As part of the site seeing tour today we made our way to the Cooper-Hewitt. There are two shows currently running. One is the National Design Triennial the other is called Design for the Other 90%. Both of the shows are interesting in their own right but the contrast between is what, for me, held the intrigue.
Normally I try and keep blog to home renovation and design, I promise before this ramble is over I'm sure I will tie it back in. First off, just getting out of the house was a good idea. I realized I hadn't been out of Brooklyn since I went to get light fixtures way back at the start of the vacation. It's good to get out for a bit of non-internet or book delivered stimulation, right?
The National Design Triennial was quite the mix. The thing that it brought into focus more than anything else is how much we take for granted day to day objects and tools. Granted there were things that I hadn't seen before; ironic feral robot dogs that were designed to live in super-fund clean-up sites, and interesting use of fiber optic and LED's for lighting fixtures. However, things like the Apple Ipod and Nike free running shoes that I normally look at through the lens of function focused me back on the act of design.
Walking through the show I kept coming back to "the act of design" and the work we do on this house. As we move into the finishing stages the craftsmanship becomes more visible and the attention to detail becomes that much more critical. What struck me most about the show was the attention to detail that all of the pieces had in spades. It's funny, even though Michael and I both work for corporate America, we both have MFA's. Before we started working on the house there was a lot of art-- we made it, we talked about it, we went and saw it. Once we started this project all of that seemed to go away. I'm sure you can guess where this is going, but it was great to be reminded that the house didn't suck the creative life out of us it just gave us both a place we could collectively divert the energies.
Then I went to the garden for the other show and my world got rocked. Design for the Other 90% isn't a huge show in content, but it's ginormous in concept. The premise goes like this. There are 6.5 billion people on the planet. 90%, or close to 5.8 billion people, lack the means to purchase even the most basic goods. The show is about those designing objects that make life better for the other 90%. The piece that struck me most is called the Q drum designed by P.J and J.P.S. Hendrikse it is a way to move water. Millions around the world (especially in rural Africa) live kilometers from reliable clean source of water, leaving them vulnerable to cholera, dysentery, and other diseases. However, water in adequate quantities is to heavy to carry. The Q Drum is a durable container designed to roll easily transporting 75 liters of clean potable water. Rolling rather than lifting and carrying eases the burden of bringing water to those who need it. Talk about redesigning the wheel.
I mentioned the contrast between the two shows; one was indoors one was in the garden, one was high frills for a consumer culture the other was design to make life a little less nasty, brutish and short. The contrast, for me, was stark, but not off putting. It even provoked an interesting idea about how to control light and shade in the evolving porch space. Sometimes I guess it's good to get out of the house. If nothing else it makes me remember how much thought goes into what we do and appreciate what we have just that much more.
Thank you for posting about this - I'm visiting the NYC area this weekend and was trying to think of something to do on Monday that I hadn't done before but had wanted to do for a while, and this reminded me of how I keep planning to visit the Cooper-Hewitt but never do. So I'll be going there Monday!
Posted by: Leslie | 2007.06.21 at 21:43
Thank you for posting about this - I'm visiting the NYC area this weekend and was trying to think of something to do on Monday that I hadn't done before but had wanted to do for a while, and this reminded me of how I keep planning to visit the Cooper-Hewitt but never do. So I'll be going there Monday!
Posted by: Leslie | 2007.06.21 at 21:44