The H Line

Artists

“Untitled” by Maurizio Cattelan

“Eyes Wide Shut” stilled film by Dennis Neuschaefer-Rube

Music
Timoni.org/music

Videos

“IOU” by Freeze, via Mediafury

As I said when Dana D. showed this to me over the weekend, “this video is epic in about five ways.”

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News

The H Line began as a chronicle of my move from Florida to New York last summer and now, at least for a while, will be about my time away from it.

One week from today, I’m moving to San Francisco to work for a company that you are likely very familiar with if you’re reading this blog. I’ll be less cryptic about that part when I’m actually out there. Right now, I’m still pinching myself to make sure it’s real — and scrambling to get things in order before I depart on Wednesday.

The plan is to return in August to finish up my last year at ITP, so I’m doing the sublet shuffle. If you know someone who needs a place, let me know!

I’ve loved my time in the city, and have been absolutely blown away by the intelligence and interestingness of everyone I’ve met here. I’m so lucky to have so many people in my life who can serve not just as friends, but mentors, too. You’re brilliant. You’re beautiful. And you’ve molded me in more ways than you could possibly know.

… some test renders coded through Renderman and woven into the DayBRIGHT graphics and data handling subsystems. Using the classic Cornell box, I was able to successfully simulate global illumination in combination with image based lighting. The photon calculation isn’t as smooth (or as fast) as I’d like it to be - but optimization will be taken care of later once I can generate reliable image sequences.

His test images are gorgeous, and the process behind them is even more interesting.

[via blake allen]

The week of romance is upon us.

A friend from ITP is taking advantage of absurdly cheap fares to London for a weekend trip overseas with his girl. A blogger friend is moving to New Zealand to be with a girl he met and fell for six months ago.

Me, I’ll be painting my new room and lugging boxes up and down stairs, with time-outs for one or two of these:

| thurs |

MGMT @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Moby DJ Set @ Hiro Ballroom

My friends Maigin Blank and Jared Whitham @ East Coast Aliens*

| fri |

Bootie NYC One-Year Anniversary Party*

All promise a great time, though I’m a little afraid I’ll have trouble enjoying myself. Afraid it will go something like…

MP3: “Everybody but Me” - Lykke Li

Because, believe me, there are plenty of ways to be un-lonely in New York. But none of them are as satisfying as giving your (real) love to someone who gives theirs in return.

Oh, I’m sorry. Was I talking about feelings? What I meant to say was…

MP3: “& Down” - Boys Noize

*(Jonny Wilson of Eclectic Method will be involved in both of these. I watched him play with his new Panasonic gear at MadHouse / Mediatronica in December and it was amazing.)

I’m moving. In a week. It wasn’t planned at all, but I’m incredibly excited about it.

After the painful process of leaving my one-bedroom in Florida, I vowed to keep my life more mobile. This will be the payoff. Seven boxes and three suitcases should do the trick. Wouldn’t even need a van if it weren’t for my beloved desk.

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Because I’m paying rent on both places this month, I’m able to take my time setting things up and thinking about how I’ll design the space. I’ll have my own real room, and I want it to feel that way. MINE.

So I’m back to hitting up design blogs and scoping out palettes via sites like ColourLovers. And I have to say, I’m surprisingly uninspired.

Everything feels a little … tired. Birds and branches? Played. Victorian patterns? Eh (though I’ll prob always have weak spot for them). Even my favorite color feels old.

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Not long after the new year, Matthew and I had a similar discussion about music. Neither of us feels quite happy with what’s coming out. Very rarely does something feel genuinely fresh. His insightful conclusion was that we’re moving toward a new decade, and the music world is a little slow swinging that way. In short, shit needs to start feeling way more 2010.

Which is what?

I’d say: Characterized by carefully planned disorder. That is the state of our new reality. It needs to look and sound accordingly.

When I think of what might come close to that in my current world, the first two to come to mind are the IAC building and Black Dice.

MP3: “Kokomo” - Black Dice

They don’t seem terribly related, but they each have a quality of distortion coupled with a high level of organization. Inherent in both is a sense of pain.

I’m well aware that this is a contentious claim. Why a Gehry building and not, say, this brand of netart? Especially if you’re going to mention a band like Black Dice.

Because I’m thinking of things that could eventually appeal to the masses. And, I’m sorry, but there is not going to be a day when large groups of people feel that they identify with some animated gifs of a fucked-up-looking dog. Or I should more honestly say that, despite what you may have seen posted on this very blog, I’m fearful of a future in which they do.

There’s an anxiety that the IAC building arouses, especially when it appears from behind more traditional buildings. A feeling more intense than the fear that New Museum might topple onto you. It’s big and it’s real and it means something.

Black Dice doesn’t sound mainstream now, but we may be surprised to find more noise creeping into pop. The other night I was hanging out at a rather large coffee shop and a barista put on Load Blown. Played the entire album all the way through. I got the sense that it distressed some patrons, but still everyone carried on with their studying and chatting and computering as usual. I don’t think half of those people would have been able to stand it even a couple of years ago. That means something, too.

[via design crack + pitchfork]

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When considering what to live with, it’s a little different. Take this shelf:

It corresponds with my ideas about distortion and organization. But it blatantly ignores the need for economy of space. And, ultimately, it’s boring.

Of the things I’ve seen in my past few days of hunting, I like these chairs the most:

Only the pattern adheres to the aesthetic I’ve been talking about, but the rest coincides with my personal style, which favors the elegant and comfortable.

[both via design milk (thanks, New Gina)]

There’s still so much more that needs mentioning. Feel free to disagree and show me things. Especially those of you with design backgrounds.

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I’d also like to take a second to thank the people in my life who care about my happiness and believe in my ability to someday do something notable. As someone who is incredibly, incredibly impatient, I hate to hear words like “someday,” but it is so much better than “never.” I am grateful to you all for having the kind of confidence in my abilities that doesn’t always come easy to me. You’re amazing and produce great work. I’m honored to have friends and associates who are role models, too.

Part of my role at The Morning News is managing People We Like, our weekly portrait-and-interview feature. This week it happens to be a friend of mine, Ben Marra, who in this particular photo is leaning against a grafittied wall like a badass.

If you’re a photographer or know one, you are more than welcome to submit photos/contact info to me. We’re by no means limited to New Yorkers, so if you’re out of the state or country, that’s fine and great.

heather dot rasley at gmail

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Here are some birds and a song. You may want to enjoy them simultaneously.

“I Am A Decent Man” - Gamers in Exile

[via (not sure how i found the birds) + epitonic]

This has been the best Thanksgiving I can recall. I’m in Maryland, with two amazing, intelligent women who are also fabulous hostesses. I have great friends.

I hope yours has been lovely, too.