SENSE UPLOAD 07.12.24

Welcome to the first in a series of brain-to-brain transmissions. Here's a curated list of notable recent experiences organized by the five (plus one) senses.

1_SIGHT

Ever wonder how the short-lived nature of media affects our views on celeb culture and global power? Recently, I received the exhibition catalog for “Unconditional Surrender” by my close friend, artist Andrew J. Greene. It’s nice to see and hold a physical object. Seriously. The tangibility of his work, especially the printed digital photos of autographed celebrity photos (yes, they are pics of pics—the kind that hang on the walls of your favorite slice spot), sent me into an existenz spiral of contemplation, endlessly rotating like his conceptual masterpieces on display at Balenciaga’s store in Milan.

2_SOUND

“Is ‘Billie Eilish’ Finneas or Billie or both?”¹ Ponder this as you listen to their new album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. The Atlantic draws parallels to Trent Reznor’s NIN debut, praising its emotional intensity and minimalist production—a perfect contrast, if you ask me. This had me anticipating a breakthrough from an artist I’ve followed for years (Billie’s film from our 2019 Calvin campaign remains one of my all-time favorite Feel pieces). While Chihiro² and Birds of a Feather³ made it to the Liked Songs list, the album overall doesn’t deliver the groundbreaking, cohesive experience I expected and hoped for. In the weeks since I first drafted this, I forgot about it as newer releases (Brat) piled on… Thoughts?

1. Elise asked this after a listen in the car. It’s a seriously funny question.

2. Chihiro's club vibe could’ve set the tone for the entire album. Imagine it.

3. “The best new Maggie Rogers song is Birds of a Feather.” - Kurt Vincent. “This sounds undercooked to me” - John Friel. See also: this tiktoker’s astute, lol deconstruction of Birds.

3_TOUCH

When was the last time you got your hands dirty? When was the first? My neighbor Jeff, an avid gardener, often praises the beauty of gloveless hole-digging. He’s on to something—I recommend it. Last week, during a picnic, Elise, my parents, and I watched our daughter Jane rip up grass and dig her little baby fingers into the dirt... for the first time? Pure, tactile discovery. While discussing client Lloyd Steven with Feel collaborator Lynn Oh, we identified our mutual preference for design that’s both raw and sophisticated, like "dirt on a pedestal." Note to self: embrace the mess and tension is everything.¹

1. I first became aware of the paradigm of tension in art school by the brilliant, perceptive painter and professor Andreas Fischer.

4_TASTE

Taste is tough to describe, but Jeremy Lewis of LEWIS’S makes it look easy. His wit is sharp, cutting deep since our teenage years when we bonded over style and escaping the Midwest. (He rightfully scolded me in 2009 for wearing jeans far too skinny.) Lately, I've been referencing Jeremy. Through LEWIS’S and previously Garmento, he’s a beacon of hope for nerds (and geeks?) in a social media sea of dilettantes. His critical thinking, studiousness, and realness resonates deeply with me and, reassuringly, thousands of others. Good taste, while absolutely nothing without the bad, will always… taste good.

5_SMELL

Last week I learned the smell of cigar smoke brings back good memories for my Dad. It reminds him of childhood vacations with a friend whose father always had a cigar in hand and sported a flat-top haircut that was cool in contrast to my grandfather’s neat, parted style. I love how triggering scent can be. One whiff is all it takes. Writer and early Feel collaborator Renata Espinosa and I often talked about how this kind of magic is why we do what we do. "From the scent of stationery to the aesthetic of a campaign…" she wrote for our first website. I brought this up on a call with Martin Weiland and Mattey Spicer, and Martin told us that back in the olde A&F days, the team responsible for the fierce olfactory retail experience was called “BRAND SENSES”. That’s cool. Smell, like sound, is the chicest of mediums—so minimal it’s invisible yet profoundly impactful.

6_SENSE

Blogs will make a comeback. You heard it. My brother Kurt is sensing it too.¹ My take? There’s too much content and not enough form. Today’s platforms churn out uniform blocks of content like a vegan sausage extruder, squeezing out all the loose ends, bits of personality, and surprising forms before they hit the endless feed trough.² Instead of scrolling through Instagram, imagine booting up a personal blog on your laptop. The site, designed by the author, perfectly reflects their style and content. Sounds good, right?

1. We were Google Reader (RIP) / RSS feed collectors back in day. One of Kurt’s favorite blogs is Marginal Revolution. Anyone remember VVORK (RIP)?

2. Feel Mail uses Substack, which limits customization to “focus on content.” I’d prefer it focus on both, but because of other blog/livejournal-like features, I’m stuck—and you’re paying the price. If only I could typeset this in OCR-B and adjust the margins...

Special thanks to Cecelia Lopez-Jordan for the ingenious idea to structure this around the senses. Credit where credit due.