schneiderism

Takashi Murakami is a master of the mashup, smashup, and mixing of ideas. A genius in the finding of inspiration. Murakami’s superflat is the liberation of the intrinsic value from his efforts. It is turning art into commerce in a way that Warhol probably envisioned, but did not have the chance to manifest.

Solar, with lyrics. from flight404 on Vimeo.

Heavy, heavy day. Great discussion, new connections, incredible research, and too many emails and phone calls. I feel tired in a good way and as a contrast to the rather intense post of yesterday I offer this really rich animation just sent to me by a co-worker and via Vimeo. This is about all I can handle for the moment but am working on a number of posts on topics like the upcoming MX Conference in San Francisco from Adaptive Path, which I am attending, and a new Workplace of The Future piece stemming from conversations with Darren Shavor of Steelcase. Good times.

Being a lover of this movie and a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick, it seemed fitting to honor this incredible classic on its 40th anniversary (and it pains me to say “classic” in reference to a movie only just slightly older than myself). Given your probably very busy life, the above video has condensed this sci-fi marathon into five intense seconds. Enjoy.

Wise words from Stanley Kubrick:

“If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered.”

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)

Last evening, December 31, 2007 on New Year’s Eve, Ettore Sottsass passed away at his home in Milan. He was 90 years old. Remembered as one of the founders and the father of the postmodern Memphis design movement (of which I am definitely not a fan, but can respect from a distance), he was also the designer of many, many products that endure to this day. An architect by training, when Sottsass was able to break from Memphis he returned to his collaborative architecture practice in Milan where he practiced up to his death, enjoying a renaissance of his work in recent years with retrospectives in New York, Los Angeles and London.

A memorable Sottsass quote:

“Every color has a history. Red is the color of the Communist flag, the color that makes a surgeon move faster and the color of passion.”

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)

More here.

Just came across this video of the Sottsass retrospective. Very cool.

That headline is a famous Miles Davis quote. I watched an absolutely kick ass documentary about Miles Davis this evening. I have always loved his music, but really did not know that much detail about his life beyond what is part of the legend. The documentary is “The Miles Davis Story” from 2001 and it is full of live performances, recording sessions, and interviews with Miles. Without a doubt, the man was on a mission:

“Don’t play what’s there. Play what’s not there.”

Miles Davis (1926-1991)

I love the design of those old album covers from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Norman Mailer has left us. His work influenced a generation of writers and readers, and his legacy will last a long, long time. He was nothing if not controversial, and also immensely memorable. A literary man with the numbers to back it up… 40+ novels, 6 wives, 9 children, 2 attempts at becoming mayor of New York… his life seemingly a quest for better subject matter.

One of my favorite Mailer quotes:

“Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.”

Norman Mailer 1923-2007

There is an excellent article about Julius Shulman in the latest issue of Metropolis. I was familiar with his work, but really knew very little about the man. The article is a terrific primer on Shulman who, at nearly 97 years old, has just had published a three-volume set of over 400 images of architectural projects shot over his 70 year career. The set, from Taschen, is entitled “Modernism Rediscovered.” Shulman began shooting modern architecture in 1936 when he photographed a Richard Neutra house. Over the next few decades his client list would read like a who’s who of modern architecture and design. He photographed the work of my favorites, like Neutra, Pierre Koenig, and Rudolf Schindler.

I plan to own these books. Soon. Here’s a choice quote from the article:

“We’ve always had green - those of us that are concerned with the environment. So why should we suddenly discover that green is good?”

Julius Shulman

A colleague of mine has launched his blog at knowlesystem. His focus is honed and specific to the forces changing and shaping the world of architecture and design. Cool stuff. We have had an infinite number of incredible discussions and brainstorms on this topic, and this was suggested as a way to begin capturing this content, and involve others in the conversation. I highly suggest subscribing as there will be a proliferation of compelling content coming forthwith.

Congrats on the site, Stephen.

Another colleague introduced acmesiren a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to offer a more formal welcome and congrats to Nick as well. His blog is focused on finding and revealing what is new, cool and interesting in the world of experimental music. Also, very cool stuff. And a terrific resource.

Both blogs are featured in the schneiderism blogroll in the right column, which is naturally an incredibly high honor.

We lost Max Roach yesterday. Truly a creative genius and jazz innovator, he stood toe to toe with just about every other jazz great… in a good way. They all played with Max, and Max played with all of them. In some of my earliest exposure to Miles Davis (when he was playing with Max) I was left thinking, “But what about the drums?”

In honor of his passing, I offer the following quote:

“I always resented the role of a drummer as nothing more than a subservient figure.”

Max Roach (1925-2007)

It was hard enough to see the passing of Ingmar Bergman, but I just found out that the very same day that Bergman died… we also lost Michelangelo Antonioni. Only seems fitting to quote him as well. In honor of a great Italian film director of a time when film making was a serious, brooding, intellectual affair, I present my favorite Antonioni quote:

“Hollywood is like being nowhere and talking to nobody about nothing. “

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007)

Antonioni pictured above with his wife, Enrico, in 2002

In honor of the passing of a great artist and auteur:

“I hope I never get so old I get religious.”

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)

Very cool article on BusinessWeek Online about the results of the relationship between the artist Richard Serra and the German steelworks tasked with helping him realize his work. Back in 1997 Serra’s European rep looked all over Europe for a steelworks that would partner with Serra to create his massive, beautiful, steel sculptures. Out of a dozen or so queries, only one responded with interest. It was Friedham Pickhan’s operation in north Germany’s steel country. He had no idea if his company could pull off what Serra wanted… but he had a newly purchased steel press that had capacity and thought it an interesting challenge. Thirty years previously Pickhan’s company was still making wagon wheels.

The cool part of the story is how the collaboration with Serra forced Pickhan to rethink his business, to innovate and accommodate the intense challenges of the work that Serra sought to realize. He rallied his company around the challenges of working with 30 foot long, 4 inch thick steel panels that take months to bend, and as a result created a myriad of new opportunities for what is both a lagging, and historically conservative industry. Working with Serra ultimately positioned Pickhan’s steelworks in a much different place, and fundamentally changed how the company actually viewed its own capabilities allowing it to pursue industrial work it would have never entertained as an option previously. Friedham Pickhan Steelworks is now considered a goto for large, complicated steel projects. They are now considered experts.

It has been almost 10 years since Serra and Pickhan initiated their relationship. Both are still very committed to working together and both will credit the other with their enhanced success. Definitely a testament to being open to new opportunity and ways of thinking.