In Sean-h of the Miraculous. I remember reading Ouspcnsky's book on Gurdjicff as a young man. I found it strangely unpleasant and unconvincing for reasons I don't understand, but the phrase In Search of the Miraculous" has persisted in my memory. One could easily say that all human experience is a miracle: memory, color, taste, walking. skin, affection, Vermeer, stars, watermelon and so on. For those of us in and around the arm, the act of making things that move the mind is our deepest aspiration in regard to miracles. One Thing Leads to Another. The second tide evokes another idea, which is to contextualize the works, in order to better understand them. This is usually done retrospectively after the artist's death, but that seemed problematic. I've chosen work, largely produced over the last five years, to demonstrate how one thing leads to another. It's fascinating to discover that something you thought was a brand new idea actually had its root 35 years tallier. The Client Didn't Get It. Every designer has a closet full of proposals that were rejected by clients. In many cases, they reel these arc their most insightful works. The reasons for rejection are varied and complex, but frequently, than works represent our most transgressive and imaginative efforts. The professional requirement to succeed demands that the work be both understandable and acceptable to its targeted audience. On the other hand, the imagination feeds on failure and ambiguity, which stimulate the designer's mind and potentially raise it to a new level of understanding. Failure and ambiguity are difficult ideas to sell to a diem who simply wants to move more cans of tomatoes. Stumbling in the Dark. These prints continue the inquiry into the nature of perception. Does the difficulty of seeing these images — because of their darkness and lack of contrast — provoke the viewer to pay more attention? Or does it produce indifference and irritation? The interval between looking and seeing is one of communication's most profound issues. Designers often comment that in the act of creating what turns out to be their best work, they often experience a sense of doubt and confusion. How could it be otherwise? Certainty is a closing of the mind. To create the new, requires doubt. Or, to quote old man Picasso Art is a lie that reveals the truth.
An image of some art prints and text with the title: In Search of the Miraculous One Thing Leads to Another.

Glaser On Line

Oct 07 2010

Milton Glaser’s current exhibition at the AIGA National Headquarters in New York (October 1–November 24, 2010) is on line in the analog sense. He has created a veritable timeline of work described best by the title “In Search of the Miraculous or One Thing Leads to Another.”

This exhibition plots the path of Glaser’s design ideas over a period of time, demonstrating how one work influences another, and how “any two ideas brought together can produce a totally new idea that cannot be anticipated.”

See Steven Heller’s New York Times blog post here.

Download a PDF of Glaser’s “Users Manual” for the exhibit here.

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