CONTENTS
SEASONSGREETINGS
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SEASONSPHERE
Seasons took part in Thailand’s first Hotel Art Fair.
SEASONSQUARE
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Tasty trench sandwiches at Triplets Brasserie.
SEASONSESSENCE
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SEASONSTRENDS
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Saladaeng Residences’ managing director’s ideas of home.
Step into the sentimental and comfortable atmosphere of BAXTER’s new collection.
SEASONSPORTRAIT
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The man behind Iron Fairies and Mr. Jones’ Orphanage Milk Bar has turned an underground bank vault into an exciting new nightclub.
SEASONSICON
A warm welcome to the third issue of SEASONEWS. In this issue we explore the meaning of sentimental affections toward people, things, places, literature, music, art, fashion, food—anything that one holds dear beyond its physical and economic value. Sentimental value can be in all things, old and new, then and now, budget or luxurious, even in ideologies. What matters is the way in which those things comfort and inspire us, how they give us reasons to view life as worthwhile and rewarding. I find sentimental value in the intangible. The most important and dearest things to me can’t simply be bought with money but they are not entirely free either because one has to work hard to earn them. I’m talking about the quintessential things that give meanings and purposes to my life such as quality time with family, trusting friendships, good health, a peaceful mind and the freedom to express. This realization gives me a deeper sense of purpose in life. The guests we visit and interview in this issue certainly have their own interpretations of sentimental value, but I feel that they all agree about one thing: it’s what keeps them going and reassures them that there is meaning in what they do, for themselves as well as for others. We do not contribute to society equally, but as long as we have passion in what we do I believe that everyone benefits from it one way or another. A great city is built by people with great passion and the individuals we proudly introduce in this issue play a part in transforming Bangkok into a great place. We all know there’s still a lot to be done, but these creative and passionate people are leading us in a fresh direction. We also pay tribute to the great French designer Andrée Putman who passed away in January. She said this in an online interview in 2003*: “I’ve always worked with the idea of making beautiful things accessible to everyone. I disliked the image of luxury linked to money and arrogance.” Putman’s words echo what we try to express in this issue nicely. For me, the meaning of sentimental value essentially is beauty, and when beauty is felt I believe that it becomes accessible to everyone.
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Andrée Putman may no longer be with us, but her legacy lives on in her art.
ONNALIN LOJANAGOSIN Director Lotus Home Design Co., Ltd. (Seasons)
Lotus Home Design Co., Ltd. (SEASONS) 342/1-2 Soi Ekkamai 20, Sukhumvit 63 Rd. Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand T (+66) 2 715 0845 F (+66) 2 715 0844 www.seasonsofliving.com
*From the website www.designboom.com
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Ma Du Art at MA DU ZI HOTEL ART FAIR NO.1 Seasons took part in Thailand’s first Hotel Art Fair at Maduzi from February 16-17, 2013. We’re happy to report that the event was a great success. Kudos to Farmgroup, Maduzi Hotel and all participants, especially the visitors and supporters of this exciting new art activity in our city.
“Maduzi Hotel Art fair” was a project created by Farmgroup Company Limited, a creative and design consultancy based in Bangkok. The purpose of the Hotel Art fair was to gather top galleries in Thailand and provide an opportunity for them to showcase their collections, broaden their audience and allow the public to view the artworks in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. Twelve rooms were assigned to galleries to showcase their artworks - C.A.P Studio, H Gallery, Hof Art, Numthong Gallery, Seasons of Living, Serindia Gallery, Thavibu Gallery, Artery Gallery, Whitespace Gallery, Lunarverb and Anon Pairot Studio. Two floors of the luxurious boutique hotel in central Bangkok were transformed into 12 galleries from Bangkok and Chiang Mai, which showcased their art collections in each room with their own theme. The exhibition was highlighted by two “Celebrity Galleries”, the first curated by Dr. Disaphol Chansiri, the renowned private art collector,
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and the second by the popular designer couple Atichai and Bhumichitr Poshyanonda (known as Pip & Duang). An exciting addition to the Maduzi Hotel Art Fair was the creation of a completely original series by one of Thailand’s leading product designer, Anon Pairot. The two-day event with the pre-opening on February 15th for VIPs and press aimed to bring in a new angle to the art scene in Bangkok. By having different galleries exhibit in the relaxed setting of the luxurious hotel, the Maduzi Hotel Art Fair provided collectors and art lovers with a great opportunity to view and appreciate various forms of South-East Asian art, while at the same time offering galleries a new channel to promote and sell their wares. Add in good music, fabulous décor and a youthful party atmosphere, Maduzi Hotel Art Fair was a great place for youngsters and art appreciation newcomers alike to gain more access to the art experience.
