Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1538826
The Haas Brothers L.A.-based twin brothers Nikolai and Simon; darlings of the design and art worlds, with a 2024 Nasher Sculpture Center show to prove it; collected by Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian. Cool in my field. Nikolai: Craft, and making your own art. Being good at the nitty-gritty of what you do will always be cool. I'm a big fan of concept-heavy work, but sometimes craft and practical ability can be left behind. Isabelle Albuquerque is an example of a contemporary I very much admire who does this seamlessly. I just visited Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Garden in Italy, and I was really taken with the fact that she was a true maker. Her abilities supported her vision of radical joy. Simon: I'm excited that we're in a transitional moment. Trends are starting to shift again, a new generation of artists is coming up, the art market is in flux, and the world is a mess. I won't say it feels particularly good to be living through the chaos, but I won't be surprised if some seriously good art comes out of it. I think what's currently cool is, broadly, the emerging artists I'm seeing. I love Drake Carr. Also, I'm very into Alvin Ong. In the world around me. Nikolai: Positivity! Pedro Pascal. I'm a really big fan of his. Walton Goggins. These are guys I want to be like. Simon: In short: music. I was excited about Chappell Roan, a total weirdo who has real talent, becoming such a pop sensation. I think Ethel Cain is proof that original music is still being made. Even Addison Rae, whom I had written off as a TikTok star, has been making songs that I can't stop listening to. I like where the sound is right now — it makes me hopeful that the next decade is going to be musically rich. Timothy Morton Director, Cool America Foundation; Oxford- educated Ph.D., rock-star professor, heads Rice University's English department; John Alexander Internationally exhibited artist; SMU MFA alum, deftly pairs realism with abstraction; represented by Houston blue-chip dealer McClain Gallery; in the troves of Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian, LACMA. SIMONE RAMELLA Lauren West's Sway, 2020 collaborations with Laurie Anderson, Björk, Pharrell Williams, Jeff Bridges, Olafur Eliasson. Cool in my field. Heat pumps. My wife and I didn't realize that our home builder had installed a heat pump in the house. I guess it wasn't a big selling point, but it should be. They are incredibly cool. They act as air conditioners as well as heaters, and they have halved our energy bill, even though we now live in a house that's three times the size of our old one. In the world around me. David Bentley Hart's approach to Christianity on Substack. He's making it so totally fresh. I'm really surprised. I just published a book on Christianity and ecology — they should be best friends! I think a lot can be said of the proliferation of motivated, talented, dedicated young artists: painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, all the disciplines working with a heartfelt ferocity. Even in the culinary arts, there is youth and excitement and results. Plus, they all are working with their hands. I would say that's cool. I would like to mention Samantha Mendoza, who is the pastry chef at Little's Oyster Bar in Houston, as a young chef to watch, and Brooklyn-based painter Lauren West. Drake Carr's Marcs IV, 2023 Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Garden, Capalbio, Tuscany, Italy 69