| January 8, 2005 |
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Doodles, Drafts & Designs
Before  the days of gee-whiz computers and ooh-aah miniature displays, architects and engineers brainstormed with paintbrushes, ink pens, and rulers, and were artists in their own right. In this thoroughly hypnotic collection of industrial blueprints, look for the shimmering color fields of Mark Rothko in an early Crayola crayon color test, the sleek art deco stylings of a motorboat design, or the Da Vinci symmetries of Maidenform's 1938 brassiere. Even the stuff that didn't work out looked pretty on paper -- an ill-fated electro-mechanical fly catcher, for example, or a wonderfully abstract automatic compound bevel wheel cutting machine. Curator of this Smithsonian exhibit Steve Lubar also offers a selection of his favorites, which include that timeless classic, the inventor's sketch on a napkin. (in Design Arts) |
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