Design

There is something so money about seeing rap lyrics contextualized in such an analytical format. Here are a couple favorites:

Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day”

Naughty By Nature “O.P.P.”

(Thanks to Brad Surcey for the link)

Join us Thursday, November 29 at 7:00pm for our latest installment of the Drawn Here series, featuring a lecture by VJAA’s Vincent James and Jennifer Yoos. The two will discuss their “ polyvalent approach” to design in which architectural forms respond to a specific impetus: a client’s proclivities, prevailing climatic conditions, or the desire to reframe social interactions.

Although based in Minneapolis and known for local projects such as Dayton House (1997) and Minneapolis Rowing Club Boathouse (2001), the firm’s geographically diverse work includes the Hostler Student Center at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon (2007); residential loft projects in New York and Chicago; and an upcoming gatehouse for the University of Cincinnati campus.

Free tickets for this event will be available at the Bazinet Garden lobby desk from 6 pm.

Having grown up in St. Louis and now living in Minneapolis I rarely get the opportunity to spend much time in my old stomping grounds. When I do here are four places I always like to visit for both their architectural intrigue as well as the memories they hold.

St. Louis Planetarium

Architect: Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum

Completed: 1963

Obata studied under Eero Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Oh and the bow is temporarily on the building for the holiday season.

The Gateway Arch

Architect: Eero Saarinen

Completed: 1968

Many people don’t know about this architectural gem . . . It’s kind of hidden. The exhibition Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future will be opening at the Walker and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in September of 2008.

Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

Architect: Tadao Ando

Completed: 2001

Commissions for the building include Ellsworth Kelly’s wall sculpture Blue Black, and Richard Serra’s torqued spiral sculpture Joe.

Climatron

Architect: Murphy and Mackey, Architects

Completed: 1960

A Geodesic dome structure which incorporates the principles of R. Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic system. The Climatron is located on the grounds of the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Balloons, Spilt Liquids and Paper Constructions

Are the prior mentioned the inklings of a full-forced zeitgeist in graphic design and photography? Or simply the whimsical fancies of a small but distinctive community of visual communicators and cultural producers? My mini-endeavor into this subject matter leads me to believe that it lies equally between the two.

Concerning these three elements and their pervasive tendencies, not much explanation is needed (with the images (fig.1 – fig. 8) shown below as proof) when attempting to convince someone that each (or a combination of) has the potential to become the new black.

And while I am not one who has actively pursued the practices of trendspotting, I could not help but notice the recent and many occurrences of balloons, spilt liquids and paper constructions on a variety of design blogs and portfolio websites.

fig. 1fig. 2

fig. 3fig. 4

There is no doubt that each of these elements are visually interesting, but besides that, I have had little luck finding an explanation to their existence (or even their emergence) in current graphic design and photography. Perhaps the use of spilt liquids originated with Swedish designers, RGB6 and their poster for the typeface Kada. While it’s even possible that the use of paper constructions could have stemmed from the intricate workings of German photographer, Thomas Demand.

Is there a cultural barrier between the meaning of these elements and my understanding of them? Certainly, as a young designer in the United States, I have not ruled out the possibility that much of this is beyond me, especially considering that a majority of these designs come out of Europe. Specifically, I am most curious to know if the black balloon is a symbol or a metaphor that has some greater meaning.

fig. 5fig. 6

fig. 7fig. 8

As an attempt to better understand what balloons, spilt liquids and paper constructions could possibly entail within the context of graphic design and/or photography, I have started a word list (see below). I invite anyone to offer their insights, stories and opinions on the prevalence of these elements.

Balloons: celebration, youthfulness, pop, expressive/abstract typography, party, etc…

Spilt Liquids: spontaneity, irresponsibility, mysteriousness, happy accidents, playfulness, etc…

Paper Constructions: exaggerated representations of actual objects, a play between reality and fabrication, artificiality, etc…

—

fig. 1: Top Left: RGB6 / Top Right: Benoit Lemoine / Bottom Left: RGB Studio / Bottom Right: With All Ten Fingers

fig. 2: Top Left: Conor & David / Top Right: Mistake the Beautiful (Bryan Dalton) / Bottom Left: Acne Paper / Bottom Right: Stiletto NYC

fig. 3: Top Left: RGB6 / Top Right: Olivier Pasqual / Bottom Left: Olivier Pasqual / Bottom Right: Round

fig. 4: Top Left: Mejdej / Top Right: Mejdej / Bottom Left: Olivier Pasqual / Bottom Right: Olivier Pasqual

fig. 5: Top Left: Mattis Dovier / Top Right: Mattis Dovier / Bottom Left: James Musgrave & Anthony Sheret / Bottom Right: James Musgrave & Anthony Sheret

fig. 6: Top Left: Mattis Dovier / Top Right: Olivier Pasqual / Bottom Left: Thomas Adank / Bottom Right: Thomas Adank

fig. 7: Top Left: RGB6 / Top Right: Fulguro / Bottom Left: Fulguro / Bottom Right: Node Berlin

fig. 8: Top Left: Pixelgarten / Top Right: Pixelgarten / Bottom Left: Stiletto NYC / Bottom Right: Stiletto NYC

Coudal links up More Party Animals, which is playful design with a bit of a point:

More Party Animals is an apolitically-political idea born out of a heartfelt disenchantment with the status quo. As the current system continues to polarize this country, we strongly believe America is in need of a wider selection of political parties.

