Strands of Genius: Topiary, Tulipieres, The Tartarian Empire

Guest curated by Amber Finlay

Jun 03, 2021

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, AMBER FINLAY ::

LOCATION: NYC
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Nike

Hi, I'm Amber. I live in New York and work for Nike on the SNKRS app. I first met Faris when we were colleagues at Naked, a strategy consultancy. He'd just moved to New York and was not finding it to be at all like "Friends", to his dismay. Ironically, he would later move into some of the most "Friends"-like apartments in NY that I've ever seen, and it was at one of these that sort of looked like an old church that I met Rosie. I lost my engagement ring in the white shag rug at one of his other apartments during a party, but luckily we found it. That's pretty "Friends" if you ask me.

Editor’s Note (Faris): When I moved to New York looking for “Friends” I was also very dependent on the lovely people I worked with to be my actual friends. Fortunately they were all fantastic humans, including, especially Amber. Brilliant, wise, charming and funny, she helped me personally and professionally and still does to this day. It’s been delightful (but not surprising) to see her remarkable career careen through the industry, through agencies and Nike. We miss you Amber and can’t wait to see you.

:: THE LINKS ::

THE SHAPE OF YEW: TOPIARY AT THE CUTTING EDGE

Over the past year, I've gotten very into topiary design, partially due to the overgrown boxwoods in our yard that needed help, and partially because the content from topiary artists out there is just so mesmerizing (see @JamesTodman on Twitter). Apparently I'm not the only one! This FT article is a nice roundup of some of my favorite newfound Topiary crushes. If you have some Buxus in need of clipping or just want to look like you do, Niwaki, a gardening company from Japan, has some of the most beautiful garden and topiary gear around. (Financial Times)

TULIPIERES

Since speculative financial bubbles are all the rage, let us appreciate the Tulipiere, a unique vase designed to hold precious tulip bulbs and display them in the home, at the height of Tulipmania in 1600's Holland. They are usually modular, so you can use them as a whole or in pieces. Pick one up, pretend you just sold your house to buy 16 tulip bulbs, and wait for those returns to roll in. (Petite Haus)

THE TARTARIAN EMPIRE

I recently stumbled upon this amazing architectural conspiracy theory, which originated on Reddit (clearly). Believers think that there was once a great empire called Tartaria, from somewhere in Asia, that built most of the highly decorative pieces of architecture around the world, and now these buildings have either been destroyed as 'evidence' or recast as the work of modern builders. Examples of these Tartarian structures include pretty much any building with a dome, many fancy Post Offices, and the pyramids in Egypt. Dive in! (Bloomberg)

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:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Scrabble

:: City :: Essex, Massachusetts (not a city)

:: Book :: His Dark Materials

:: Podcast :: The Anthropocene Reviewed

:: Album :: 'The Mission' Soundtrack, Ennio Morricone

:: BUXUS TRIMMING ::

James Todman @jamestodman

No shears... giving the Buxus a good shake and brush half way through the hand clipping process to remove any trimmings, loosen the growth and release any sprigs that may have been missed. I then clip these off to refine the shape #topiary

The Buxus trimming video that started it all for me.

Thanks! Whether you get into topiary trimming, tulipiere ikebana, or go down the Tartarian rabbit hole, I wish you all the best.

Amber Finlay

amber.finlay@gmail.com

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

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