The “Design USA: Contemporary Innovation” exhibit is open at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the New York Times writes it “is less an exhibition than an extra-large design seminar in your head.” I’m not sure if the Times means that as a compliment, but I do like their slideshow. The exhibit features the winners of the National Design Award since it was founded in 2000 (I’m proud that my partners and I were Finalists for that award a few years back ourselves). Both the exhibit and the accompanying iPod tour were designed by Design Award recipients 2×4. From the review:
But the bulk of the exhibition takes place in the palm of your hand, on a specially programmed iPod Touch, the nonphone (but wireless-enabled) version of the iPhone. Apple has lent the museum a hundred of the devices in what is either a brilliant promotional move or — given the Cooper-Hewitt’s design-minded demographic — a case of pushing to the converted. They provide access to a wealth of interviews, slide shows and snippets of performances, all related to the 78 architects and designers represented in the show. Available free, this device sends the traditional audio guide the way of the one-horse buggy.
It also turns the museum into your own private rabbit hole. The guide may be coming soon to an art exhibition near you, where it could be a fatal distraction from the art on view. But it works seamlessly in a show that is design through and through.
