Sometimes I wish I was a smoker. I too want to stand outside, lean on a random wall and watch people go by without people wondering what the hell I am doing. I too want to take 5 minute breaks during the day and just stand outside and look cool. I think ice-cream might be a good substitute…
I have been noticing that designers, including me, take pride in the messiness of their work area/studio/desk. It gets mentioned at presentations and lectures all the time. “Our studio is a mess all the time!” “piles of stuff everywhere” etc. Is messiness associated with creativity and awesomeness when used in this context?
I was at the Barber Osgerby talk at The Art Institute this evening. The talk and the admirable work aside I found myself taking notes of Edward and Jay’s language (do you like how I used their first names like they are my buddies?). I like listening to people talk about design and paying attention to their “design vocabulary”.
some random quotes I scribbled:
“flavor of our studio…”
“…age gracefully…”
“chair is ‘real’ furniture”
“we surround ourselves with images to look at”
“…the quality of an edge…”
“it radiates something”
“we had to map out the recipe for each table”
“…and then, on to the engineering…”
Although I really appreciate their work – especially the “Lanterne Marine” (above) – for what they are, it seems like sometimes it took a little too much effort to figure out and to make exactly what they had in mind. I have to admit that the ridiculousness of the process they went through to make the “iris tables” (below) is what made the tables interesting for me, but it’s still hard to justify the tables’ existence. The tables are made from very precisely machined aluminum pieces which then individually got anodized to get the different colors and then put together carefully to create the full circle.
Could they have been designed in any other way (maybe with a different material or using a different process) and still have the same effect? I might be undermining the tables with this question, and I don’t mean to do that. It’s just something I could not help but think about.
I had a great time in Boston this weekend. I have not spent more than a day in Boston before. I am pleased to see that it is the pretty city I remembered from my visit five years ago.
Today we visited the MIT Museum in Cambridge and saw the Arthur Ganson exhibit. His work put a smile on my face. Each of his little machines, some being very simple and some quite complex, seemed to have their own strong personalities. Especially the little wishbone and the artichoke petal…
I was at the MOMA last Tuesday and it was really crowded, New York in general was extra crowded last week.
I usually don’t use audio guides at museums but the ones at MOMA are free so I decided to give them a shot. Seeing the Gabriel Orozco exhibit while listening to the audio guide made the experience a lot better for me. For certain pieces I could listen to the explanations by the artist which made me appreciate them a lot better. I am mostly attracted to finding out about how people come up with project to work on and I got to hear about that at this exhibit.
I am not very good at understanding art and appreciating it without understanding it. The thought process that went into Gabriel Orozco’s work was very interesting, inspiring and fun. The piece called “Until You Find Another Yellow Schwalbe” was one of my favorites.
“In 1995, while living in Berlin, Orozco purchased a used yellow Schwalbe scooter. This popular motorbike was produced in East Germany during the 1960s, and by the 1990s it had achieved cult status in Berlin. Virtually everywhere Orozco drove he encountered another yellow Schwalbe scooter. As he explored the city, Orozco parked his scooter next to each new mate and photographed them together, eventually forming this series.”
All the work can be found at the impressive website for the exhibit with explanations and the audio.
Very helpful illustration from Visual Function by Paul Mijksenaar.
I am overwhelmed by how beautiful this video is.
This morning I got an email from my dear friend Wojtyna. I am glad that it was the first email that I read today because it inspired me very much! Wojtyna pointed out this “neck hugger” to me, which e found on Etsy. This way I found out about Maronon and her work. She has lot’s of beautiful jewelry and accessories and I was even more excited to see some pictures of her process on flicker. Very inspiring find overall, including the quality of her documentation!
Last thursday was crazy cold in Chicago and for some reason I chose to get a haircut and go to The Art Institute the same day. (free admission Thusday evenings!). I am pretty proud of myself for having the motivation to go see Konstantin Grcic’s work although if it wasn’t for Nadeem I probably wouldn’t have gone.
I am fairly familiar with Konstantin Grcic’s work even though I had no idea how to pronounce his last name. I think apart from the work that was being displayed I really enjoyed the “presentation”. The way the two dimensional materials such as sketches, process pictures and the inspirations were presented on the walls and on the floorboards along the walls reminded me of a studio desk setup (see the post below). I recommend everyone to go see it before January 24th. You can even sit on all the chairs to test them out in the middle “chilling” area.
Side Story: My hair was still damp when I left the hairdresser ($14 haircuts at Aveda Institute) and my curls froze to the point that I could break them! It was pretty cool.
