Pinboard (robertogreco) https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/public/ recent bookmarks from robertogreco The A.I.-Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over the Internet | The New Yorker 2026-07-09T06:09:55+00:00 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-ai-design-aesthetic-thats-taking-over-the-internet robertogreco anthropic claude genai generativeai 2026 kylechayka technology design art aesthetics sameness clauddesign taste mattström-awn davidmcgillivray celinenguyen grassdx newsletrix wesleywangmedia deploygraph ai artificialintelligence lucasgelfond llms charleseames rayeames eames modernism hilarygridley writerbuilder https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1391cb0c5898/ AI's Social Scene Is Shifting to Curated Offline Events, Dinner Parties - Business Insider 2026-06-26T01:15:39+00:00 https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-social-scene-curated-offline-events-dinner-parties-2026-6 robertogrecoHosting an intimate dinner in sf for lore builders. Founders, narrative architects, writers, world builders. Humans at the intersection of storytelling x culture x craft x storytelling x philosophy x design. Keeping it to <10. Who should be in the room? 🫶 — Joumana (@JoumanaElomar) June 23, 2026 [https://x.com/JoumanaElomar/status/2069509402437222482 ] Many of these curated events follow a similar blueprint: a promo that looks like an A24 film poster and grainy, film-like photos that make it feel more like a 90s-era house party than a tech founders' event. "I think trusted (human) curation is so important now, even more than ever," said Michelle Fang, who leads Stripe Startups, a program offering financial support and resources to early-stage, venture-backed companies, and has a weekly newsletter that rounds up in-person tech events in San Francisco. Fang said that when she first started the newsletter in 2023, she posted an average of 20 to 30 in-person events a week. That number has now risen to 70 to 80 a week. "There's been a noticeable shift in both the frequency and types of events happening in SF, especially over the past year," she said. AI has accelerated this trend dramatically, she said, as the AI boom brings an influx of talent who want to establish their community in the city. While some of the events Fang has listed are traditional building workshops and hackathons, others include Pilates classes, peptide tasting parties — the latest self-optimization craze — and "intentionally curated" dinners. It's a vibe shift from the large happy hours and networking events that defined post-pandemic tech socializing, said Fang. These smaller events don't require a big budget or venue, and with the speed of AI growth, people want to make sense of new concepts and the changes happening in real time, she said. [image: "Dinner table with bowls of sushi and edamame at an event hosted by coworking and tech events startup Verci's / Verci, a coworking space and events startup, hosts monthly dinners and workshops for members. Ami Yoshimura/Verci"] 'Taste is a new core skill' The taste conversation kicked off earlier this year when Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham wrote in a post on X that, as AI democratizes building, "taste will become even more important." Two days later, OpenAI President Greg Brockman cemented the catchphrase on X, writing that "Taste is a new core skill." Since then, it's led the tech world to hyperfocus on AI companies and founders who are winning the taste battle. Alongside the taste discourse, being offline has become a status symbol. Having the ability to de-digitalize is seen as a luxury and a way to connect with people more authentically, with in-person events being a means to achieve this, especially for those whose working lives already revolve around AI.
peak bengaluru and bangerlore pic.twitter.com/1imEhjhCBX — prerna (@Prerrrrna_) June 7, 2026 [https://x.com/Prerrrrna_/status/2063545613632037129 ]
An event "only for hot people and nerds" in Bangalore, which appeared to be in collaboration with the early-stage Bangalore-based consumer tech company Faff, made the rounds on X earlier this month. The vibe is artfully arranged cheese boards, trendy cocktail menus (with AI puns), and grainy photos. Ami Yoshimura, the 23-year-old cofounder of Verci, a members club and coworking space in New York, hosts events such as rooftop parties and multi-day retreats for founders and creatives. "Relationships, aesthetics, and telling a story" have become crucial ways to stand out in the hyper-competitive AI industry, he said. Small parties, big bucks It's not just San Francisco that is seeing this event boom.
new york tech week highlights:1. went blind into an event hosted by @join_ef and successfully met a group of really cool people with 0 degrees of mutual connection2. met/made some really good friends from url ➡️ irl shoutout fonzi and corgi team3. ended off the week with a… pic.twitter.com/CA3h0mwmLe — sara kong (@saraknggg) June 8, 2026 [https://x.com/saraknggg/status/2064047927702782454 *]
Katia Ameri, a partner at A16z who spearheads Tech Week in San Francisco, LA, and New York City, wrote on X last month that New York was so far the largest Tech Week in history by events and attendees. The LA and San Francisco equivalents are coming up later this year. Eliza Wu, cofounder of Corner, a social mapping app that describes itself as "Google but social," wrote in a post on X that there were over 600 RSVPs for a panel she was hosting at New York Tech Week. Leading AI companies are also taking note. In April, Anthropic posted a brand events lead role in San Francisco, with a salary of up to $400,000. There are four open marketing events positions at Anthropic, while OpenAI has two open positions for events, commanding over $200,000 salaries with options to gain equity too.
Anthropic is paying up to $400,000 a year for an events role.They're looking for someone to own the execution of brand experiences that translate Anthropic's values into physical moments.This person will produce everything from intimate thought-leadership gatherings to… pic.twitter.com/SWvmSarclY — Andrew Yeung (@andruyeung) April 26, 2026 [https://x.com/andruyeung/status/2048545188608364593 ** (archived: https://www.are.na/block/47316282 )]
Andrew Yeung, an ex-Google and Meta product lead turned event host and angel investor, wrote on X in response to the job advert that it shows Anthropic understands that "they need to create visceral, unforgettable IRL experiences that make complex technology feel accessible and human." "The massive opportunity now is offline, analog, in-person," he said. But while the taste that goes into hosting a party is human, we are living in an AI world — and as with your job applications, an AI screener might still be standing between you and an invitation. Wu, the cofounder who hosted a New York Tech Week event with 600 RSVPs, said she turned to Claude to winnow down her guest list. She said she prompted the chatbot to scan through potential attendees' social posts to identify "markers of excellence" and to suss out the "quality of their thoughts." With the help of Claude, only 300 people made the cut." [* full text of https://x.com/saraknggg/status/2064047927702782454:
new york tech week highlights: 1. went blind into an event hosted by @join_ef and successfully met a group of really cool people with 0 degrees of mutual connection 2. met/made some really good friends from url ➡️ irl shoutout fonzi and corgi team 3. ended off the week with a bang at vega (shoutout ben & maddie) i think when it boils down to WHAT constitutes a good event, it varies based off what your specific persona is trying to get out of it. for me, events with well-catered hospitality that are more intimate (without just randomly throwing people together sloppily) call out more to me because you make more solidified relationships. likewise, it’s good to put an online face to a name because that alone can unlock so much trust and future opportunities. see you soon nyc!
