This wonderful interview with Oscar Peterson makes me wonder how we can have deeper conversations about other art forms / I didn’t know about this 1980s BBC segment on women’s wardrobes / this talk about the gender history of dance looks interesting / I should watch this documentary about Mark Fisher / I didn’t know about Jani Christou’s modern music (and insane approaches to notation) / Bruce Sterling’s 2024 talk about the new cybernetics is wonderful / a friend of a friend wrote a book about the New Zealand modernist architect Claude Megson / I suppose it’s time I read Putman’s 2000 book Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital / I’m re-reading Adam Phillips On Giving Up and it’s just too good (whatever you think it’s about, you’re right but also you’re so very wrong) / went to the British Library last week to peruse this insane book written by David Hockney in 2001 where he posits that artists got better at their craft once they discovered optics.
In work news, I signed a contract to be Head of User-Centered Design and Service Design in the screening services team at NHS England. I’ll be reporting to Sarah Fisher and taking over from Anna Goss. I start on the 28th and I’ll be going into the Canary Wharf office most days. I’ll write some more about this as I find out more. In the meantime, I’m helping a couple of friends with their businesses. I’m also looking forward to seeing the work of Chelsea College of Arts students in response to the repair brief I set them. There’s a private view on May 20th from 4-6pm and if you’d like to check it out, drop me a line.
Added to my commonplace book:
I can’t help myself, I have to put me in the picture (BBC’s heart-breaking interview with Sir Don McCullin)
It’s a little grey and windy in Greece but I’m so, so happy to be here. It’s my fourth time in Hydra and my third time renting the same house from an elderly couple. I seem to have recreated childhood holidays spent in a rented house in Franceville-sur-Mer except it’s not the North Sea in the distance. Perhaps the best in life is just a matter of practice and repetition.
Discover more from designswarm {thoughts}
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.