09.22.20Square

all the other sketches are as wonky as the top half and not as ooh as the bottom half; that’s why this one is pictured

Trading in square pics for a square brush. I understand this brush shape, whereas pointed brushes and pens continue to merely be an inking-in-outlines tools for me.

+ nepantla [1] / learned about through May-Li Khoe & Federico Ardila
+ nakasi [1][2] / learned through the band Mong Tong (one of the members collects Taiwanese sci-fi book covers)

It has been a month of work and less so words. In my drafts from earlier this month are nepantla (in-between-ness), nakasi (in Taiwanese and Japanese cultures, parlor/bar-accompaniment-music associated with the working class), and thoughts about supremacist perfection:

We are taught perfection.

Before design school, one often doesn’t see all the little so-called imperfections. And then you learn how to judge all those details, what’s “right” and “wrong.” What wasn’t distracting before is suddenly an itch. And guess who cares and is aware about those details: not most people. Do we talk about language and communication enough? Formal aspects are easier to talk about, quicker to point out. And then when looking at other people’s work, it becomes easy to dismiss it as unprofessional if a non-crucial detail is a little off. And not just to dismiss it, but also the person behind it.

Perfection isn’t the point.

There are a lot of sentiments about freeing oneself and others from perfection. Unpacking what that actionably and perceptively means is subjective. Do I believe in the rules and personally unlived truths I’ve absorbed?

(p.s. the new album Shore by Fleet Foxes is lovely.)