WEEKLY EMAIL: AUGUST 25, 2011

FEATURED THIS WEEK : ADAM HARRISON LEVY

A Clean, Well Lighted Place

Walking into Jeff Koons’s studio is like entering a medical laboratory crossed with an open plan office. It’s a sanitized, technologized and infantilized version of Andy Warhol’s factory. In one room a group of assistants, dressed in medical scrubs and facemasks, bend over the prone forms of his famous Popeye Series sculptures. Powerful medical lights spotlight the scene as the assistants silently scrape away at their surfaces with gleaming metal blades. It’s an ER room for art.
READ MORE

PLACES : RYAN HARTY

Sarah at the Palace

In this latest installment of our August reading series, we present a story from Ryan Harty's Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona, a collection of precise fictions exploring the emotional and physical terrain of the American Southwest. Here, the narrator flies from Phoenix to Las Vegas to join his ex-wife in cleaning out the condo of his dead sister. The cinder-block wall of the apartment complex and the lawn out front are "touched, like everything else, by the glow of the Strip."
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR

On My Shelf: The Metallization of a Dream

The best designed book about Eduardo Paolozzi, the volume that captures his work with the greatest visual immediacy and graphic excitement, was published nearly 50 years ago and has never been easy to find. The Metallization of a Dream was compiled with Paolozzi’s help by John Munday, a student at the Royal College of Art, designed by Munday, and printed, bound and published in 1963 by the RCA’s Lion and Unicorn Press.
READ MORE

FROM OUR SPONSORS

Society, the economy and the context for design are rapidly changing — providing new opportunities for designers who are prepared for the complexities of the future. Attend the "Pivot: AIGA Design Conference" this fall in Phoenix for inspiration, incredible networking and actionable insights on the changing design industry.
Learn more about "Pivot" here >>
Register for the conference now >>

Being sustainable has never been so profitable. See how the country's most innovative companies are improving their bottom line by staying the course on sustainability. Look into Sappi's paper mills that are setting a new standard for environmental responsibility.
Find out more about Sappi here >>
Order a copy of eQ003 >>
Download a PDF copy >>

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

Up From Zero, the Novel

Fiction can't trump the papers when the topic is rebuilding after 9/11.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

Andrés Duany's Asian Problem

Only ten years ago, in the wake of 9/11, there were many voices telling us that we had come to the end of the skyscraper era: that no one would want to work or live in tall buildings with the threat of terror ever-present, and that the Internet would so decentralize our lives that cities (and tall buildings) would be obsolete. Unfortunately for Andrés Duany, the truth was something altogether different.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER : AN XIAO MINA

90 Years of Chinese Communism: A Multimedia Celebration

Traveling around China in July, I found the daily visual reminders of the CCP more subtle than I had imagined. Celebrations of the Party's 90th anniversary felt closer to an advertising campaign than to traditional propaganda.
READ MORE

PLACES : BARRY LOPEZ

Dixon Marsh

In thirteen books of fiction and nonfiction, and the marvelous dictionary Home Ground, Barry Lopez has mapped new territory for environmental writers and located “a language for the American landscape.” Here, as we continue our August fiction series, Lopez follows field biologist Terrin Macdonald, with her dog and her semi-automatic pistol, into the Petersen Mountains on the Nevada-California border, where she has a strange encounter while collecting water samples at Dixon Marsh.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA

In Praise of the Feral: Update on Xskool

Convention centres are expensive, filled with hard surfaces, and — unless you're in the convention business — somewhere else than the subjects discussed in them. Being separated from the thing itself, they tend to foster groupthink — and abstract groupthink at that.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

Accidental Mysteries, 08.21.11

Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of visual curiosities curated by John Foster, highlights images of design, art, architecture and ephemera brought to light by the magic of the digital age.
READ MORE

OBSERVER MEDIA : RICKY JAY

Celebrations of Curious Characters: Dickens the Magician

Ricky Jay is an actor, a historian, a magician and a collector. He is also a superb storyteller with a keen eye for the most gruesomely enchanting detail, and he delights in tales of the most delicious oddity.

