Alex Westerman's Blog: Art, Design, and Culture

My Obsession with the Ron Arad Rover Chair: Salvage, Divorce, and Postmodernism

The Scrapyard Epiphany Leather smells distinctly different when it survives a hostile separation. My ex-husband packed his belongings into a rented van on a rainy Tuesday. He took the sensible teak credenza. I kept the structural tubing. The Ron Arad…

The Geometry of the Void: Vidal Sassoon, M87*, and the Mirrors That Remember

I find human obsessions fascinating. We constantly try to impose order upon chaos. Indeed, we use sharp lines to control the unruly nature of reality. For instance, consider the swinging London of 1963. Alternatively, look at a supermassive singularity located…

Diptych: The Guillotine Mask and the Lunar Weave

The proscenium of 1793 Paris drips with revolutionary fervor. A violent thermodynamic shift occurs in the public square. Marie Antoinette steps onto the wooden scaffold. She faces a machine of terrifying mathematical precision. In a much later era, the History…

Dark Chocolate lce Cream with Szechuan Pepper Fudge Swirls

I explore the thermodynamic collision of temperature and tactile sensation in my dark chocolate Szechuan pepper ice cream. This recipe redefines dessert from a soothing conclusion into an interactive, choreographic dialogue in your mouth.

Out of Fashion: The Closed-Loop System of Aesthetic Entropy

I examine the duality of being out of fashion. We view obsolescence as a failure of personal taste. Yet, this aesthetic entropy provides the literal fashion industry with raw material for new trend cycles.

The Best Playground in the World: Growing Up as a NYC Latchkey Kid

I experienced true freedom growing up as a NYC latchkey kid. My childhood involved Central Park adventures, Upper West Side celebrity sightings, and wild teenage parties in our historic brownstone.

Timeline Erasure: The Myth of Closure in Divorce

I explore the devastating thermodynamic collapse of my shared history after a sudden divorce. When the ultimate credible witness abandons the relationship, the entire transactive memory system falls into terrifying, permanent negative space.

Why Proper Table Settings and Silverware Matter to Society

I was three years old when I first encountered the terrifying physics of a formal place setting. Even at that age, I began to glimpse how formal table setting psychology can influence the emotions and behaviors of those seated around…

VOLTA text in a prism transforming a light beam from equations into a vibrant color wheel in a modern office

The Magenta Illusion: How Newton’s Color Wheel Tricked the Human Eye

The Dark Geometry of 1666 The Plague Year A City in Quarantine The year is 1666, and London rots under the oppressive weight of a relentless plague. Fear forces heavy wooden doors to remain securely nailed shut across the city.…

Museum exhibit titled The Facade of Insulation showing two men in separate rooms divided by a list of clinical buzzwords

The Weaponization of Therapy Speak: When “Self-Care” Becomes Cruelty

Modern interpersonal relationships increasingly feature what many critics call the weaponization of therapy speak, and similarly, the weaponization of clinical psychological terminology. For instance, terms such as boundaries and self-care often serve as linguistic shields to sanitize emotional betrayal; consequently,…

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