Working like Jean-Michel

As far as I remember, I've always loved Jean-Michel Basquiat's work. Something from his world touched me deeply. The apparent chaos, the multiple layers of reading, the proliferation of messages, the raw material of the streets as his canvas -- all of these resonated deeply with me from a very young age. As a skateborder, all of this looked like my environment. I got his crown tattooed on my front arm. 

A Panel of Experts

Assorted links from week11 to 14, 2024

👧👩 the title says it all and Mariana is delivering an extremely important read. It’s not for parents only. Why children need risk, fear, and excitement in play.

What kids are dying from today are mainly car crashes and suicides, not playing outside unsupervised with friends. Parents are worrying about the wrong causes of injuries and harm. In fact, the very strategies that parents use to try to keep their children safe – driving them around, maximizing supervision, and minimizing freedom – are unintentionally increasing the likelihood of injuries and even death.

The solutions are both simple and hard. We know what children need to thrive. The three key ingredients necessary for thriving play environments are Time, Space, and Freedom.

Assorted links from week10, 2024

🌀 There some extremely meaningful pieces of wisdom in this 40 life lessons I know at 40 by Mark Manson. #40: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE is quite powerful:

A friend of mine once told me a story about his grandmother. He said that when her husband died, she was 62 and for the first time in her life, she began to take piano lessons.

For weeks, she practiced all day, every day.

At first, the family thought it was just a phase, a way for her to process her grief. But months went by and she continued to play every day.

People started to wonder if she was crazy or something was wrong with her. They told her to give it up, face reality. But she kept going.

By the time she was in her 90s, she’d been playing piano every day for over 30 years, longer than most professional musicians have been alive. She had mastered all of the classics—Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi.

Everyone who heard her play swore that she must have been a concert pianist in her youth. No one believed her when she said that she took her first lesson in her 60s.

I love this story because it shows that even at an impractical old age, you still have more time left to learn something than most professionals at that thing have even been alive.

Kids playground inside trains

While 'Le Monde' [big french newspaper] was publishing a 'no kids zone' article two weeks ago, we were in Switzerland and discovered a whole kids playground inside their train. A proper family dream on wheels.

Exploring the moon as an astronaut, diving into a jungle wilderness or experiencing the world of dinosaurs – there is no boredom during a train ride in Switzerland. All InterCity double-deck trains are equipped with a jungle style family coach marked “FA”. Mid-upper deck, these offer a playground with fanciful jungle motives for children to play and frolic around as much as they please. Additionally, exciting board games such as “Jungle Hunt” and “Snake Game” have been installed on the upper decks of family coaches. The playing pieces for those board games can be obtained from SBB restaurant/bistro.

Assorted links from week9, 2024

đŸ’Œ Hermės story is unique and Acquired did an awesome job to encapsulate it. Stewarded by one French family over six generations, HermĂšs sells the absolute pinnacle of the French luxury dream.

My own relationship with Hermùs started very early since my mom’s best friend when I was young [from my 5 to 12 year old] was working in the atelier near Lyon, France where they were making silk scarves.

Assorted links from week8, 2024

🚗 I almost cried reading this manifesto: the car will be unbundled. And - obviously - I can’t agree more with the conclusion.

This manifesto is a call to use our superpower to make moving better.

Better by getting there happier, healthier and more in harmony.

In harmony with our environment and with each other.

👕 I’ve followed Bobby for my time in LA more than a decade ago now. So reading him talking about the power of ‘enough’ made me truly, genuinely, happy. Because yes, this is something we hope to spread more with Objet too.

Assorted links from week7, 2024

♟ Because we might all be status-seeking monkey anyway [as suggested by Eugene in Status as a Service] and because “at the same time, taste games are supposed to be human nature.” This post is definitely a must-read: Taste Games.

⚜ Found out this wonderful manifesto lately: a call for friction in digital culture.

With movement comes friction. The more we move and act, the more friction we encounter. The more friction there is, the more we engage and care. Friction drives our engagement. Friction, in this context, is neither synonymous with anger or conflict, nor is it malfunctioning technology. Friction is an essential ingredient that makes up our humanness and sparks human connection. Friction is thus a lively, intrinsic experience.

Assorted links from week6, 2024

🆕🛒 That one feels very special to me. Alongside my partners in crime Max and Mathilde we published “LE NEW CONSUMER” manifesto. With Objet we are working on a joyful system that will enhance and reward new consumers’ behaviours and actions, online and offline. This mission is thrilling. And huge. We won’t do this alone.

It’d mean the world to me if you’re signing this manifesto [if it resonates of course]. CO-SIGN.