY” and peruse his stuff-for-sale.
EXAMPLE: MANY RARE BOOKS, and also oddities such as…
GAGOS*AN / DAM*EN HIRST YEAR 2000 PING-PONG EXHIBITION INVITE:
Where the f*ck you keep this in your home, we have no clue.
X: XILITALIA (MANUFACTURER)
We suggest you look into “XILITALIA” which is a weird f*cking name but was a 1980s division of the quite established “B&B ITALIA” (WE HAVE A ABSURD STORY ABOUT B&B ITALIA AND SOME CUPCAKES, for later).
XILITALIA got the good stuff ,though. E.G. the “ERIDIANA” chair by Antonio Citterio, and many similarly skeletal, chrome-y things.
Y: “YEARS” (PEOPLE)
Also known as: “STUDIO YEARS”. They just finished some thingy (a home) in COSTA RICA (to appear in a glossy mag imminently - GOD SPEED, STUDIO YEARS!), and included within is this very charming super long cabinet-something they sketched out and had made. And, here you have it. It’s compelling, no?:
Something about the thick chunky legs gives it HIGH ANTHROPOMORTH-OSITY, actually - Like, easy to imaging them cracking into three little cabinet-soldiers and clomping away. KINDA “FANTASIA-TIC”:
PERSONALITY!!!!!!!!!
Z: Z9R (MODEL NAME)
NEW YORK… so much of it today. But, on to SUPERHOUSE. Another thing for you to become familiar with. They have a new gallery – as in, in a different place (a n ostensibly BETTER, and in this case also MANY, MANY TIMES BIGGER place).
They make VERY THOROUGH AND SMART (if kinda serious) notes for shows. EDIFYING AS F*CK!!!! Like this.
They sell old things, too, (not just new), which has included the wonderfully DWEEB-y task chair by ETTORE SOTTSASS, the “Z9R”:
Somewhere in the space between “LAB” and “CUBICLE” and “STUDIO”.
WE MADE IT THROUGH.
Until next time. Love and good luck,
I dont understand half - or more - of what you write about, yet I pour over every word like an old friend telling you stories
adore these essays
Tan: “We wanted the home to feel cosy and cottage-y”. What? Ok you failed.