Design Notes + Photos

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Starting tomorrow tonight, take part in some serious design fun with professional architects, tours, dinner and competitions. Made possible by the DC Chapter of the American Institute of Architects: AIA DC.

First installed at Curator's Office in the summer of 2007, Alberto Gaitan's Remembrancer left a lot of excitement in DC for web geeks and art lovers. We've read reviews by Jessica Dawson (The Post), Kristron Capps (The City Paper) and Sarah Tanguy [PDF Link] (Sculpture Mazine). Some of us read the tech blogs. We've also heard from Curator's Office Andrea Pollan and the artist himself.

Which is why I am super excited to see Remembrancer, version 2.0, open this Saturday at Taubman Art Museum's MediaLab in Roanoke, VA. See Taubman's website for exhibition info and directions. In the photo: Curator Andrea Pollan with Alberto Gaitan at the opening reception of Remembrancer in May 2007.

Machines are freaks, like us. They are a reflection of our infallible memory and perception. Gaitan's setup takes cues from the world we see, yes. But it also takes cues from something deeper and magical: the "black boxes" that control our mediation with the world.

We like to see perfection in machines. Remembrancer is a chilling reminder that we are losing something large and important in that reliance.

Consider MIT social sciences professor Sherry Turkle's book "Simulation and Its Discontents" (2009). Turkle, like Gaitan, notice the impact of technology in traditional fields of architecture, engineering and design. The worry is this: Every day, we play with exciting creators of models and designs. These tools render our ideas so perfectly that they look finished. Yet they are opaque, because we do not truly understand what goes on inside these "black boxes" we call tools (maybe the students of 1980s MIT did, but we don't). In the process, we've become too reliant on seemingly perfect memory banks. We quickly forget, then, that these banks, while necessarily precise, are not necessarily correct.

Howard Ramsen talks about "the authority of the printout," for instance--and here I am reminded of Gaitan's "old media" output of new media input. Ramsen is intimidated by the preciseness of the printout; the authority of the machine-made model. Why? Because things can go wrong when we rely too heavily; when we forget. He tells, for instance, about a design project gone wrong: "everything looked so finished," he comments, that he does not bother to check for input error. When things go wrong, we draw a blank.

Check out Curator's Office for more information about the show. Enjoy--I still am.

Julie Niskanen, on display at the Washington Printmaker's Gallery, has a great photo-led overview of printmaking processes, including mezzotint, etching and lithography. While you are there, follow her book recommendations.

The Complete Printmaker
John Ross, Free Press, 1991
               

The Mezzotint
Carol Wax, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1990

Printmaking at the Edge
Richard Noyce, A & C Black, 2006
               

Etching, Engraving and Other Intaglio Printmaking Techniques
Ruth Leaf, Dover, 1984

Why Art Cannot Be Taught
James Elkins, University of Illinois Press, 2001

The End of Art
Donald Kuspit, Cambridge University Press, 2004

Ways of Seeing
John Berger, Penguin, 1990

The Art of Teaching Art
Deborah A. Rockman, Oxford University Press, 2000

RELATED BLOG POSTS

• Julie Niskanen at Washington Printmakers Gallery: Photos from Opening Reception
• Washington Printmakers Gallery: National Small Works: Exhibition and Awards Ceremony
• Artist talk tomorrow: Julie Niskanen at Washington Printmakers Gallery (WPG)

My friends Joe and Yoko are raving about this new iPhone app: Ghostly Discovery. I can see why! The app uses color theory to define an overall mood. On the same screen: sliders for digital vs. organic / faster vs. slower. The result: A beautiful playlist from the Ghostly International Label. Get it while it's hot -- and free!

Imagine being a graphic designer or web worker at a tradeshow full of architects and interior designers (the A+D crowd; the kind that enjoy reading Dezeen and Archinect). NeoCon 2009 is that show. Think of it as SXSW for the A+D community: A yearly mecca. A showcase. A place to mingle with the pros. Above all: a place to challenge industry concepts with innovate products and brilliant thinking.

