This lecture was incredible. I was exhausted from a very long day of portfolio reviews, and as I scurried into the Grace St Theater about 5 minutes late I realized the only free seat was in the very front row. It had a coat on it, and I asked the woman next to it, "may I sit here?" to which she replied, "it is the speaker's seat, but you may have mine," as she, Paola Antonelli, got up to shake hands with the woman whom had just introduced her. So I had just taken Paola's seat, and was ready to be awed. The room was filed not with students but very professional, and older, listeners- this was obviously an important person. She was trained in architecture, and is currently the Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art. She was recently rated as one of the top 100 most powerful people in the art world by Art Review. She has taught design history and theory at UCLA, Harvard, and across Europe.
She spoke eloquently, and had brilliant ideas. Her most recent project is an attempt to acquire a Boeing 747 for the MOMA, and discussed the idea of things being owned by the public, but used privately all over the globe for free, like this symbol: @
I was impressed with an analogy she made, saying you have to keep an open mind, leave things open ended, for more room for interpretation, and eat lard with honey. By combining unexpected flavors you can create wonderful concepts and ideas. She was very funny, explaining the difficulties of curating design shows, saying that the MOMA is where Americans go to get their dose of Matisse and Picasso, so luring them into design exhibitions needs to be craftily done- as if sticking mosquitoes to tape.
