James Rhodes

“James Rhodes is not your typical classical pianist. Yet his passionate playing and rock-star aura could be just what the music needs.” – The Times


JAMES RHODES is "a classical pianist with a rock-star attitude”. He is an inimitable mix of artistic cultures.

James makes it his mission to seek out new audiences for classical music through his choice of venues and his irreverent and humorous performance style.

Rhodes dispenses with the ‘straitjacket’ approach to classical music.

On stage he interacts with his audience, sharing his thoughts on the music and composers. By using his comic stand-up style, James brings a touch of rock n roll to each performance, and makes classical music accessible to a wider audience.

Swinburne Design Special Collection

Design Special Collection

Swinburne has had a rare book collection for many years. Much of the material from this collection dates from the instigation of art courses at Swinburne in 1909. The collection was housed at Hawthorn campus library until the amalgamation with Prahran campus in 1992, when all of the rare art/design related material was moved to Prahran.

In 1995 Ms. Denise Whitehouse, Senior Lecturer in Design History put forward the following proposal:

“with the School of Design’s move into research activities particularly at honours and post graduate level we have begun a primary research collection which focuses on the history of Australian graphic and industrial design. We now have the beginnings of a specialist design collection that includes magazines and publications of design significance, actual examples of graphic and promotional design, and material pertaining to the history of Australian industry, manufacturing and retailing. This is pioneering work; we doubt that such a collection exists in any other university library. A special grant would enable us to continue to develop the collection as not only a valuable resource but also into a quality specialist collection which would then enable us to solicit donations from designers, companies etc. It would be good if we were able to draw on the Swinburne alumni which includes many important designers. A grant would also enable to build areas such as Australian typography, industrial design education, and magazine design. Such a pioneering collection would enhance the reputations of Swinburne University Library and the School of Design”.

Ms. Whitehouse further requested that full runs of the following historical journals be purchased, and to a large extent this has been achieved.

Australia Today
The Lone Hand
Australian Women’s Weekly
Art in Australia
The Australian Home Beautiful and House and Garden
Home Magazine
RIVA Magazine (architecture)
Building Magazine
Architectural Digest
Architectural Forum
Decorative Art
The Studio
Pix
Melbourne Punch
Oz Magazine

Over the years students have regularly been required to consult these journals as part of their research, and its use is embedded in the first year subject “Twentieth Century Design History”. Academic staff have regularly published research papers based on the contents of these magazines. Dr Simon Jackson from the Faculty of Design recently was published internationally in a fully refereed international journal from research conducted in this collection:
Jackson, S. Blonde Wood among the Gum Trees: Scandinavian Influences in Furniture Design in Australia, 1930-1975. Scandinavian Journal of Design History v. 13 (2003) p. 36-51

Dr. Whitehouse has defined the scope of the collection as:

“primary source materials on the development of Australian art, architecture and design, particularly graphic design, interior design and industrial design, and materials on the nature of Australian society which has influenced these developments”.

This collection is not a collection of rare books as such, but rather a collection of scarce material relating to Australian design and culture. It is a hands-on, accessible working collection, and is unique in its focus on the history of Australian design.

Access to this collection is easy: just ask for a key to the Design Special Collection at the Service Desk in the Library. Items may be photocopied or scanned with care.

Z Magazine

Z magazine is an independent monthly magazine published in the United States. It has a challenging,left perspective on many cultural, social, environmental and political issues.

Znet is a website focussing on politics from a left perspective.

It is a refreshing alternative to the mainstream media.

Recent articles include:
GAY & LESBIAN COMMUNITY NOTES: What Happened to Queer Anarchism? by Michael Bronski
ENVIRONMENTAL TIDBITS: A Republican War on the Environment by Don Monkerud

Adbusters

Adbusters in a not for profit, anti-consumerist, subversive organization founded in 1989. It challenges and raises issues to do with thoughtless consumerism, corporate domination in advertising, and dishonest manipulation of the consumer. It calls on consumers and designers to critically evaluate their contribution to society. It questions the ethics behind the advertising industry and the products and services being promoted.

It is relevant to design students because it questions many widley held assumptions about the way we live, the way we consume, and the assumption that shopping fulfills peoples basic needs and creates well being.

It publishes the advertising free Adbusters, a magazine devoted to challenging consumerism. It is a gritty publication with confronting graphics and unconventional layout.

Notable past and present contributors to the magazine include Christopher Hedges, Matt Taibbi, Bill McKibben, Jim Munroe, Douglas Rushkoff, Jonathan Barnbrook, David Graeber.

Adbusters has launched numerous international campaigns, including the famous Buy Nothing Day.

Hilary Austen Artistry Unleashed

Dr. Hilary Austen is an adjunct professor and member of the dean’s advisory board of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Cofounder of Catalyst Consulting Team in Santa Cruz, California, she has worked with such clients as Monitor Group, Oracle Corporation, Stanford University’s Intelligent Systems Lab, Shell Oil, Proctor & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, and Merck Pharmaceutical. Dr. Austen also cofounded the Brain Integration Center in San Diego, which offered programs in personal development, art, communication, and learning based on brain research.

Up until now we have been familiar with artists applying their qualitative intelligence to art works such as paintings, but this is narrow view. She argues that we should be cultivating those skills and applying them to new areas such as social problems, business models, logisitics, processes within organizations. This is seen as an opportunity for any design student to stretch their abilities beyond creating design objects.

Her book is well worth reading:

Artistry unleashed : a guide to pursuing great performance in work and life

Hilary Austen
Toronto : University of Toronto Press c2010
Available

Hawthorn- General 650.1 AUS-AAvailable
Location
Call Number

Bruce Nussbaum

http://www.fastcodesign.com/users/brucenussbaum1

Bruce Nussbaum blogs, tweets and writes on innovation, design thinking and creativity. The former assistant managing editor for Business Week is a Professor of Innovation and Design at Parsons The New School of Design. He is founder of the Innovation & Design online channel; founder of IN: Inside Innovation, a quarterly innovation supplement.

He believes that design is "too important to be left to designers or design schools". He suggests that Design Faculties with their traditional approach to design problem solving have not risen to the design challenges currently facing the world: pollution, over population, global warming, economic malaise. His interpretation of the challenge is "creative intelligence", which can be applied to any discipline. Creative intelligence should replace the constrained "design thinking" approach, so that truly creative and innovative solutions can be realized.