Product Description

Saw your sofa in half. Blow up your TV. Celebrate your creativity, because the old rules no longer apply. These are the driving concepts behind the intriguing new movement called punk shui. Here, anti-traditional designer Josh Amatore Hughes explains how our boring lives—especially the dull and obvious ways we arrange our living spaces—stifle creativity. To really break out of our rut, and to really rock, we need to introduce some chaos into our homes. So grab a chainsaw, turn up your stereo, and reinvent your idea of how to live.

Punk shui has no confines—it allows you to go in any direction that strikes a chord. Here are a few suggestions:

• Block your windows. As a wise man once said, “You can only see light from darkness.”

• Find things that don’t belong on a wall, and hang them. Whether it’s a broken guitar or a three-legged chair, hanging it up makes it art.

• Take down the shower curtain. There’s something freeing about being out in the open, naked, splashing water on the floor.

• Don’t spend a dime. Slash the chains of consumerism!

Whether you look at punk shui as a design concept, a way of life, or just a temporary jolt to your creativity, it’s sure to evict you from your comfort zone—and that’s not a bad thing. Change your design, change your life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1271748 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-25
• Released on: 2006-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Anti-traditional design guru Josh Amatore Hughes is a set designer, furniture sculptor, and painter. He is the principal of Punk Shui Design in New York City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1:The Punk Shui Way


Let’s Talk About Me

My name is Josh, and I’m the originator of punk shui. Inspired by the large number of crappy designers that fuel our mucked-up cultural aesthetic, I have devoted myself to helping those who desire more from life and their living space, seeking to push the limits of what people consider “design.” I’m based in New York City, but I have clients all over the country. I own a company that specializes in advising punk shui worshipers how to do as I do. I design “interiors,” but I also do sculpture, installations, and film that tend to reflect the punk shui aesthetic. Basically, I help a lot of my clients to embrace chaos, to break the rules, and to let some original ideas out of the box. Through the concept of punk shui, I work to further the general belief that individual freedom should prevail, and the design equivalent of Ashley Simpson should not.

We’ve had quite the wave of new punk shui followers recently. Most are people who are sick of doing things in a predictable, boring way and want to shake up their lives. A lot of them are artists, and some are people who have always wanted to be artists. In general, they are people sick of following the pack and doing what all of their friends deem “cool” or “acceptable.” Whatever the case, there’s no prerequisite to punk shui’ing your place—only this: you must be open-minded, ready for the ride, and not easily offended.

Check It

Let’s go over a few things to see if you’re the kind of person who is a candidate for punk shui. You should rethink your boring design aesthetic if you’ve ever

•fought the lingering distaste that accompanies “cleaning up” your apartment or office

•felt a nasty malaise when confronted with art or furniture options in any chain store or national retailer

•dreaded having someone over because you thought they were an obsessive neat freak and would look down their nose at your less-than-IKEAfied apartment

•just wanted to shred Martha Stewart Living with a chain saw or destroy a display in Target because, well, look at it . . .

•felt you want to create something unique, a true aesthetic all your own, but have never considered yourself the type of person who would go through the trouble of actually “decorating” your living space, or, god forbid, try your hand at art collecting or conceiving

•felt envious when walking into a sibling’s or roommate’s garbage-and-dirty-clothes/dishes-in-the-sink-infested living space

•watched an episode of Friends and then had to lock your bottle of Valium in the bottom of your cupboard so you wouldn’t be tempted to maybe down the entire thing in a sudden suicidal frenzy

and finally . . .

•Do you like books with grainy pictures of broken furniture?

•Do you look this good in pictures?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, get it on with punk shui. In this book I will tell you how. It’s not just about decorating your space, it’s about embracing a different lifestyle—one that transforms your habits, style, and mindset.

Forget Everything You Know

It’s time to stop posing and pretending when it comes to the atmo-sphere that surrounds you. You can do it. Wipe off that facial expression you learned and replace it with something you actually mean. Act like you feel and feel like you act. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to me.

You’re going to have to let go of everything you’ve learned about home decoration, paying attention to different styles, looks, and what others think. In order to live a punk shui life, you have to banish any preconceptions you have about what your living space is “supposed” to be like.

Fear-Based BS

Fear is paralyzed joy.

—Timothy Speed Levitch, author of Speedology

What exactly are you afraid of? Are you afraid of not enjoying what you do for a living? Afraid of not finding anyone who understands you? Afraid of not understanding yourself? Afraid of becoming a complete square? Afraid of ending up like your parents? Whatever your bullshit is, it’s bullshit. In this book, I’m going to help you get rid of any fear-based hesitation, insecurity, or any other hurdles that keep you from punking out your space so that it is a place you truly live in.

This doesn’t have to do with acting like anyone of whom you might have been in awe; it has to do with living by the same tenets as the truly original and creative. I’ll state the obvious again (because even though it’s obvious, for many it doesn’t seem to stick): You don’t need fame, an impressive career, the right hairstyle, or even money in order to embrace the essence of punk shui. This isn’t some obnoxious “trend” that was started by a celebrity or by a purveyor of commercial trends like Urban Outfitters or MTV; this is just me persuading you to let yourself out of the box. It’s people who, like you, are sick of following the crowd, of running a hamster wheel, of dwelling in predictability. It’s people like you who have decided that they can’t be categorized, and may actually enjoy heavy machinery, destruction, and general weirdness.

