Meanwhile #157
This is a new thing. About rectangles. Five of them. Do keep up.
Rectangles. It occurred to me the other day how much we kind of take for granted that culture is predominantly rectangular, be it on screen or paper or canvas, mostly because it fits our means of production and consumption. But it wasn’t always this way, was it? And as we make our first tentative steps into the softer-edged era of virtual/augmented reality (or whatever that leads to), perhaps it won’t be for much longer1. One day our descendants will look back on this big chunk of human civilisation (bookended by … what? Gutenberg and Ive?) and find it quaint that we hemmed art into this neat boxes. But for now, oh how we love our rectangles. Here are five of them.
Double Standard by Dennis Hopper, 1961. Interesting fact about Hopper, one of the great American photographers: he also did some acting on the side. Who knew! I’ve treated myself to his 2019 collection In Dreams, one of several volumes edited and designed by Michael Schmelling. Can’t wait to sink my eyes into it.
I mentioned South Korean design studio Bitnaneun in my last regular post. I think. I can’t be expected to remember these things. Anyway, look at this poster for Cho Jung-Rae’s So-ri-kkun (aka The Singer). YUM.
Bit in love with this poster by Matt Willey for Phoebe Arnstein’s short film If You’re Happy, starring The Crown’s Erin Doherty.2
Build’s Michael C. Place tweeted this beautiful photo months ago, and it’s been hibernating in my likes ever since. I need this to be a book cover … but perhaps Hipgnosis and Peter Gabriel got there first, several decades ago.
Sofia Coppola’s instagram is full of behind-the-scenes joy from throughout her career; a great taster for her forthcoming book, Archive. How lovely is this pic of Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny on the set of the forthcoming Priscilla?
That is all.
Of course, the best thing about Apple’s new Vision Pro headset/operating system is the ability to virtually project a big rectangle into your home.
Doherty marching through Buckingham Palace by torchlight while singing Starman is one of my absolute favourite moments in the show.