whizdumb

An assassination undone

Yesterday morning on my way to work I passed by a storefront near the corner of 40th and 8th Avenue.  It had been vacant for some time but this morning there was brewing buzz of activity around it.  Sometime earlier in the morning an artist had put nicely stenciled letters on the storefront window that read, "THE ASSASSINATION OF HILLARY CLINTON; THE ASSASSINATION OF BARACK OBAMA".
The exhibit turned out to be a short lived statement which is getting much more attention online than in real life, where it was up for only a few hours.  When I passed by I thought about taking a picture but balked.  When I returned a couple hours later the window was covered by construction paper and the artist was at the police station being interrogated by the cops and the secret service.

Later interviewed, the artist said the piece was a reference to character assassination in the media. Seems like a pretty harmless thing to me and it's a shame this guy and his message were so swiftly swept away.  The storefront is directly opposite the New York Times building so at least he caught the attention of his intended audience. 

Read the NY Times' blog post about the whole thing here.

Design and the Elastic Mind

If you haven't heard of or seen this exhibit, I'd call it a must if you find yourself in New York sometime between now and May 12 when it closes.  Loads of inspiration and mind fodder for anyone interested in the role of design in an information and technological society.

Among the many wonders on display are instant furniture, nano inventions, and a new piece by Jonathan Harris.

If you can't make it in person, the MoMA's exhibit website is a meaty proxy for it.

A couple upcoming design events in Denver

A couple events coming up for the design minded.  This Friday 2/22, local digital design talent Ian Coyle goes analog for an open house / show at his new letterpress gallery, located at 8 West Ellsworth in Denver.

I bump into Ian here and there, usually in Belmar.  He gave me one of his letterpress samples as an invitation and it looks excellent.  I hope to get down there Friday and see what else he's got going on. 

Paul wrote a post recently about some more great stuff Ian's been doing.

And in early March the one and only Sagmeister will be rolling into Denver.  His new book is Things I have learned in my life so far, and he'll be discussing it and other stuff at the event.

Fri, Mar 7, 2008, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
At the Oxford Hotel, The Grand Ballroom, 1600 17th St., Denver, CO 80201

The full skinny from AIGA is here.

UPDATE: The event is now sold out but Denver AIGA members are eligible for this poster Sagmeister made for the event.

Andy explains:

The ONLY way to get his poster for this event is by 1) being a member of AIGA Colorado (at any level) and 2) having your correct address registered at the AIGA national website (http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/membership) by Thu, Feb. 21 . No amount of whining or begging will get anyone else the poster. It won't be available for sale or at the event.