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This
fall I've been drawn to stories of the Great Depression,
hardship in the West, and books and articles about
cultures in which consuming is not the primary
means of interacting with our fellow Earthlings.
Design
as a method of solving real problems seems more
important now than ever, and I'm reminded of my
father's mantra: Design is a trade, not a fine
art. Whether graphic design ever completely escapes
its entwined nature with fine art is probably
up to the institutions of higher learning, but
finding real trades for our people of all ages
should be a goal of educators and parents and
citizens, I think.
Having
lost my mom in April, I feel lost at sea sometimes.
She was a consummate designer in three dimensions,
using materials with an intrinsic understanding
of their natures. In her barn in Pennsylvania,
I rediscovered the reed bed (head and foot) she'd
done for Sphere Magazine in the 70s. This was
made out of a heavy reed, but during that same
period our kitchen often smelled like boiling
willow, because she was experimenting with all
kinds of weaving. She used willow in her book,
Outdoor Art For Kids, for which my brother (Tom
Kinser 1961-1980) and I were the sometimes unwilling
creators and models.
This
fall, rowing on the Petaluma River, I smell the
willow again, the one that weeps deeply from our
boatyard by the dock. Strange, how things that
once troubled me (as in, how long are we going
to be inhaling willow steam?) now comfort.
So as
fall turns to winter in Northern California, I
think of how things change, and how sometimes
our perceptions can change completely. For example,
when I came back from Japan in 2000, I was shocked
by the McMansions dotting the fields, all facing
in different directions, as if they'd wandered
out onto that farmland themselves, got lost, and
just sat down. What on earth do we need all that
space for, I wondered. Now, I am happy to be reading,
in almost every publication or blog I come across,
that McMansions are wasteful, that consumerism
as we knew it (must've happened in the 80s, when
I was preoccupied with philosophy at St. John's
College, and then moved to Japan) is over.
Thank
goodness we are coming to our senses. Too bad
it didn't happen sooner.
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Welcome
to my site. For 20 years I've been writing magazine
and newspaper articles and books about design, architecture,
and Japan. On maggietext.com, you'll find links
to some of my favorite work, as well as comments
on recent ideas. Feel free to 
