DOES EXISTENTIALISM SUCK?

STEVE: "Hi Auralynn! I'm on Skype. Can you see me?"

AURALYNN: "Hi Steve! I see you fine!"

STEVE (VO): "Just a sec. I'm gonna switch to the laptop in the kitchen."

STEVE: "Okay, Here I am in the kitchen. Jo jo's with me." 

STEVE: "So, Jo Jo....Tell Auralynn what you told me about why existentialism sucks.  I don't know what I think about it myself. We should let Auralynn decide which of us right. "

JO JO: "Good idea! That's fine with me.

Okay, here's the argument. Existentialism  attempts to demolish morality without replacing it with anything of equal value. Sartre says that being a moral person is a symptom of bad faith...a sign that a man is surrendering to group think, and not being true to his own nature. But that's silly."

JO JO: "Is it a good thing if dictators and murderers like Mao and Stalin are true to their own natures? You don't want to blindly embrace traditional morality, but you don't want to reject it out of hand either. Morality creates a wall that shields us from barbarism and allows civilization to flourish."

JO JO: "I guess I believe in Cicero's notion of "Right Reason." We should accept as truth the fundamental moral principals that are common to all men and all nations in every time. Using those fundamental truths as a foundation, we should use reason to deduce a  specific morality.  We don't need Sartre's philosophy....."

JO JO: ".....or Camu's either. I mean, that line from Camu's 'The Stranger: 'I shot him because the sun was in my eyes'....that sounds fun and avante garde and all that, but if you actually knew someone who did that, you'd think he was crazy. You can't base a morality on silly stuff like that."

AURALYNN: "True, but in Cicero's time humanity may have been united in believing that slavery was natural and moral. You wouldn't want to base a morality on an idea like that, eith...mmf...blorf."

AURALYNN: "Oh, sorry...my lips are dry and I had to....I'd offer you some lip balm, but......"

JO JO: "LIP BALM!!! THAT SUMS IT UP EXACTLY!!!!!"

JO JO: "Okay, traditional morality has some flaws, and all of us aren't going to agree on what the basics are, but there is a consensus about most things, and what there is no agreement on....well, we apply a sort of lip balm to it. In lieu of a permanent solution...we discuss it. It'll work out eventually."

JO JO: "Alright, I rest my case."

STEVE: "i don't know, Jo Jo. You're not giving the Existentialists the benefit of patching up their inconsistencies with lip balm. Aaaaargh....it's all so confusing."

STEVE: "Auralynn, You're the tie breaker. Who won this discussion? Does Existentialism suck?"

AURALYNN: "Well...yes, of course it sucks."

AURALYNN: "I mean, Aristotle said that you can tell if an idea is a good one because a good idea is always beneficial to both the individual and to the community. What's beneficial to anyone about killing someone because the sun was in your eyes?"

JO JO: ""Thank you, Auralynn! You have earned yourself a doughnut and a YooHoo when next we meet."

PHOTO SHOOTS THAT GO AWRY (REVISED)

Gee, it's scary to think about photo shoots that go awry, that just don't have any juice. Maybe it's especially scary in adult media which is supposed to be about passion and lack of inhibition. 

What if a model has a bad day? What if the photographer has a bad day? What if they both have a bad day at the same time?

I'm guessing that's what happened here (above). The shoot wasn't working out so the photographer decided to make a joke out of it. 

Fortunately this model had a knack for comedy.

The horrible truth is that not every model is photogenic. This girl (above) probably got the job because she looks good in real life, but the truth is that she doesn't photograph. The camera doesn't love her. What do you do when you get a subject like that? Do photographers have a Plan B that enables them to save the shoot?

It's a strange but true fact that some women with good bodies (above) just aren't that interesting when naked, at least not in pictures. Here's (above) a girl taking her clothes off and there's no emotional impact. It's just information.

Apparently nudity is a state of mind. In order to read as naked a model has to feel naked. She has to project a feeling of vulnerability or of being in a special state where ordinary rules don't apply.

Or maybe I'm wrong. This girl (above) seems vulnerable enough, but the nakedness only barely reads. Why is that?

 The use of flat lighting and awkward composition seems deliberate. I wish I knew the story behind this.

Once again, the same model (above). Now this is a really scary picture. This girl's good looking, but she's completely devoid of sex appeal. That's unusual. Almost every human being and even some department store mannequins exude some degree of sexuality. Whatever subtle cues make up that quality are completely missing here. I can only imagine the panic the photographer felt when he realized that he had a rogue model on his hands.

I suppose the poor guy continued to shoot anyway, in the hope that some unusual truth
would come out of it. It does sometimes. Women like Veronica Lake can be sexy even when they're cold but, really, how often does that happen?

My guess is that lots of otherwise unsuccessful shoots were saved by alcohol, which has the ability to reset emotions in some people.

It's risky, though. 

Sometimes weird pictures (above) can save a shoot. Actually, this shoot didn't need saving. The model succeeds in being sexy in an odd way.

Well, that's it. So far as I can tell, the human body is still the most popular subject in the visual arts.

My apology to the model I called sexless, if it turns out that I was wrong. Sometimes the camera adds or subtracts in unpredictable ways.

