Looking Back

Yesterday was the first time I had been in an interview room since my own interview at Hostos nearly two years ago. It is quite an awesome responsibility to be selecting a new professor for the Hostos Digital Programs – very heavy stuff, to be sure. It got me thinking about one of the most important qualities important to being a professor, a co-worker, and an academic: being a good listener.
The act of listening is a precious one. As a professor, I often feel as if I never stop talking. Even if I am conducting a group discussion, I feel the need to move the conversation along and be ready with the next question. Is this really necessary? What would happen if I kept a bit more quiet? How would this change learning outcomes?
As I prepare for the Hostos Design Lab at MASS MoCA, I would like to keep these questions top-of-mind. Let’s open our ears, people!

Big Bambu

I was looking through my iPhone pictures just now and reliving the past year or so.  One very expansive section of photos I came to was that taken on the roof at the Met at Big Bambu.  This installation by brothers Doug + Mike Starn was an ever-growing and changing structure made of bamboo.  The artists had a team of rock climbers (expert knot-tiers) building it.  I took my parents to see it last summer and we even were able to go on a tour through the first section.  It was amazing walking in the sky above Central Park within what seemed to be a structured forest.  The experience was unlike any other.  One detail that I’ve taken with me, as well, has to do with how the rock climbers began to take ownership of the project.  The “workers” became part of the creative team each time they made a decision.  One climber even felt that the space would benefit from a bench and spent his next few days building into the side of one of the elevated walkways a seating area.  It was beautiful — even if it reminded me a little of the bone piano that Andi has to play in Goonies.

I guess I’m thinking about how much I wish for the Hostos Design Lab to inspire our students to contribute their own creative forces to our project.  It might not be their idea and they might not be the leader of the pack, but I want each of them to see how working on that bench off to the side can make the whole a much more unique and special place.

Getting Ready for Hostos Design Lab 2011

This is the first year ever for the Hostos Design Lab.  Professor Sarah Sandman and I are taking fourteen Hostos students and alums to MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA for a 12-day design intensive.  Thrilled for the upcoming experience — both our experience and that of the students, the countdown has truly begun.  Currently I am pretty nervous about logistics and the management of an around-the-clock situation like this.  I will be sharing my personal thoughts and reflections from the trip here on Design + Popcorn.