Dynamic Aesthetics

I’ve been pretty much wearing ‘all black everything’ (in terms of clothes) for around 4+ years straight. Today I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought to myself:

I really don’t like the way this black t-shirt looks on me.

Instead, I put on a well-fitted Uniqlo V-Neck Supima Cotton (White) and I thought to myself:

I actually far (right now) prefer the way the white t-shirt looks on me, with a black bottom (black merino wool leggings with black athletic shorts on top).

Which made me think:

Wow … no matter how ‘perfect’ you make a certain aesthetic ideal … you will always (eventually) bore of it.

Thus perhaps our minimal pursuit of just finding the ‘perfect’ everything (aesthetics you will never get bored of) is an impossibility. No matter how great, cool, zen, stylish a certain aesthetic you got (in terms of cars, clothes, watches, devices, etc) … you will eventually bore of it!

Then the question and thought:

Is it possible to achieve a certain aesthetic you will never bore of?

Then–

Actually, is it a *GOOD* thing that we bore of certain aesthetics?

For now my takeaway is this: yes, it is good that we bore of certain aesthetics, designs, and things … or else, what motivation would we have to innovate? Otherwise we would all still have iPhone 6’s, still be wearing top hats and monocles, and pantyhose (men as well).

What are dynamic aesthetics?

I remember the first time I saw a car wrapped in this dynamic ‘color shifting’ color wrap, I thought to myself:

This is awesome … whenever you move around it, or the light hits it differently, the color changes! Maybe you are far less likely to *NOT* get bored of the color of your car!

Because this is the big thing a lot of people strive towards:

To find the optimal or the best or the perfect color-combination for their car in terms of body paint color, rims and rim color, brake caliper color, interior, etc.

Right now the aesthetic is ‘all black everything’, and something celebrities have popularized is the ‘murdered out’ (matte black everything) look. But certainly, eventually wouldn’t you bore of this look?

What color for your sports car?

Then there are more popular colors for your Lamborghini or Porsche — neon-green, bright yellow, bright orange, red, etc. But certainly an insanely bold color like hyper neon green or yellow … wouldn’t you bore of these colors after a certain while?

Black is the (least) offensive in some ways.

The reason I adopted my ‘all black everything’ look was mostly practical:

I have the same outfit every single day, and it is the least offensive outfit, and the least to show dirt and coffee stains.

White is always tricky when you are living nomadically on the road or traveling, because it gets dirty so easily. In some ways when you see people wear ‘all white everything’ (including white pants) it is a status symbol and flex because they are signaling:

I am so rich, I don’t care if I dirty my pure white clothes, because I have a billion other outfits at home.

So what are we to do about aesthetics?

This is where fast fashion is good:

To democratize fashion, and allows you to get more outfits that you don’t bore of as easily.

Ideally, just thrift-shopping or going to a second-hand store for clothes is ideal, because you can wear it, and when you bore of it, you can always donate it or ‘upcycle it’ (as people in Berlin say).

In praise of leasing

Another thought:

Considering that eventually we will get bored of all designs, cars, and things … isn’t it actually best to just lease things, if you always want the forever-novelty of things?

For example, even if I were a trillionaire, I don’t want to be beholden to a certain car. I would just prefer to rent it for a few weeks, a few days, a few months, or a few years, then just give it back (scott free), and just move ‘onto the next one‘ (JAY Z).

Same goes with homes — I never want to ‘own’ a home. Why? When you own a home, your home owns you! You still gotta maintain it, clean it, vacuum, it, and even if you got a maid or a cleaner … you still gotta manage them (the stress having to coordinate this). My ideal is to just forever live month-to-month wherever, or in some home-AirBnb life scenario, where I can just ‘up and leave’ whenever I feel like it.

Always be switching up your aesthetic

I think:

Stick to an aesthetic and design ideal for however long as it entertains you, but once it bores you … onto the next one!

ERIC

ERIC KIM