** full text of https://x.com/andruyeung/status/2048545188608364593
Anthropic is paying up to $400,000 a year for an events role. They're looking for someone to own the execution of brand experiences that translate Anthropic's values into physical moments. This person will produce everything from intimate thought-leadership gatherings to large-scale industry activations. The top AI research lab in the world recognizes that to cross the chasm and reach everyday consumers, they need to lean into hospitality. They need to create visceral, unforgettable IRL experiences that make complex technology feel accessible and human. They understand that digital channels are getting increasingly saturated. Every feed is flooded with AI content... every inbox is overflowing. The massive opportunity now is offline, analog, in-person. The companies that win in the next decade won't just have the best product but the most emotional in-person presence and the most compelling storytelling. If you're in events, experiential marketing, or brand activations, this is your moment. The biggest tech companies in the world are betting on you. [two images of the job posting]
]]]> ai artificialintelligence siliconvalley technology 2026 royashahidi small humanities liberalarts culture taste anthropic claude aislop paulgraham elizawu corner saraking amiyoshimura joumanaelomar michellefang stripestartups social events community aibubble gregbrockman openai status offline online socialmedia internet katiaameri a16z andreessenhorowitz andrewyeung google meta nytechweek sanfrancisco society analog https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7c5d13ca6f52/ How ACRONYM Changed Design: An Hour with Errolson Hugh - YouTube 2026-06-05T09:12:15+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdsGXd5enKg robertogreco errolsonhuh kensakata 2025 acronym fashion creativity design snowboarding clothing apparel 1990s 2000s williamgibson martialarts taste identity belonging uniform autonomy agency independence overengineering https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fb28762a6e7a/ What Has Happened to Taste? 2026-05-27T07:57:56+00:00 https://www.esquire.com/style/a71276009/what-has-happened-to-taste/ robertogreco tiffanyng taste 2026 socialmedia online internet web blackbirdspyplane susansontag montesquieu algorithms kylechayka culture pinterest spotify johanweiner erinwylie tastemakers trends perception reality jeanbaudrillard simulacra simulation mainstream exclusivity compliance consensus connoisseurs connoisseurship baudrillard franlebowitz signaling subjectivity aesthetics introspection thinking howwethink deadinternettheory guydebord dérive derive situationist being having instagram objects membership society engagement are.na internetwalks visibility https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:288eae64d312/ Is There Room for Enmity in the A.I. Classroom? - Front Porch Republic 2026-05-22T08:21:03+00:00 https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/05/is-there-room-for-enmity-in-the-a-i-classroom/ robertogrecochoose courses that will challenge you, even unsettle you. Don’t accept being coddled. When you choose to engage in debates, please have the intellectual curiosity to explore the topic in depth, have the intellectual honesty to recognize the merits of arguments of the opposing side, admit to the weaknesses in your own viewpoint, and have the intellectual humility to admit when you don’t know and wish to learn more. Sound advice, but woefully incomplete in the current context. LLMs are already capable of exploring topics and weighing arguments with students, not to mention structuring personal goals and offering encouragement. (“Let’s dive in!”) Thus, Watkins’s vision of “struggle,” construed as a matter of personal choice and individual self-improvement, is easily reconciled with the quantification and benchmarks of artificial intelligence. Loathing (like love) operates quite differently, creating meaning through human relationships, in which willfulness, idiosyncrasy, and feelings preclude quantification or smooth standardization. By heightening emotion, hatred deepens the personhood of both teachers and students. Of course, feelings of hatred spring from many sources and encompass many shades of meaning. Some students nurse petty grudges to avoid responsibility for their own wrongdoing. Others perceive condescension from their teachers and repay it in kind. Some rankle at teachers with strong personalities and worldviews. Others feel the stirring of metaphysical revolt, objecting to the very existence of injustice, suffering, and constraint in the classroom or the world at large. Uniting all these types of hatred are their mimetic effects on the student. Strong feelings bind the individual to the object of disdain, whose attributes he internalizes and mirrors (if only in negation). Thus, every type of hatred is educational insofar as it holds the student’s attention and shapes his character. The trouble is that not all these lessons are equally educational or necessarily salutary. To set oneself against another can spur achievement (as in athletic rivalries) but, if one is not careful, it can also lead to what the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche calls ressentiment: an unworthy type of envy, insecurity, and conformity that debases the individual as it tears others down. That is why Nietzsche urges students to choose their enemies carefully, noting that “the most spiritual human beings” will test themselves only against life’s “most formidable weapons.” One need not agree with every aspect of Nietzsche’s philosophy to grant the point. We all need someone to pitch our deepest aspirations against, someone we can both respect and pointedly reject as we chart our own course. It is in this sense that “the man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends,” Nietzsche writes. “One repays a teacher badly if one remains only a pupil.” To help students strive toward selfhood, the teacher must embody authority—not only communicating information but personifying standards of wisdom, taste, and morals—and must do so knowing that pupils will chafe not only at the lessons but at the teacher herself. Yet, she cannot simply play the foil, pull punches, or abdicate responsibility for the struggle. To become the bearer of student hatred—to stand as an obstacle for the next generation to overcome—is a tragic aspect of teaching, but there is nothing to do but to press on in sincerity and faith. Unfortunately, both the rhetoric and reality of teachers’ authority have been in decline for a long time. By bifurcating knowledge and value, LLMs now threaten to dissolve this authority entirely. The teacher can no longer be the master of content or technique, while the algorithm cannot embody truth, culture, or human excellence. LLMs already provide students with detailed (sometimes problematic) feedback, but as Abeba Birhane points out, “There is nothing at stake for a generative AI model. It cannot feel a sense of loss, embarrassment, accomplishment or care towards a student, as human teachers do.” An algorithm cannot feel the pangs of doubt or resolve, and for the same reason it cannot elicit existential scorn or hatred. Students know that a machine’s praise or censure rings hollow. They cannot define themselves in opposition to an LLM, and why should they want to? In Being and Time (1927), Martin Heidegger argues that the modern individual (Dasein) “stands in subjection to Others.” Worse, they are not even “definite Others” but an anonymous amalgam of social conventions: a “dictatorship of the ‘they.’” It is hard to read Heidegger’s diagnosis without thinking about LLMs. In today’s world, he writes, anonymous authority
prescribes what can and may be ventured, it keeps watch over everything exceptional that thrusts itself to the fore. Every kind of priority gets noiselessly suppressed. Overnight, everything that is primordial gets glossed over as something that has long been well known. Everything gained by a struggle becomes just something to be manipulated. Every secret loses its force. This case of averageness reveals in turn an essential tendency … which we call the ‘levelling down’ of all possibilities of Being…. The ‘they’ is there alongside everywhere, but in such a manner that it has always stolen away whenever Dasein presses for a decision. Yet because the ‘they’ presents every judgment and decision as its own, it deprives the particular Dasein of its answerability.