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01. Laleli Camii, Istanbul 2010/2010 Limited Edition 02. Taya Rogers / Model, Actress 03. Sririta Jensen / Model, Actress 04. Left : Countenance, 2011/2011 Limited Edition, By Erin Cone Right : Composure, 2009/2011 Limited Edition, By Erin Cone 05. Dressing Table Corner by Seasons 06. Rockefeller Center and Yellow Cab 2010 Ofen Edition by Thomas Splietker 07. Sririta Jensen / Model, Actress With Rose Marie 2 2003/2009 Limited Edition By Wolfgang Joop 08. Left : White Deers # 1-2009/2010 Limited Edition, By Frank Stoeckel Right : African Antoinette 2010/2011 Limited Edition, By Olaf Hajek 09. “Panello Testa Lux Giallo-Ponpon Viola” C489507
SEASONSQUARE
SEASONSQUARE
Three’s Company
The Secret Garden
Triple Sandwiches at Triplets Brasserie
Barovier&Toso’s Blown Glass in an Installation by Paola Navone Inlaid Marble CITCO Interpreted by Zaha Hadid Architects.
Khun Nateampai
Literally tucked away behind LUXX XL Hotel on Langsuan, the French cuisine-inspired Triplets Brasserie feels like a secret that’s too good to be kept.
“French food usually has a salty flavour. Our food is more mixed. It’s not particularly French,Western or Thai. It’s just what we think is delicious and healthy,” says Nateampai, who grew up with her grandma’s Thai cooking. Recommendation of the day is Mushroom Pork sandwich — the pork roast, mushroom, and lettuce come on top of trenchers, the “medieval” bread, in the manner originally served during the Middle Ages. The pork is sliced so thin and it feels so soft it may melt in your mouth. The mushroom on top goes very well with the sweet mustard-spread trenchers underneath. The Chicken & Pesto and the Phillipe (roast beef, onion, bell pepper) sanwiches are also available and equally tasty. “When everything is fresh, it’s tasty. I don’t understand how people can cook food that’s not delicious. If you use good, fresh ingredients everything takes care of itself.”
The bright atmosphere and cozy outdoor garden setting immediately make visitors feel right at home, or at a good friend’s home. The food too gives off a home-cooked impression, but with a touch and taste of lavishness. As co-owner and executive chef Nateampai Sarakosass says, “It’s a relaxed and casual setting that serves hotel-quality food.” Khun Nateampai and her partner Kanita Tungworapotwitan decided on this location partly because they were looking for a comfortable place to run a restaurant as well as spend quality time with Barbie, their white poodle, hence the name “Triplets”. Everything is done out of passion, the result of a long search for the meaning of a good life. While taking inspiration from traditional French cooking, the ingredients used at Triplets are 85% local and the general taste of the food is intentionally “not very French”.
Triplets Brasserie is behind LUXX XL Hotel, opposite Langsuan Soi 6 Open Tue-Sun, lunch 11.00-14.00, dinner 18.00-22.00 For reservation call 02-684-1684, 081-833-6096
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The Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) in Brera is a pleasant spot, largely unknown, in the heart of Milan—a silent green area enclosed by patrician residences and, on one side, by the Brera Accademia Art Museum. It is here that Barovier&Toso and Citco have decided to present The Secret Garden, a display event in which each can convey their particular specialities, one in the blowing of glass to make lighting installations and chandeliers, the other in the production of inlaid marble for surfaces, walls and floors. Brought together by similar approaches—closer to top artistic craftsmanship than to production-line industry—they have involved two great masters of design and architecture to give shape to a project of senses and emotions: Paola Navone for Barovier&Toso and Zaha Hadid Architects for Citco. Each has been asked to create and produce an installation which shows the demanding international audience at the Salone del Mobile the mastery of the two companies in creating products of extraordinary beauty. In Paola Navone’s project, chandeliers in traditional Murano blown glass, enhanced with refined colors, are placed inside large “nests” interwoven with hazelnut trees, spread on the lawn or hung from the trees. Around 15,000 have been required, the result of felling
diseased trees, with the aim of reinvigorating the plants. The nests hide and protect the chandeliers, inviting visitors to have a curious peek between branches and gaps. It is a strong visual impact that well represents the magic that a Barovier&Toso chandelier gives to a space, either in a nest or in a domestic room. Large nests of different shapes. Resting on the ground or floating in the air. To be searched for amongst the trees. To be discovered in the garden. To be touched. To get close to so as to have a look inside.
