Upload complete. Limited ‘bandwidth’ over here. Why? Summer, maybe. More likely: I’ve been living on an island, and notable recent experiences outside the bizarro world of high-caliber reality TV have been hard to note. But now, the portal to this alternate dimension is closed (the season is over), and I’m re-engaging with my reality.
1_SIGHT
“It is what it is…until it isn’t.” Truly. For years, everyone knew Love Island UK was great, and its USA spin-off was not. But the new season of Love Island USA changes that—it’s a good, and it’s because of great casting and character development.¹ Unlike earlier seasons, which featured flat personalities with little chemistry, this season stands out because its cast is filled with complex, evolving characters that bounce off of each other.² They aren’t easily categorized, and many undergo (what appears to be) emotional growth over time.³ For the first time we’re seeing a younger and more diverse cast—more informed, open-minded, and interesting than the oldlennials of yesteryear.
Then there’s the iconic look: like an intoxicated fever dream where 1980s Miami, Y2K, 2010s influencer culture, and TikTok all collide in an IKEA-hacked Barbie-land villa. Where bathing suits as daily attire, gym-tan-swim-chat rituals, and tribal eliminations by the fire pit transform the cast—already unique specimens—into near-aliens⁴, stripping away the norms of the 'outside' world and pushing them to let their guard down. Earworm house music, endless fast fashion fits, and every sunglass style under the sun keep me hooked. This season’s cast may be why, but it’s the show's saccharine good-vibes-only vibe, executed particularly well here, that makes it addictive—especially now that they’ve imported a few Brits, including narrator Iain Stirling.
Fawwwwwkuhhhhhh⁵, I love Love Island.⁶
Credit due: Elise came out the gate with this declaration before I could say anything.
While writing this, I dusted off Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto and reread his essay on The Real World. Among other things re: Chuck, it reminded me how early reality TV promoted flattened, predictable character archetypes that were heavily reinforced in culture (the era of jocks, freaks, slackers, ditzes, Pucks, yuppies, etc.). Seeing more open-ended representation of character in Love Island makes me think that progress is possible. Also, referring to real people as characters is weird, but these are edited productions, so.
For instance, Rob is a snake wrangler (what?), model, sensitive bro, hunky daft fuckboy, smooth player, and insightful dork whose favorite band is Beabadoobee (what?)? This feels very now, in a good way, like we’re post-definitions. A reminder that The People are more than capable of appreciating complex identities. We also get to see Rob form an intense and public emotional bond with male castmate Aaron, adding another layer to the onion.
My old college friend Alex Curtis Bailey pointed out that much of the UK's appeal for us Americans is the accents, slang, fades, fútbol, cracking on, getting mugged off, and 100% pure bred Italian Stallions that you just can’t find across the pond (aka Ohio). While it could never be the same, the new USA season gets closer.
Chuck Klosterman also wrote that being a reality tv star led to no long-term gain: Fawk that.
For those resistant to pop cult like Love Island, TikTok, Bravo, or rejoicing Bieber’s newborn son, Jack Blues Bieber*, here’s my take: pop offers more than surface-level entertainment—it’s a cultural looking glass. Dare I say, it is Art for the rest of us? (*Jane Violet Vincent reminiscent, anyone?? Game rec game.)
2_SOUND
It’s 1984, the sun is setting on the last day of summer, and you know deep down, in the bottom of your heart, that life will never be as it was. The world is big, but yours feels small, and as you battle with your inner voice, you smell fall mixing in with the air. You could go home, but you’re not ready yet. You walk past an empty field, and from a distance, we see the heat of the day rising around you, blurring the sharp horizon against the shifting colors of the sky. Freeze frame, credits roll, and this song, by who has to be my most listened to artist of the year¹, continues to play.
If you don’t know already, I have an affinity for moody 80s and 90s neo-noir, Americana, and what Andrew J. Greene calls post-modern erotic thrillers (if you want his list, lmk). Across this spectrum, Mk.gee’s music channels a shared sensibility: rebel spirit, self-discovery, existential angst, dramatic sunsets, gritty cityscapes, and stylized depictions of youth, freedom, and the darker undercurrents of American life. I could go on, but I’ll save that for after you have a listen or two–hundred. Then get Mk’s take in this NYT article.
3_TOUCH
Powers of Ten-style zoooom out: How many of us are just stationary looking at a screen? There’s nothing like the sensation of two bodies colliding¹. A welcome brush up, hug, hand on shoulder, hand on hand, hand on leg activates a powerful lifeforce that exceeds in magnitudes that of the radiant glow we’re so devoted to. That’s it.
Especially of those you love. ie, lil baby Jane.
4_TASTE
“Everyone in NYC wants to design brands to be all colorful,” Haowen Yu remarked during a recent chat, explaining why he gravitated toward Feel. What’s up with my preference for a kind of reductive simplicity that many people don’t like?¹ Is it just me, or does it seem like every designer loves Dieter Rams’ principles for good design, yet they’ve never really absorbed them—they just want to design harder.2 Or am I simply speaking “the language of taste” like everyone else, but with a different accent, all while helping businesses use it to define social, economic and cultural boundaries—and make money off of it? And you thought I was going to talk about food ;)
What’s your appetite like these days? Are you downing rainbow-branded alt-sodas while day dreaming of less is better realities like me?
I’m thinking of Richard Tuttle’s 3rd Rope Piece and this funny video, more than “Minimalism”.
I’m no disciple, but respect to the du’s, Deets and Erik. All I’m saying is I want even less design and taste.
5_SMELL
Speaking of different realities.
6_SENSE
Zhang Quinyun recently directed an epic campaign for Tom Ford—a considerable feat on its own, but also a nod toward a possible shift back to a cooler, darker, more dangerous, surreal, and unreal vision of luxury. It’s a look that's both familiar and quintessentially Tom, but not the current "it" thing. It harks back to the 00s and early teens when I was at Alex Wang (lol) (and neo-erotic-noir-post-thriller-modernism), so naturally, I’m for its return, if not now, then soon. Or never—unless our friends in Chinatown, Seward Park, Two Bridges, or, I mean, Dimes Square, kick our "cultural fetish for authenticity," drop eclecticism, and want to stop being polite and stop getting real. BRAVO, Zhang.
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