Artist Lecture #3 - Paola Antonelli

Yesterday I went to the lecture by Paola Antonelli, it was some pretty interesting stuff. She is a design expert, architect, teacher, author and curator for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her exhibitions looked interesting but it's hard to talk about them because of the limited amount of images. She did talk about some interesting things though. What I liked most was what she was saying about the interactions between scientists and designers. I think it is important that scientists and designers stay connected and work intimately with one another for the bettering of future technology and goods. I thought it was funny what she said about scientists not making their powerpoints look too elegant because they would not be taken seriously.

With new technology comes new possibilities, her speaking of the great change in ease of making a plastic chair reminded me of recording music. When I got into home recording, I didn't realize the quality that is possible these days. I expected that in order to get a decent recording you had to go to a real studio, but with improvements in technology it is becoming more and more possible to make studio-sounding recordings with just a laptop and minimal equipment.

Something else that she said that I thought was really interesting and I believe is probably true, was that she thinks if children can look at art and enjoy it then it is probably good. Children have the best opinions about that sort of thing because they haven't gotten their minds all mixed up yet. They don't have the same inhibitions and preconceptions that soil the way older people see things.