Clacks and Claps

The inaugural issue of Untapped, a new online-only design journal, explores a great many topics—temporality and industry, performance, Black aesthetics and the art world, public housing, novel materials science, and of course, architecture. The articles are united by the assumption that the past informs the present as well as the future, while also tacitly wrestling with the fact that the fledgling journal is, in fact, a brand publication, underwritten by the boutique kitchen manufacturer Henrybuilt. Unlike others in that emerging niche, Untapped doesn’t appear constrained by its funders and is well worth your attention.

At the lively launch party, held at Sommwhere on the Lower East Side, tap dancer Michael J. Love performed a moving number that traversed the history of house music and other Black performance traditions. Articulating the music’s kicks and claps in a playful interpretation of Chicago’s dance music, Love tapped out a sonic education through dance. The performance underscored the thematic thrust of the journal and centered the audience’s attention on Tiffany Jow’s editorial achievements.