Design Observer is pleased to share a selection of recorded broadcasts — all read and authored by Ricky Jay — brought to you along with the visual catalyst that inspired its tale. This is the last of four installments.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

A Stitch in Time

A new retromania has overtaken me: vintage children's clothing patterns.
READ MORE

PLACES : ASHLEIGH PEDERSEN

Small and Heavy World

We continue our August fiction series with Ashleigh Pedersen’s surreal family drama set during a flood in the Deep South. The narrator's family lives in a makeshift treehouse as they wait for floodwaters to recede, traveling by canoe to visit neighbors or gather food. Gossip surrounds the linguistics professor who has been newly appointed the neighborhood physician. Although it takes place in a fantastical world, Pedersen’s story rings emotionally true, and reminds us of the private moments that unfold even during times of public disaster.
READ MORE

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

A totally unvarnished and uncoated look at what goes on behind the glossy world of print production.
Off Register >>

It's never too late to start connecting.
MFA Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts >>

Mayo Clinic: The leading health care conference where design matters.
Register today >>

Almost one billion people don't have safe and clean drinking water
Mohawk & charity: water. Helping to bring clean water to developing nations >>

AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE

Patrick Coyne

Patrick Coyne, editor of Communication Arts, with special guests Milton Glaser and Cheryl Heller.
Listen >>
More Design Matters Archive >>

CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE

Everything Must Go

A new blog speaks to our current interest in shedding material goods.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE

Busted by Colombo

West Magazine

On the Shiv

PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2005

Campus Design as Critical Practice

How to turn a lackluster midwestern campus into an international cultural destination.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES

Academic Programs >>
Competitions >>
Conferences & Events >>
Fellowships & Prizes >>
Organizations >>
Programs & Initiatives >>
Publications & Websites >>
Social Networks >>

RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED

The Road to Somewhere: An American Memoir
James A. Reeves

Menus for Chez Panisse
Patricia Curtan

Fresh American Spaces
Annie Selke


WEEKLY EMAIL: AUGUST 25, 2011
FEATURED THIS WEEK : ADAM HARRISON LEVY A Clean, Well Lighted Place Walking into Jeff Koons’s studio is like entering a medical laboratory crossed with an open plan office. It’s a sanitized, technologized and infantilized version of Andy Warhol’s factory. In one room a group of assistants, dressed in medical scrubs and facemasks, bend over the prone forms of his famous Popeye Series sculptures. Powerful medical lights spotlight the scene as the assistants silently scrape away at their surfaces with gleaming metal blades. It’s an ER room for art. READ MORE
PLACES : RYAN HARTY Sarah at the Palace In this latest installment of our August reading series, we present a story from Ryan Harty's Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona, a collection of precise fictions exploring the emotional and physical terrain of the American Southwest. Here, the narrator flies from Phoenix to Las Vegas to join his ex-wife in cleaning out the condo of his dead sister. The cinder-block wall of the apartment complex and the lawn out front are "touched, like everything else, by the glow of the Strip." READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR On My Shelf: The Metallization of a Dream The best designed book about Eduardo Paolozzi, the volume that captures his work with the greatest visual immediacy and graphic excitement, was published nearly 50 years ago and has never been easy to find. The Metallization of a Dream was compiled with Paolozzi’s help by John Munday, a student at the Royal College of Art, designed by Munday, and printed, bound and published in 1963 by the RCA’s Lion and Unicorn Press. READ MORE FROM OUR SPONSORS Society, the economy and the context for design are rapidly changing — providing new opportunities for designers who are prepared for the complexities of the future. Attend the "Pivot: AIGA Design Conference" this fall in Phoenix for inspiration, incredible networking and actionable insights on the changing design industry. Learn more about "Pivot" here >> Register for the conference now >> Being sustainable has never been so profitable. See how the country's most innovative companies are improving their bottom line by staying the course on sustainability. Look into Sappi's paper mills that are setting a new standard for environmental responsibility. Find out more about Sappi here >> Order a copy of eQ003 >> Download a PDF copy >> OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE Up From Zero, the Novel Fiction can't trump the papers when the topic is rebuilding after 9/11. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER Andrés Duany's Asian Problem Only ten years ago, in the wake of 9/11, there were many voices telling us that we had come to the end of the skyscraper era: that no one would want to work or live in tall buildings with the threat of terror ever-present, and that the Internet would so decentralize our lives that cities (and tall buildings) would be obsolete. Unfortunately for Andrés Duany, the truth was something altogether different. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER : AN XIAO MINA 90 Years of Chinese Communism: A Multimedia Celebration Traveling around China in July, I found the daily visual reminders of the CCP more subtle than I had imagined. Celebrations of the Party's 90th anniversary felt closer to an advertising campaign than to traditional propaganda. READ MORE PLACES : BARRY LOPEZ Dixon Marsh In thirteen books of fiction and nonfiction, and the marvelous dictionary Home Ground, Barry Lopez has mapped new territory for environmental writers and located “a language for the American landscape.” Here, as we continue our August fiction series, Lopez follows field biologist Terrin Macdonald, with her dog and her semi-automatic pistol, into the Petersen Mountains on the Nevada-California border, where she has a strange encounter while collecting water samples at Dixon Marsh. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA In Praise of the Feral: Update on Xskool Convention centres are expensive, filled with hard surfaces, and — unless you're in the convention business — somewhere else than the subjects discussed in them. Being separated from the thing itself, they tend to foster groupthink — and abstract groupthink at that. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER Accidental Mysteries, 08.21.11 Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of visual curiosities curated by John Foster, highlights images of design, art, architecture and ephemera brought to light by the magic of the digital age. READ MORE OBSERVER MEDIA : RICKY JAY Celebrations of Curious Characters: Dickens the Magician Ricky Jay is an actor, a historian, a magician and a collector. He is also a superb storyteller with a keen eye for the most gruesomely enchanting detail, and he delights in tales of the most delicious oddity. Design Observer is pleased to share a selection of recorded broadcasts — all read and authored by Ricky Jay — brought to you along with the visual catalyst that inspired its tale. This is the last of four installments. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE A Stitch in Time A new retromania has overtaken me: vintage children's clothing patterns. READ MORE PLACES : ASHLEIGH PEDERSEN Small and Heavy World We continue our August fiction series with Ashleigh Pedersen’s surreal family drama set during a flood in the Deep South. The narrator's family lives in a makeshift treehouse as they wait for floodwaters to recede, traveling by canoe to visit neighbors or gather food. Gossip surrounds the linguistics professor who has been newly appointed the neighborhood physician. Although it takes place in a fantastical world, Pedersen’s story rings emotionally true, and reminds us of the private moments that unfold even during times of public disaster. READ MORE		BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK \| FOLLOW US ON TWITTER A totally unvarnished and uncoated look at what goes on behind the glossy world of print production. Off Register >> It's never too late to start connecting. MFA Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts >> Mayo Clinic: The leading health care conference where design matters. Register today >> Almost one billion people don't have safe and clean drinking water Mohawk & charity: water. Helping to bring clean water to developing nations >> AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE Patrick Coyne Patrick Coyne, editor of Communication Arts, with special guests Milton Glaser and Cheryl Heller. Listen >> More Design Matters Archive >> CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE Everything Must Go A new blog speaks to our current interest in shedding material goods. READ MORE OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE Busted by Colombo West Magazine On the Shiv PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2005 Campus Design as Critical Practice How to turn a lackluster midwestern campus into an international cultural destination. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES Academic Programs >> Competitions >> Conferences & Events >> Fellowships & Prizes >> Organizations >> Programs & Initiatives >> Publications & Websites >> Social Networks >> RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED The Road to Somewhere: An American Memoir James A. Reeves Menus for Chez Panisse Patricia Curtan Fresh American Spaces Annie Selke
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