More than 10 years have passed since Rebecca Gates put out her solo debut, Ruby Series. The former member of the Spinanes mostly shifted her energy to other projects: coordinating and managing exhibitions for museums, lecturing at arts centers, composing music for dance and film, participating in performance pieces and stylizing photos for magazines. She also did some bookkeeping, retreated to Rhode Island and helped friends build a movie theater. But as time and money allowed, she also popped back into studios to put together her follow-up, The Float (12XU). Gates will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.
Gates: I consider myself fairly even tempered, but I can grow immediately grouchy when the world forces a face-plant of its current out-of-control crazy consumer culture. Really? What happened? When did buying a pair of pants or discovering a pair of new/old-stock tube-socks become the equivalent of a solo climb of Half-Dome? Mother Teresa and Gandhi, Martin Luther King, they just donned their functional threads and did their incredible work. We need some things to live and a little flair in responding to that need is one of life’s pleasures but to accord it the same kudos as inventing the polio vaccine, mathematic innovations or even grabbing a big red ball out of the street for a child that’s smart enough to not fetch it himself? I don’t think so.
Sorry, I’m already off topic. Well, mildly off topic.
The current consumer height of cool code also translates to dining. Stand in line for an hour (or two or three) at a restaurant? It’s just like reading Ulysses! I love the artistry of food. I love real food that’s good for me. I adore the people who grow food and cook those meals. I love a fancy night out in a beautiful room as much as the next person. But give me a potluck or BBQ any old time. It’s not just that I’m busy, and must live frugally, there are plenty of great out-and-about dining experiences that allow for that. It’s just that my friends are excellent cooks, and even better company. They know people I don’t know and they are great company. The hours together are of our own making, in houses, yards and rooms we make our lives in. When hostess-ing I never tell people what to bring. That plan only failed once, when everyone showed up with dessert, except one smart cookie who brought a bag of tacos, not bad for a worst-case scenario.
Video after the jump.
