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Candid camera

Nest 05, an installation by Czech artist Jakub Geltner for 2015 Sculpture by the Sea in Aarhus, Denmark paired with MM6 by Maison Margiela Short Dress.

Nest 05, an installation by Czech artist Jakub Geltner for 2015 Sculpture by the Sea in Aarhus, Denmark paired with MM6 by Maison Margiela Short Dress.

For the birds… or not. From afar, Czech artist Jakub Geltner’s installations appear to be flocks roosting on rocks. Zoom in and find a commentary on surveillance. The series “Nest” – which includes this recent piece for Sculpture By the Sea in Aarhus, Denmark – plants clusters of cameras and satellite dishes in places of refuge: mossy seascapes, bridge overpasses, church facades. Geltner inverts the idea of observation, making the machines themselves the focal point. Even so, the feeling of being watched lingers over the installations, an uneasiness channeled in this MM6 dress with its fluid drape and image distortion. Hitchcock would be proud.

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Back in the saddle

Architect Didier Faustino created “Double Happiness,” a swing set within a billboard, for the 2011 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennial paired with Vika Gazinskaya Cropped Wool Top.

Architect Didier Faustino created “Double Happiness,” a swing set within a billboard, for the 2011 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennial paired with Vika Gazinskaya Cropped Wool Top.

 

Weeks away from writing (while traveling in Italy) turned into a month-long lapse that grew into a summer gulf of guilt. No more excuses. Time to get back into the saddle with a fun frolic back in time to a swing set setup by architect Didier Faustino for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennial of Urbanism and Architecture in 2011. Two-part urban reclamation and risky recreation, “Double Happiness” provided a sweeping view of the city and one’s empowered place in it from within the freed confines of a consumerist shell. Deinstalled long ago, the swing’s essence seems alive and well in this buoyant crop top, perfect for sunsets in the city. Feels good to be back.

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Curveball

Dusk falls on Cárdenas, Cuba, as captured by Brooke, paired with Block Shop Diamondback Scarf.

Dusk falls on Cárdenas, Cuba, as captured by Brooke, paired with Block Shop Diamondback Scarf.

A(nother) bend in the road from my recent trip, the route clear but tinged. Turning toward newness (a new home, an urban incubator for creatives like Block Shop), away from what I know. May it lead me back to here, a dusky scene in Cuba.

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Pluperfect

Daryl's view driving through Matanzas, Cuba, en route to Favorito, paired with Ace & Jig Shop Dress.

Daryl’s view from the bus, driving through Matanzas, Cuba, en route to Favorito, paired with Ace & Jig Shop Dress in Foil.

“Cuba may be the only place in the world where you can be yourself and more than yourself at the same time.”

— Pedro Juan Gutiérrez from Dirty Havana Trilogy

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Untitled

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100 Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum (1982–1986) by Donald Judd at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, TX, paired with Maison Martin Margiela Friendship Rings.

Untitled* as Donald Judd intended. Sterry Butcher steered us through in silence as tawny desert and steely sky traded places in their aluminum reflection. Inversion, immersion. Art, time, nature, emotion, experience: all stood at attention amid Untitled.

*Last dispatch from Texas.

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Good egg

Elizabeth Street Café on South First in Austin, TX paired with Valentino Plexiglass Cuff.

Elizabeth Street Café on South First in Austin, TX paired with Valentino Plexiglass Cuff.

 

My spirit restaurant: Elizabeth Street Café in Austin, a mashup of French patisserie and Vietnamese phở shop, the perfect place (and palette) for reminiscing on Easter. I retreated here to drown my cold in noodle soup, and found myself revived by so much more: the bistro charm, the sorbet coloring, the buoyant ambiance, the tonal flavors. The hunt for my new favorite café (albeit far away now) is over, for the time being.

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Big eyes

Canopy Tower by John Grade at the Contemporary Austin – Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria in Austin, TX (my photo) paired with No.6 Lace Up Shearling Boot in Golden/Fudge.