We say our idea is apolitical because More Party Animals is steadfastly devoted to being policy-free. Our animals represent a potential symbol for new beliefs, not the beliefs themselves. That, we leave up to you.

Our purpose is to encourage and help people start their own party, promote their own ideas and create a genuine alternative that might actually catch on. More choices leads to better results…it’s the American way.

Are red white and blue so engrained in the design palette of the American political system? Apparently so. At least the quixotic usage of the elephant and donkey provide some fodder to build upon for political design fun. And the animal logos look good on t-shirts, too.

This entry also posted at The UnConvention.

Uta Eisenreich, Network (Teamwork), 2002

Kyle’s post at Arkitip about Maurice Scheltens triggered a happy memory of seeing photographer Uta Eisenreich’s work for the first time. Since the last time I checked she’s apparently designed a sweet website that’s structured like a pin-up board. Uta sets up conceptual situations often based on meticulously contrived (though loosely executed) human interaction, and then photographs the results. Her projects include kidnapping a group of foreign business travelers in a small bus with darkened windows, creating a spatial representation of a computer desktop, directing incoming cars to park chromatically, and participating in breakdancing duels where instead of breakdancing, she and her opponent get in the circle and create towering arrangements of ordinary objects, trying to outdo each other in height and beauty. That performance is called Close to the Edge.

Some of my favorite photographs of hers are from a series called Network (Teamwork) in which she creates physical sociograms by asking kids questions about each other and mapping the connections. Which 3 kids would you invite to your birthday? Who do you know least well in your class? These and other “schoolyard mandalas” the kids created are an interesting take on the visual language of education and schools. I imagine Steven Willats would enjoy them too.

Just a quick note for those in Minneapolis this weekend:

Cliche is having an artist reception this Friday (Nov. 16th) from 7-9pm for stencil artist John Grider.

Grider is known for his large scale, vibrantly colored stencils and, outside of numerous shows within the Twin Cities, has also shown work in Australia, Israel, Nevada and New Mexico within the past year.

Do you live in a suburb?

What is your experience of the “burbs?”

Whether you love them or hate them we’re interested in your thoughts on the phenomenon of the American suburb. We invite you to make a 5-minute video about strip malls, cul-de-sacs, office parks, and green lawns or whatever suburbia means to you. A select number of videos will be chosen to screen as part of the exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes in the Target Gallery from February 15 to May 18, 2008.

To participate, upload your video to YouTube and add the tag “walkerworldsaway” or post it as a response to our video above. We’ll feature all videos on the Walker’s YouTube page. To be considered for gallery screening, entries must be 5 minutes or less and be online by January 18, 2008.

Design Director and Curator Andrew Blauvelt will be selecting the videos to screen in the gallery. We’ll contact selectees via YouTube to notify them and follow up for any additional contact information.

If you have any questions, email witt(dot)siasoco(at)walkerart(dot)org.

P.S. Thanks to Witt and Brent for helping to create this video. Brent knows a lot of things about Maple Grove.

Join us this Thursday night (November 8) at 7:00 pm for the newest installment of our Drawn Here series, a lecture by architect David Adjaye. Adjaye founded London-based Adjaye/Associates in 2000, and has since garnered international acclaim for designs that explore the dualities of “ private retreat and public engagement.” Known for his residential and studio designs for international actors and artists (check out his project with Olafur Eliasson, and his project with Chris Ofili) the architect’s civic buildings–libraries, multiresidential housing developments, and museums–explore the conditions of their public nature, providing answers to the architect’s own query, “ What is a public building in the twenty-first century?” Through projects such as the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway (2005), the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2007), and a planned five-star hotel and residences for downtown St.Paul, Adjaye addresses the challenges of designing multipurpose spaces for diverse communities.

Buy tickets.

Also, (landscape) designers Mike and Matt of Minneapolis firm Rolu Dsgn have a great design/art blog that I’ll be checking out regularly, with a nice post about the Adjaye lecture (that just happens to mention our blog as well!).

Purchase Peter Seitz: Designing a Life at the Walker Shop.

Today we received the very first, fresh off the assembly-line, Peter Seitz book.

By studio request, here is an image of the unfolded book wrap. Dependent upon which way the wrap is folded down, there are two possible cover designs (see fig. 8–11 in my previous post, From Ulm to Minneapolis: Tracing Peter Seitz’s Modernist Traditions).