Robert Stark and Matt Pegas talk to Gio Pennacchietti about aesthetic, cultural, and social trends. Gio Pennacchietti is a social impressionist painter and writer from the “first post-national country” (Canada), Gonzo Philosopher, and failed academic. Check out his YouTube channel GiantArt Productions, Instagram, writings at Substack and WordPress, and Twitter.
Topics:
Gio’s review of Robert Stark’s Art: The Fauvist Vaporwave Interiors
20th Century aesthetic genres, retrofuturism, post-modernism, late 20th century pop art, trends in nostalgia, and the psychology of hauntology
Political symbolism in aesthetics: 2010s minimalism, Neoliberal Kitsch, Sanford Biggers’ statue in Rockefeller Plaza, the de-evolution of Trump’s aesthetics, and the lack of a cohesive aesthetic trend for the future
Robert’s article on Pan-Enclavism and how it relates to Canada as a post-national nation
A critique of the Intellectual Dark Web
The need for a new bohemian/creative movement comparable to the Vienna Secession
Gio’s interest in the after prison Youtubers
Gio’s artistic background, influences, and art as a spiritual endeavor
Robert Stark and Matt Pegan talk to Portland based blogger BLAUERGEIST! about architecture, interior design, art, and cinema. Check out BLAUERGEIST! on Twitter, his podcast Ellroy Boys, and new web magazine Apocalypse Confidential.
Robert Stark, Dain Fitzgerald, and Adam Mayer discuss the tech exodus out of California. Adam Mayer is a Bay Area based architect and Dain Fitzgerald, also Bay Area based, is a blogger who works on the periphery of tech.
Topics:
Emerging tech hubs and whether we will see a decentralized tech industry
The exodus of legacy companies out of California
San Francisco’s commercial real estate crash
The impact of the exodus on the housing crisis and NIMBY vs. YIMBY debate
The mass closure of small businesses in California and record corporate profits
The implications of remote work on quality of life and privacy issues
Future tech trends in outsourcing and automation, and which jobs will remain lucrative and secure
The global bifurcation of tech and social media
Robert Stark is joined with San Francisco based architect, Adam Mayer, and Oregon based urbanist commentator, D E C A Y, to discuss urbanist trends that we can expect to see as a result of the pandemic and economic transformation this year.
Nationalism as an aesthetic brand, selling perfume and soap opera visions to the right
Re-appropriating “queer culture”
Camille Paglia
Trump as a performance art aesthetic brand despite his standard neoliberal policies
Beauty equality vs. an upward value of aesthetic excellence
The aspirational quality of 80s aesthetics
How 2010s neoliberal minimalism conceals wealth and power while erasing history
The elite charade of fake bohemianism
How to time travel with perfume
Las Vegas as the last frontier of scented opulent public spaces
Jack’s affinity for 80s pop icon Madonna
Jack’s defense of the artistic integrity of Lena Dunham
David Lynch’s success at synthesizing surrealist art, perfume adds, and nighttime soap
Jack’s Perfume recommendations TFW NO GF
Will Durham has been collecting and preserving neon signs for over 25 years, and has one of the largest collections in the world. Check out the Nevada Neon Project on Instagram and Facebook.
Topics:
Collecting signs from closing businesses
The main focus of preserving signs
The process of rescuing a sign
Displaying signs to the public at events Neon named Nevada’s official element
Walking tours of Downtown Reno
The decline of Reno as a gambling destination, revitalization, and what it means for neon
Newer signage, incorporating new neon, and businesses adopting older signs
The lack of historic preservation regulation
Collecting signage from larger casinos including the Peppermill, Harold’s Club, and Fitzgerald in Reno, and The Riviera in Las Vegas
Saving The Virginian’s Casino letters
The Eldorado Casino’s external neon silhouette
The Carson Nugget and Cactus Jacks in Carson City
The dwindling of neon at Lake Tahoe, and The Stardust Lodge
Las Vegas as the quintessential Post Modernist City
Creating an other wordy aura that does not exist in mundane consumerism
Creating something noble or grandiose out of consumerism
Las Vegas as an economic rather than geographic concept
Nothing permanent because architecture only survives if profitable
Vintage Vegas and Neon Signage
Irony of historic preservationist dismissing architecture of value because it is a product of capitalism
The pros and cons of private zoning
Casino Resorts functioning as an arcology or self contained city
Theme parks as models for urbanism
The potential for an urban alternative to over priced West Coast Cities
St. George Utah, sprawl layout, and high trust homogeneous middle class demographic Alt-Urbanist solutions that seek to recreate those attributes in an urban setting
Southern Utah and Northern Arizona as one of the most scenic and geologically diverse regions in the world