China Design Now

this show was incredible...the recent history of design in China, and how design communities are isolated and identifiable by region. Designers themselves have created these communities, before the government reforms, there were no designers, only government employed artist workers. Today, design is a huge part of their push forward.

Four Great things in China:
Cell Phones
Televisions
Houses
and what was the last one?

Some very strange things going on architecturally, for instance a housing complex modeled after quaint English neighborhoods, China's own Tudor village.

They did some beautiful things with type, Chinese characters serving as text/image/symbol in a singular form.

Women came into play when the exhibit looked at fashion and art.

Sandwich boxes

pickle and cheese
bacon and mayonnaise
tuna and sweetcorn
tuna and cucumber
boiled ham an mustard

I really enjoy the signage here

First Week in London

Between jet lag and being so busy the first week has been a very strange block of time. It's almost overwhelming how much information is coming and going. to start, the city itself has a much different feeling than anywhere I've ever been. The landscape, I think related more to our bodies than it does in a place like New York. When you look down the street, you can actually see the sky, and building, lights and signs aren't towering over everything. There is also a really interesting mix of architecture, classical and modern, very formidable stone buildings next reflective glass domes and towers. The city is bustling, but not in an overwhelming way, it is more comfortable and welcoming. I've seen a huge range of things, from the "treasures" of the British Museum/Library and creative directors talking about the future of advertising. It was interesting to start the trip with two places that hold artifacts so significant to human history, our language, assertions of power, and transition to what is going on at the very moment. In one week, I've seen books that were hundred's of years old, these ornate, consuming objects that were intended to make the reader feel small and powerless--a history of design in China (which has only existed for about 30 years, and in which women have only recently been included) and heard talks from two of the largest international design/ad firms. All these things are certainly connected, the past informs the future...

ps we were fighting the elements...that's a good point

we made a party

A collaborative piece, and a first attempt at some sort of happening...a lot of nice things happened. So we made a party that was about a birthday party, and a slip n slide out of clay. and it came with all the normal anxieties that having any party does.

It's interesting that it was a completely forced and fabricated event that was totally self-supporting. We set up this sort of controlled environment, and everyone ran with it and discovered all the things we set up for them/situations/opportunities we gave them. I wondered what our guests expectations were before they arrived. They had several actions to participate in--there was eating, singing, game playing, crafting, sliding, and it all went down like any party would. So back to the idea that it was a forced situation that turned into this group effort to keep the situation going.

Something I hadn't expected was the transition from making mode to participation mode. One minute we were preparing this situation and the next it was taking place. speaking of the making, it was a process that also contained a lot of great information. The efforts we went through to create this environment, like moving a big tent, or cutting up a watermelon were nice moments on their own.

I questioned the idea of why/what we were making, how this stands between an art piece or just a party we threw for the heck of it. We created the event with some specific goals in mind, we imagined the image of mud-covered people in this strange birthday party setting, we achieved many of our desired results but also had a lot of nice surprises, it was so much like a real party, even though it was kind of a fake party.

It was nice to see everyone that participated getting excited about it. Everyone was really into being blindfolded and spun around for pin the tail in the donkey/pinata, which was cool because none of us could probably pinpoint the last time we did those things/is it ever nice to be disoriented in front of a laughing crowd? It was funny though.