Hey, Eric here with 30 by 40 Design Workshop.
I've been studying the work and life of Charles and Ray Eames a lot lately and what I've come
to really admire, more so than any particular work of architecture, or furniture that they
made, is that they found a way to be lifelong - I guess - professional amateurs.
They embraced the journey of solving problems - this path from not knowing to knowing - and
they made it their life's work.
Charles was an architecture school dropout, Ray was educated as a painter.
And, rather than being bound to one particular job description they were designers in the
broadest sense.
They were filmmakers, architects, industrial designers, marketers, photographers, typographers,
educators, and fabricators, and the world was their canvas for their art.
Each new discipline that they encountered was explored, or even exploited; each was
a lens, a means for viewing their work, and the world around them, more completely and
with fresh eyes.
In their life, there were no boundaries, there was no work-life balance, work was life and
life was their work.
Life was art, art was design, all were seamless.
And, design - for them - was a process of learning by doing.
If no one was hiring them to do their best work, they simply commissioned it.
If they wanted to learn how to connect wood and steel, or bend plywood, they physically
worked with those materials.
If they wanted to sell furniture at scale, they researched, experimented, and made prototype
after prototype until it worked.
If they wanted to learn about films, they made movies.
This ethos is finding its way into my life and practice and so, this is simply a thank
you to Charles and Ray for reminding me that it's perfectly acceptable, practical, even
profitable, to be an amateur, to not know what I'm doing, or where I'm headed.
It's a thank you for the reminder to embrace ignorance and to welcome it, because it allows
me to appreciate nuance in the world, to see it for what it is.
In this spirit, earlier this year I made a film.
And, if you're new to the channel and you haven't seen it I really want you to watch
it and then I want you to find someone who needs to hear the message that's in it and
share it with them.
Now, although I use architecture as the lens, the subject matter is universal.
So, I released it here to you all on YouTube first, but I also entered it into the Architecture
and Design Film Festival, which is a film festival held in New York City - now I think
it's in its ninth year - and I'm really excited to announce that from among some 300 submissions
- real actual films - it was selected as one of 30 that will be screened, not only in New
York, but also Chicago, and Los Angeles.
All this is happening next week.
And, next weekend I'm headed to New York to see it with my family and if you are going
or if you're in the New York City area I'd love it if you could come.
I'll be at the Chelsea Cinépolis or Cinepolis, however one says that word.
I'll be there on Saturday, November 4th; the screening will be held both Saturday and Sunday
and I'll link up all the info in the cards and the description below.
Please come say hi, introduce yourself.
You all know what I look like, but I won't recognize you so please do say hi.
Now, there's a lot of really great films to see there - in addition to mine - there's:
Glen Murcutt, the AIA ‘I Look Up’ film challenge winners, there's Columbus, which
is the first feature-length film to be screened at ADFF, there's films about Zaha, Gehry and
Kevin Roche, there are talks and symposia, so come and feed your intellect.
And, if you're not able to attend, some of these are actually making their way around
the US and the world right now, Columbus was just in my local art house cinema and some
have even been released right here on YouTube.
Thanks again for all your support, for keeping me accountable to make new things each week,
I hope it inspires you to do the same and seek out some of what Charles and Ray Eames
defined for themselves: a life of their making, of their choosing.
See you again next time.
Cheers!