Pleasure Theory

The Pleasure Of Patterns In Art

Samuel Jay Keyser | MIT Press Reader | 19th August 2025

Analysis of why Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day is so pleasant to look at. This painting of a street scene is also an arrangement of geometric objects. Triangles dominate the canvas. There are five umbrellas: rounded triangles containing smaller triangles. The buildings too have triangle motifs. The work delights in “repetition of the same/except variety”, central to how we perceive structure and rhythm (4,800 words)

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Scrappy Theory

Nick Hilton | Future Proof | 18th August 2025

The inhibiting factor with consuming porn used to be embarrassment, which the internet has obviated. How to limit access without a total ban? The UK’s new Online Safety Act has launched age verification on porn, using facial analysis to confirm that a visitor is over 18. This seems to have caused a big drop in traffic to porn websites. Perhaps people have been “discouraged by a collateral requirement” (2,600 words)