Thursday, October 21, 2021

On the Schedule: October, 2021


This month has been busy, mostly with the research and writing of Common Ground, my forthcoming book on multifamily housing in L.A. (an infinite topic!), and collaborating with Helms Design Center, which has had a full-house of shows in October. They included Tricksters and Transformations, fine artworks made of thread and fabric created by the members of Textile Arts Los Angeles, and Biophilia, a stunning display of 100 posters on the theme of the human connection to nature (eight shown above), curated by Olga Severina and still open for viewing.

The cultural dialogue continues later this month with Lorne M. Buchman, president of ArtCenter College of Design, talking about his new book about the creative process. The following week I'll sit down with Liam Young, fearless futurist with a madly provocative alternative solution to climate change. 

October 28 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm     

Lorne M. Buchman talks about "Make to Know: from spaces of uncertainty to creative discovery"


Facing a blank sheet of paper, waiting for inspiration? You are not alone. Michelangelo is said to have seen “the angel in the stone” before he started chipping away at a mute block of marble but most artists are not blessed with such creative clarity. Rather, they "discover" their work – art, design, writing, music – as they make it, and there can be a lot of grist, gloom, boredom and odd dreams along the way.

Buchman is the president of ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and has just published Make to Know, a meditation on creativity drawn from interviews he has conducted with artists, entrepreneurs, innovators and designers - including Chris Kraus, Frank Gehry, Zack Snyder, Aimee Bender, Yves Behar and Diana Thater. He learns that creativity is almost always a process, not a lightbulb moment, that creative geniuses are truly few, and that everyone from students to professionals can “make to know” their own ability to create. 

I will talk to him about his findings, as well as how this relates to a time of collaborative design, how design education is meeting a moment of radical social change, and what is next for Buchman and for ArtCenter College of Design, following his retirement in 2022.

A book signing will follow the talk. Click here for details.


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