Avoiding bad habits the Eames way
In preparing for a visit to NeoCon 2009, I’ve been doing a fair bit of research on the utterly fascinating lives of Charles and Ray Eames.
The Eameses, as most of you know, created, well, everything. Furniture. Graphics. Sculptures. Medical equipment. Films.
In the 1930s, Charles, at the time somewhat frustrated with his architectural practice, picked up and left for Mexico. There, wandering and scraping for money, he made a decision. He vowed not to
“take any . . . job — the objective of which you don’t agree with. . . . [T]his has all kinds of advantages to it. You can bring your whole self to it; you don’t have any half experiences. It also means that you don’t take a job that you know is wrong, but you take it as a stepping stone. That’s no good. It . . . leads to all kinds of bad habits.”
Bonus: The 15 Things That Charles and Ray Teach Us
Love the Eames – we named our daughter after Ray – though we went with a slightly more feminine spelling Rae
I like introducing friends to the Eames’ work through the DVD box set I have of their films. I start with “Powers of Ten”. If their minds aren’t completely blown to smithereens I show them more.
Dan, I think you should take jobs that you don’t agree with. This is the path to true systemic change in our world PERIOD-FULL STOP 😉
Good points, although I don’t share your opinion 100%.