What’s that cliché, “home is where the heart is”? Well, I say, “home is where the art is”—or, hell, “home is where the party is.” That’s true when you bash a hole in your wall, saw your recliner in half, or try your hand at sculpture. Punk shui is about developing your own aesthetic that may be inspired by others, but is never owned by anyone. Throughout this book, we’ll be

•recognizing, identifying, and dismantling the design traditions that work against the “you” that you give a shit about

•getting over what other people think

•accepting the nihilistic living space

•figuring out what your personal punk shui style is, room by room

•rethinking or completely trashing general living space assumptions

•checking out some innovative stuff my clients have done

•meeting some people who have made their way in the world with punk shui

•and, of course, having a damn good time

A Few Notes on Your Mom’s Design Aesthetic

You know the kind of people who do feng shui. I can’t resist saying something about them here. If you’re putting chimes in your doorway to ward off evil spirits and you’re color-coding your bedroom to signify the womb and rebirth, then you’re probably someone Courtney Love might enjoy collecting crystals with, and you should put this book down and back slowly away. Feng shui is used to control energy (ch’i). Bad ch’i is to be avoided and good ch’i is supposed to make you feel all happy and smiley. In punk shui, you must accept all energy, regardless of whether it makes you feel trapped, sick to your stomach, sexually aroused, as if you might be hallucinating, or as if you’re afraid to go to sleep. In fact, if it screws with you, all the better, I never said this would be painless.

Feng shui (pronounced “fung shway”) is the ancient mystical art of Chinese geomancy, the terrestrial equivalent of astrology, studying the dynamic relationship between humans and the surrounding environment. Feng means “wind” and shui means “water.” Feng shui is the study of ch’i in our environment. In short, it is not even close to being as exciting or life-altering as punk shui.

Punk shui (pronounced “punk shway”) is the ancient art of survival, the terrestrial equivalent of chaos. It is much revered in underground subcultures and within the bedrooms of teenagers, artists, and the basic subculture minority, but until now it has not reached the outer limits of “acceptability.” Whatever. That’s about to change. In short, punk shui is the practice of creating a chaos in the home so deafening that it creates a contrast in life powerful enough to enable you to cope with the inevitable shit sandwich that is the outside world.

So there it is. Forget creating some type of “safe haven” called home. Why would you want to create an illusion of comfort when you’re just going to be disappointed as soon as you step outside?

Finally, after years of trying it “their way,” I stumbled on an idea so utterly pure and foolproof that even Steve Jobs is jealous. Punk shui is not just a design concept, but a coping mechanism so powerful you’ll be able to ditch those prescription drugs you’ve been washing down with your morning latte.

The Weirdos

As Mike Watt, bassist, spielmeister/indie-punk rock godfather, said, when I discussed the punk shui aesthetic with him, “Punk was an excuse to get all of the weirdos together.” Well, that’s what we’ll be doing in this book. We’re going to get the weirdos together and talk about how they get inspired.

Punk shui doesn’t rely solely on the existence of feng shui, and it doesn’t rely on the preexistence of actual punk music. Punk shui is about the art that emerges when no rules apply. It is not about hanging up a bunch of punk posters and decorating your living room as a shrine to Johnny Thunders. Wouldn’t it be lame if it were that simple?

Step into the PS Zone

I’m sure ...

Customer Reviews

Interior Decorating for Art Majors
I found this an entertaining read.My brother-in-law bought us "Interior Decorating for Dummies" a few years back, perhaps because we have no discernable style to our home decor and wanted to help. Now, we know what our esthetic is: Punk shui!
My former art teacher used to teach us alot of concepts that Josh does in this book, such as finding stuff in the street to decorate your home, breaking things and rebuilding them into your own artsy sculptures, etc.The basic message of this book is to find your own unique sense of style, don't buy stuff at Ikea, Pottery Barn or whatever. Be creative and enjoy personalizing your own space, as the punk ethic says: DIY!

Tutorial book to turn your hard-earned home into a dumpster. Why? It is punk!
Ok, I am now half way through the book and I stopped there. I borrowed this book from a library just for the hell of it, along with other books of house improvements and decoration ideas. I wanted to make my home very down to earth and comfortable and I like a bit of punk-ish to it.

My big mistake. This book is way far from what I thought it would be. I should not have just grabbed it from the shelf and checked it out without take a peek in it. This book is a dumpster-crackhouse-punk hardcore guide.

Here are few excerpts from the book:

1) Put your toothbrush and toothpaste in separate places, far away from your bathroom mirror. Possibly in another room.

2) You don't have to keep condiments in the kitchen, or spices on the damn spice rack. Put them in the living room.

3) For one of my clients, Jose, I found an old ceiling fan that wobbles when it turns. It's a beautiful piece that complements his whole living room. The wobble on this fan is six inches to a foot. It's perfectly safe, I think, but it really freaks people out with its crazy-sounding creaking noise. The noise constantly implies the piece will be airborne at anytime.

4) I had a client, Ralph, who wanted to really shake up the living room arrangement, and I put his bookshelf against the door so that the thing could only open a quarter of the way. We also arranged his couch so that it faced the wall, attached his coffee table to the wall, and put the recliner on its side so that you couldn't really sit on it (the cushions went on the floor instead).

The author of this book needs a help. A truly help.

Misguided
Saw your sofa in half and - well, you have stuffing coming out of each side every time someone sits on it. Throw out your shower curtain - and you have water on the floor that will destroy the tiles, grow mildew, etc. (The shower curtain is not only there for looks - it has a function - to prevent a mess). Turn your kitchen table on its side and hang your pots and pans on it - now your kitchen has an obstacle course and no room to sit in. Take a nice home and make it look like crack addicts have been trashing it for three months. None of these ideas really work. If you want your home to look like this, you obviously don't need an orderly, neat, tranquil space to rest in after a day at work. Yes, many homes tend to look alike and there is far too much buying at "rooms to go." But just because we could use a bit more creativity doesn't mean the only option is to turn our homes into unliveable dumpsters. This isn't daring; it's stupid.