on 19 April 2002Accompanying an exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, this impeccably produced book is bound in squishy covers printed with an irresistible trompe-l’oeil texture. If you can stop squishing long enough to open it, the pictures are stunning and the text, although written as if to be read slowly on Radio 4, worth ploughing through for its well-turned insights.
Themed chapters juxtapose body modifications and simulations, clothing, architecture and products. Alba d’Urbano’s tailored suits, printed at life size with photos of her own body, are as disconcerting as Nicola Constantino’s nipple-print handbags. Robert and Granger Moorhead’s Felt Stool No7 is enigmatic, erotic, yet totally functional, while the massive folds of Greg Lynn’s LA Lord’s store seem skittishly redundant. Unusually, curator and author Ellen Lupton (who also designed the book) shows real understanding of technology: the impact of 3D modelling is thoughtfully discussed, and game skins get a mention.
In a telling comparison, she identifies the progress from Bellini’s 1972 soft-touch keyboard for Olivetti, which wrapped mechanical sensors in a rubber surface, to contemporary ElekTex prototypes in which the skin is the sensor. Essential reading.
adambanksdotcom @gbarl Bah, missed your Watchdog. Do they do it on iPlayer?