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Last night at the posh W Hotel in San Francisco, architect David Rockwell (he helped design the itty-bitty sets for Team America!) gave a photo-rich presentation about Spectacle, his new book with Bruce Mau (rated an 8/10 in 14.11). With beautiful glossy prints and interviews with a range of folks like Dave Hickey and John Waters, Spectacle examines several large-scale happenings from around the globe – everything from the Olympics to the Kumbh Mela in India that attracts 70 million people (yes, that's MILLION).
Also on hand last night was Kevin Kelly*, who showed photos from Burning Man and threw out a fun little meme: Wikispectacles
Talking of the splendor of a gift economy (ex: if you want pancakes in the desert, you’re bound to find someone who is a) cooking 'em and b) serving ‘em up for free), Kelly put it in rather simple terms: “You give to the universe and get the spectacle in return…” Everyone at BM, he noted, is allowed to bring his/her own unique something to it. Granted there’s no edit button, but then again, each year the slate is wiped clean and the virtual city can be reconstructed and "improved" upon, so there…
Aside from the free wine, delicious salmon Hors d'oeuvres and the presence of a middle-aged man wearing a beret with the utmost sincerity, the evening wasn’t much of a “spectacle.”
But hey, how’re you really gonna top something like this ?
This film, shown last night, whittles the creation & disassembly of the entire Brussels flower carpet into two minutes.
Stay tuned for a short email Q&A with Rockwell…
*DISCLOSURE: Kevin Kelly publishes Cool Tools, the blog I am currently guest editing when I’m not under the wire.
