From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4@msn.com)
Date: Wed Jul 31 2002 - 16:49:38 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: bern
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 3:47 PM
Subject: July 2002 Eames Office Newsletter
July 2002
Eames Office Newsletter
Dear Friend of the Eames Office,
After much hard work and effort by all concerned, I am very happy to
report that the latest version of the Powers of Ten exhibition has
just opened at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park. Like every version before it, it has expanded on
previous presentations of the exhibit, but I think it is safe to say
that this is our fullest exploration to date. The exhibition will be
on display at the Academy through early January 2003. If you are in
the area, please check it out.
Working with the team at the Academy, some of the new features
include: at every Power of Ten there is a little kind of mini-exhibit
about that scale, including some text and images and often an
artifact that relates to that Power of Ten. For example, at 10 to
the 9th, where we see the orbit of the moon, we display an actual
moon rock from the Academy's collection. At 10 to the 25th, a
billion light years, we display a 4-billion year old meteorite from
Meteor Crater in Arizona. There is something everywhere. We also
have 6 video kiosks in the show, one showing the Mandelbrot Set
sequence that we did for the CD-ROM; another showing Toccata for Toy
Trains; one on the planets, a fairly simple video just showing NASA
footage of each of the planets. But we also created 3 new videos,
including interviews with the remarkable people at the Academy as
well as other scientists. Each interview is about 7-10 minutes long.
All the videos are intended to give a feeling for how people think
about various powers of ten.
For example, in the video on people who think about small Powers of
Ten, entomologist Dave Kavanaugh in talking about insects proposes
this thought. "If you can imagine that being hit by a raindrop would
be a more serious event for you in your life, life-threatening, more
so than jumping off or falling off the Empire State Building and
hitting the ground. If you can imagine that, that's the kind of
world we're talking about. So that everything is turned around for
insects. Small things like a raindrop, or someone spitting on the
ground or stepping on the ground wipes them out completely as an
individual." Quotes like this give a real feel for what it means to
think about the microworld.
Somehow the modeling of ideas always comes up when one talks about
the Powers of Ten. The larger scales are no exception: in the video
on how people think about very big Powers of Ten, Astrobiologist
Carol Tang says " . . . Astrobiology in the broadest sense is trying
to understand life in the universe and of course, since this is the
only place where we know there's life, this is our model. If we're
going to look for life on other planets, we probably are not going to
be looking at living things, we're probably going to be looking at
fossils. . "
One of my favorite quotes is from entomologist Charles Griswold. We
have a little section in the exhibit on biodiversity from the
standpoint of scale. I was asking him who he was thinking about when
he worked--who would be the readers. He replied (and it is part of
the video), "I think my primary audience is other scientists. I
wouldn't necessarily call them colleagues because many are not even
born yet -- just as the people that I learned from, many of them have
been dead hundreds of years. Science, and especially the science of
systematic biology, that is the science of discovery of living things
and the understanding of their relationships, their evolutionary
history, their geography in the world, is really a multi-generational
task. The scope is so great that it is far beyond any one person or
group of people to ask these questions and find their answers. . . "
One consistent idea with all these videos and quotes is to remind the
viewer that these vastly large and infinitesimal small orders of
magnitude are explored by fellow citizens of the world like
themselves, albeit particularly insightful ones. We'll be webcasting
some of these videos over the next few months.
A few other notes: if you click on http://www.powersof10.com youll
see a slide show from our recently closed Powers of Ten installation
at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
Also, if you are in Los Angeles be sure to make some time to visit
MATHEMATICA at the California Science Center, July 12 2002 to
September 8 2002.
Only a few slots are left, but consider joining us on Wednesday,
August 14th from 7-10 p.m. for a cocktail reception and screening of
"Lucy's House," the documentary we made highlighting the work of the
2002 Rural Studio Program at Auburn University and which I mentioned
in the last newsletter. The film is sponsored by Interface and will
be screened in the meadow at the Eames House. Space is VERY limited.
For map and directions, RSVP to TrishaBDE@aol.com or 212.353.1383 by
August 7th.
Thanks,
Eames Demetrios
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH: Eames Address Book: Plywood-bound address
book with an Eames wire chair imprinted on the cover. 144 pages with
alpha tab sections include 21 b/w and full color Eames images. 5
5/8" x 5 1/2" $16.95 US Dollars. Check out the book at our on-line
store http://www.eamesoffice.com/catalog/index
EAMES EVENTS
MATHEMATICA
An exciting, interactive exhibition celebrating celestial mechanics,
probability, topology, minimal surfaces, projective geometry,
multiplication, and the Moebius band.
California Science Center, Los Angeles CA
July 12 2002 to September 8 2002
http://www.casciencectr.org
POWERS OF TEN TRAVELING EXHIBITION
Site-specific images integrated with classic Powers of Ten images
California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park, San Francisco CA
June 29 2002 through January 5, 2003
http://www.calacademy.org
3-D PHOTO EXHIBITION: "to recognize an instant and not let it pass"
Stereoscopic photos taken in the 1950s by Charles and Ray Eames
Eames Office Gallery & Store 2665 Main Street Santa Monica
Through August 31 2002
http://eamesoffice.com/gallery
"THIN SKIN: THE FICKLE NATURE OF BUBBLES, SPHERES, AND
INFLATABLE STRUCTURES"
A traveling exhibition curated by Independent Curators International
exploring our existence on Earth includes the classic Eames film,
Powers of Ten.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Arizona
May 25-September 15, 2002
www.scottsdalearts.org
EAMES IN PRINT
Michael Webb suggests that "An Eames Primer" by Eames Demetrios is
an "engaging" account" offering new insights into the work of Charles
and Ray Eames.
LA Architect, Los Angeles."BOOKS" May/June 2002, pp.20.
Travelling? In Los Angeles at our gallery, we have an exhibit of 3-D
photographs taken in the 1950s by Charles and Ray. If you are in San
Francisco, please visit our latest incarnation of the Powers of Ten
show at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. And,
if you happen not to be travelling, I hope you'll find time to check
out my new book, An Eames Primer. Copies are available in the Santa
Monica gallery and a chapter is available online at
http://www.eamesoffice.com/primer.html
The Eames Office is dedicated to communicating, preserving, and
extending the work of Charles and Ray Eames.
Bernadine
Eames Office
P: 310.459.9663
F: 310. 454.4413
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