LLMs stifle self-realization because, while they seem ubiquitous and almost omniscient, they also deprive students of any answerable or embodied authority, trapping them instead in a web of probability, generalization, and disembodied “expertise.” Subjection is in some ways intrinsic to education, part of a broader project of discipline and formation, but it must be experienced concretely, in relationship to “definite Others.” Hannah Arendt warns that as technology expands, it becomes less likely “that man will encounter anything in the world around him that is not man-made and hence is not, in the last analysis, he himself in a different disguise.” Drawing from Heidegger, she underscores the danger of this eerie echo chamber. It is only through encounters with reality (not artificiality) that one becomes truly human. Consciousness begins not in the familiarity and sameness of one’s own mind but in confrontation with an unpredictable, inflexible entity outside the self—whether Nature, God, or (for our purposes) a recalcitrant teacher. LLMs merely masquerade as the Other. Aggregated and amorphous, designed for fluidity and user satisfaction, they are artificial in the fullest sense of the word. When students engage with an LLM, they are literally talking to no one. How much classroom time should be occupied with such activities? What lessons should they replace? However one responds to those questions, the answers have nothing to do with processing speed, safety guardrails, or other technical matters. They are fundamentally questions about how we conceive of humanity and whether we are committed to its formation and perpetuation. If we hope to prevent “cognitive atrophy” in our students, if we hope to awaken them to existential meaning, we have to invest in teachers worthy of their attention, their respect, and, sometimes, their hate."]]> campbellfrankscribner 2026 ai artificialintelligence teaching howweteach education llms affirmation love morality walterong idenitity opposition friction disagreement marcwatkins loathing humility nietzche ressentiment envy insecurity conformity authority selfhood identity wisdom taste morals sincerity faith algorithms loss embarrassment heidegger others self-realization probability generalization disembodiment discipline formation nature god cognitiveatrophy answerability dasein perspective viewpoint struggle learning howwelearn injustice suffering hate constraint negation humanity humanism cognition hannaharendt consciousness abebabirhane aisycophancy self knowledge schooling humandevelopment revolt revulsion https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fbf3b60776ef/ McMansion Hell, Fandoms, Retinol and Modern Opera | Middlebrow Podcast - YouTube 2026-05-13T06:55:58+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt15iNgvNsw robertogreco middlebrowpodcast katewagner mcmansionhell 2026 architecture mcmansions criticism us 1980s 1990s postmodernism charlesjencks autodidactism autodidacts taste edgarwright politics inequality economics policy suburbia suburbs conspicuousconsumption fandoms fandom buildings fascism fascistarchitecture fascistaesthetics donaldtrump latefascistaesthetics opera runningman society vernaculararchitecture danrosen brianpark oil wealthinequality oman serbia construction realestate wealth luxury dubai dubaichocolate labubus power ideology magaface castledoctrine utah florida environment bjarkeingels thomasheatherwick autocad frankgehry technology robotics smartcities design adaptivereuse materials shippingcontainers césarpelli adaptation domination architects housing aoscott fans reading howweread writing film movies music tuckercarlson italianfuturists italianfuturism nazis ai artificialintelligence llms education https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1f03111ec4f6/ Pickiness tastes like trauma 2026-05-12T04:15:02+00:00 https://www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/picky-book-review/ robertogreco amybrown children parenting diet food pickiness trauma helenzoeveit industrialization taste senses emotions psychology johnharveykellog kellog's maha sylvestergraham history society https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b794aa5e754c/ Graphic design schools are teaching tech, but are they teaching taste? 2026-04-16T04:00:18+00:00 https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/pov-graphic-design-schools-are-teaching-tech-not-taste-creative-industry-150426 robertogreco design graphicdesign graphics education designeducation work creativity taste tardeschools technology labor liberalarts purpose industry https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:04f361d15a38/ The Ozempicization of Everything - by kyla scanlon 2026-03-30T05:02:52+00:00 https://kyla.substack.com/p/the-ozempicization-of-the-economy robertogreco kylascanlon 2026 economics politics biohacking looksmaxxing manosphere optimization efficiency finance financialnihilism socialmedia millennials genz generationz zoomers geny generationy ivanillich google meta nihilism raymondwilliam medicine health infrastructure donaldtrump trumpism peptides ozempic ozempification control bryanjohnson longevity institutions government governance governing immortality chads wwe maha healthcare siliconvalley taste agency branding marcandreessen samkriss cluely generativeai genai aislop aihype aibubble crypto cryptocurrencies gambling markets predictionmarkets monetization capitalism latecapitalism novig kalshi coinbase narrative loneliness spectacle louistheroux clavicular mlm onlyfans polymarket stuartthompson davidyaffe-bellany mikeisaac conspiracytheories benjaminfogel andrewtate predation exploitation clout cloutchasing hustlecultire hustling scams celebrity attention privateequity confusion uncertainty belief joblessness pain alienation desperation amandamull consumption https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7e81b60da6e0/ Is Taste the One Thing A.I. Can’t Replace? - The New York Times 2026-03-23T20:38:27+00:00 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/style/ai-tools-taste.html robertogreco taste ai artificialintelligence siliconvalley human humanism 2026 josephbernstein sensibility discernment gregbrockman openai shawnwang anthropic sarahchieng willmanidis emilysegal evanspiegel slop aislop https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:afc2244fd85e/ Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste | The New Yorker 2026-03-23T04:48:26+00:00 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-tech-bros-are-now-obsessed-with-taste robertogreco kylechayka siliconvalley taste 2026 disruption ai artificialintelligence koenbok framer bytedance congwang paulgraham anthropic claude claudecode marcandreessen chatbots artisan grammarly humanism technology voltaire mythmaking senseofself openai meta amazon instagram hipsters analog https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:621bc5cc5a8c/ The Ideology of Contentmaxxing - YouTube 2026-02-23T04:54:51+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jtBSC-ZgCI robertogreco aidanwalker metrics looksmaxxing content contentmaxxing quantification latefascistaesthetics aesthetics reality hyperrealism hyperreality socialmedia measurement 2026 algorithms microfractures machines economics