Lydia Lee's Rough Cuts

As I walked down Smith Street from the F train, I tripped into a slowly blooming crowd of people, realizing I’d arrived. The sun hadn’t yet set and an orange glow hung with reverence. People floated in and out of DAE’s open door as final touches of the event’s set up were executed to verbal din and the sound of ice hitting a cocktail shaker.

The interior of DAE, mainly white, with worn wood and silver accents, was operated like some designed sailboat by Lee and close friends as they adjusted lighting, sound, and spools of wire. Lee’s choice to hold the screening at DAE was intentional: she “wanted to find a space with an undefined function,” to align with her curatorial ideology. As I watched her scale chairs and tables to install equipment, I was reminded of Olaffur Eliasson’s 2003 installation, The Weather Project - with its exposed hardware used as a statement of acceptance that the work was first unassembled equipment, requiring human intervention to be born. This honesty in functionality breeds tranquility; a realness that can be sited by the origin of Rough Cuts as an accidentally viral YouTube video.

This past February, Lee hazily uploaded a video file called Rough Cut to YouTube and went to bed. This file was a film she’d shot as a way to study the experience of growing up in New York City. A work she’d considered unfinished, it was only uploaded to create a public hyperlink for her website. Though Lee questioned its public accessibility, she didn’t fret much because she had 0 YouTube videos or subscribers. By morning likes and comments were already stacking, internet embrace she’d never predicted.

The simultaneously guarded, but candid narratives unveiled by real individuals Lee met in her adolescence drew relatability across online viewers; its undecorated truth refreshing. Monologues divulging distinct circumstances intercept each other before too much information is revealed. A reflective account of teenagehood in New York City is pieced together with each line, the now young-adults helping each other along as a conglomerate. Shot against the backdrop of their respective settings, they are united in past pursuits of autonomy, privacy, finding comradery, and learning to discern what should be chased and should be run from.

Rough Cut occupies a micro corner of truth - in pixels online, and now also as a communal evening IRL. Lee explained that she was “curious to see what would happen if consumption was slowed down - going from YouTube video to a place like DAE.” Her retroactive leap of faith, to trust anyone who clicks to navigate a vulnerable narrative, especially one that may feel “unpolished, or just let go of too quickly,” is the nature of Rough Cuts itself. The accompanying five films explore a similar truth through different modes of rendering and proximities to the fourth wall. Lee felt it “important to include New York native artists,” and stories surrounding queer culture, subculture, and similar themes of adolescence to Rough Cut. She welcomed new viewers while still dedicating herself to offering native New Yorkers a sense of grounding - something that nodded to shared histories, honoring them, without being overly nostalgic. As one friend reflected, the evening felt like a quiet convergence of past and present - an evolved version of people she’d seen her whole life, held gently in one room.

Lee’s sincerity in constructing an evening of group witnessing was reflected by attendees; soft conversation wrapped itself around friendly laughter and banter between films. It seemed that all felt the elegant and raw weight of a shared memory forming in real time. And as I walked home, I felt a warmth in growing up.

Art

Paul McCarthy: Power in the Provocative

I do what I want—what I believe in. We’re living in a pretty extreme time, and when people say my work is getting more extreme, I think that just reflects the world around us. I’m simply moving with the current.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, McCarthy’s beginning in the art world stems from proximal radicalization. After moving from Salt Lake City to study in San Francisco, McCarthy's work as an artist has always embodied this radicalization. Street-wise, known for being one of the most

“dangerous” artists in Los Angeles, this exhibit encapsulates that at its forefront. The artworks present provocative, scattered drawings and paintings that promote freedom from systematic censorship in the exchange between creator and receiver. His art style is distinctive in its intention of visibility over technicality, as seen in his limited color palette and intentionally imperfect techniques, but radical imagery.

McCarthy speaks about his artistic process as though the outcomes are inevitable and incredibly natural to him, given the current state of the world. Living in times of constant uncertainty has blurred the lines of media censorship; almost everything we consume is shaped by it, raising questions such as: Why was this said? Why was this created? Who is this for? Paul McCarthy’s work deconstructs this. His drive to create authentically and follow what feels natural to him results in art that inhabits the visual extremes of human experience, with the spirit of contestation serving as an added layer to the experience.

Art

The Wedding Written In Stone

April 27, 2026

Sten Studio walks down the aisle to couple with Alcova for Milan Design Week. Set within an abandoned cathedral where vows once echoed, The Wedding is a sculptural installation hosting a symbolic marriage between feminine and masculine, soft and stone, fluidity and structure. Rocks are fossilized fusions of their own ancient surroundings, built from eons of crashing waves or explosive magma. Love is based on divine circumstances, built through trials and tribulations. Love is much like stone in the way it takes form through time and pressure, relying on the invisible higher powers forcing the gravity of unity. The Wedding reflects on this permanence. The space materializes elements that are usually fleeting - light, flowers, ceremonies, romance. Registry gifts include a custom carpet courtesy of Verdi, floral arrangements from Hamish Powell, and scents brewed by Penhaligon’s, all coming together to build the intimate world.

Photos Courtesy of Ramona Balaban

Sten Studio specializes in stones and crystals as decorative interiors, expanding on natural, Earthly beauty in man-made environments. Alcova temporarily transforms raw, abandoned, and unique urban spaces into immersive hubs of design, innovation, and heritage. The featured collection revitalizes the cathedral for a final reception celebrating life and all its momentary yet abundant bursts of joy.

Art

All Silk Roads Lead to Gucci

April 23, 2026

The silk road once dominated the Asia-pacific and cultivated economical prosperity with the purest textiles, a contrast to the modern, oversaturated market of cheap goods. Gucci has never been a cheap name, and their craftsmanship could be mistaken for that of another century. The Art of Silk, curated by Demna from the Gucci Archive in Florence, pays homage to the house’s journey with silk. Ten scarves reimagine archival designs of flora, animalia, and nautical prints - motifs of the primordial garden of Gucci. These limited-edition pieces were birthed in Calabria in collaboration with Nido di Seta and Ongetta. The fine Italian silk encapsulates more than Gucci’s reputation, but the tradition of mulberry cultivation. The project revives a once-thriving silk supply chain, recovering abandoned land, fostering employment in communities, supporting small farmers, and powered by renewable energy. It’s a production that innovates how tradition, community, and sustainability can stay preserved in the contemporary world.

In addition to this heritage preservation, the campaign represents Gucci’s contribution to the world of art and education. Two exclusive flora scarves were created for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, celebrating its opening of the new David Geffen Galleries. Available exclusively at the LACMA Store and the Gucci Beverly Hills flagship store, the designs pull inspiration from Vittorio Accornero’s 1966 illustrations. In partnership with the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze, selected student paintings of each scarf will be displayed at the Gucci Rodeo Drive store in LA. Gucci supports these participating students through scholarships, reinforcing the house’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of creative talent. The Art of Silk bridges the old and new world, breathing life into past traditions and future endeavors.