CONFUSIONS and DELIGHTS (A SHORT LIST)
"EXPENSIVE THINGS NEXT TO EACH OTHER"; POVERTY COSPLAY; HERMÈS DELIGHTFUL DELUSION; WE CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE WRITING "UPCYCLING"
Dear Snoops,
Today, our version of a list (which is essentially a numbered variety of thoughts expressed in many words, divided into two categories): DELIGHTS and CONFUSIONS. All relate, of course, to our Findings here at SALONE DEL MOB*LE – the world’s most robust and overwhelming décor extravaganza.
We will shape these into Lessons, sometimes.
We shall begin with Confusions, of course.
PART 1: CONFUSIONS
1.1 WEALTH DÉCOR AS “EXPENSIVE THINGS NEXT TO EACH OTHER”
We are currently questioning varieties “DÉCOR-MOTLEY”, i.e. the use of the homesphere as a container for many kind of incongruous objects, often described (not by us) as “ECLECTIC”.
This seems to be one of those things that are kind of MEME-ish to us, like in the sense of “What’s something that ‘good’ when rich people do it but ‘bad’ poor people do?” and one of those things is “a décor of totally random sh*t”.
To be clear, we are great fans of décor that is pierced by the “ODD-MAN-OUT OBJECT”; ones that avoid a kind of fasc*st totality of “Style Section photo spread”; ones that are cluttered by the random detritus of “life” and/or are mega piecemeal because most people don’t just have a Décorator come in and choose everything in one swoop.
A total DÉCOR MOTLEY, where absolutely NOTHING “Goes together”, when present in the home of the Average person is really (nonsensically), is rudely sneered at by Décor industry forces. “Don’t they care about their homes?” Or, seen as an opportunity: “Maybe you need Wayfa*rs powerful new A.I. tool to help you find everything in Trendy Taupe!”
People call these homes “a disaster”.
And yet, amongst the rich – who are the imagined target audience of a great proportion of SALONE DEL MOB*LE – it is not a Disaster, it is suggested instead that these crazy-random things are “IN DIALOG”. “Oh, I love how your furniture is in DIALOG with each other!” “Gosh, what a great DIALOG between those contemporary pieces and the Baroque-ry (or whatever) of the walls!”
Well, sometimes that dialog is less like a conversation and more like f*cking SCREECHING.
Here is one example from SALONE DEL MOB*LE of the ‘Interior Designer high-brow “in dialog” décor’ on display:
We felt like we were on Mushrooms being in that room. NOT. IN. THE. GOOD. WAY.
In the same Display Apartment by “ARTEMEST”, but the work of a different Interior Designer:
These are just “Expensive Things Next To Each Other”, the dialog is saying “We had no budget limitations” but it’s not really a strong lesson in how one should Arrange.
The major failure is thinking that every f*cking thing in a room should scream at you.
Remember this lesson from some post(s?) way back: YOU SHOULD BE THE MAIN CHARACTER.
ASIDE: INSIDER-Y MOMENT
This is an imperfect example of DÉCOR MOTLEY PROBLEMS, but:
There is this generally good-in-the-past roving exhibition called “ALCOVA”, that is usually in some raw industrial space but this year, in part, was in the ASTONISHINGLY WONDERFUL “VILLA BORSANI”. F*cking perfectly furnished, as here:
The ALCOVA approach to showing off New Entries Into the Décorsphere was NOT to take the opportunity to show us how to Mélange with some zhoosh (i.e. show us some new things, and how they slip into the fantastic sweet Situation that is “BOSANI HOME”), but instead to remove the general harmony and just encourage the SCREECHING FOR ATTENTION:
LEFT, the VILLA BORSANI as it is generally viewed by the public, and RIGHT, that same room (diff angle) as ALCOVA wants you to experience Furniture.
LESSON: Don’t think that because you simply have a bunch of Expensive Things that you have swag. (We shall discuss what makes for ACTUAL DÉCOR SWAG in the forthcoming PRINT ISSUE of “FOR SCALE”.)
