Hello all, I hope you’ve had a great week and happy August 1st. As opposed to the usual Well Rounded or Zeitgeist issue, today I introduce Spectacles. Spectacles will be a highly visual letter, a collection of beautiful images and art. If you’ve enjoyed the curation on my Notes, this series will be similar in nature, but in more depth.
Before we get into it, let me tell you about my week.
I’ve been recently seeing lots of films and shows. Of them include Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas, Luca Gudagnino’s Call Me by Your Name, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, all of which highlight such great beauty.
Then earlier this week, I went to see Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000), in theaters for its twenty-fifth year anniversary. I saw it at Cinema Moderne, in the hip laid-back neighborhood of the Mile End. The layout of the establishment is quite interesting: cafe in the front, cinema in the back. The cinema is a 54-seater single room theater. Although the room is compact, all the seats were full. I notice sitting in the row in front of me was a man in his 70s wearing an ‘A24’ cap with its logo just etched above the back strap.
After the movie, we (a friend and I) were back out on the streets and it was late afternoon just before sunset. The perfect time to be outside. I enjoyed the film; the picture was so crisp (4K restoration), the details so intentional. We walked a few blocks up (movie debrief on the go; “great film; yeah we never saw the faces of their spouses; the soundtrack was perfect”) to get gelato at this new place called Dalmata. Dalmata is a shoe-box sized gelateria but the space is alive, inside and out the shop. We queued on the sidewalk, both got Apricot Gelatos on a cone, then sat on the steps outside. The Mile End is nice because it’s one part suburb and one part city. Life feels slower here; less noise, less traffic, no towering objects, more dogs. There is this white convertible parked in front, that has ‘Carrera’ written in cursive. I’m not familiar with cars but after looking it up, I think it was a Porsche 911. Beautiful car.
What else? I burnt a finger the other day from touching a hot bowl fresh out the microwave and had to run it under cold water for a good twenty minutes to relieve the sting. But on the other hand (literally), I was reading a short story in the latest Paris Review titled ‘The Visit’ by Anuk Arudpragasam. It’s a story told from the perspective of a 30 year old daughter living in New York City when her mother came to visit; it’s half resentment half soft-spot for the relationship that they have, and Arudpragasam manages to capture the nuances well.
All of that to say, this might explain why a lot of the curation below is film-related. Regardless, I hope you enjoy and maybe you will find something that sparks inspiration.
Note: Due to the nature of how images are sourced on the internet, credits might be misattributed or not found at all. Please let me know if and where the name of the rightful artist/owner of the work is due. Images are only mine where specified.
The subtitle ‘Hong Kong, 1962’ is a reference to the time and place in which In the Mood for Love was set. In the 25th anniversary screening that I saw, there was a short bonus scene at the end, apparently one of the versions Wong Kar-wai was considering. Whereas red and green under dim lights were the aesthetics of the final film, the other version has a stark sterile fluorescent color to it, similar to that of Chungking Express. It just goes to show how big lighting played in setting the mood and tone.
Besides the color aesthetic of the film, one thing that caught my eyes were the beautiful form and patterns of Mrs. Chan’s dresses, called a qipao. I came across these spreads, courtesy of fragmentarchives, that detailed and interpreted the colors and motifs of 21 qipaos in the film. Amazing.
The Criterion Closet is pretty much a modern rite of passage for all the remarkables in film. The videos showcasing a subject’s picks can all be found on Youtube, but finding polaroids of said subject is rather sporadic. I’d like to see a section on the Criterion website that archives all the polaroids, that would be fun.
I’ve always enjoyed the design of an Aesop store. Each is influenced by local heritage, taking elements in from its environment. The one below is in Shanghai, China. The soft beige-and-brown tones, the flow of the circular room brings about a certain tranquil, calm, and grounded quality to its space. The concept of harmony is highly regarded in Chinese society and this interior reflects just that.
That is all. Thank you for tuning in for the first issue of Spectacles. All thoughts, comments, or additional details on the subjects mentioned are very welcomed. Besides that, I hope you have a great weekend! — C. S. Indoors.
Love it