Canopy Tower by John Grade at the Contemporary Austin – Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria in Austin, TX (my photo) paired with No.6 Lace Up Shearling Boot in Golden/Fudge.

Returning to the tangled woods of Laguna Gloria where, like Little Red Riding Hood (cue the stranger in a red coat), I came upon this brand-new commission by Seattle-based sculptor John Grade. From afar, a funnel befitting its forest surroundings, enchanting the eye. From within, a creaking poem, roused by lake wind, recalling tree-climbing and sky-staring.

“The better to see you with.”

I could totally escape a lip-smacking wolf in these No. 6 shearling boots.*

*If I remembered to tie my laces.

**True confession: In reality, this scene was less about serendipity, more about planning. I went to Laguna Gloria to see this piece as a longtime fan of Grade’s work, but who can resist a Little Red reference when a person appears in a red coat? Not I.

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An anniversary

My Teepee at El Cosmico in Marfa, TX (my photo!) paired with A.P.C. Texas Jumpsuit.

My Teepee at El Cosmico in Marfa, TX (my photo!) paired with A.P.C. Texas Jumpsuit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year ago, I started this escapade with an artist map and a jean jumpsuit. So it seems only fitting to mark the first anniversary of Wear + Here with another evocation of creativity and denim (so aptly named by A.P.C). But this time, I actually did what I’d described months ago. A satisfying evolution of all this wanderlust.

True to its name, El Cosmico – a Marfa arcadia I’ve longed to visit – is its own creative universe: the brainchild of visionary hotelier Liz Lambert realized by Jack Sanders of Design Build Adventure, who approaches projects as sandlots: “Get to know each other. Take your time. Make something happen. And have fun.” All of which happened in abundance during the five-day camp I attended at El Cosmico. Sanders recruited a welding Dream Team – overall-clad artist Butch Anthony, a sophisticate in a hayseed shell, and soul singer/songwriter Dan Dyer, a talent quick with wit and humility. Together with an accomplished crew of fellow campers/seekers, we scoured the high desert, picking junk piles, sponging art and design, marveling at Marfa. The goal – to make a junkyard chair – led to days filled with seeing and learning and experimenting – an agenda I’d like to adopt in my everyday. The creed of authenticity that laced Camp DBA continues to inspire – this post, my plans. Wherever this Trans-Pecos-seeded scheming takes me, I feel aloft on the imprint of sleeping in a teepee and welding in denim with people living out their creativity.

My West Texas adventure began months ago as musing and may have remained as such if not for this bespoke forum and my supportive friends. Wear + Here has motivated me to scout out aesthetic outlets, first in words, now in action. What began as a personal challenge to articulate the way I see has become a force all its own. For this, I am grateful. And grateful for the latitude to keep going: There’s so much more to explore, here and out there.

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Casting wide

"Net-Work by Do Ho Suh at the Austin Contemporary Laguna Gloria/Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park in Austin, TX paired with Toga Convertible Shell and Mesh Jacket.

“Net-Work by Do Ho Suh at the Austin Contemporary Laguna Gloria/Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park in Austin, TX paired with Toga Convertible Shell and Mesh Jacket.


 

 

 

 

Though I missed his diaphanous rooms, I did see Do Hu Suh’s Net-Work at Laguna Gloria, the Contemporary Austin’s magical sculpture garden.

It was a fickle morning with sun and clouds vying for attention (and the outcome of this convertible shell). Fleeting light glinted off the metal net, framed on a barge jutting into a lagoon. A gossamer goal. Once inside, I realized the net was far from standard-issue, a tight weave formed from thousands of gold and silver figurines, hands touching feet. Luminous entrapment.

Inspired by the traditional fishing nets used in Japanese villages – where Net-Work originated – Do Ho Suh imagined the piece as an invitation to occupy an evocative space entangling globalism, nomadism, memory, and displacement.

To be continued…