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SEASONSESSENCE
At Home With Art and Nature:
Saladaeng Residences, a sleek, modern condominium, manages to stand out and make a unique statement in this landscape with its relaxed and tranquil yet meticulous and classy atmosphere; a harmony of luxury and comfort. It’s no surprise that Khun Chotipol Techakraisri, president of PACE Development, the company behind such outstanding properties as MahaNakon and the Ritz-Carlton Residences, is passionate, not only about good design and top quality materials, but also about making sure the living experience at Saladaeng Residences feels as close to being at home as possible, though he freely admits it’s not an easy task. “I used to live at home but now I live here with my wife and two children. Of course living in a condo is not the same as living in a house, but that is our challenge. We aim to ultimately make the living at our condos feel as close to being at home as possible.” As a student, Khun Chotipol spent 10 years in Seattle and it was there that the love of the outdoor life took root in him. “It wasn’t like that from the beginning. During the first few years I just wanted to come home as much or as soon as I could. But over time the Seattle lifestyle grew on me. I didn’t know what nature was until I started to feel it for myself in Seattle, where people actually lived among it. It was always easy to go sailing, swimming in the lake, hiking or snowboarding in the winter. The lifestyle there was totally different from being in other big cities like Boston or New York, where a lot of Thais went to study. At least during my time, downtown Seattle didn’t even have brand name shops. It was not a materialistic lifestyle and I came to appreciate it very much. Unfortunately, when I returned to Bangkok I rarely had the opportunity to live the way I did in Seattle anymore, but now the urge to be in nature is always there.” Contemporary art is another interest that came to him unintentionally. While backpacking in Europe with a friend years
The Passions of Chotipol Techakraisri Saladaeng, a long-time landmark “soi” in downtown Bangkok, is a quaint neighborhood. It connects Silom and Sathon roads and offers everything from cheap and delicious street food to luxurious Hotels and fine European cuisine.
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SEASONSESSENCE
ago, Khun Chotipol visited various art museums merely because the guidebooks told him to do so, but eventually it became something he yearned for and made sure to put high up on his to-do list on every trip. “At first I looked at everything, all the important, classic, mustsee masterpieces. But the more I knew about art the more specific my interest became. Now I enjoy mostly contemporary art because I feel there are many kinds of works I haven’t explored. Whenever I get a chance to go abroad and be in a city with an active art scene I would visit contemporary art museums and galleries and learn new things.” The Tadao Ando-designed 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Tokyo and the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona are among his favorite art spots. The interest in art and the love of nature will soon be incorporated into his company’s projects, the art at MahaNakorn and the nature at a new project in Hua Hin, proving that work truly comes out of his personal passions. Both tasks are promised to be fresh and “never before seen in Thailand.” Khun Chotipol and his brother Sorapoj are also responsible for bringing the legendary New York City gourmet food shop and cafe Dean & DeLuca to Bangkok. “It’s all part of our aspiration to make Bangkok a more interesting, more vibrant, more livable city. For too long people living here didn’t have options. There were too many shopping malls and very little else to do for leisure or cultural fulfillment. It was the same with art. There just wasn’t a lot of it. But now people seem to be ready for quality, for variety, for new things. And in our own modest way, we hope to contribute and offer those new options to people.”
“It’s all part of our aspiration to make Bangkok a more interesting, more vibrant, more livable city.”
