"TANGENT" DÉCOR: LOS ANGELES, A CITY THANKFULLY *BEMUSED*
A REVIEW OF LOS ANGELES DÉCOR, PHILOSOPHICALLY and in terms of WHO IS SELLING GOOD SH*T (OUR SHORTLIST)
DISCUSSED TODAY: HOLLYWOOD AND LITERATURE; “TANGENTIAL” DÉCOR AS A NEW CONCEPT; BEST LOS ANGELES SELLERS OF THINGS
READER WARNING: Just as we warn of excessively visual editions, we warn that this one is texty.
Dear Snoops,
We are here today with an ode. (And, of course, some important DÉCOR RECONNAISSANCE.)
It is an ode to a place, but it is our delight to report that, frankly, the place (Los Angeles) is circumstantial. There is something greater and also far more specific that we shall simultaneously attempt to ANALYZE, APPLAUD, and make ACTIONABLE for you.
Today, in short:
LOS ANGELES AS THE EPICENTER OF GOOD DÉCOR?
and, WHAT AND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS
UNDERSTANDING LOS ANGELES (AS MUCH AS ONE CAN)
To understand LOS ANGELES, we recommend two CRUCIAL texts, one written and one visual:
IN FILM
The perennial 2003 documentary “LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF” (FREE ON YOUT*BE) by THOM ANDERSEN – a goes-by-too-quick one hundred and sixty-nine minutes of city history and film/Hollyw**d history divinely intertwined; ALL TANGENTS!
T. ANDERSEN says of the city:
“Los Angeles, it is said, is the most photographed city in the world. If you walk around enough, you’ll start to notice the mysterious temporary signs that direct crew members to a movie location. If you walk through the right neighborhoods, you’ll see the long rows of white trucks that mark and fence off a location shoot. Los Angeles is where the relation between reality and representation gets muddled.”
i.e. We are far more aware here that EVERYTHING is simply made-up.
IN BOOK
Another TANGENTS-ONLY approach to Los Angeles-ery, the exceptional “EVERYTHING NOW” by Rosencrans Baldwin (2021, ISBN: 978-0374150426). Of the city, he writes:
“Los Angeles probably has no single unifying dream besides the straightforward desire to be loved or not die in an earthquake”
Then he refers to the city’s “slouching shapelessness”.
i.e. The city is highly malleable.
IN SUMMARY – and TO MAKE IT ABOUT DÉCOR (AS IS OUR PREROGATIVE):
Los Angeles is, crucially, not really a “place” — it is viewed by even its residents (such as FOR SCALE itself) as simply a kind of loosey-goosey, intangible mirage. Because the city doesn’t really (literally or figuratively) have a true center, it’s kind of a thing that any kind of dream can be imposed upon. (It’s why CULTS love it here.)
And yet, does this make us happy? No. It makes us RESTLESS. (And that’s good.)
HERE IS THE POINT: To exist in Los Angeles, one must put in a huge amount of effort to help give it some f*cking shape. And, one very delightful and experimental way in which LOS ANGELES attempts to find itself: THE DOMESTIC SPACE / HOMESPHERE.
Much is made of the fact one can find, like, some Spanish colonial house next to some mock-Tudor mansion-thing, next to some midcentury bungalow, etc. The same is true of interiors.
(This is not the case with New Y*rk, P*ris, etc, which are cities that force a certain servitude in décor terms, if we’re being honest.)
In L.A., this is done through what we shall call “TANGENTIAL DÉCOR”. Let us introduce the concept:
“TANGENTIAL DÉCOR” IS DÉCOR BASED ON TANGENTS
It is here we must take our own tangent, which is to write a brief sub-ode to “USED”.
Broadly speaking “USED” furniture – i.e. vintage, antique, etc. (all very, very unsatisfying words; the wonderful ARTEK calls it “SECOND CYCLE”) – is where tangents (more easily) happen.
