Monographs are soooooooo 20th Century.

Last Thursday night I heard Kenya Hara speak about his book Designing Design and about some of the exhibitions and concepts he has been exploring. Couple that with the fact that I promised myself no more epic blog posts (ala "be the change you want to see in the world"), having my mind blown by what I've read in his book so far, and the fact that I should be writing me thesis proposal right now, I'll just present a few short key points that have made an impression on me...

• In publishing his book Hara discovered that being the author is preferable to being the subject. He mentioned that monographs belonged to the 20th century. I'm glad for that—since reading his philosophy is much more enjoyable than reading what could have been someone else discussing his work alone.

• As designers, we have 2 ways to create: focus our energy upwards and outwards, expanding and constantly looking for the "new" or looking inward and reevaluating what we have and what we know (and think we know). This process of exformation allows for us to see how little we actually know about the world around us instead of exhibiting what we do know. Creativity is discovering the new, but is also discovering the unknown in the known.

• Human beings are a bundle of senses. Always consider the mediums through which you are communicating to maximize the users experience. Don't only awaken the senses; make them drool.

• And finally, when asked about the difference between emptiness and minimalism, Hara said that minimalism is about shedding excess that resulted from monarchic decadence and nationalism. Emptiness is a Japanese concept. Japan was very heavily influenced by other cultures. When it finally couldn't take anymore Japan become aware of its state and wanted to empty itself (15th century). It's not that it is nothing, just that anything can be put in it.

I highly recommend this book. It's full of a lot of 'big' ideas (for my brain at least!) and is the kind of book you'll want to read with your sketch book close by. Although I wish it included more pictures from his exhibitions the book definitely showcases a wide enough range of work.

You can purchase his book online or in the new Muji store in Soho.