fascism web online internet rationalism transhumanism ideology ritual louisalthusser althusser engagement institutions popularity platforms instagram tiktok grades grading taste socialcapital pierrebourdieu performance surveillance attention competition access success interestingness society fascistaesthetics bodies maximization optimization hyperoptimization credibility individualism dehumanization mutilation taboos fame andrewtate nickfuentes clipfarming sneako myrongaines tristantate malcontents jamiecohen jestermaxxing farright rightwing radicalization nihilism politics audience desperation extraction sadomasochism attentioneconomy self-harm men whitesupremacy normality radicalism subjugation https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:23dcb76ab2b3/ The only taboo left is copyright infringement 2026-02-22T01:31:20+00:00 https://www.garbageday.email/p/the-only-taboo-left-is-copyright-infringement robertogrecoplatforms media copyright tiktok ryanbroderick 2026 openai gregbrockman taste culture clavicular nickfuentes hasanpiker discord streaming stephencolbert cbs censorship jamestalarico youtube tv television veradrew 2022 markfischbach mattjohnson attention andrewtate genz truth socialmedia life living bradenpeters https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3f825303afaf/ The high-fantasy cult of Anthropic 2026-02-18T01:46:30+00:00 https://sf.gazetteer.co/the-high-fantasy-cult-of-anthropic robertogreco anthropic claude ai artificialintelligence 2026 cydneyhayes amandaaskell lexfridman peterstreinberger moltbot clawdbod openclaw samaltman openai meta markzuckerberg manus llms pentagon chatgpt google xai taste cults politics morality policy god pr surveillance petehegseth darioamodei revenue profit profits https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7f685e671546/ Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future - YouTube 2026-02-09T16:51:18+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8dcFhF0Dlk robertogreco adamneely suno ai artificialintelligence art artmaking music musicmaking slow friction chatgpt howwethink thinking loneliness narcissism work labor effort isolation friendship influences copyright deskilling learning howwelearn humanism human humans tecnhooptimism movefastandmakethings futurism technology songwriting culture relationships community movefastandbreakthings efficiency impatience patience optimization dystopia craft mikeyshulman howwemake making howwewrite writing rickrubin taste skill skills rolemodels inspiration lineage influence improvisation alanjacobs evil techmooptimism siliconvalley arthurcclarke ip intellectualproperty streaming internet web online creativity sharedexperience experience disruption fun humanity chess play craftsmanship turingtest jamming sychophancy capitalism technodeterminism technologicaldeterminism tressiemcmillancottom control power marketing mohinidey education vc venturecapital artseducation musiceducation italianfuturism filippomarinetti marcandreessen nickland pr https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:33c7ccb6fe11/ Life is a problem that can’t be solved 2026-01-05T22:19:40+00:00 https://www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-problem-that-cant-be-solved/ robertogreco kalebhorton lukeo'neil 2025 death obituaries california photography writing taste talent normmacdonald davidletterman merlehaggard goodwillhunting bakersfield https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8918a65541ee/ Substack's Stacked Debates: Utopia - Can you teach an AI taste? - YouTube 2026-01-01T04:18:36+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxRj3njH7I robertogreco robinsloan jasminesun humans humanism ai artificialintelligence taste 2025 deepmind alphago music culture finitude human humanity technology experience surprise insight fashion musicmaking confidence computers computing effectivealtruism spotify claude anthropic chatgpt openai deepseek courage specificity decisionmaking stakes risk risktaking dreams dreaming choice quality quantity decisions https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:07b1ecfc7e9f/ Don't Become a Connoisseur. 2025-12-08T20:05:16+00:00 https://www.joanwestenberg.com/dont-become-a-connoisseur/ robertogreco joanwestenberg connoisseurs connoisseurship 2025 coffee wine enjoyment taste sophistication whiskey luxury money joy life living snobbery cv peacocking pleasure burgers beauty refinedtaste amen knowledge sunsets free publicdomain birdsong blues music consumption consumerism cultivation discernment noticing enthusiasm enthusiasts proust simplicity voluntarysimplicity performance class uppermiddleclass denim japanesedenim marcelproust https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:06e53a32873d/ And Stay Out 2025-12-05T01:39:59+00:00 https://lmnt.me/blog/and-stay-out.html robertogreco 2025 apple louiemantia alandye ui design jonyive wealth taste productdesign luxury eattherich fashion liquidglass authority excess veneer familiarity ux timcook stevelemay https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:07ec52d41673/ Why don't movies look like *movies* anymore? - YouTube 2025-11-21T22:32:18+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTUM9cFeSo robertogreco film filmmaking patricktomasso cinematography lighting 2025 highdinamicrange intention taste talent aesthetics parenttrap deancundey superbad filmproduction johnmathieson davidfincher craft realism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3a0b81667b64/ are you high-agency or an NPC? - by Jasmine Sun 2025-09-25T23:54:27+00:00 https://jasmi.news/p/dictionary robertogreco jasminesun siliconvalley sanfrancisco ai agency artificialintelligence human humans culture technology goldrush aigoldrush bigtech zoomers genz generationz npcs economics motivation samaltman paulgraham demishassabis pentamind llms garrytan intelligence meghano'gieblyn turingtest lsat autonomy efficacy civilization society sambowman hardikpandya capitalism niccarter chatgpt openai claude anthropic lukedrago rudolflaine agi underclass work labor carceralurbanism urbanism 996 startups hahnbeelee dakshgupta burningman chinese996 surveillance marcandreessen taste saas doomers doomerism scifi sciencefiction dystopia davidsacks nvidia bureaucracy noahsmith michaëltrazzi medicine health birthrates gender venturcapital faang yimby yimbyism yimbys gaza ice politics 2025 absurdity aibubble scaryshit artificialgeneralintelligence workculture explotation techbubbles hype h1-b disinterest inequality aihype venturecapital vc rickrubin deceleration decelerationists class precarity us economy foundermode https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:370fa39b902d/ Trump is rebranding America — and his Oval Office makeover is just the start | Vox 2025-08-29T20:53:32+00:00 https://www.vox.com/politics/459397/trump-rebranding-america-style-aesthetic-taste robertogreco donaldtrump maga fascistaesthetics latefascistaesthetics us decor decoration aesthetics 2025 abdallahfayyad legacy brand branding politics whitehouse celebrity taste 1980s gold gilding greed ostentation dynasty government governance fascism authoritarianism kennedycenter rebranding ronaldreagan jogngast stephenmiller rhetoric individualism excess policy philosophy success