Observed, Adam Harrison Levy|Recommended Books
April 8, 2012
Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities
Vahram Muratyan
Penguin, 2012
Gertrude Stein’s famous formulation “America is my country but Paris is my hometown”. has been given an inventive twist by Vaham Muratyan in his new book Paris verses New York. Paris is Muratyn’s country and New York is his hometown. Through a perceptive and amusing series of opposing graphic depictions he teases out oppositions that make each city so different and yet so related. Food (boulette/burger; macaron/cupcake) culture (a hilarious depiction of Godard’s glasses frames vs Woody Allen’s) personalities (amelie/carrie, jospehine/Liza) and sense of place (cage/elevator, le periph/bridge and tunnel). Words don’t come close to the inventive cleverness of these conjunctions; it’s all about the graphics. You can get a sense of his work here. — Adam Harrison Levy
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By Observed & Adam Harrison Levy
Adam specializes in the art of the interview. For the BBC he has interviewed a range of actors, writers, and musicians. He has produced/directed two films and his writing has appeared in The Guardian and Design Observer. He was a Poynter Fellow at Yale University and has taught at Wesleyan University. He currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
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