Soldiers' Stories
by Steven Heller
The Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pa., announces the opening of Art of the American Soldier on September 24. The exhibit presents paintings and drawings of battles, routines, and everyday experiences created by American soldiers in the field. The work spans from World War I to the Iraq War. This exhibit, which can be seen online here, provides uncensored personal accounts of those who have lived through war and peace, and reveal the anxiety and fear of the artist soldiers....
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Vive Fénéon
by Steven Heller
In 1906, suspected terrorist, anarchist and literary instigator Félix Fénéon wrote more than a thousand small bits for the Paris newspaper Le Matin. Each was a bizarre yet enigmatic fragmentary, often scandalous report. Illustrator Joanna Neborsky was inspired to visually translate twenty-eight of them using a melange of collage and drawing, comprising her book Illustrated Three-Line Novels: Félix Fénéon. “Fénéon’s news items are populated with opium addicts, prostitutes, drunks, those flattened by trains and carriages, inept and angry thieves, protestors, and simpletons,”...
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How’d You Like The Show, Mrs. Lincoln?
by Steven Heller
“When Fascism comes to America, it will (be in the name of/come under the guise of/be called) anti-Fascism!” said Huey Long, the populist governor of and senator from Louisiana, in 1935. He is also to have said that Fascism will come wrapped in an American flag. That could also mean, an American President. Past American presidents are always being invoked in the name of patriotism. George Washington was the symbol of the Nazi German American Bund prior to World War II along with other national and mythic heroic manifestations (as well as using the Swastika)....
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Otto The Picture Man
by Steven Heller
Dr. Otto Ludwig Bettmann, who died on May 3, 1998 at age 94, founded the Bettmann Archive in 1936, the world’s most famous picture collection, which is currently owned by William Gates’ Corbis Corporation. Known as “the picture man,” Bettmann virtually invented what we now call retro, insofar as he uncovered and made available to artists, designers, and editors of all disciplines millions of ephemeral artifacts from the past. Any time an old engraving or woodcut found its way into contemporary advertisement or editorial layout, it probably came from The Bettmann Archive....
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Like Hiaku, Only Much Longer
by Steven Heller
420 Characters is a book of stories (limited to 420 characters each, including spaces and punctuation) by illustrator Lou Beach. “I started out filling in the ‘status update’ box on Facebook with short fiction musings rather than the usual b.s. last year,” Beach told me. “Turned out people liked them and I liked the challenge of creating a new story each day.” Since posting a 420Characters fan page on Facebook the other day, he has gotten over 400 fans! “I interested my famous friends in doing readings (here) and some established writers for blurbs and voila!, handsome little site for the wee tales. I’ve got several hundred stories which I’ll switch out on the site regularly and more audio as well....
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Tit for Tati
by Steven Heller
Play Time is considered to be Jacques Tati’s most ambitious film. Shot in 1964 through 1967 and released in 1967, Play Time features Tati as Monsieur Hulot, the hapless bumbler and jester from Mon Oncle, Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and the exquisite Trafic. “Hulot appears intermittently in Play Time, alternating between central and supporting roles. Shot in 70 mm, Play Time is notable for its enormous set, which Tati had built specially for the film [called Tativille], as well as his trademark use of subtle, yet complex visual comedy supported by creative sound effects; dialogue is frequently reduced to the level of background noise.”...
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Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Poster
by Steven Heller
I just finished reading Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson. It is not a design book per se, but it is about the “design” of an emblematic, classic film adapted from Truman Capote’s bestselling novel about a free-spirited Texas transplant turned call girl in New York. The complex and controversial differences between book and film are well documented as are all the many fascinating tribulations in bringing taboo material to the screen in 1961 – in the age of the infamous Hollywood Production Code....
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The Other Green Movement
by Steven Heller
The School of Visual Arts Gallery presents “Where’s My Vote? Posters for the Green Movement in Iran” exhibition, from August 30 through September 25. This exhibition features over 125 political posters by graphic artists world wide, created in support of the protests in Iran that followed the 2009 presidential election. The exhibition is the first public viewing of these posters in printed form and was organized by designers Anita Kunz and Woody Pirtle, along with Francis Di Tommaso, director of the Visual Arts Gallery, and me, in collaboration with Andreas Rauch and SocialDesignZine....
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Who's on the D-List
by Steven Heller
D-Crit (a.k.a. MFA Design Criticism at the School of the Visual Arts, New York) announces its Fall ’10 list of D-List speakers. Check out the website here. And if you are interested in studying in an intensive environment go here and contact Alice Twemlow. Lectures take place in the D-Crit department on Tuesday nights, starting at 6pm and are each followed by a lively Q&A and a drinks reception. Videos of previous lectures are available on the D-site...
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A Few Good Guys
by Steven Heller
Who remembers the WMCA Good Guys? I miss them. From late 1960 until 1970, WMCA (AM 570) was one of New York City’s top Top 40 radio stations. It played the hits, even after progressive FM stations rose in popularity. “It reached the baby boomers at their teenage peak and along the way distributed thousands of sweatshirts imprinted with a smiley faced logo to an enthusiastic audience that drove the station to ratings records.” WMCA did extremely well in New York City where it had a great signal....
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Fist Bumps
by Steven Heller
Sometimes a fist is just a fist (to paraphrase Herr Doktor Freud). Other times it is a highly charged symbol for political ideologies. It used to be fairly recognizable as a Communist “revolutionary” salute. Then it was adopted by the Black Panthers and black nationalism. It looked so good that it the new left adopted it. Now, the Tea Baguettes of Freedom Works have co-opted it and are shoving their newly found fist down Washington’s throat....
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Robotniks Doing the Can Can
by Steven Heller
David Lipson takes other people’s trash and turns it into robot sculptures which he sells on Etsy to great success. He makes them in a studio apartment in New York. “They are made from materials old and new,” says Lipson, “and are located in places such as The Salvation Army, on the street, retail stores, construction sites, garbage dumps, recycle shops, pretty much anywhere. Materials most frequently used are steel, metal, glass, and plastics such as Bakelite."...
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