1.2 “POVERTY COS PLAY” AS SO-CALLED “RADICAL”
We are huge fans of HARRY NURIEV, but we are also increasingly concerned when there’s like poverty cosplay passed off as, like, “radical” or “late capitalism commentary”. Not just by Harry, by lots of folks
Nuriev, for example, celebrates the anniversary of a Very Good Sofa (the divine divan that is the SARATOGA, of 1964) by wrapping them in trash bags (a favorite material of his) and packing tape for “CAPSULE” (CAPSULE is a Very Good gallery):
Where we appreciate this is “CONCEPT” and not “NEW PRODUCT BY POLTRONOVA” (a.k.a. the Saratoga folks), does it not possess some troubling energy, where we’re asked to think “HOW COOL, HOW RADICAL!” about a sofa that has been made MORE EXPENSIVE through its sh*t-ification (because now it is Gallery Piece)?
It is described as “taking inspiration from the mundane”, but this so-called mundane toys with a kind of cheapest-option-DIY-repair energy practiced by those for whom this is not “mundane” but the result of being F*CKED by capitalism-consumerism.
Bummer.
PART 2: DELIGHTS
2.1 MAYBE WE SHOULDN’T SAY “LAMP”?
We toured the homestuffs of HERMÈS – one of many Fashion companies to colonize décor (we listed many in the last Issue). And, to be completely fair to them, it was mostly really super.
In addition to many quite attractive Things, they presented us with a charming new concept about “LAMP”. When introduced to what might typically be considered “TASK LAMP” by our HERMÈS guide, Guillermo Z., he referred to it as “AN OBJECT THAT LIGHTS UP”.
Don’t be fooled by its lamp shape and lamp function – consider this ABOVE AND BEYOND LAMP.
Here is the famously “NON-LAMP” HERMÈS LAMP next to a boot. (We shan’t explain the purpose of boot here; because we don’t remember.)
NEXT UP: SOFA as “SOFT SCULPTURE FOR THE ASS”?
Where this may seem Absurd-Pretentious, in fact, it is a wonderful mode of RE-SEEING and APPRECIATION. We suggest one spends some time adding HERMÈS-LEVEL DELUSIONAL “OBJECT ELEVATION” to the objects within your own domestic space.
2.2 SOME “UPCYCLING” THAT IS F*CKING NICE
For some reason, “UPCYCLING” is a tough word for us – seems to take you quickly into a zone where a thing (Thing A) is kind of warped into a Thing B that’s maybe less good than Thing A and looks like it’s the dregs.
Yet, Very Good “UPCYCLE” instead is more like a Promotion for a drab thing – it, like, gives it a better life. And such is the case with some GLASS from a 1930s building in Milan (Palazzo Missori) by FASC*ST architect MARCELLO PIACENTINI (nice buildings, sh*t as f*ck politics).
It was made into some chunky-floaty-green/bluey-glass tables.
Made by next-gen Murano glass folks at 6:AM GLASSWORKS. Has a kind of amazing texture to it, TBH, which our sh*t photo doesn’t really capture. (Pls trust.)
And, there was another "upcycling” project that is kind of less radical in Transformation, so it doesn’t really “HIT” like the table does (for us) – but it has such a pleasurable result, and so voila. Here is French furrier person/company Yves Salomon doing first-ever décor with OTHER French person Pierre Chapo. (It’s not fur, it’s wool.)
Kind of CARPET-y chairs-chaise-lampshade-ry that makes some rather strict things quite “cosy-up-in-’em”. And, in a land of Many Curvaceous Sofas (something that was pointed out to us by THE Dan Rosen, whom we were zipping around with, along with super interiors person Philip J.) … where were we? Ah. IN A LAND OF MANY CURVACEOUS SOFAS it’s nice to have a SNUGGLE element that’s not taken quite so INTENSELY. Little comforts are great, too, okay?!
The lesson: MICRODOSE OF COMFORT has a real nice balance to it. Like, are you or are you not supposed to relax on these? Love.
That’s all for now.
One last note. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING A WORLD OF DÉCOR WRITING by a WRITER that is also critical and absurd. The space for this kind of thing is SHRINKING, and so we all have to do it TOTALLY INDEPENDENTLY and without a paycheck. Bummer for us, but good for you.
Love and good luck,
Was a great recap, and cured our slight fomo.
"we are also increasingly concerned when there’s like poverty cosplay passed off as, like, 'radical' or 'late capitalism commentary'."
I have been thinking a lot about this lately. We graduated from Tiny Homes to duct tape (see also: Balenciaga packing tape bracelet)... it's a very bizarre trend. I don't mind it if its trying to make a social statement, but in this case it doesn't seem so, the statement has seemingly nothing to do with the actual poverty epidemic. Mostly, the statement is "look how rich i am that I can pay a stupid amount of money for this expensive nonsense." Questionable.