Paint the Walls

The Ting Tings and Adidas Originals made a video together that was essentially about making a beautiful mess—paint, white walls, the kind of destruction that looks like freedom until you have to clean it up. I watched it and immediately started eyeing the large blank wall in my living room, which had been sitting there doing nothing useful for months.

The Ting Tings were one of those duos that arrived at exactly the right moment. Katie White’s voice on That’s Not My Name—sharp, almost confrontational—and the live-room energy of their debut album We Started Nothing had that DIY quality that’s impossible to manufacture. Two people making more noise than two people should technically produce. The Adidas collab fit the aesthetic: bold, slightly reckless, designed to look effortless without looking cheap.

My wall is still white. I’d need a drink or two before that changed. But the idea is there.