Just happened upon this extensive list of information visualization examples. Is it wrong that this gets me all hot and bothered? I’ve bookmarked a few more visualization resources at del.icio.us, if you’re interested.
Sorry, loyal followers. I know it’s been a couple of days since my last update from Germany. In the meantime, I’ve taken some interesting walks south of the old part of town into neighborhoods with newer architecture and a little more, well, neighborhoody vibrancy.
I went to the K20, a modern art museum, yesterday. The collection wasn’t huge, but it felt really cohesive, and it all worked together on my mind in this sort of additive way that made feel really gloomy but really present here on European soil.
They had lots of stuff from the German artists Joseph Beuys (weirdly dark, primal forms). There were a few paintings from Max Ernst. Visually rich dadaist stuff. I especially liked a dark painting populated with what appeared to be hollow birds? There was a lot of work from Paul Klee. Surprisingly, less appealing than I expected. Some of it was really lovely but the bulk of it was probably too geographic and abstract for my taste — with that said, I really adored this one:
There were also rooms and rooms of lithographs from Gerhard Attenberg, an east German who was productive in the late 40s. He produced these trippy, sketchy, mutilated looking portraits of people that seemed vaguely human, vaguely insect, vaguely machine. Really depressing, unsettling stuff.
Finally, there were several Marc Chagal paintings with strongly Jewish themes that made me realize, perhaps for the first time, how profoundly unreal and haunting it is to be in a place where whole groups of people died in the way they did during World War II. No new realizations here, but I guess I’ve never knowingly experienced that first hand.
One of the things I am enjoying most about my stay at the Parkhotel is the nightly shoe cleaning service. Just leave your shoes in the little basket outside your door, and the next morning, you’ve got a nice shiny pair of shoes.
I have a little crush on Jack, who came to visit with his parents last weekend. Evan and Brenda, you’re alright too.
(This is a bit of non-sequiter given my current adventures in the Rhineland, but what the hey? Here are a couple of photos from recent walks around San Francisco.)
After fifteen hours in transit, happiness is a fluffy bed.
They’re giving us champagne and the plane hasn’t even taken off yet.
My trip to Germany begins auspiciously when my colleague Henning gets us upgraded to business class. Now this is legroom.
Hello?
Ben Davies just said that it’s not possible to update my web site instantaneously. I just showed him!
The OLPCs finally arrived at Adaptive Path. My dear colleague Kate was so excited that she had to take a picture, and I was so excited that I had to take a picture of Kate!
Little piglets on Jessie street
"Klassik" by Lynne
My friends Ben and Sarah just visited this vintage furniture store in Emeryville. I’ve never heard of it before, but now I really want to go. I’m posting it on the blog so you all can remind me, “Hey, Leah, did you ever visit that vintage furniture store in Emeryville?"
In Petaluma today watching Heather at Scottish dancing competition. There’s something utterly arresting about walking into a room full of little girls flinging in unison.
Feltron Eight Annual Report
Chris just turned me on to this. Why have I never heard of this before? Designer Nicholas Felton’s personal annual report is full of of fascinating charts, graphs, and numbers — thoughtfully employed and beautifully designed. It’s a visualization party!
“Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design:
• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design helps us to understand a product.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is durable.
• Good design is consequent to the last detail.
• Good design is concerned with the environment.
• Good design is as little design as possible.”
SF conventioner mob at the Moscone Center, this time for Macworld.
The Story of Stuff
This is 20 minutes long but fascinating and important. Watch it!
My aunt Chrissy was married to a fine gentleman named Sean last weekend. She made a classic, sort of deco bride. More photos of the wedding are here.