Sophie Lou Jacobsen is Turning on the Light

From delicate and colorful teapots to practical and beautiful carafes and vases, Sophie Lou Jacobsen has always worked at the intersection of refinement and whimsy. The Brooklyn artist works primarily in glass and attempts to bring care to the small, important rituals of everyday life: drinking juice, cleaning your home, steeping tea, holding plants in a vase. Jacobsen’s work is accessible and useful, without being utilitarian – each work is unique and delightful.

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In the wake of several dark years during COVID-19, Sophie Lou Jacobsen asks questions about light, growth, and joy. Her work is an investigation into the physical properties of joy, the optimism inherent in inanimate objects. Her beautiful turning forms, with playful orbs and winding tubes, are reminiscent of a garden in springtime. It is apparent that Jacobsen is researching what it means to flourish, and if that flourishing is not a result of some great change, but of the beauty and sanctity of small rituals. The vessels that Jacobsen creates are, at their core, simply vessels. They are for holding, drinking, and pouring, but in their careful construction, they serve to introduce intentionality into habitual action.

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Though Sophie Lou Jacobsen is known for her bright and whimsical works, this past September she collaborated with Brooklyn design studio In Common With. The result was a breathtaking collection of glassware in a form that is much darker than Jacobsen’s usual work. The sconces and lamps have the trademark form of a Sophie Lou Jacobsen, but feel much more refined – as if the Italian renaissance took place in modern day Brooklyn. The shape and feel of this collection echo themes of growth and joy, but are conspicuously devoid of the signature Sophie Lou Jacobsen feeling, that sense of light.

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The collection is seemingly atypical, compared to her other work, until one considers the object itself. With Jacobsen, the object is always just an object, not something to project art and metaphor onto, but something that, by virtue of being itself, is already full of meaning. Jacobsen has moved from vessels for water, to vessels for lights in her current collection. By bringing an aspect of intentionality to an act as usual as turning on a light, Sophie Lou Jacobsen gives us the last piece of the puzzle. In this collection she is providing us with themes of choice, optimism, and warmth. She is asking us to be conscious in our choices, to make our homes beautiful and bright, to aid ourselves in our own growth, and to want to turn on the light.

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Poetry for Peace in a Pandemic

There’s plenty of feeling that 2020 was a time for lost hope. While it’s true most people are undergoing very difficult circumstances, one thing UChicago has taught me is that self care and radical self love are fully necessary in the most difficult of times. Poetry is especially good for peace of mind. And writing is unquestionably calming. So let’s see how to bring a bit of peace into your daily life.

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What is poetry even? Megan Thee Stallion has a breathtaking answer: Educational equity, feminist sex, and calling out the haters are all an everyday purpose for the hotshot. I listen to her during high energy unapologetic hours. Each time, she transcends musical norms and tropes with clarity and purpose, fiery passion fuelling her lyrics. She’s been able to ride the waves of fame with her larger than life personality and determination. UChicago lucked out by booking her before Hot Girl Summer was released, and now campus is forever blessed by seeing her in person last winter. She brought more color and better twerking to Reynolds Club than anytime else in its history, as demonstrated by its gallery of old white male presidents. 

Louise Gluck is blinding on exposure. One of my personal thought leaders (sounds religious even though it’s not? eh good poetry is that level) and greatest American poets alive, Gluck has achieved fame, respect, and distinction because of her cutting and clear voice. Her poems seem like they are separate from modern problems and outside of time and space as one critic put it, but of course the language is a curtain hiding her profundity. Gluck is accurate, in my head appearing as a longbow archer clad in white, using the tools she has to always nail the heart and essence of things. She unlocks part of your understanding of yourself, of your world, and of the order of society. It answers deep questions like poetry can. 

Ocean Vuong is my superstar. He came from humble writing beginnings but now is the most fearless, most genuine, and most sensitive person who brings his full feminine and Vietnamese self into his work. One of the defining poets in coming out of the rich Asian American diasporas, we have only his authenticity, intelligence, wit, talent, and persistence to thank for the luminous, enthralling masterpieces and kind mentorship he extends to a nation. The quality of his work is certainly the best you see around. I read Ocean Vuong for beauty, for inspiration, for a gentle hand to lead me into a home, a war, an education, a life of failure and extreme success. If there was one person I would have people read in a period of heightened racism against Asian Americans, it would be Ocean Vuong. At a school that worships the written word, Ocean creates our gospel.  

