Good news: All of the orders for “The Anarchist’s Design Book” shipped out today. We thank you for both your patience and your impatience. We hope the book will be worth your wait.
I barely remember our book-release party on Saturday for the “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” That had nothing to do with alcohol (I think I had time to drink only two beers all night) and had everything with too much social stimulation.
But the one thing I do remember is a line I heard over and over: “The pieces from the book look much better in person than they do in photographs.”
The problem isn’t the photos. Narayan Nayar’s pictures of the pieces are outstanding. Instead, I think the comment relates to the unfamiliar forms and raking legs, which are difficult to depict in two dimensions. It’s the same parallax problem that plagues joint stools. The legs never look like they are angled the same. Sometimes one pair looks vertical and the other looks oddly raked.
So if you want to see some of these pieces in person, I recommend you make wire models of them using scraps and clothes hangers. Or stop by the Lost Art Press storefront on April 9 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. In addition to all of our books, we have special T-shirts, stickers, posters and other merchandise that won’t work in our online store.
I’ll be there, as will my daughter Katy, who will be selling her Anarchist’s Daughter Soft Wax (we hope to be able to make enough to sell it online soon).
In the meantime I guess I better make some rectilinear Morris chairs to get back some furniture cred.
— Christopher Schwarz