Category: NFN

Another shot from Jens’ new apartment. This time, I was allowed to take the photo, albeit not without instruction. I wanted Jens in the picture (he’s the almost invisible shadow in the mirror). But of course, he ‘directed’ the picture. I felt like a rather sophisticated computer, who can follow all kinds of commands.

So, this is what part of his living room looks like. He bought a rather beautiful Case Study Chaise from Modernica, one of my much liked brands for simple modern classics. You see some of it, in Linen Chili on the right. He also has some original steel stools from the 1930ies. The one in the photo, however, has been badly messed up by someone who tried to repair the wooden seat. Most deplorable. So now the seat has to be covered up. You see the stool in a large mirror, and some of the tea utensils I used to make myself comfortable.

32 degrees Celsius in Manhattan yesterday, 13 degrees today. Which reminded me.

Recently I talked to the wife of an American billionaire, at a reception they gave. While they enjoy their life at the West Coast, she insists that they rent a place in Manhattan every summer, to get a cultural refill.

But what about the terrible heat, I asked.

Why do you bother, she replied: “It’s all air conditioned, isn’t it?”

I still can’t get over the almost Warholian genius in her remark. America, I love you.

I often wondered what it is about the mix of art and politics, what attracts certain characters to a life between these spheres. An awkward combination of insecurity and megalomania? A desire to create one’s own world in contrast to the one that rejected you? Or plain failure to make a living in the daily grind of a nine to five setting? Here’s an interesting read on someone who tried his luck with varying success: “Hitler’s art attracts big sale prices,” via CNN.