Saladaeng Residences Sales Gallery 29, Saladaeng Soi 1 (Between Tisco Bank and Siri Sathorn Serviced Apartment) Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 Tel : 66(0) 2 163-2112 Fax : 66(0) 2 163-2111 Email: info@saladaengresidences.com http://www.saladaengresidences.com Panyaporn Suksatit Mobile : 66(0) 89 050-1010 9:30AM - 6:30PM
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SEASONSESSENCE
SEASONSESSENCE
Recipient of the 2009 S.E.A. Write award, for his novel Lublae, Kaengkoy, Uthis Haemamool is also something of a beer expert. It all started a few years ago, when his wife gave him the 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die book, along with a basket of various exotic beers as a gift. Since then, his new found passion grew gradually, from trying different imported beers available at Villa supermarket to ordering his own beers directly from distributors; from collecting only beer caps as souvenirs to collecting the bottles. He used to buy shelves for his books, now he’s thinking of having shelves custom-made for the beer bottles too. It’s a hobby that’s become as serious as his profession. “People mostly drink mass-produced beers and are unaware that beers are just as various, as much fun to explore, and some are even more expensive than wine. Mass-produced beers are cheap, but really good beers are not. People also think of beer as a light alcoholic beverage, but some contain as much as 40% alcohol by volume. So a glass of beer can get you very very drunk, if that’s what you’re after.” In recent years, thanks to experiments to create fresh products by a number of American breweries and a growing interest among the general
public, a new wave of beer-drinking culture has emerged worldwide. In Bangkok, many new beer bars have popped up in all kinds of neighborhoods. When not writing, Khun Uthis enjoys visiting these spots to try out new tastes, or simply enjoy his favorites, such as the Japanese Tokyo Black (YoHo Brewing Company), the American Arrogant Bastard Ale (Stone Brewing Company), and the taste of India Pale Ale in general. Khun Uthis has consulted and utilized his 1001 Beers book very well, resulting in over a hundred blue and pink Post-it strips sticking out from the pages. That means he’s already accomplished more than 10% of the challenge! How does his passion for beer relate to being a writer? Easy, he’s planning to write a book on beer. Such a happy ending.
Khun Uthis has just finished a new novel, Juti. It will likely be serialized in a magazine sometime this year.
Writer’s Brew Uthis Haemamool
The Objects The legendary American record label Blue Note Records was established by a German jazz fanatic (Alfred Lion), a communist writer (Max Margulis) and a German photographer (Francis Wolff) in New York in 1939. Blue Note gave modern jazz its cool and iconic image that fans, as well as casual listeners, now associate with the great American musical tradition. It helped to transform jazz into style and a way of life. Taksila Chatrakeaw, editor in chief of MBA magazine, understood the significance of Blue Note soon after he began collecting their records. Growing up listening to classical music, Khun Taksila’s encounter with jazz was somewhat of an eye-opening (or ear-opening) experience, a turning point in his perception of music. “The jazz that Blue Note produced in the 1950s-60s was called Hard Bop. It was not like any kind of music because it was created for the moment and never repeated again. It was about improvisation, about chemistry between the musicians who played together at the specific session.” Khun Taksila used to own original Blue Note records that auctioned for over 100,000 baht a piece, but it was the stories behind them that kept him fascinated with his hobby. He has sold most of the profitable titles but kept the ones that
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were valuable to him in a different way. “I read the biography of Miles Davis and was very impressed with his creativity. When I learned more about jazz history and the anecdotes about each important record it made the collecting much more interesting. During the 10 years I collected records I went all over the world looking for them. The best place to visit when it comes to jazz is of course America, but Japan is also exciting because the Japanese are just fanatical about the genre also. Many of the special editions or remixes that came out later were produced by the Japanese.” Khun Taksila’s living room is nothing less than a small museum of impressive collectable items, not only of jazz records but also of first edition books of classic literature and top equality audio equipment. He is literally surrounded by history, and some of these recorded memories are in almost the exact condition as they were when they were produced. “Yes, these items have auction value as objects, but not because of their materials. They are works of art, intellect and craftsmanship. They also convey stories, memories, moments that came and went. That’s what I find special about them. What interests me is the source of people’s creativity. I wonder where it comes from.”
