Immaterial

It's been almost ten years, since the release of Artificial Intelligence, which was inspired by the Brian W. Aldiss short story 'Super-Toys Last All Summer Long' . After overcoming some legal mountains, Jan Harland and company were finally able to get this book published. Its large format (16.5" x 11.6") allows for some nice...

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Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid writes about the sampling and recontextualization of sound. He illustrates how this practice of rhythm science, of this continual versioning of what feeds our senses, can create a multiplexing of consciousness and identity. And from this comes new thoughts and feelings,...

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Lately, I've been delving into the role and realm of the editor. I think there is something to learn from editors. From a New Yorker piece on Rem Koolhaas:   Koolhaas often functions more as an editor than as a designer: the only pen he uses is a Bic Cristal red ballpoint, which...

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Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.Thus begins Ms. Carson's preface to her translations of four plays by Euripides, comprising of Herakles, Hekabe, Hippolytos, and Alkestis. Lately, I've been reading quite a few works from...

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While browsing the magazine shelves at the Hennessy + Ingalls Bookstore in Santa Monica, I saw some issues with the title Ve on their covers. The issues looked interesting, came in different sizes, and produced with different materials (Issue 04 includes an embedded titanium square; Issue 05 comes with its edges sprayed...

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According to Alfred North Whitehead, 'The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.' One thing that has bothered me about Plato's dialogues is that they're not really dialogues, are they? Unless you include talking to yourself, I suppose....

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George Steiner is a polyglot and a polymath. He's brilliant. And he's probably the last of a (literally) dying breed of people, in a world that (I feel) continues to trend towards specialization and homogenization. In this book, Steiner shares some pieces from his life and how they have shaped...

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I learned about Marije Vogelzang and her book on PSFK. For some reason, she (and the book) reminds me of Catalan designer Martí Guixé, whose design approach I admire greatly. Vogelzang also gave a talk at Pop!Tech and said something I found interesting: If you're a designer and you make things, then you...

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While in LA, my father took me to Hennessey + Ingalls, a nice bookstore that specializes in art and architecture books. While browsing its shelves, the title of this little book caught my eye. It's been around for a while, but I hadn't heard of it before. It's an easy read,...

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Happy New Year! Do you like analytic philosophy? Do you like comics? Here's a book that combines the two into an entertaining read. It tells the story of Bertrand Russell, one of the founders of analytic philosophy. Along the way, we meet such luminaries as Gottlob Frege, Alfred North Whitehead, and...

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Merry Christmas! On this trip, I brought my copy of Strunk and White to read. I haven't cracked open this book since I attended grad school, twenty-five years ago. Is this still required reading for school? If not, it should be. People who want to communicate effectively should read...

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The family and I are on vacation, visiting relatives, enjoying the sunny 80-degree weather and the holiday season. Again, I brought only my iPhone with me. And, as usual, I made my trek to the local Barnes & Noble to browse for any interesting books and magazines. I came upon...

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I'm a fan of Grant McCracken. I enjoy reading the anthropological and ethnographic insights from his blog and books on culture and consumption. His latest offering is squarely targeted at corporations, proposing that every CEO appoint a Chief Culture Officer (CCO). Why? Because culture is the engine of change, and the corporation...

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I've been reading books on rhetoric, to add another tool to my belt, especially with regards to communication and presentation design. The authors state that "... Rhetoric is about getting things done in our social world."  It made me think about what design strategy pioneer Rolfe Faste said about innovation: "I have...

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I first heard about Juan Enriquez onTED. He is someone who thinks both deeply and broadly. Individuals like him are becoming more of a rarity in this world of increasing overspecialization. I am having a greater appreciation for the generalist. The book's format lends itself to a quick read (reminiscent...

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This book is based upon a series of art projects and open exhibitions that began in 1994. Instead of transporting physical artworks to various exhibition spaces, over 100 international artists submitted procedural instructions to museums, where the museums' personnel and/or the community at large (re)create the artworks on location. The...

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This book had a print run of 1000 by its original publisher, Brown Bear LLC. I was fortunate enough to grab a copy before they sold out, a couple of years ago. It's a great little book with three primary goals: 1) to provide a better definition of interaction design;...

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Happy Halloween! John Hench was (and still is) a legend in the world of Disney Imagineering. He was the Renaissance Imagineer. His book provides deep insights into the world of Disney design. Of all of the Imagineering books that I have, Hench's is the most eloquently written, treating the subject as...

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I think this is the only periodical exclusively devoted to the professional field of special effects. Why is that? I think it's a fascinating field. I wish I could learn more about it. When I was kid, I couldn't find many good magic books either. Maybe there's a connection between...

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Lately I've been thinking about decision theory. How do we make decisions? What influences them? How can we make better decisions? I picked up Mauboussin's book to help shed some light on the subject. He does so by helping the reader identify the salient mistakes people make while making decisions....

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