tom sachs: finding the inspiration of your inspiration
I've been AWOL for the past week since I've been studying for some certification exams for work. They end tomorrow, but the holidays are coming up too, which usually means more time spent out and about and less inside writing. That being said, I want to brain dump all the cool things I've been consuming recently so I can clear my mind and come back to them later.
Top of mind is the video 10 Bullets by Tom Sachs. I can't believe I haven't heard of Tom Sachs until recently, when I discovered his shoe collaboration with Nike. Now I'm no sneakerhead, but I love when companies partner with artists like Tom because of the attention that inevitably gets drawn to their work.
10 Bullets is a video "designed for members of the Tom Sachs studio team", directed by Van Neistat (sound familiar?). Watching it felt extremely trippy, because I saw just how much of Tom's style inspired Casey. Their uncompromising commitment to function over form manifests itself in their eerily similar studios, film style, and much much more. Watch a couple of Tom's videos and then some of Casey's to see for yourself.
In the coming days I'm going to try to absorb much of Tom's philosophy as possible by watching his videos and reading articles. Expect some outlines of what I've learned in the coming weeks. I'm not a handyman like he is, but I think anyone can learn a thing or two from him.
Other things I've come across worth sharing:
- Failing with abandon, as well as everything else in that thread (and on lesswrong, for that matter)
- also Half-assing it with everything you've got
- (wip) Intellectual Hipsters and Meta-contrarianism
- (yet to read but looks interesting) Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
- China's Van Goghs
- I haven't watched the documentary yet, but I listened to a 99PI episode about it. Dafen is a fascinating city, and the stories raise a lot of questions about what it means to be original.