New Essay in The Cincinnati Review!
For many years, I worked on an essay about my love of mid-century design and, specifically, my passion for some of the great chairs that were first produced at the end of WWII. The Eames LCW. Jens Risom’s Lounge Chair. The 1006 Navy Chair from Emeco. These are pieces that were created either to address the needs of war or to meet the scarcities generated by war.
Eventually, the essay became “77 Steps” (the number of steps it takes to build a single 1006 Navy Chair), a numbered piece that explores the tension between war and beauty, between being a civilian and being married to someone in the military, between experiencing appreciation for design and anxiety about conflict. “77 Steps” appears in my forthcoming book, Exhibitions: Essays on Art & Atrocity. And it has just been published in one of my favorite literary journals, The Cincinnati Review. You can read more an excerpt from “77 Steps” here.