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Desire For the Records Taksila Chatrakeaw
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LIVING ATMOSPHERE
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Floor of The Ocean 01. LEATHER : Fashion Silver - Baxter 02. WOOD : White Ral 9016 - Casamilano 03. LEATHER : Plume Glace - Baxter 04. MARBLE : Calacattaoro - Casamilano 05. WOOD : American Walnut - Molteni&C 06. GLASS : Chalk White Etched Glass - Molteni&C 07. TWISTED VISCOSE : ARSC119 - Seasons 08. LEATHER : Velvet Blue - Baxter 09. GLASS : IC-Grey Murano Glass - Barovier&Toso
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01. Spiral SP3 / Verpan 02. JJ / Baxter 03. Samurai 5320 / Vibia 04. L’Antipatico Cushion / IL Fumo fa Male Cushion / La Serratura Cushion / Fornasetti O
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05. 35 / Tavolino, 60 / Consolle / Molteni&C 06. Samurai 7052 / Barovier&Toso 07. Alfred - Special Edition Trench / Baxter 08. Berlino / Baxter 09. Lara 5568 / Barovier&Toso 10. Ranround 7177 / 12 / Barovier&Toso 11. Onion / Verpan 12. Brest / Baxter 13. 909 / Molteni&C 14.Houston / Baxter 15. Paris Bed / Baxter
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Ground of The Earth 01. CLINT RABBIT FLUR : Ivano Ridelli 02. WOOD : Brown Oak - Mobilidea 03. MARBLE : Monaco Light - Casamilano 04. WOOD : Wenge - Molteni&C 05. WOOD : Oak Stained to Ebony - Casamilano 06. LEATHER : Extra Brown - Baxter 07. LEATHER : Plume Glace - Baxter 08. LEATHER : Plume Gris - Baxter 09. GLASS : Aubergine Etched Glass - Molteni&C 10. TWISTED VISCOSE : 57 Brown - Seasons
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01. Fun 5 DM / Verpan 02. Colimacon 7206 / Barovier & Toso 03. White Deers#1, 2009 / Limited Edition No.5 Outaf 150
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05. Sara 5574 / Barovier & Toso
06. Stoccolma / Baxter 07. Spiral - Sp 01 / Verpan 08. Charlottel / Baxter 09. Monsieur / Baxter 10. Montreal / Baxter 11. Nepal / Baxter 12. Diadema / Baxter 13. Bourgeois / Baxter 14.Glamour Bed / Ivano Redaelli 15. Clid Side Tabal / Ivano Redaelli
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The atmosphere is one you might breath in a house of any big capital around the world. On entering, you feel the sensation of being in a gallery, where each piece on display is the result of specific, stylistic research. The box is grey, the finishes are always different. A curious and original mixture of textures that are subtle yet very strong in character. The aim is to give some style suggestions to the people who enter it. From our favorite novels placed around the room to the objects collected around the world and the lights that create a theatrical atmosphere, all elements work together to tell a story and to convey our idea of home. Our current collection consists of a curious and original mixture of textures that is subtle yet very strong in character. Blue, brown and green ‌ the colors of the Earth. Warm, cozy and sentimental.
NEW COLLECTION
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01. Alfred / Special Edition Trench Sofa 02. Tanning Drums 03. Pieces of Leather 04. Hide and Leather 05. Housse Armchair 06. Details Care 07. Alfred Bed 08. Rio Bassa 09. Ona Armchair 10. Alfred Bed 11. Master Craftman 12. Stoccolma Sofa
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01. Taif / Barovier&Toso 02. Marina Marino / Barovier&Toso 03. Chester Moon / Baxter 04. Paris Bed / Baxter 05. Brest Sofa / Baxter 06. Paris Bed / Baxter
Our Inspiration From BLU by Paola Navone Milano Design Week 2010
Although 3 years have passed since its unveiling, this blue collection still has a huge impact on us. Reliving this awe-inspiring range at Milan design week, we decided to use the lamps and chandelier from the blue collection to embellish and add richness to our new Baxter collection. A unique combination of vivid blue, hyper glossy Murano glass and matt warm green and brown colors of the Earth. An inviting, sophisticated, curious, vivid and sentimental home space.
07. Stccolma / Baxter 08. Chester Moon / Baxter 09. Paris Bed / Baxter
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SEASONSPORTRAIT
SEASONSPORTRAIT
Driven by boredom and depression, Sutton always feels the urge to create something. It’s a drive that causes him to stay up at night, staring out and drawing new sketches.
