what happens when nothing happens

12Jun11

an attempt at exhausting a place in paris

picked up this book and read it on a flight from new york last week. i wanted a small book and loved the cover design, flipped through and the typesetting was excellent… the subject of a the book is la place saint-sulpice, a square in paris where i’ve spent time and really loved; here are a few images taken three summers ago.

it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever been, and this quotidian book documents it well. perec spends 3 days cataloging “what happens when nothing happens.” his detail of emergent patterns and sequences really captured me, and i appreciated his reflections on the task at hand- how he describes what he perceives and chooses to observe while admitting that there are events and situations that he is ignorant of, or ignoring. read more about it and purchase here. his other works include the novel a void, which is written entirely without the letter e.

so, things have totally flipped around for me- good news for my readers as i’m back to my freelance schedule and out of the design hibernation that had plagued the past months. i left my full-time position at the architecture firm and am currently on the hunt, spent time in new york trying to get all thoughts to the surface as i plot my next move… and spend some time daydreaming. for now, i’m primarily occupied with working at laurel porcari’s glass studio, and a few other side projects (here’s her website). laurel was commissioned to design and fabricate windows for a new chapel in new orleans, designed by pelli, so we’re currently in the process of fabricating a sample window, 3 layers of laminated glass with a system of patterns which layers to create beautifully complex glass. below are a few process shots of the first layer:

and of all three layers held together, before lamination:

will post more shots at the project develops!

image of the day:

girls by the pool, a still from the eve sussman film “the rape of the sabine women.

i saw this image in an artforum from a few years ago, i have not yet seen the film but i love the styling and period costumes. here’s a quote from the curator as sfmoma:

“Reframed as a 1960s period piece, this lushly produced film imagines the Romans as chic secret agents in tailored suits and skinny ties; the Sabine women as exotic butchers, daughters in a meat market; and their legendary union as an affluent, International Style idyll by the Aegean Sea. Inverting the original Roman source, this new version of the classical myth tracks not the origins of empire, but the end of utopia.”

an amazing production still from the film

(content from this site)

in other news, i’m assisting with copy editing for a publication and have been using the online chicago manual of style- their website is beautifully organized, well designed, and a great color palette. it’s also an incredibly useful resource for all my questions about semicolons. screen shots below…

more patterns and other pretty things to come- soon!

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