Daily Heller by Steven Heller - Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Last year, the German Historical Museum in Berlin mounted an exhibition of political iconography, including propaganda from Fascist Italy, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. Plans to bring the show to the U.S. were halted in part because of the controversy over exhibiting paintings and posters of Adolf Hitler. Hitler certainly does arouse raw emotions. But last week, an exhibition featuring Mao in all his guises and the art of the Chinese Cultural Revolution opened at the Asia Society in New York and received a respectful review in the New York Times by Holland Cotter. Following the Olympic Games in Beijing and two American political conventions, the show's timing illustrated that, for very different reasons, the art of propaganda in general is on people's minds.
Also, I have a book out on totalitarian propaganda campaigns, Iron Fists: Branding the Twentieth Century Totalitarian State, which includes a section on the Chinese efforts to deify Mao (more can be seen here) during the Cultural Revolution. It's extremely important for designers to know how propaganda they create for so many products, ideas, and ideologies plays on the public's mind. The exhibition "Art and China's Revolution" will add to that understanding.

Museums | Propaganda | Travel

9/10/2008 9:59:12 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [1]

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Deitch's Retrospective of Broken Dreams
Posted by steve

If you're a fan of the original flower child, "Sunshine Girl," as I have been since I was 16 years old, you'll want to see the Kim Deitch retrospective at The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) opening today, September 9th, and running through December 5th. (Reception on September 12).

Kim Deitch: A Retrospective will display original comics pages and other work covering the artist's entire career to date, beginning with full-page comic strips drawn for the East Village Other (where I first encountered him) in the ’60s up to recent graphic novels including "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Alias the Cat," "Shadowland," and "Deitch's Pictorama." Rarely seen work, such as elaborate preparatory drawings, hand-colored originals, animation cel set-ups and lithographs, will also be on view. You may even get to see Mr. Deitch himself (bottom left ... I mean right) lurking in the shadows nursing his broken dreams.

Comics | Museums

9/9/2008 5:28:51 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [2]

Monday, September 08, 2008

The Power of Baths
Posted by Steve

If you're ever planning an overnight in Boston, be sure to check out the Boston Public Garden in the Commons and its famous swan boats. If time allows, check into the Taj Hotel (just minutes from the duck pond) and avail yourself of its special Bath Menu. Specifically, the "Make Way for Ducklings" drawn bath serves "as an antidote to jetlag for long distance travelers, a reward at the end of a successful day." If the ducklings in Boston Public Garden could have this bath, the menu says, "they would never leave for the winter." It continues, "This delightfully cozy bubble bath is joined by a playful rubber duck, a mug of hot chocolate or chocolate milk, and freshly baked cookies. Whatever your age, this bath will bring out the child in you. Thirty-five dollars." A bath butler will draw the bath for you fifteen minutes before the desired time.
You can't make this stuff up. Just try not to get crumbs in the water, okay?

Shopping | Travel

9/8/2008 5:35:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [0]

Friday, September 05, 2008

The Power of Symbols
Posted by Steve

Speaking of signs and symbols, what could be more charged than the swastika? The ancient sign, whose origins are not entirely clear, stood for, among other things, good fortune, fertility, and fecundity; it was usurped in the early 20th century by Adolf Hitler, who transformed it into a symbol of a repressive and criminal regime. There is considerable debate whether the Nazi use of the sign forever altered its meaning. I even wrote a book about it.
The caption for the photo above (thanks to Jeff Roth) reads, "Indians ban Swastika," Tucson, Arizona, February 27, 1940: "Four Indian tribes of Arizona--Navajos, Papagos, Apache, and Hopis--banned the use of the swastika from all design, whether basket weaving and blanket making." It's one of many instances where the venerable mark was expunged. Yet there is a town in North Ontario, Canada, called Swastika that defied the trend and protested the Nazis by retaining the name to this day (photo below).
Who can say a name is just a name, and a sign has no inherent meaning?

Signage

9/5/2008 5:49:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [10]

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Live Long and Prosper
Posted by Steve

As an antidote to Rudy Guiliani's painfully smug speech at the Republican National Convention last night, I started thinking about Star Trek's Mr. Spock, which caused me to conjure the Vulcan hand sign for "Live Long and Prosper" (one of the most venerated sayings in popular culture). Did you know that the actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, created the extraterrestrial sign of hope based on a Jewish cemetery symbol?
On old European Jewish tombstones, a carving that shows two hands arranged for the Priestly Blessing (see above) is the symbol of the Kohen. Kohanim are the direct male descendants of Aaron, who was the first Kohen and the brother of Moses. Today, if one is so inclined, it is possible to trace a priestly lineage from the tombstones that bear this symbol, which, if you follow the logic, gives new resonance to Mel Brooks' classic Jews in Space. It certainly takes one's mind off Guiliani.

Jewish Culture | Science | Signage

9/4/2008 3:27:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [9]

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Merci et Adieu
Posted by steve

Today is Joyce Rutter Kaye's last day as editor-in-chief of PRINT. After ten years, she will be joining NYC & Company, New York City’s official tourism, marketing, and partnership organization, as senior editorial director. In this position, she will be heading up the editorial department and unifying the organization’s voice across a range of media, from print to websites to broadcast to live events. In addition, she will be working on new initiatives to help improve the city.
Picking up from long-time PRINT editor Martin Fox, Joyce impressed her own personality on the magazine. She oversaw its current redesign, its greater adherence to the news, its increased critical stance, and its renewed vitality as a chronicle of the new while respecting history. Under Joyce, PRINT racked up more American Society of Magazine Editors' National Magazine Award nominations and two major awards. She has built an enviable staff of design journalists and editors. At a time when the web threatens to make print obsolete, Joyce has made the magazine more vigorous and the PRINT site more active. (Thanks to Joyce--hmmmm--I now get up at 4 instead of 5am to write this daily blog.)
I have known and worked with Joyce since her days at U&lc. I will miss her firm yet encouraging presence as editor and friend. I hope the city is grateful. Merci et adieu.

