Here we are, dear peoples, in the midst of a heatwave as I type. I confess that I was dreading the Summer in this house as it is oriented North/South. I was sure we would absolutely bake if we had a hot one. And now we’re set to have possibly the highest temperature on record. But you know, it’s actually not that bad. Certainly better than my East/West oriented flat, which got so hot one year, 2019 I think, that my candles literally wilted. Wilted. Much like a tulip. Fortunately we happened to be away on holiday during the worst of the heat so we didn’t have to experience it. Phew!
The Boyfriend of course thinks little of this heat. Summers with temperatures in the high 30℃s for many weeks together are not unusual for him. So too, are appropriately insulated houses, you know, to keep the heat out. It’s best not to get him started on our woeful lack of insulation. He becomes quite squeaky with incredulity. It’s a year round source of amazement. And guaranteed to make him lose his cool. That, and the lack of external window shutters.
Keeping most windows on the sunny side of the house firmly shut and those on the shady side open is another aid to coolness in the heat of the day. For as he says himself, “why would you open them and let the heat in?” Ding! I admit to that being a lightbulb moment. It helps that ours are good double-glazed ones. Closed windows are the reason why we’ve not needed to break out the fans… yet. That, and the fantastic thermoregulatory properties of our IKEA linen curtains. See, really there’s nothing that linen isn’t good for. Wouldn’t it be nice if we learned from all this overheating and adapted our homes for heat as well as cold? Government help would be nice too. Folks in warm places have known for quite some time how to keep cool without turning the air-conditioning on full blast. It’s not like we don’t know what works and what doesn’t. Too much to hope for, perhaps?
Every time I share with you sculpture, ceramics, photography or the perfect interior, I have no idea whether you too find them beautiful. But at least researchers are now getting a better idea about why we find some art beautiful and other art positively repulsive. According to neuroaesthetics research, it’s owing to the aesthetic triad of sensation felt, emotion elicited and meaning made. We really do see things as we are. So here it is, my favourite project/restoration of the moment, a beautiful apartment in Rome by O2A. Levon Biss’s beautiful portraits of extinct and endangered insects highlighting rapid loss of insect populations around the world gave me pause for thought. As did Chloe Meynier’s Hopper-esque works which interrogate a woman’s place in contemporary society. Yes, I’m a bit hot under the collar this month…
I leave you with this, fireflies dancing like no one’s looking…
Be cool, dear peoples
A bientôt
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The featured photograph is by my good friend Tadej Turk. You can see more of his wonderful work here.