Thanks to the current issue of Wallpaper*, I'm reminded of one book that I've been meaning to get, and notified of another one I need to get:
- Where's My Space Age? - I've long been of the opinion that we were robbed of our deserved space age. So to see a book with a title very similar to a title that's always been in my head of a book that should be written makes me happy. Kindof like having a dream of a Helmut Lang sweater and then seeing it on the racks a year and a half later. The link between technology and aesthetics was never as beautiful as it was at the height of the space race. Last night, I saw the IMAX 3D film about the space station, and was reminded of this as I oooo'd with delight at the various Soviet and even American structures that date back to that time. And the space station in Kubrick's 2001 has always been a dream place for me.
- Merz to Emigre and Beyond I just have to have this one. Kurt Schwitter's Merz and Merzbau have had a glaringly obvious impact on the naming and style of the prolific Japanese noise artist Merzbow, who I'm a fan of. Merz and Emigre both have had such fun with pages and type in a way that I've always loved. "Schwitters and his contemporaries elevated the collage to a graphic artform and their work was often presented in the form of prints and publications." Yes. I must have this.