Bruce Mau doesn't do anything small. The provocative graphic designer produced the 1,376-page Rem Koolhaas tome S,M,L,XL and the 45,000-square-foot biodiversity museum at the mouth of the Panama Canal. His latest project, Massive Change, is like a world's fair hopped up on human growth hormone. The exhibition opens October 2 at the Vancouver Art Gallery and showcases catalytic inventions, including the Gizmo electric vehicle, Herman Miller's recyclable Mirra chair, and Dean Kamen's Stirling engine. But that's not all. There's also an accompanying book, radio program, online forum, and documentary film. Massive Change is, well, massive. What's the big deal? Mau explains.
WIRED: What is Massive Change about?
MAU: There's a revolution going on. It connects outcome with action; it closes the loop on the abstract processes we live with. We could say the process is about purpose. The capacity of design has evolved in such a way that responsibilities are changing. We want to take design out of the classical discipline and make it a part of the general, popular discourse.
How would you alter the way people think about design?
For most, design is purely object-based - it's furniture, rooms, teapots, clothing. But everything in the world is being designed. There is a chicken in Israel with no feathers. It was designed for the poorest regions. The amount of water needed to process a chicken is huge; with no feathers, it doesn't need as much, and it's comfortable in the hottest climate. First audiences see it as a monstrosity, but it represents the solving of a design problem.
What got you started on this project?
A quote from Lester B. Pearson, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. He talked about how for the first time in the history of the planet, island ecologies were being forced into relationships with one another. And Arnold Toynbee. He said that the 20th century's legacy would not be technology. He dared to imagine the best for mankind. Fifty years later, we want to find out if Pearson and Toynbee were right.
Why are you so optimistic about the future?
If you ask people about what's happening in the world, most respond with a negative answer. This negativity is related to our astounding capacity to normalize invented things. We design an invention, produce it, and distribute it in only 18 months, and the world accepts it as if it's always been the norm. If you check the Human Development Index since 1820, all lines point radically upward. Yes, there are still horrible disparities, and mistakes are made, but overall, true progress - as in longer lives and increased wealth - is the real story.
- Reena Jana
credit Phaidon
On exhibit: Fordés Model U eco-friendly concept car.
credit Phaidon
On exhibit: a NASA satellite image of the California-Mexico border
credit Phaidon
On exhibit: the burned-out control room of Chernobylés Reactor 4
credit Phaidon
On exhibit: compacted oil drums
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