The Restless and Successful Creations of Ashley Sutton
With the success of Iron Fairies Wine Bar and Restaurant, followed by Fat Gut’z and Clouds, Ashley Sutton has become a prominent figure of Thong Lor’s nightlife scene within a fairly short period of time. In 2012, he opened a cozy orphanage-inspired cake shop called Mr. Jones’ Orphanage Milk Bar, also in Thong Lor, and recently expanded a new branch at the revamped Siam Center. Sutton isn’t stopping. He has recently revealed his latest venture, a noodle shop plus upscale cabaret called Maggie Choo, situated in the basement of Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom. Renovated from the former East Indies’ bank vault, the interior of Maggie Choo resembles the movie set of a classy Chinese mafia joint in the 1920s. There will be dancers on swings. There will be live jazz and blues. It will without a doubt become one of the most exciting new hangouts for the city’s socialites and adventurous visitors.
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Born in Perth, Australia, Sutton’s family works in the fishing and diving business. Sutton grew up on a boat. He found his talent for designing and building things early. As a little boy, he never enjoyed going to school and always imagined a place where kids could run amok and get away from their parents. He spent most of his time building tree houses, and was known in his neighborhood as the best person to design and build underground cubbies. He started working as an iron-ore miner in his youth. Having spent so much time underground, Sutton began drawing, making sketches as a way to escape from the frustration and depression of a miner’s life. He later wrote a series of children book called Iron Fairies, about ore men who were completely absorbed by mines and spent all their lives talking to rocks. The book became a success. Because of his passion for the open seas, Sutton takes his hard work as a means to an end—to earn money to get to his boat. Knowing what he wants and what he is good at, Sutton is determined to keep on working, building businesses, selling them and building new ones. Sutton came to Bangkok six years ago, by accident. He was, at the time, importing soaps and building his business in New York.
After finishing the construction in the Big Apple, he was struck by boredom and decided to come back here and built an Iron Fairies factory as a new manufacturer for his Iron Fairies merchandise. His businesses have been growing since. What Sutton enjoys is building businesses, not running them. Once a project is accomplished, he has to immediately work on new ones. Driven by boredom and depression, Sutton always feels the urge to create something. It’s a drive that causes him to stay up at night, staring out and drawing new sketches. During the creative process, it usually takes him around only four hours of sitting at the table, envisioning every detail in his head—from the brand to the colors and the feel of it—before he comes up with rough sketches of a new restaurant. With this peculiar yet fascinating creative drive that comes from depression, Sutton believes that when he gets low, he becomes so strong-minded that he can build or achieve anything with that power.
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SEASONSICON
SEASONSICON
Out of Shakespeare’s sonnets they draw, to their own hurt it may be, the secret of his love and make it their own; they look with new eyes on modern life, because they have listened to one of Chopin’s nocturnes, or handled Greek things, or read the story of the passion of some dead man for some dead woman whose hair was like threads of fine gold, and whose mouth was as a pomegranate. - Oscar Wilde, “De Profundis”
Belle Etoile / Serralunga
Does it make you smile when you are alone in the world?
Andrée Putman (1925-2013)
Andrée Putman, a renowned global interior designer, died at the age of 87 at her home in Paris. She was described as a minimalist, avantgarde and eclectic designer. “I ask myself, ‘Are people going to be happy in my hotel rooms? Is it human? Does it make you smile when you are alone in the world? Does it drive you and inspire you?’ Those are among my criteria—along with harmony, balance, elegance, simplicity,” said Andrée Putman in an interview in 1990 with The Style Saloniste, an online style magazine. Andrée is famous for mixing the whimsical with the seriousness of design in her creations. One of her striking designs can be seen in the New York hotel that has black and white checked tiles in the bathroom. Cultivating an early distaste for “pompous luxury”, she mixes poor materials such as basic tiles with luxurious ones. In her earlier years, Andrée came into contact with artists and designers starting out as a journalist working for French magazines, beginning in 1950 at Femina. She was also a design columnist at Elle from 1952 until 1958 and the interiors editor at L’ŒIL from 1960 to 1964. During these years she came to admire artists for their sincerity, especially ones whose work was difficult to grasp. She also worked a stylist for
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the Prisunic department stores in Paris from 1958 to 1967 where her motto was to “design beautiful things for nothing”. Andrée has left her beautiful designs all over the world. In Paris, she designed the flagship store for Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées and the interior of Concorde, Air France. In New York she created the look on the boutique hotel Morgans, private residences in Dublin, Miami, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Tangier, and a 31-floor apartment skyscraper in Hong Kong named Putman. From designing private residences she questioned the use of space by asking if it was necessary to sleep in the bedroom or cook in the kitchen. Yet, she has said that it wasn’t just about cooking in the bedroom, but spaces should be opened for various activities and not limited to a single function. After a failed marriage with art collector and critic Jacques Putman, she rediscovered what she liked and began to adopt French modernist furniture of the 1930s, selling pieces from flea markets and making them available again through her company Ecart, founded in 1978. Andrée Putman was lauded at a service of memorial at the Benedictine abbey of SaintGermain-des-Prés, Paris, on January 22, 2013.
