Research in Progress
I found this textile design in the Smithsonian's digital catalog. I wanted to know who had made it, but it looked like one of those lost scraps of creativity forever disconnected from any meaningful context. I found a few other images just like it, but they all were tagged the same way: "Research in Progress".
There was one unifying detail, though: many of these pieces were donated by the same man. So I started pulling on that thread.
Here are a few of the highlights from my search. Not what I expected to find while trying to learn more about obscure 19th century wallpaper designs, but exactly the kind of rabbit hole I enjoy.
- Searching online for the name of the donor, Harvey Smith, turned up this brief biographical note.
- The biography gave some helpful context, and also taught me about research finding aids--one of those things I feel like I should have already known about.
- Smith had a connection to Benjamin Piazza and Piazza Prints, "a small NYC wallpaper company that was known for their creative and unique patterns".
- Looking into that company led to multiple references to Saul Steinberg and John Rombola--artists that are mostly new to me.
The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row
By Keri Blakinger. New York Times. (gift article)
A sympathetic look at some of the people awaiting execution on death row and the way their games of Dungeons and Dragons have helped them grow despite their profoundly constraining circumstances.
Pieces like this can be polarizing, and profoundly compelling, because they invite us to consider the humanity of people who do terrible things.
“Arthaxx could cast spells to control the elements, manipulate electricity or send walls of fire raging across enemy battlefields. Every day, Arthaxx used his gifts to help the higher-ups of House Cannith perfect the invention they hoped would end a century of war. At night, he came home to his wife, his childhood sweetheart. Arthaxx was, to some extent, a version of Wardlow whose mother was not shattered. Whose parents loved him and sent him to a prestigious school. Whose proficiency with electricity earned him a comfortable living. Whose best options never included running away. Whose worst mistake never landed him on death row.”
VIDEO: Juice It or Lose It
By Martin Jonasson and Petri Purho.
Every artform, every industry, every subculture, inevitably develops its own jargon, a kind of practical shorthand for members of the in-group to discuss values, aesthetics, jokes, technical best practices, whatever.
"Juicy" is a term from game design, coined in 2005 by a group of grad students who set themselves the goal of "discovering and rapidly prototyping as many new forms of gameplay as possible."
This shaky but delightful video (it was captured from the audience at a conference more than ten years ago) showcases a variety of effects designers can use to make a game "juicy."