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February 18, 2006
Meeting your maker (with particular reference to Bruce Mau)...
Who makes you feel monstrous? How? Why?
What do you have in common? Does that scare you?
I photographed myself as a monster yesterday. I was supposed to be a werewolf... but the make-up didn't really work out looking like that. It concerns me a little that I look more 'demonic' than 'monstrous'... I guess I like the idea that a monster is just kind of misunderstood, and can be rendered useful via some kind of understanding (Dylan mentions this about werewolves in my interview with him). The demon however... hmmm I'm not so sure... pure evil perhaps, but it still works as a manifestation of the peripheral I think. This was kind of a practice run before I do the shoot with George (if we ever get around to it!)... but when I was doing it I realised I was thinking about thinking about why. I've said that I don't want the monster to be a critique of industry, but I thought about what I wrote after the Bruce Mau talk... being in "The Church of Mau", and how I felt like a monster.
Then when I went to find images of him I realised that there's a lot of what he talks about that I actually engage with... like this:
"The studio is the EXCITING thing. The projects are the NECESSARY thing."
and this:
"...every person, every project represents an INFINITELY COMPLEX SET OF RELATIONSHIPS. Finding the exact balance between the right people and the right projects is the key to sustaining a flourishing studio"
from here. Both comments resonate with the way I feel about The National Grid Project.
So I feel monstrous because I don't share an interest in 'saving the world' or in 'the public good'... I feel more destructive than constructive. But yes we do have things in common... an interest beyond 'making'... in practice, and the peripheral interactions that feed that.
Is that scary? Kinda... it makes me realise that maybe I do want to 'save the world'? But I'd say it's in a much more selfish way - it's about saving 'my world', and that I'd be seeking to destroy it in order to rebuild it...
I like things to be a bit fucked up. And that's the difference between me and Bruce I think.
Posted by Luke Wood at February 18, 2006 04:16 AM
Comments
Was just thinking I'd really like to buy a werewolf mask, you know the ones that cover your whole head, and go visit famous designers who I've "thought about" and get photos of me... with a werewolf mask on, and like shaking their hands... or giving them a hug. That would be such a cool series of images... I should try to do this before I have to go back to NZ. (Damn I should have done it with Peter Bilak and Stuart Bailey last week!)
Posted by: Luke Wood at February 18, 2006 06:20 AM
Rick Poynor—Bruce's troubled admirer.
http://www.designobserver.com/archives/000106.html
Posted by: duncan at February 18, 2006 07:03 AM
If you do one with Sagmeister would he have you on a leash?
Posted by: Max at February 18, 2006 09:30 AM
I think you need more chest hair. And long black nails.
The design monster meet and greet sounds perfect.
Posted by: anna at February 20, 2006 08:45 PM
Hey Duncan, thanks for that link man. It's an interesting read... I gotta say I like Rick's writing most of the time even if I find him a little "straight". The comments were good too, esp the last one. The good thing about reading this was that it reminded me that there's always lots of people out there who're thinking what you're thinking... and that really no one's that marginal eh!
Max, do you mean Sagmeister can tame monsters?
Anna... I know. You could actually help me with a lot of this if you were coming over... but you're not!
Posted by: Luke Wood at February 22, 2006 12:09 PM