The term ‘sentimentality’ has become a European obsession in the 18th Century, owing to the Enlightenment drive to foster the individual’s capacity to recognize virtue on a visceral level. Moral philosophers saw sentimentality as a cure for social isolation; while writers and poets used it as a literary device by which they created art that evokes an intense emotional response in their audience. When lively and effusive emotion was celebrated as evidence of a good heart, sentimentality originally indicated the belief that feelings are a guide to truth. However, by the end of the century, thinkers began to question the nature and reality of sentimentalism; and sentimentality was then seen as self-indulgent and an avoidance of the unpalatable truth. This is when a drastic change took place: popular cynicism became the new trend by the 19th Century, and the cynic scorned the sentimentalist for their emotional excess and their disconnect from reality, being its polar opposite. People argued over the authenticity of cynicism and sentimentality; and, before the end of the century, Oscar Wilde stepped out and famously declared both as fake. Born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Irish poet and a dramatist, Oscar Wilde, is best known for the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as for his infamous conviction and imprisonment for being homosexual. Being a master of clever pithy sayings and sometimes self-deprecating irony, Wilde discovered his true talent in writing comic plays, combining the elements of French farce with a satirical attack on the hypocrisy of aristocratic society, which brought him to the peak of his popularity among the middle class. Wilde married a wealthy Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd Wilde in 1884 and had two sons. Nevertheless, he was, while enjoying his literary success, engaged in an affair with a young aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, which led to him being arrested and put on trial for the act of “gross indecency”. During the time of his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, Wilde wrote a long epistle called “De Profundis” (latin: “from the depths”) addressing Lord Alfred Douglas whom he called Bosie. Written over three months in 1897, “De Profundis” contains what is probably the most sincere and personal expression of his peculiarly artificial and sensitive nature. Being bitter towards society on his downfall, Wilde recounts his own vanity and weakness in form of a lengthy litany of complaints that contains a critique of modern life and its values. In accusing himself of being succumbed to the “imperfect world of coarse uncompleted passions, of appetite without distinction, desire without limit, and formless greed”, he proclaims the intellectual and emotional life of ordinary people a very contemptible affair. People believed they can achieve an emotional superiority through their sympathy for the artistic temperament, and label it virtue. To Wilde, sentimentality is simply what happens when cynicism goes on a bank holiday; and “a sentimentalist”, he writes, is “one who wants to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it”, thus making him a “cynic at heart”. Here Wilde condemns sentimental feelings as a psychic vice because they lack sufficient intensity to engage the will and precipitate action, and only implies superficiality. Whereas sentimentality is the over-evaluation of a value that does not really exist, cynicism is the under-evaluation of the very same thing. Being a product of mass society, both can be perceived as a common psychological block to the clarity of thought. One feels too much and the other too little. Since it’s impossible for us to fully grasp hold of reality, its facts were brushed aside in favor of a world of the imagined. Wilde reminds us that those feelings are merely ideas borrowed from a sort of “circulating library of thought”, i.e., “the Zeitgeist of an age that has no soul”. This makes modern life a farce.
Oscar Wilde‘s “De Profundis” (1854-1900)
Written over three months in 1897, “De Profundis” contains what is probably the most sincere and personal expression of his peculiarly artificial and sensitive nature. 31