Green design was not the only trendsetter at NeoCon. Today, I am in conversation with NYC-based Art Director Rus Yusupov. Rus talks to me about the social media campaign he designed for the NeoCon09 event, in partnership with Designer Pages. Rus is the creative mastermind behind the redesign of CNN.com and the interface and branding of Hulu's website.

The campaign encouraged attendees to tweet using hashtag #NeoCon09. "Citizen bloggers" helped spread the message.

A+D exhibitors learned to embrace the social media aspect of the exercise, participating along with guests to produce visually appealing, real-time streams of conversations that were displayed throughout the event space.

Rus shares some stats that are quite impressive: over 7,500 tweets and more than 900 twitpic images were shared by over 700 unique heads. The twittter messages flowed in and out of the eyes of more than 30,000 people during the conference. A+D blogs and websites welcomed the idea by implementing widgets of their sites. The result: more than 50,000 unique visitors and over 115,000 pageviews for the conference!

The qualitative aspect of the project is what I find most exciting. Community-driven sharing as a first-time experiment for an old and respected institution.  I am equally excited to see non-tech spaces embrace social media projects. This year, NeoCon should be proud for innovating on the web in the same way it does with real spaces.

Rus is a celebrity in my eyes for his gifted eye and stunning projects. I am happy to be interviewing him about website redesign for large news organizations--stay tuned!

For a long time I have dreamed of opening a cafe and gallery that would be home to good food and showcase modern art trends.
- JL Grillo

Sent from my iPhone

My opening show photos from Touchstone Gallery's group exhibition highlight the artwork of Joshua Gomez, a Virginia-based photographer/artist.

We start from afar. Walking in, we see a pattern of colors and shapes so carefully composed that we accept them as an exercise of good composition and design.

It is the closing in, however, that delights us! The canvases never appear flat, but we learn upon close inspection that the mat boards are hand-cut. They are examples of beautiful artistic diligence and awe-inspiring craftsmanship.The single-mindedness of minimalism resedes into the background, and we learn to appreciate the human element. The patterns of color and hand-cut shapes do not monopolize the eye. Instead, they invite us to invent landscapes in our minds as we stroll across the works, installed side by side.

The balance between the abstract and concrete; the precise and the gestural; and the ever-changing moments of perspective, make Joshua Gomez a powerful creator of high-level concepts and ideas--and a wonderful artist.

See Joshua Gomez along with Charlie Dale, Anthony Dortch, Leslie Johnston, Peter Karp, Newton More, and Michelle Rogers at the Touchstone Gallery until August 7, 2009. Gallery hours and directions.

Photos from the rest of the gallery opening:

I find the theme to this exhibition quite enticing: "finding beauty in a broken world -- in the spirit of Frida Kahlo."  The last Kahlo-inspired show I attended was at Encantada Gallery in SF (see photos I took of their opening here). That was quite a while ago, so, with fresh eyes, I was pleased to see the carefully executed interpretations of Kahlo's complex work and life via the eyes of wonderfully selected artists.

Here is my friend Joan Belmar, whose cheerful and loving personality always makes for wonderful connections-- here he introduces me to two wonderful artists: Katya Romero and Constance Bergfors.

I am also honored to meet Lenny Campello in person for the first time. Lenny juried the show. He is an insightful art critic and artist, and I love keeping up with his thoughts on his influential blog, "Daily Campello Art News." 

I am also excited to meet Laura Anca Pallone, an artist from Boston, MA, who displays two works as part of this exhibition. I highly recommend that you check out her work.

A little taste of the exhibition opening

See the entire photo gallery here >.

The show is up until August 29, 2009. Click here for more information and directions to the gallery.

My friend Eve Hennessa will be doing live painting at XinDC tomorrow (here's the Facebook invite). Located at the EFN Lounge (bar + performance space), X is a fun multimedia event for creatives. The show will highlight DJs, designers, photographers, performance artists, and more. Wear funky glasses for a free drink! Hope to see you there.

X at EFN Lounge (map) - July 18th 7-11 p.m.