Hasta La Ideas

New dating site Cheek’d
attempts to capitalize on social cowardice by offering a set of witty cards for either simply handing out, surreptitiously slipping into a pocket, left on a table, or given to a friend to carry out the dirty work.

The card informs the unsuspecting recipient that they’ve been Cheek’d and directs them to your profile where they can presumably make a better impression than stammering a well-worn line in the bar, coffee shop, laundromat, parent-teacher conference—or wherever the chance encounter took place.

While not nearly as regimented as speed dating or as creepy as missed connections, Cheek’d allows social cowards to hide behind the Internet to meet real people in real life.

The cards run $25 for a deck of 50, which includes a month of service. To continue longer, it will cost $10 a month, but the novelty could wear off within that amount of time.

Fresh off his taking over at the Cooper-Hewitt, IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge will soon be kicking off a series of hosted conversations with important design people, aptly called and homespun sounding, “Bill’s Design Talks.” The first arrives next Thursday the 27th, from 6:30 to 8:00 at the Cooper, but will also be streamed live online; a nice plus for all of you/us outside of that thriving metropolis. And because it’s always wise to start strong, Moggridge has decided to start with as fine a line up as they come. The details:

A partner at Pentagram, critic at Yale and co-founder of Design Observer, [Michael Bierut] is one of the world’s most admired graphic designers. We at Cooper-Hewitt were thrilled with the design that he created for our Triennial exhibition catalog! He will be the first presenter in a new series of conversations, Bill’s Design Talks, moderated by Bill Moggridge.

Yves Ludwig is the graphic designer at Pentagram who developed the full design for the Triennial catalog. She and Michael will show the design process as a case study and discuss the design of this piece in a broader context, followed by a discussion with members of the contributing team at the museum.

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People who struggle with clutter often buy new products/gadgets/clothing/doodads with the hope that these objects will bring happiness/perfection/success/joy. Then, hours or even minutes later, disappointment sets in when the person realizes that the object isn’t as amazing as he had hoped. The only time an object tends to bring any sort of real satisfaction is when there is a real need for it — your heater breaks down in the middle of winter, so you buy a new furnace and you’re glad you once again have heat.

The show Talk of the Nation on NPR covered this topic on a grand scale when it interviewed Meghan Daum, author of the book Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, on May 5 in a segment called “Searching For A Perfect Life ‘In That House’.” Through years of buying house after house, Daum found herself searching for the perfect house in hopes of achieving a perfect life:

You know, I think one of the things that we get into, especially in this country, is just this idea that the house is going to save our lives. You know, only a house can make you whole. That was really the idea that I had.

She continues:

You know, like I say, it’s not the biggest it’s more than just the biggest purchase you’ll ever make. It’s like, you know, it’s a repository for every ambition and anxiety and really, everything about yourself. It’s a container for all your goals and your tastes and what you want out of life.

From the interview, it’s clear that the houses she has owned have not brought her closer to the perfect life. The houses have brought difficulties, not bliss. She needed to be happy with who she was before she could find happiness in a home.

A bigger home won’t solve your clutter problems, and the “perfect” house won’t curb your desire to buy more, more, more or transform your life. The real solution is to fix your relationship with your possessions and get things under control in your current living situation.

What if an ancient lost city was discovered beneath Regent’s Park in London? Sure, it sounds like the premise of a special transatlantic episode of Scooby-Doo, but Simon Fujiwara will bring it to life this October at Frieze Art Fair. The multimedia artist (at right), who is based in Berlin and Mexico City, is the winner of the 2010 Cartier Award, which allows an emerging artist based outside the United Kingdom to realize a major project at Frieze. The award provides production costs of up to £10,000 (approximately $15,000, at current exchange), an artist’s fee of £1,000 ($1,500) and a three-month residency at Gasworks in South London. Past Cartier Award recipients include Mika Rottenberg, Mario Garcia Torres, and Jordan Wolfson. As part of the Frieze Projects program, this year curated by Sarah McCrory, Fujiwara will create “Frozen,” an installation that will aim to convince fairgoers that they’re standing upon the site of a historic civilization. Scattered throughout the fair will be archaeological digs, displays of found artifacts, and graphic panels depicting a hub of art and commerce that has been lost to the ages.

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