https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:11c9d292f1e9/ Overthinking Why Dive Watches Are All the Same - YouTube 2025-07-30T22:49:28+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euahMnkSDiw robertogreco watches divers divewatches history rolex blancpain omega zodiac unimatic ming rolandbarthes baudrillard simulacra symbols semiotics aura talismans conservatism nostalgia permanence identity tradition business design designconservatism materials socialmedia algorithms progress function signaling heirlooms doug'swatches iso isoinertia inertia symbolism icons philosophy watchcanon form 1932 1953 fiftyfathoms zodiacseawolf doxa seiko seikoskx iso645 standards convergence traditions significance rolexsubmariner omegaseamaster steinhart fashion tudor blackbay58 sanmartin invicta blackbay ressence mb&f mainstream innovation designdarwinism myths masculinity exploration competence readiness reality danger adventure survival mythologies objects courage stories storytelling trust walterbenjamin culturalmemory culture continuity memory taste aesthetics instagram echochambers stainlesssteel ceramics manufacturing credibility templates evolution functionality ritual historyy aspiration artifacts craftsmanship jeanbaudrill https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9d6dbeba3c37/ A Brief History of Rolex, the World's Most Renowned Watchmaker 2025-07-26T22:47:12+00:00 https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/rolex-history-2900561/ robertogreco allenfarmelo 2024 rolex history business watches mercedes gucci apple culture brands branding wealth success taste style quality innovation manufacturing marketing design consistency independence scarcity hanswilsdorf precision identity mercedesgleitze rolexexplorer malcolmcampbell edmundhillary tenzingnorgay mounteverest everest rolexgmtmaster rolexmilgauss blancpain rolexsubmariner rolexcellini https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:26bd7bad7af7/ Podcast Insights E16 - Spiritual Materialism: How Watches Take On Significance and Meaning - BEYOND THE DIAL 2025-07-24T23:12:10+00:00 https://www.beyondthedial.com/post/e31-spiritual-materialism-how-watches-take-on-significance-and-meaning/ robertogreco 2020 allenfarmelo watches materialism spiritualmaterialism literarytheory psychology philosophy justification symbols symbolism human behavior aristotle rhetoric motivation motives act scene agent agency purpose journalism ads advertising meaning meaningmaking attention socialmedia social aesthetics community approval introspection clans belonging instagram culturalcapital tastemakers personalbrands productengagement watchcommunity watchworld howwethink relationships ownership identity kennethburke innerlife rationality irrationality projection understanding difference reflection reasoning logic individuals individualism generalization nihilism marxism generalizations hedonism skepticism reality analysis panerai nomos italy italia pleasure thinking surfing hypotheticals perception self learning howwelearn presentationofself humans vulnerability invicta explantion watchcanon usthem sameness differentiation significance decisionmaking snobbery snobs absolutism watchsnobs judgement standards capitalism consumeri https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c6c20ec34a79/ Surrendering to the surface 2025-06-12T04:15:42+00:00 https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/surrendering-to-the-surface/ robertogreco 2025 robinsloan sanfrancisco cafezoetrope jonyive samaltman citylights coffee authenticity taste skill cafes jasonsnell smartphones io openai chatgpt ai artificialintelligence feral https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:85e25429b85f/ Overdosed on AI Music | 2512 - thejaymo 2025-06-02T02:38:23+00:00 https://thejaymo.net/2025/06/01/2512-overdosed-on-ai-music/ robertogreco ai artificialintelligence music slop aislop generativeai taste dreasm thejaymo 2025 jayspringett perormance marekpoliks genai https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:0ef6d99620f2/ Can We Radicalize the Professional Managerial Class? with Catherine Liu - YouTube 2025-06-01T20:36:10+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtOffvS6ugQ robertogreco briahnajoygray catherineliu 2022 media ezraklein matthewyglsesias pmc professionalmanagerialclass workingclass workers labor npr happiness culture identity identitypolitics politics class elizabethwarren berniesanders 2020 pandemic coronavirus covid-19 virtue virtuehoarding belonging consumerism consumption work organizing organization solidarity migration coercivemigration robertreich mobility openborders greatmigration status mainstreammedia precarity petitebourgeoisie education highered highereducation 1968 cosmopolitanism placelessness dislocation capitalism taste boomers meritocracy discontent progressivism kochbrothers elections socialism audience insularity middleclass libralism centrism moderates progressive babyboomers https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:91f4ea6473ed/ What does Maga-land look like? Let me show you America’s unbeautiful suburban sprawl | Alexander Hurst | The Guardian 2025-03-22T02:12:32+00:00 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/19/maga-america-suburban-donald-trump robertogreco maga trumpism aesthetics fascism 2025 alexanderhurst dorothythompson 1941 talialavin landscape suburbia us cities sprawl cars traffic tommcleish saintaugustine staugustine augustine handsursvonbalthasar beauty freedom everyday williambutlerkeats politics conservatism ugliness johndewey experience art turth capitalism taste plato plotinus americandream alexisdetocqueville hitler mussolini authoritarianism massiveness power ussr sovietunion futurism italianfuturists nazis futurists negativecapability benitomussolini fascistaesthetics aiaesthetics aifascism latefascism adolfhitler latefascistaesthetics italianfuturism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:379d83bf51c8/ The life-changing magic of Japanese clutter | Aeon Essays 2024-10-16T21:15:56+00:00 https://aeon.co/essays/the-life-changing-magic-of-japanese-clutter robertogreco japan 2024 clutter mattalt aesthetics minimalism economics stuff society organization taste time space https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:84bc3cb22008/ ស្គាល់ មជាតិ Knowing Your Taste – Emergence Magazine 2024-09-28T03:42:20+00:00 https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/skal-cheate-knowing-your-taste/ robertogreco cambodia 2024 taste land food kalyaneemam listening https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9ab4481cdb04/ Taste is Eating Silicon Valley. - by Anu Atluru 2024-09-27T23:43:39+00:00 https://www.workingtheorys.com/p/taste-is-eating-silicon-valley robertogreco anuatluru siliconvalley taste technology design culture 2024 marcandreessen software productdesign markets elonmusk stevejobs products airbnb apple tesla arcbrowser chatgpt anthropic ai artificialintelligence chatbots google meta microsoft copilot perplexity poe gemini aesthetics marketing venturecapital latecapitalism utility vibes arc vc latestagecapitalism venturacapital https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5577dd957f14/ Taste of the Land – by Adam Loften & Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee 