Cecil Beaton was asked: what is elegance? He replied: soap and water. Which is the same as saying: elegance is simplicity, usefulness, the everyday. Involuntary elegance is associated with a generous gesture, with discreet joy, with the person who contributes and pacifies.
The book is divided into three parts: "Temperaments", "Objects" and "Places". A personal canon built not as a refuge from vulgarity – vulgarity can be wonderful – but from the ersatz. The text is completed by a supplement of affinities in the form of a dictionary. The world of this book is fragmentary, slow, easy to live with. The sweep of names can be read randomly. Don't expect strong emotions. Open it to any page, a moment of companionship, discover something, go for a walk. That would be perfect.
Soap and Water talks about the love of public libraries, cheap humor, maps, the Cirlot family, Paul Léautaud, the unbeatable charm of little birds, wandering walks, suspicious hippies, old pastry shops, trains and zeppelins, Bruno Munari, Fleur Cowles, our parents' honeymoons, Wagner's Venice, storytelling dogs, eating fruit directly from the tree, kitsch and camp, El Rastro, Josep Pla, obsessions, tricorn hats, blankets, Snoopy, sweeping our bit of sidewalk, Giorgio Morandi, Carlos Barral, Ricardo Bofill, surfing, wool, cheese, gardens.
What is collected in Soap and Water is the result of an intuitive and disordered trajectory. There are old loyalties and new ones. There is, above all, silence, admiration, patience and a predilection for the nearest reality.
Language: Spanish
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