MY TASTE IN HOME FURNISHING

DINING ROOM TABLE: Fortunately there are lots of good tables on the market, including vintage hardwood tables. If I were buying something new I might look for a thick, heavy, square (with extender), natural wood surface with a clear, not very shiny varnish...something like the one above, if it had legs. I'd change the lamp, though.

For dining room chairs...I can never decide what I like, so I'd have lots of different kinds of wooden chairs at the same table: a Western sheriff chair, a Van Gogh's Bedroom chair, a New England spinster chair, etc. 

LIVING ROOM CHAIRS: Danish Modern, of course. Mike has a couple of these and they look great.  You can get cheap ones made out of fabric and pine, or expensive ones made out of leather and hardwood. I like the cheap ones best because you can abuse them without feeling guilty about it, then replace them in a few years with something new and different.

I think Urban Outfitters is still selling this Danish Modern sofa for $200 on sale. That's a good price, even if it turns out to be a little flimsy. 'Better get your order in fast.

Urban outfitters also sells this Danish rocking chair (above). It's hard to find rocking chairs that rock the way they should. I'd want to try this out before buying it.

Of course, if you're going to have Danish Modern furniture, it would help to have a house like this (above).

Or this (above).

BEDSPREADS AND SHEETS: A nice dark quilt or Indian blanket or Guatemalan spread goes well with modern rooms. In the winter I like a down comforter. The sheets should be of good quality, ironed, and be super white. Good sheets are expensive, so be prepared to lay down some serious dough.

WALL DECORATION:  I'd put up framed art of all kinds and cartoons of course, but also pictures of space. I like the lure of the unknown, and I find it comforting to know that, while the rest of the universe is freezing and barren, that I'm on a warm, verdant world...in some ways a paradise.

DECORATING THE BEDROOM WORKPLACE

I admit that I've been influenced by this photo of photographer Julius Shulman's work place (above). It's an interesting play of horizontals and verticals with the horizontals dominating. Like Shulman, I love to work on big, flat surfaces with a secondary desk behind me. 

Coming off my recollection of Shulman's space, you can see where I would have been appalled by this (above) corner workspace in a bedroom. Even so, that was stupid of me. This guy had a fraction of the space and budget that Shulman had to work with.

I should have been more sympathetic. After all, there are no books on the subject of how to convert half a small bedroom into a workspace. When designers do write about the subject they design for architecturally sophisticated spaces (above) that aren't really all that small, and which require expensive renovation. You have to ask, if the designer can afford all that, why isn't he living in a house with bigger rooms?

Anyway, in the coming months I'll try to put up what I think are acceptable solutions to this design problem. I have one idea that you can use right away. You have a small room? You like Shulman's wide desk area? Well then copy it and sleep in a sleeping bag or futon under the desk. I mean it. Your desk is where you'll come up with the ideas that'll start your career. Isn't that worth a little inconvenience? 

BTW: On a different subject, I think I'll write up a few of the shelf ideas that are on my mind. Let me know if you disagree.

LESSON # 1

Never, ever buy tall, stand alone bookshelves (or tall furniture like the all-in-one desk that started the post). 

You don't want to emphasize verticals in a room, you want to emphasize horizontals. Horizontals imply stability, and make you feel tall. Because they can relate to other horizontals in the room, they can imply movement and dynamic sweep. Verticals on the other hand, make you feel small, and their lines run out of gas as soon as they hit the ceiling. 

If you must buy a tall bookshelf, don't get stuck with an awkward, empty-looking one like the one above. Be sure to buy an extra shelf plank or two. 

Come to think of it, buy more tall bookshelves and bunch them all next to each other. That turns them into a horizontal shape, and that's fine. 

LESSON #2: Do buy low bookshelves, but avoid funky designs like the one above.

For a narrow two tier bookshelf get something simple and elegant like the shelf above. If need be, you can put bracket bookshelves above it.

LESSON #3: BEWARE OF UGLY BLOCK AND PLANK SHELVES.


Block and plank shelves are great, but only if they're low, long, have thick beautiful wooden planks, and minimally obtrusive concrete blocks...in other words, the exact opposite of the one pictured above. The one above seems to exist to show off the 'lovely" concrete blocks, rather than the books.

The bottom shelf should sit no more than three inches above the floor.

LESSON #4: LONG BRACKET SHELVES MAKE A NICE CONTRAST.


I love bracket shelves (above). They're light and airy-looking, like a Caulder mobile that you can put books on. When you remove the shelves they'll leave an impression on the wall, requiring paint and Spackle That's okay, they're worth the trouble. They also need to be firmly anchored to studs behind the wall, otherwise they'll only be able to hold light books.

Avoid the heavy look of the shelves above. I like the beatnik/Caulder variety of bracket shelf: black brackets and natural wood with only one coat of clear varnish, so the grain shows through. They're best when they're long and continuous, almost from wall to wall.

LESSON #5: Artsy shelves are fine, if you have room for them.


They're pricey, though. This (above) is the famous Memphis bookshelf from the 80s. It's a favorite of Auralynn's.

Jo Jo: My apology for my overly harsh crit of your tall bookshelf the other day!