Suggestions: Trevor, Aubade of Burning City

At an open event with the School of the Art institute of Chicago in October Vuong was at his kindest and most introspective. Write, he told us, most of whom were under difficult circumstances. I took away one lesson. Write for happiness, for joy, for your best selves, for creation, for radical self care, for stoppering the dark spiral, to let things go, to push your comfort further, and pursue your happiness. Write to care for others and yourself. Write because you need every advantage to thrive. Writing is like breathing, to amend Scout Finch. In a year where it’s been extraordinarily hard to breathe well for multiple reasons, it’s best to take as many deep breaths as you can.

Featured image via Andrew Chang

A Small Conversation on At-Home Photography

No, no. I will not give advice on how to shoot the perfect Instagram post while you are chilling on your couch. Consider this as a gallery of what has been done for the last couple of months (the writer realizes that ‘the last couple of months’ is about to add up to a year. gasp.). Or at least a grasp of what I have seen on my feed, on the sites, on my gallery, etc.

I am not one who likes to share much on social media. Yet, I travel (was traveling. These in-parentheses writings are starting to make me sad.) a lot within the boundaries of my city. And as I discover a scene that is worthwhile to time-capsule into my memory card, I would just hit that button that makes my phone go “click.” Sometimes it was a silhouette of a friend, sometimes a pair of old Levi’s filled with soil and used as a wallflower. Yet, the thing to notice is that these moments were either aesthetic coincidences within friend meet-ups that I didn’t want to forget or things that I happened to see while wandering on the street that I would probably vaguely recall if I hadn’t shot. Now, that I don’t have the option to sail beyond an approximately 1 km radius of my apartment, having those discoveries got harder. That’s when I started to dig deep into my home.

Apparently, it is not only me who turned her head inside the four walls. At-home photoshoots are getting increasingly popular -or, perhaps they were already popular. Whichever way you want to believe. Decreasing the number of crew members and allowing people to stay in-doors, it is definitely the safest choice of this virus-ruled era.

The shoots I’ve seen usually consist of one to two models and home-departed props. The majority of the compositions focus on the beauty of our homes, on how much more we can do at our homes, or on the basic chores of daily life, as most of the artists are currently revolving around these topics. The rest are again the appreciation of home life, yet in a more artistically composed way.

At first, it was hard for me to find things that were worth shooting. I played with shadows on empty, monochromatic walls. Then, I tried placing the aesthetic-enough objects that I discovered in the closed doors of wardrobes into a composition of cacophony. Later, I dressed up and used myself as the focus object. I tried shooting the sky. The people I see from my window. The park. The bird that nested on the balcony… The list goes on. I definitely kept myself busy, definitely trained my mind to find something worthwhile to look at in the borders of home. I am happy that I am somewhat developed in Photoshop.

However, would I trade the outdoor shooting? Nope. 

nOPE.

Thumbnail image via Su Karaca

What Happens When a Basketball Player Ventures into Candle-Making

I never really cared too much for perfumes. Maison Margiela’s Replica collection surprisingly ended up impressing me, but I recently formed an obsession for a specific line’s eau de parfums and candles after a life-changing half hour conversation with an employee at Barneys. After testing out at least 15 different perfumes from Atelier Bloem, I was led to an entire table of candles, and got lost in the world of Ben Gorham.

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Ben Gorham, a Swedish basketball player, is the mastermind behind Byredo and its line of candles and perfumes. The idea behind his fragrances is to connect scent and memory, which is essentially what the entire Replica collection is intended to do. Gorham just does it better. He doesn't want to merely imitate experiences; he wants people to experience the smallest intricacies of his works. His first perfumes were all inspired by childhood experiences, such as the synesthetic green of his father's cologne.

For his newer scents, he adds the idea or expectation of scents into the fragrances. His newest scent Tulipe plays off the idea that people expect that flower to lack a scent, yet his imagination takes us into his fantasy. 

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Some of my favorite scents by Gorham are Ambre Japonais and Cotton Poplin, the former being a dark, warm scent that reminds me of everything that the fall season should be. The scent that really sold me was Cotton Poplin, though. For me, the scent evokes memories of Sunday morning laundry in Topeka, Kansas, giving me a light-heartedly sentimental yet valuable nostalgic experience. 

Other popular scents include Bibliotheque, a leathery scent, and Rose Noir, which is a heavy floral fragrance. For a limited time, Bibliotheque is also available as a cologne. Usually, the products are available in both perfume and candle versions, but I personally prefer the airy subtlety of the candles. 

In terms of price, Byredo products are around $80 per candle and $150 per eau de parfum. They're available at Barney's, Neiman Marcus, and its own online store. Given the steep price tag, it would make for a perfect seasonal or birthday gift.

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