08.11.25 | I almost forgot this is the whole point
This morning over coffee, I read an essay in Mousse by Sohrab Mohebbi on “the atmospheric” as a current trend in contemporary art. In it he cites the prevalence of works that move beyond the singular painting or sculpture towards completely immersive environments; the totality of a physical space and the objects within it, both animate and inanimate, and the chain of events and interactions that form as a natural consequence.
Imagine, not as a rule but more of a conceptual exercise, approaching interiors this way: design as backdrop for your life as a quasi-performace piece, setting the stage for a set of natural occurances and actions that occur symbiotically with the interior space itself.
What would it be like to design interiors that are malleable, living breathing sort of ecosystems? adopting these principles of the “atmospheric”
The work as medium, in the case of a residential interior, the work is the life of the inhabitant or homeowner and their habitual domestic tendencies- their preferred breakfast spot, residue of routine, piles of mail, an empty coffee cup on the counter.
And all very much were, a vibe. (number 11 on Mohebbi’s list of atmospheric qualities).
one uniting feature was this feeling of un-self consciousness, spaces unafraid to be imperfect, as if caught in the middle of a long conversation.
much in the way of, franz erhard walther believed in activation by use or set of actions thus completing the work.
because spaces should be a living breathing, fluxuating, malleable backdrop for the performace piece that is our lives.
(whenever I think about this, I picture myself trying to “relax” on some impossible sort of tete-a-tete.
But unless it falls under the “atmospheric”, I’m really not trying to live in a white cube.
Imagine, not as a rule but more of a conceptual exercise, approaching interiors this way: design as backdrop, and your life as a quasi performace piece, setting the stage for a set of natural occurances and actions that occur both as a consequence of and in relation to the interior space itself. Like a Franz Erhard Walther piece, the design is completed only by someone moving in and living with it.
Of course a lot of people already think this way, not life-as-performance, but practicality and necessity over aesthetics. But this isn’t about building modular flat pack portable tables, or making the inside of every drawer and closet look like an ad for the container store. It’s about deciding how you want to feel and what kind of person you want to be, and creating an environment that makes acting as such inevitable.
In other news: it was recently brought to my attention via Instagram that Decorating Cents, the late 90’s / Y2K HGTV show, has made a resurgence with voiceover commentary. Privately in the safety of my own journal I think I’m the only one that feels.. bad for making fun of it? It’s not because I don’t think that some of the choices made are atrocious (they are), but because it represents a time when interiors still felt fun and we were willing to risk making something bad or looking stupid in service of being creative.
This niche thing I had tucked away in the back of my brain and quietly thought about for years unfolded in a way that was so unexpected and kismet, I never would have been able to imagine it. No one else does it like this anymore and 1) that's what makes it so special, but 2) they should. There's beauty in simplicity, in specificity, and in taking your time. We no longer celebrate those things.
So much of traditional interiors centers on big picture and perfection in a way that is atypical of real life. We design and buy everything for our living room at once, neglecting to think about what plates we want to see stacked and haphazard across our dining table after breakfast, or the way a lamp with a pull chain will feel in our hand when we tug to turn it on.
For the past few months, I ahve been working on a physical offering set to launch in September.
If you are looking for assistance finding your own perfect thing, I look forward to connecting with you through a consultation or brainstorming a larger project.
Furniture For Thought
I was looking for something else when I found this, but I realized it’s kind of the perfect sofa. The shape, the proportions, the side pillows—- it’s just good. Also, this lamp. Someone recently accused me of only liking beige. That’s definitely not true, but I realize this makes it look sort of true.
$16,000 | via Somerset House
675 EUR | via Another June