Leaflet No. 10
This week’s leaflet tea tastes like … rosehips, boba, Latin brass, tofu, tteokguk, and curtido
Hello, everyone.
Tea Leaf Tech is a process in which I brew a cup of the Beobab.tree’s blend (its bark, leaves, its fruit, and a dapple of honey—of course!), which is a way to introduce settling and warmth into the day’s spiral of events. During this time of sipping and slowness, ideas and images collect at the bottom of the cup. The readings of the tea leaves laid to rest on ceramic glaze will be the basis of Wednesday’s leaflets. From here, I invite you to sit with your own cuppa and peruse what sensations this week’s tea blend has to offer.
At the end of each month, I invite a guest who will have their fill of the blend and transcribe a leaflet, featured only on Beobab.Tree.
Enjoying:
🌺 Halcali - Halcali Bacon (2003)
It’s so much fun… think - early 2000s video game soundtrack mixed with all sorts of dance music traditions. I absolutely enjoy it so much. As someone put in the comments section “There's just something unbelievably pleasant about this album.”
The songs make me forget my age.
🌺Indía - Ese Hombre - Discovered through my friend Gabriel!
The Emotion in this song… I can probably only describe to you by body movement, rendering only by muscles tensing and releasing.
The horns, the horns
At the 2:20 mark… something sonically incredible happens and I feel completely alive — don’t you? <3
🌺Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (streams on MUBI)
I decided to check this out on a whim (and after months of keeping in the back of my noggin the knowing that an admirable-insta-baddie I respectfully follow is a fan of Martin Margiela, whose name I honestly didn’t know much about).
I love interviews or documentaries on people’s creative processes; I love listening to people talk about their interests—and too, insecurities—and share from their well of inspiration, archived source material, and stories we wouldn’t get by simply looking at the work.
Martin Margiela is really amazing, in that he managed to protect this personhood from becoming dissolved (both in the sense of “being drowned out” and dissipation in one’s sense of autonomy) by the fashion world’s insatiable consumerism and incessant, superficial interview questions at the time.
His collections and approach to design are beautiful. Amazing to study is the way he reflects on his childhood, the people in his life who’ve made their impressions, and inner value system in his designs. Martin is an pro with play!
A favorite moment was watching Etienne Russo show us footage from a show at Palais de Chaillot on a Mac monitor, certifiably geeking with utmost “interviewee composure”. For the SPRING/SUMMER 06 collection, models wore jewelry made out of dyed ice, melting onto the clothes and imprinting color (galactic purple, mermaid blue, fuchsia)—a form of real-time, spontaneous design. Russo’s reaction— I have no words, haha.
I also loved how Martin kept so much ephemera in hand-labeled white cardboard boxes.
🌺Ginger liquor in rosehip milk boba tea - wow, yom-mi!
🌺Seeing old friends c:
🌺A look: my historically-short hair is now long enough to tie into a little Vietnamese broom, reenforcing flyaway hairs with at least 3 clips.
Here is some sweetness:
Inspired by Sally Wen Mao’s Ode to Emptiness
January has been a social month for me, and it included a lot of interactions I found that I needed—to feel connection, feel my growth, feel how change moves me to always experiment and trust.
It was also a tough month for self-reckoning. With each opening I forge for intentional solitude, I notice what are some clear some steps I need to take to change my outlook and situation. If I was in your thoughts during January, as simple as “I miss her weird. I wonder what she’s up to!”, thank you <3
I wish I could play these memories like a film and share everything, but I know these images are mine (and my friends, and to others who witnessed our collective silliness and love) to carry onward.
For Lunar New Year, I visited New York to spend time with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and so I felt wildly grateful for this specific change in company. For Sunday lunch, we ate tteokguk, japchae, and kimchijeon, with halved green tea & winter melon moon cakes and pineapple cake for palate pleasure. Nothing really beats chilling out on the couch, listening to music, playing Smash Bros with friends, old and new. This was a weekend I felt particularly cared for by the people and experiences around me. Still softened by it!
Before we left for the night, my friend’s cousin from South Korea put frozen berries into my drink, saying that “it tastes…”, I promise this was the word she used, “…gorgeous!”. I wanted to hug her, haha, it was just so cute. Frozen berries do taste gorgeous.
Dancing to Swami Sound’s set at Mi Sabor Cafe (Jan 20th)
My relationship to dance has gotten more & more ego-less over the years. Which is to say, dancing, for me, has been conducive to ego-death. I’d love to write about this more soon.
Museum visits that filled me up with inspiration & energy…I am still digesting the experiences…I think they are some of my favorite museum experiences to date, top 5 for sure. (Thank you to Alex for experiencing them with me!)
Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces (MoMA)
“Just Above Midtown—or JAM—was an art gallery and self-described laboratory led by Linda Goode Bryant that foregrounded African American artists and artists of color.”
Check out the online audio playlist portion of the exhibit, featuring pieces from the gallery. I’ll be making my way through these too, as there is so much to spend time with.
Linda Goode Bryant is so cool!! *heart eyes*
Never Alone - Video Games and Other Interactive Design
This is how I felt:
“A Heavenly Chord”—Organ Activations with Shedrick Mitchell
Shedrick Mitchell’s performance on the organ on Saturday 1/21 made me swell. The organ was activated, and so was my spirit.
Out of Bounds: Zakiya Collier on “Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces”
Sitting in one chair in the order of a circle, I found myself crying during the conversation because I thought it was really beautiful to see Zakiya Collier’s mother, father, and brother sitting in communion, in the circle with us, all artists in their own accord. Something about family supporting your work in the arts and archives… that is magnetic to the heart.
“Just because you’re not in direct stewardship of an object, it doesn’t mean you’re not a good steward.”
- Zakiya Collier
James, a pal & our first Beobab.Tree guest feature, visited my side of the suburbs for a brief stint —and it was lovely.
Watching episodes from Physical:100 & Terrace House, gasping & laughing & commentating all the while. These are excellent shows for imbuing one’s own commentary.
Driving in the car—I’m behind the wheel this time, yessir!!! —listening to music together again. James thought I didn’t have my license, and you can bet I made a show out of it.
Images in the tree bark:
I hope your day is kind to you and you are kind to you.
Warmed,
Isabel