9/3/2008 6:16:27 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [2]

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Gimme That Old Time Campaignin'
Posted by Steve

If that old time campaignin' was good enough for Ike, it's good enough for me. In the wake of the high-tech extravaganzas at the Democratic and tonight's Republican conventions, and the lavishly produced docu-biographies of the candidates and their spouses, it is sobering to look back at the first Presidential campaign commercials before Mad Ave got its mojo working. An online exhibition, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 (sponsored by the Museum of the Moving Image), offers a greatest hits sampling of many of these "innocent" advertisements that transformed stump candidates into media personalities.
Also included are the decidedly calculated, now legendary spots like the eerie Daisy Commercial (shown only once as a paid spot--but countless times as "news") when LBJ ran against Barry Goldwater (bottom), and Ronald Reagan's stunningly effective Morning in America, which insured his reelection.

Advertising | Election | Television

9/2/2008 6:00:30 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [0]

Friday, August 29, 2008

What? No Goatees?
Posted by steve

Beards and mustaches are as common as earrings and tattoos, but when was the last time you saw a really sculpted beard? Enough with these hipsteresque namby pamby goatees and womby pomby van dykes (and especially those pseudo-beard, narrow slivers from the bottom lip to the chin). Check out the website for the biennial World Beard and Mustache Championships for beards that put the AIR in HAIR. And to all you patriots out there, root for Beard Team USA in Anchorage, Alaska in May 2009 (my fave is Toot Joslin below) although it's hard to beat Willi Chevalier (above) for his sheer ingenuity. What can be said about Elmar Weisser (bottom) except that he gives new meaning to the term "close shave." Caution: if you try this at home, spit out the bubblegum.

Design | DIY

8/29/2008 6:54:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [1]

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Moribund Art Returns
Posted by Steve

Oh nyet, not again! The second unfortunate thing about a possible reprise of the Cold War with Russia is the return of Socialist Realism parodies. A recent cover of The Economist (above) featuring Putin liberally borrows from the Lenin poster (below). It's not that the former is inappropriate; it's just so unimaginatively retro. If the incursion into Georgia does erupt into a real cold war, how about we keep Socialist Realism on ice?

Illustration | Magazines | Propaganda

8/28/2008 6:01:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [4]

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Anti-Spectacle
Posted by Steve

The Democratic National Convention is already under fire for not feeding enough red meat to its voracious attendees (so say the dweebs on the "Best Political Team" of bloviating CNN commentators). But there are indeed real criticisms to be made. And David Levi Strauss, chair of the MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department at School of Visual Arts, shares his critical perspective via daily dispatches from the DNC on Exposures, the Aperture blog. Here's a sample from the first night:
    "Something felt wrong from the beginning; not just the self-conscious mawkishness, but something deeper, lurking under the dead end of identity politics. It was as if the worst tendencies of 1980s had come out to make one last attempt to stifle the future. Race vs. gender. And the hall was haunted by other spectres of past failures: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Howard Dean. I’m sure we’ll see Al Gore soon. There is something inside American liberalism that forgives too much and gives up too soon."
    For some, this may sound like self-defeating pessimism, while others will see it as cautionary words to the wise. Whatever the interpretation, Levi Strauss' commentaries are bound to provoke--and provocation triggers change.
    Also check out The Electoral College for independent thoughts on the election process and its daily photostream (samples below).

Packaging | Politics | Television

8/27/2008 6:41:50 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [1]

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Universal Misunderstanding
Posted by Steve

Sometimes the universal sign sy stem is not so universally understandable. This "ban" sign (above) could mean No Loitering, but it could also mean No Prostitution Here (like the sign below). It could, however, also mean No Leaning Against the Building or No Waiting for a Bus. It could even mean No Standing on One Leg. But whatever it means, its ambiguity proves that sign symbols do not always mean what they seem to mean. The sign below was proposed by German authorities to stop 2006 World Cup tourists from picking up girls off the street. Prostitution is legal in Germany but only in certain areas, and the street signs are planned to stop football fans from pestering women.

Illustration | Signage

8/26/2008 1:12:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [4]

Monday, August 25, 2008

Steaks, Chops, and Politics
Posted by Steve

Several readers of this blog probably received a request from Brian Collins a few weeks ago to equate politics with "something" (Politics=???). This was part of a campaign to promote CNN=Politics, the mantra the cable news network has been using since the presidential campaign began eons ago. The conceit was a "CNN Grill" in Denver where the elite come to eat. On the eve of the opening of the Democratic National Convention, I asked Collins about his master plan.

What was the aim?
If CNN=Politics was going to be their mantra, then I wanted our project to explore what politics equalled.

The outside wall of the Grill (above) has a lot of writing on it. Why?
We wanted to create a visual language based on some historical visual context. The building in Denver, like many turn of the century brick warehouse buildings, would have been covered with advertising and painted signage. There are "ghost signs" all over Denver, remants of long gone businesses and brands.

How did you determine what the words would be?
We invited people who watched CNN online to send us, in ten words or so, what "politics" meant to them. We selected a variety of quotes that best reflected the wide range of sentiments we heard.

Aren't you concerned that the Grill will encourage riotous gaiety?
In addition to the restaurant, it will be the key broadcast studio for CNN from which they will broadcast most of the convention news, shows, and interviews. The broadcast can also participate with our guests as the cameras and anchors will roam around the Grill at select times, interviewing them.

Branding | Election | Television

8/25/2008 7:36:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [1]