2024-09-23T20:08:31+00:00 https://emergencemagazine.org/film/taste-of-the-land/ robertogreco kalyaneemam cambodia khmerrouge land industrialization urbanization place homeleand deforestation development adamloften emmanuelvaughan-lee senses allthesenses taste belonging 2024 https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:54c6346ec2a7/ Ep. 6: Here for the Wrong Taste with Charles Broskoski 2024-09-19T19:42:10+00:00 https://www.tasteland.fyi/ep-6-here-for-the-wrong-taste-w-charles-broskoski/ robertogreco are.na charlesbroskoski 2024 daisyalioto franciszierer identity aesthetics writing howwewrite substack thinkpieces socialmedia skating skateboarding howwelearn amateurs novices learning moodboards sharing howweread reading taste tasteland amateurism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:af8f5cbaa316/ Documenting Shifting Landscapes – A Conversation with Kalyanee Mam 2024-09-14T20:43:49+00:00 https://emergencemagazine.org/interview/documenting-shifting-landscapes/ robertogreco kalyaneemam 2024 emmanuelvaughan-lee cambodia place film filmmaking slow senses allthesense taste time land mangroves sanddredging singapore experience migration immigration photography people memory presence sensing perception stories storytelling belonging connection khmerrouge education reading culture wisdom control individualism collectivism community interconnectedness interconnected identity howwelive living landscape landscapes mourning cities homeland change listening grief spirituality loss erasure displacement pain numbness numbing suffering healing wholeness forests rivers feeling https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:81454442eaa3/ Her scents of pu er | Psyche Films 2024-08-30T17:18:10+00:00 https://psyche.co/films/for-a-chinese-tea-master-each-sip-is-a-rich-expression-of-memory robertogreco food drink memory tea senses sensory film yuhuitseng anna-clariaostasenkobogdanoff maîtretseng smell taste allthesenses video memories nostalgia transcendence experience https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ccaecc74565b/ knowing what I Iike - by Ava - bookbear express 2024-04-07T22:42:35+00:00 https://www.avabear.xyz/p/knowing-what-i-iike robertogreco attention taste via:shiraz 2023 https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:47d71eba9c71/ Empire of the Senses – Sensory Practices of Colonialism in Early America | Brill 2024-02-28T05:25:03+00:00 https://brill.com/display/title/34485 robertogreco senses allthesenses history imperialism 2017 danielahacke paulmusselwhite gardens aromas diving underwater knowledge fruit flavor taste colonialism colonization sound soundscapes touch tactile communication friendship newworld aroma https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:324d74de5a6b/ Opinion | How to Discover Your Own Taste - The New York Times 2024-01-19T16:29:19+00:00 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-kyle-chayka.html robertogreco kylechayka ezraklein 2024 taste algorithms internet corydoctorow enshittification spotify sameness feeds online howweread reading film music brianeno harukimurakami books aesthetics selfhood self individuality annalowenhaupttsing annatsing lawrenceweschler robertirwin junichirotanizaki international design art discovery exploration ambient mobydick slow curating curation sharing culture web data chatcpt criticism platforms monetization recommendation coffeeshops moby-dick coffeehouses cafes https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ccc226e7b357/ 80 *Slaps Roof of Algorithm* You Can Fit so Much Taste in This Thing with Nick Seaver - Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure 2023-12-29T07:43:32+00:00 https://publicinfrastructure.org/podcast/80-nick-seaver/ robertogreco nickseaver 2023 algorithms music recommendation computing taste technology automation spotify software https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:65ec2b6a96e1/ How Hard Candy Flavors Are Made | WIRED - YouTube 2023-12-13T19:08:41+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OIrdqam3sU robertogreco flavors taste candy howthingsaremade food 2023 allthesenses loftypursuits gregcohen https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8310580ed6e5/ Age Of Innocence: The Disappearing Charm Of The Good Cheap Watch 2023-12-10T03:27:05+00:00 https://jackforster.substack.com/p/age-of-innocence-the-disappearing robertogreco jackforster 2022 taste watches connoisseurship signaling socialsignaling price appreciation details https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:a0f6eb82b2fb/ Middlebrow: A Letter Written but Not Sent - The Atlantic 2023-04-11T01:11:15+00:00 https://web.archive.org/web/20220916075125/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1942/07/middlebrow-a-letter-written-but-not-sent/654308/ robertogreco virginiawollf 1942 highbrow lowbrow middlebrow taste art design furniture conservatism antiques classics living contemporary contemporaries hibrow https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f252d896230d/ How the U.S. used bland food to “Americanize” immigrants - YouTube 2023-01-19T18:24:41+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVAECy_5Sag robertogreco us food schoollunches schools flavor taste 2023 immigrants immigration assimilation https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:764c36c43f22/ The hidden sensory world of animals | Ed Yong - YouTube 2022-09-09T18:20:30+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzsjw-i6PNc robertogreco edyong 2022 allthesenses senses morethanhuman multispecies animals birds sight vision hearing taste light smell smells touch video umvelt perception experience otters dogs spiders odor survival adaptation biology elephants owls behavior proust marcelproust fish catfish insects flies butterflies https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ef26b11b8f2d/ Editorial: The (Almost) Inexplicable Popularity Of The Diver's Watch - HODINKEE 2022-08-14T01:12:57+00:00 https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-almost-inexplicable-popularity-of-the-divers-watch robertogreco jackforster 2019 watches divewatches durability dependability rolex rolexsubmariner blancpain fiftyfathoms iso waterresistance ruggedness jamesbond masculinity marketing stevemcqueen purity purpose design taste fashion simplicity authenticity necessity objectivity subjectivity iso6425 water diving seiko omega citizen https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5236cf201536/ Istanbul and the Ottoman Olfactory Heritage 2022-03-11T21:37:06+00:00 https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2018/06/istanbul-and-ottoman-olfactory-heritage.html robertogreco smell smells senses allthesenses perception memory emotion istanbul 2018 maps mapping markets ottoman history sensoryhistory sensoryethnography science spices scents incense laurendavis susannaferguson colonization colonialism vision hegemony enlightenment west westernism rosewater roseoil westernthough greeks romans plato visualsupremacy visionsupremacy aristotle touch taste sight hearing multisensory rogerbacon hierarchy sound charlesdarwin kant karlmarx immanuelkant hegemonyofvision observation imperialism environment anthropology smellappreciation regulation