Hallow-week

Our house in Tarrytown makes us denizens of Halloween Central. Last Saturday, the town held a parade, led by none other than the Headless Horseman. Possibly, the Headless Horseman doesn't count in the world of semiotics. In Tarrytown, however, the HH is synonymous with the Hudson Valley and, of course, symbolizes the crucial time of the year(OK, I'll admit it: in T'town, the Headless Horseman leads absolutely every parade, whether it's St. Patrick's Day or the Fourth of July, which means mixing messages).

But back to Halloween. I love the scarecrows lining Main Street for Halloween/Harvest season. I also love "Boo" in Bay Ridge (vernacular typography made at school?). By the way, is Halloween competing with Christmas/Xmas/Festivus for lights and decoration?

Seeing people in costume is such a hoot, whether the revelers are adults, teens, kids, or toddlers with nothing more than a funny hat. The idea of people masquerading as something as is amusing—and perhaps reassuring. Do you think that in our dire economy people are using Halloween as an excuse to get out of normal selves? Or has Halloween always been a form of collective exorcism, a carnivale at harvest time?

To discuss: Guy Fawkes Night, observed in England around this time of year but very much without candy.

Is Less Less?

Is using another layer of material really using less? I love what this hoarding on the Bowery, NYC, looks like, but the wood nailed atop a poster feels kinda like an unnecessary extravagance (A possible Philistine, I'm bracing for hurled tomatoes, shoes, and recycleables).

Untreated Strangeness

That's the title of an art show at Momenta Art in Williamsburg that's opening on Friday October 30 featuring George Porcari, Jorge Pardo, Naomi Fisher (and organized by Chris Kraus).

If you don't know his work already, I think you'd love George Pocari. An LA transplant from Lima, Peru, George Pocari photographs cities (and other things) from an outsider's perspective. The result is work is totally evocative... part Weegee, part Ruscha.

Rob says that whatever film stock Pocari is using, it's fantastic.

Wild Things

How funny that we're keeping the Roosevelt history in the family, so to speak. I love the name of "The River of Doubt," which applies to the economy and the Healthcare debate—or any kind of neurosis you want. The last pencil puts me in mind of the failed assassination attempt on TR (noted in one of the campaign books we worked on, but I can't find it in the well-written and info-and-image rich Hats in the Ring by Evan Cornog and the late Richard Whelan, so the links to other historical sources will simply have to do). A manuscript stopped the bullet; Roosevelt gave the speech, using the bloody script. Talk about passionate and visceral editing.

Teddy's taxidermied creature looks pretty good.

Speaking of creatures, I can't wait to see Spike Jonze's movie of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are." The movie site has a brilliant way to count the download time, which is a good thing because it takes a while to load. I was thrilled to see/hear the trailer and to recognize the music of Arcade Fire, which I know about thanks to you. In the absence of a shot of the movie posters, here are some wild things filtered through Barney's.

Roosevelts all around

How ironic that you went to visit Frank...just a few weeks ago I went on a tour of Teddy's boyhood home on East 20th Street (yes, I had some time to kill and 3 bucks!). You would kill for such real estate today: two adjoining brownstone townhomes!

Inspired by the "president" books we designed for Sperling, I took special note of all the little artifacts they had displayed, like these campaign ribbons:


Also funny was Colonel Roosevelt's "last pencil" on his expedition down the "River of Doubt" (1914). It's unclear whether this was the last pencil he had on the expedition, or the last pencil he used to write the book. I'm guessing it's the former, but the envelope totally makes the display:


Of course no exhibit about TR would be complete without some taxidermy animals. It's weird to be looking at a lion who's been dead over 100 years.

Happy Daze

Springwood, the home of FDR and site of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, is rich historically and visually. Comparisons between FDR and Obama are inevitable (it did seem to be a lot worse when FDR took office), but I had no idea that beer figured into Roosevelt's presidency. In 1932, campaign paraphernalia showed the wide anticipation that FDR would end Prohibition. He did. On March 12, 1933, he arguably called the first beer summit, saying, "I think this would be a good time for a beer."

The Museum houses other amazing items like some of FDR's early letters to his mother (how cool to see Roosevelt's early handwriting)..
One of my favorite artefacts is this 1933 sketch by Charles Coiner.

According to the wall text at the most excellent FDR Library and Museum in Hyde Park,

This drawing is believed to be the original sketch for the
NRA's famous blue eagle symbol. The ideal for the symbol came from NRA administrator Hugh Johnson, who based it on a Native American ideograph. The design was perfected by Charles Coiner of the N.W. Ayres Company, an advertising agency in New York City. This drawing was donated to the FDR Library and Museum in 1963 by Charles F. Horner, who served as special assistant to the administrator of the NRA.

To mix eras, metaphors, and men, if this sketch were done for the show "Mad Men," Don Draper would be Hugh Johnson and Charles Coiner would be Salvatore What's-his-Name.

The new directive

I can only assume they're going for the double meaning, but this is a little too bossy...even for me!

Frogs, Whales, and Construction Tales

The photos are still around; finding them provided a whale of a reason to procrastinate! The final image shows a reflection of McKim, Mead and White's Cable Building (home of BTD) in the new glass edifice. It could be worse, but I'm semi-sad that whale watching is no longer an option.

The neighborhood has gone to the . . . frogs?

There's a show opening in Chelsea on October 22 by Olive Ayhens titled Nature/Architecture (up at Frederieke Taylor Gallery) and it's all about extreme interiors and exteriors. I'm wondering if these buildings are imaginary because I'd swear that, except for the giant frogs hanging about, this is the building that replaced the Whale of a Wash carwash across from Beth's BTD office!



Beth, can you confirm? Do you still have Whale of a Wash photos and its architectural replacement?

and R is for Roma

The packaging on this Roma Plastilina modeling material is so lovely and evocative that it deserved a mention. I do believe, however, that the clay is actually from a hundred-year-old company in the United States...maybe even as close as Brooklyn!

On a technical type note, using that lovely tall serif type for the word Plastilina certainly helps distinguish between all those i's and l's and makes the word more readable. If you're looking at the blog online, we've used a sans serif and you can see how confusing it looks the other way: ROMA PLASTILINA.

M for mapping

The distressed "M" on this late-night train shows that a little natural aging never hurt a strong letterform. The multiple cracks evoke rivers / maps (a lame-o tie-in to your last post about mapping?).

Mapping it

The online daily magazine The Morning News often showcases some pretty nice art, and today's Gallery section (October 12) is no exception. They've written about a book titled The Map As Art edited by Katharine Harmon (from Princeton Architectural Press). It's all about how artists are rethinking cartography.

I especially love this piece by Matthew Cusick titled “Fiona’s Wave,” 2005. It's created by collaging maps from geography books.


And this map of Europe (complete with Italy's boot!) by Corriette Schoenaerts (“Europe,” 2005).


Check out the full gallery at The Morning News here.
Photos Princeton Architectural Press, all rights reserved.

Yankee New Home

A few weeks ago, Pat and I were guests of friends at the new Yankee Stadium. In addition to a gorgeous field, the new house that Ruth built boasts a lot of food courts with very spiffy graphics. Branding abounds. Most of the stadium is a homerun, but the letterforms for "Yankee Stadium" strike out to me. With such a sophisticated approach to every other detail in the stadium, I'm perplexed about why the letterforms look cheesy condensed.

Matching type

I can't tell if these posted bills were put up together on purpose!