Friday, November 22, 2019

Kjaerholm's PK80 Leather Benches at the MoMA


Whenever we go to the MoMA, in addition to the abstract art, we're drawn to the benches. Not only to take a rest upon, but, for years, we've been trying to determine if the benches are upholstered in leather. And it turns out that they are! 

Here's what is posted on Modern Design Interior about the leather benches:

Poul Kjaerholm PK80 Bench: a modernist masterpiece™ by Stardust.com™. The distinctive minimalist PK80 Bench was designed by Poul Kjaerholm (Danish spelling is Poul Kjærholm) in 1957 and is produced by Fritz Hansen in Denmark. In typically Scandinavian fashion, Poul Kjaerholm opted for steel as his primary furniture construction material but combined it with wood and leather to give it an understated luxurious elegance. 

Poul Kjaerholm's PK80 is a sculpture by itself, but with an understated, subtle quality that makes it ideally suited for accompanying art. PK80 was specified by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York where it is used as a museum bench. Claude Monet's Water Lilies (1914-26) and Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31 (1951), look absolutely stunning when observed from the equally iconic PK80 bench.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Does Good Writing Equal Poor Speaking?

Caroline Wright's speaking writing

Vladimir Nabokov shared in the foreword to Strong Opinions: "I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child." 

Thus, Nabokov considered himself a good writer but a poor speaker. So much so, that his lectures and interviews were pre-written. Nabokov shared:

"Throughout my academic ascent in America from lean lecturer to Full Professor, I have never delivered to my audience one scrap of information not prepared in typescript beforehand and not held under my eyes on the bright-lit lectern."

"The interviewer's questions have to be sent to me in writing, answered by me in writing, and reproduced verbatim. Such are the three absolute conditions."

We suspect that Nabokov is not an anomaly in this regard. What about you? As your writing improved, did you seen a decline in your speaking ability?