values geography pine cleaning ottomanempire ambergris space borders international cinnamon frankincense myrrh preservation records recording archives oraltradition stories dialog heritage chemistry perfume rose canon darwin türkiye turkey https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:549bb5e2caaa/ Jewelry Designer Maggi Simpkins On Her Cartier Tank 2022-02-15T19:47:11+00:00 https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/jewelry-designer-maggi-simpkins-finds-power-in-her-grandmothers-cartier-tank robertogreco maggisimpkins 2022 watches cartier cartiertank stories significance meaning meaningmaking opulence luxury storytelling objects jewelry taste canon watchcanon https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:081915e2bcb4/ 11 lessons and tips from my first year of watch collecting 2021-12-27T01:35:34+00:00 https://sub.rescapement.com/p/11-lessons-and-tips-from-my-first robertogreco collection collecting watches 2021 g-shock photography taste hype personality marketing consumerism fomo watchstraps watchbands tonytraina watchcollecting anthonytraina https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5262b29c61a4/ The Many Loves of Etel Adnan | Frieze 2021-11-15T06:40:57+00:00 https://www.frieze.com/article/many-loves-etel-adnan robertogreco eteladnan negarazimi allthesenses taste sound california mounttamalpais landscape beirut food multisensory love life living mountains simonefattal margueriteyourcenar holidays painting art writing boats oceans seas war poetry bravery https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:dfe0615a2b6b/ Cutting Through The Noise, and Finding Your Lane - Worn & Wound 2021-11-06T18:54:44+00:00 https://wornandwound.com/finding-your-lane-buying-watches-that-matter/ robertogreco watches collections collecting 2021 noise motivation influence meaningmaking blakebuettner distraction taste preference preferences watchcollecting https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8cb24fa9494e/ EricaJoy on Twitter: "ok so cilantro tastes like soap to some of us. i want to know this: does any other food taste like an identifiably unpleasant flavor to y’all? an example (that i just pulled out of thin air) is blueberries tasting like grass or som 2019-04-13T21:00:14+00:00 https://twitter.com/EricaJoy/status/1116752100715667457 robertogreco taste ericjoy 2019 senses cilantro fruit vegetables food eating https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cdfd73d3d691/ Jacob Sam-La Rose en Instagram: “Decluttering. These are the keepers. I harbour a fantasy of my future kids being fascinated with these in the same way I raided my mother’s…” 2018-08-10T00:07:29+00:00 https://www.instagram.com/p/BmL784CHIlP/ robertogreco jacobsam-larose 2018 decluttering memory space sound music collections senses mariekondo taste smell sounds place finite curation tangible tactile analog digital books childhood memories https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:30d08965ec73/ GhostFood on Vimeo 2018-05-19T19:15:58+00:00 https://vimeo.com/85584034 robertogreco 2014 food miriamsongster climatechange speculativefiction speculativedesign physiology taste smell senses ghostfood extinction cod fish peanuts cocoa flavor multisensory flavors miriamsimun https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fe38b8cb526e/ Museums should activate multiple senses, not just the eyeball | Ellen Lupton | TEDxMidAtlantic - YouTube 2018-01-22T01:18:16+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1-r7CR6FsI robertogrecoellenlupton museums senses multisensory curation 2017 seeing sensing smell touch audio taste classideas accessibility inclusivity inclusion texture food light sound music acoustics architecture ranzheng haptics deafness tactile design vibeat lirongino michellequreshi cooper-hewitt cooperhewitt https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8078bbf9adb8/ Wiley: The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, 3rd Edition - Juhani Pallasmaa 2017-08-26T22:18:57+00:00 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119941288.html robertogreco books toread architecture senses multisensory juhanipallasmaa humans bodies stevenholl sight smell sound taste texture touch humanism sfsh design peterkeith body https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d74b5b8c5ce6/ Bad Taste - YouTube 2016-07-20T01:24:08+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD1qKMgTnAE&t=0s robertogreco style taste badtaste excess overcompensation schooloflife deprivation trauma sentimentality gaudiness design aesthetics economics appreciation desperation humans understanding https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:326288a7f0f0/ Alan dreams of suya | Snakes and Ladders 2015-08-29T20:39:38+00:00 http://blog.ayjay.org/uncategorized/alan-dreams-of-suya/ robertogreco food taste smell senses memory suya nigeria 2015 alanjacobs https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fa1027ed158a/ Expensive wine is for suckers. This video shows why. - Vox 2015-05-22T20:49:33+00:00 http://www.vox.com/2015/5/20/8625785/expensive-wine-taste-cheap robertogreco wine taste food drink 2015 ratings price pleasure money https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:86765e41ccf0/ Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious - The Washington Post 2015-03-27T05:54:51+00:00 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/03/a-scientific-explanation-of-what-makes-indian-food-so-delicious/ robertogreco food indian india 2015 flavor taste cooking https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c368ee4fdd6f/ How Culture Shapes Our Senses - NYTimes.com 2014-09-10T01:27:41+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/opinion/sunday/how-culture-shapes-our-senses.html robertogreco senses taste olfaction touch sight seeing noticing language languages culture darylbem tmluhrmann constanceclassen wcydwt glvo slow marshallmcluhan anthropology psychology perception sense asifamajid stephenlevinson sound hearing tone pitch rhythm color comparison schooling unschooling deschooling literacies literacy identification naming kevinsystrom smell https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:86212a32a748/ No more guilty pleasures 2014-02-12T20:28:54+00:00 http://austinkleon.com/2014/02/12/guilty-pleasures/ robertogreco austinkleon taste guiltypleasures 2014 davegrohl nelsonmolina micehldemontaigne highbrow lowbrow punk hibrow https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:58c4147bf90b/ Issue # 07 Alexandra Lange to swissmiss - open letters 2014-02-01T07:10:29+00:00 http://www.openletters-online.com/Issue-07-Alexandra-Lange-to-siwssmiss robertogrecoI always take more pleasure in liking something than in disliking something. That’s not to say there aren’t some things that deserve to be liked and some things that deserved to be disliked, but I’m never fond of disliking something.
The lesson I’ve learned is to be wary of those who are. The ones who seem to think that being critical is the same as having good taste. Those people almost never have good taste, so their opinions don’t matter.
There’s no particular sophistication required to be a critic. We know this, because children often dislike foods they learn to love as adults.