Let us elaborate:
USED = TANGENTS
“NEW” is born and sold into the context of “TODAY”, it’s value has been considered in relation to the present day – even if an “OLD” “design” (i.e. like, if you bought a new Tolomeo lamp, instead of a Tolomeo lamp made the year it was first made, i.e. 1987)
By contrast “USED” is discovery. Perhaps it is some resurrected and recontextualized thing that kind of was lost to time, that some reseller has dusted off and convinced us is newly appealing. Or, even if it is something as ubiquitous as a Tolomeo, there is undeniable satisfaction to finding one that has lived some life and then found its way to you. It’s kind of all of a sudden, like, a ONE-OFF. It’s *this* Tolomeo, not *a* Tolomeo.This all supports “TANGENTIAL” DÉCOR because one-off-edness is an important TANGENT PARAMETER: you start an eB*y search for a good used Tolomeo; you can’t find it; you either wait, or you tangent off into some other corner of Lampworld. “What else gives Tolomeo energy?,” you might ask yourself. This is the start of a tangent spiral.
To just go onto an e-comm site and order what you’d like because it’s all just there for you is certainly very handy, but is not AS CONDUCIVE to the vibe we’re talking about here.
ASIDE: VERY EXCEPTIONAL USED TABLE (NOT REALLY “TANGENTIAL”)
One of the most exceptional stories of “USED” we have come across is that of the “JUMBO” COFFEE TABLE by GAE AULENTI (she really knew how to f*cking do it!) currently in possession of [REDACTED; see below]. It’s like this:
It was found on CRAIGSL*ST in TEXAS, and not only is it from 1972 when this table was first made (by KNOLL), and has some not-typical kinda-slat-like bits on the surface, but like, this EXACT TABLE was photographed by Knoll for a catalog at the time of its production. (This is FOR SALE, too. Details down, down, this post, a bit.)
So, like, you can tell because it’s marble, and marble is not something that ever exactly repeats itself (i.e. specific veining). This means, like, SURELY the singular GAE herself was in the presence of this table.
Major “OOF!” factor <3
BACK TO MAIN PROGRAM:
To define “TANGENT DÉCOR” we return to Thom and Rosencrans, i.e. an acceptance of, or even reverence for ‘the mirage’; etc.
For them, there was a magnetism of a place so utterly full and yet inexplicably also totally a blank canvas. It imposes so little on you (you barely even have to check the weather report – its consistency neutralizes it), and yet demands a LOT. It doesn’t exist without YOU, as New York always exists; you must constantly give help prop it up.
Similarly, there is a magnestism of a décor that is outside of any silo. Instead, it takes one thing and shoots off in some direction, and then shoots off into another direction from that. It has no center, it just has an arbitrary start.
Here’s the difference between a siloed “aesthetic’ and TANGENT DÉCOR:
A completely different dynamism. And maybe it kind of doesn’t really feel very relaxing (aside: LOS ANGELES is not relaxing!), but it does INVOLVE YOU more.
The result of this is a décor that is:
HYPER-PERSONAL, because the tangent sequence can’t be replicated
EXTREMELY LOOSE; it can absorb with great ease “outsider” objects (i.e. that thing you have that you worry others might think is silly or tacky, etc.)
And, RIDICULOUSLY ENERGIZED, because it knows no bounds, it is INFINITY (N.B. this doesn't mean a Tangentially Décor’ed domestic space must be cluttered)
And, anyway:
THERE ARE PEOPLE BEHIND THIS
We don’t all have the capacity to TANGENT ourselves; often we simply have the time to respond to the tangents of others.
But, tangent is rare.
Restoration Hardware doesn’t Tangent; a designer collaboration from West Elm is not a “tangent” – tangents do not exist within the corporate structure.
Tangents, instead, are the product of a PERSON.
And, compared to “NEW”, tangents that incorporate “USED” are more exciting because they (can) use the whole history of Objects on Earth as their source – not just what is or can be currently manufactured.
What better PLACE (as much as it’s a place) to tangent than in Los Angeles?
Who better to look to as Tangentiers than its best resellers of things?
And, it is with deep satisfaction that we must report (as we often do, to be honest) the existence of A BOLD, NEW, TANGENT-DRIVEN GENERATION OF RESELLERS OF DÉCOR STUFF, that in many ways we feel truly reaches its zenith here.
What defines these folks:
Aesthetic categories mean absolutely f*cking nothing to them
They are not territorial about what is “their” aesthetic
They are driven by tangent-spiral research about décor, and never consider themselves “expert”
They are nice people (YES! IT’S TRUE)
We encourage you to seek out these same sorts of people in [INSERT WHERE YOU ARE].