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Industrial design is front and center at SFMOMAMuseums continue to focus our attention on the artistic value of "industrial design," as it's still known, even if it's a perfume bottle. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has opened an exhibit by internationally renowned designer Yves Behar, including sleek, colorful shoes for gardening made by old reliable Birkenstock.
When it comes to furniture, accessories, kitchenware and other household items, this might be the mantra: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
That sounds high-flown, maybe a passage from the back-of-the-book essay in the magazine Martha Stewart Living. In fact, those are the words of English designer, craftsman and socialist William Morris. It's a passage from his book titled "The Beauty of Life," no less.
Morris wanted to toss Victorian bric-a-brac in the rubbish bin and revive honest, hand-crafted, almost medieval workmanship. No matter that the working class couldn't afford the new Arts and Crafts goods. "I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few or freedom for a few," Morris insisted.
In the 20th century, modern design triumphed in some circles, and it's interesting to see its progress in the art deco exhibit at the Legion of Honor museum.
On displa
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April 28, 2004 | Viewed 21,042 time(s)
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