As a child I disliked the Eames LCW chair in my parents’ bedroom. I took no pleasure in hating it. My feeling separated me from my mother, whose taste I have always admired. Was Eames a flavor I had to become more sophisticated to enjoy? Perhaps. But that dislike, that gap between us in taste, fueled a productive thought process. I had to figure out what was so great about an object so ugly, so bulbous, so unlike the other (normal) chairs in our house. I had to learn about the Eameses, about bentwood, about cleaning up “the slum of legs.” If at the end of that process I still hated the chair, would I have gained less in sophistication? I learned to love the exploration. I love the chair too, even though, due to its age and the innovative industrial means of its manufacture, it is now sculpture rather than furniture. All my life, criticism has been a gift. Literally. My mom gave me the Eames chair a few years ago. I can wave at it from the desk at which I’m typing. In high school my mother gave me the collection of Ada Louise Huxtable’s essays, Kicked A Building Lately?, as an example of what writing about architecture could achieve. The reflected skyline on the cover. The pithy comments within, which hardly required illustration. The rhythm of seeing and thinking and writing. It felt fast and it felt just. Can’t you imagine Huxtable as Lois Lane, kicking the steel corners of the nascent Park Avenue School of Architecture? It’s true, she didn’t make the buildings. But, just like Lois, her reporting separated the real Supermen from Bizarro. Her words shaped what came next for New York. She made up names for what was happening to the city and to culture. By naming, she created an arena in which discussion could occur. My now-husband’s first gift to me was another collection of criticism, Michael Sorkin’s Exquisite Corpse. My education in criticism up to that date had been establishment; this book was made of ruder stuff. It bristles with dislike about some of the very same buildings Ada Louise Huxtable loved, and love for those about which she was lukewarm. The Ford Foundation. The Whitney. My favorite essay in the book is probably the one on the Whitney, an all-too-rare love letter to Marcel Breuer intertwined with a demolition of Michael Graves and his “shitty beaux-arts apparatus.” However quotable, I still wouldn’t call that hating. Sorkin says Graves can’t help it, the apparatus is just his way. It’s on the rest of us to save the Whitney. Sorkin is simply giving us reasons why we should. His conclusion is less important than explaining how to get there. Your blog is clearly a critical enterprise. The mission of swissmiss seems obviously analogous to Tattly, which you created to clean up the slum of temporary tattoos. You must get hundreds of emails a day with products, apps, videos and posters that you deem unworthy of publication. Every time you don’t publish something, you are being a critic. Yet you don’t share that judgment. That negative determination happens without comment, in the click of the trash button. What I’d like to hear about is what happens in your head between the look and that judgmental click. Why this and not that? What’s wrong with that picture? To be able to say, simply and directly, what is wrong (or not-yet-right) in design is not a child’s task. I don’t think it is possible to educate about design without talking about the world of wrong, ugly, misguided and oversize. Yes, swissmiss, like Switzerland, might be the exception to that world. But it will never be the rule, and accentuating the positive will only reorganize so much territory. Today’s Lois Lane cannot avoid the aisles of the grocery store, the app store, or Toys R Us. This Internet of Things: can it be without glitch? Skimming the cream off the top will always generate more clicks (anyone can compare our Twitter followings), but there’s more constructive work to be done below, where so many design blogs fear to dive. You are motivated by a love of design, as am I. Haters are name-callers, body-shamers, trolls. They are destructive. If my fellow critics and I did not love buildings, books, gadgets and food, there would be no reason for us to do what we do. I really don’t get paid enough. But as I move through the world of objects, I have a lot of questions. I can’t ignore what I dislike or don’t understand. Sometimes I describe the way I choose my topics as scratching an itch: if something bothers me each time I see it, the only salve is investigation. Growing up is doing more than complaining (or, as you have said, coming up with a Twitter hashtag). Let’s talk about it—as adults, of course. I would like to save a building or improve a megaproject, but sometimes the critic has to settle for creating a conversation. Maybe this is just the long way of saying something very simple: Dear Design, I love you. But love isn’t blind."]]> alexandralange 2014 criticism caring taste learning howwelearn cv love design swissmiss tinarotheisenberg https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:706cc6b4392d/ MoMA's demolition of AFAM and architectural obsolescence 2014-01-16T01:25:17+00:00 http://www.dezeen.com/2014/01/15/mimi-zeiger-moma-american-folk-art-museum-architecture-obsolescence/ robertogreco plannedobsolescence obsolescence moma afam diller+scofidio ephemerality mortality design architecture anamaríaleón quilianriano mimizeiger taste timing disposability visibility publicness craft hominess idiosyncrasy herbertmuschamp 2014 dillerscofidio ephemeral https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ab9f6a3d0a46/ Works Cited: Wasting time on the internet: a syllabus 2014-01-13T05:44:25+00:00 http://nataliacecire.blogspot.com/2013/09/wasting-time-on-internet-syllabus.html robertogreco nataliacecire culture internet web reading 2013 johnkeats robertfrost petercoviello aesthetics beauty guiltypleasures thomasnagel judgement clementgreenberg pierrebordieu thorsteinveblen barbarahernsteinsmith tseliot andrewlloydwebber thewasteland taste class williambutleryeats josefalbers difficulty mariannemoore siannengai leonarddiepeveen lawrencelevine rosalindkrauss popculutre authenticity criticism gender chinuaahcebe appropriation music williamgibson cuteness commodification marktwain edgarallanpoe lililoofbourow christianbök walterbenjamin maryoliver writing syllabus classideas highbrow lowbrow kant syllabi wbyeats yeats immanuelkant hibrow https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f4fb68cd8279/ Ibraaz Talks: Trevor Paglen on Aesthetics | Ibraaz 2013-10-24T23:07:31+00:00 http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/100 robertogreco ibraaztalks trevorpaglen 2013 aesthetics objects function art anti-aesthetics via:javierarbona economics politics taste relationships class inequality time mortality space satellites immortality elitism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:80b769045c75/ “It wasn't for me.” - Austin Kleon 2013-09-04T00:12:56+00:00 http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/60209591086 robertogreco austinkleon timing taste readiness 2013 filtering kindness criticism haters notforme it'snotforme itwasn'tforme https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d71537edcd11/ Your Choice of Spoon Changes the Taste of Your Food | Smart News 2013-06-30T21:59:42+00:00 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/06/your-choice-of-spoon-changes-the-taste-of-your-food/ robertogreco spoons taste ncmideas 2013 food eating utensils https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:68d83230b3c4/ Slow-mo reel of kids tasting foods for the first time. You're welcome. 2013-05-10T22:29:52+00:00 http://io9.com/slow-mo-reel-of-kids-tasting-foods-for-the-first-time-499103547 robertogrecotaste novelty newness reactions food children expression slowmotion 2013 video https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f61e8b79c431/ Subject, Theory, Practice: An Architecture of Creative Engagement on Vimeo 2013-03-12T22:20:02+00:00 https://vimeo.com/59132858 robertogreco via:chrisberthelsen joséortegaygasset theory architecture cv media dezeen archdaily practice nostalgia actimel marcoginex 2013 tcsnmy understanding iteration darkmatter certainty postmodernism modernism philosophy relationships context meaningmaking meaning lifelongproject lcproject openstudioproject relevance consumption canon streams internet filtering audiencesofone film adamnathanielfurman creativity bricolage consumerism unschooling deschooling education lifelonglearning curation curating blogs discourse thinking soundbites eyecandy order chaos messiness ephemerality ephemeral grandnarratives storytelling hierarchies hierarchy authority rebellion criticism frameofdebate robertventuri taste aura highbrow lowbrow waywards narrative anarchism anarchy feedback feedbackloops substance values self thewho thewhat authenticity fiction discussion openended openendedstories process open-ended hibrow https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b90716eb22f0/