I've been hanging out in the library again, reading Nathan Mhyrvold's Modernist Cuisine. It's a six-volume encyclopedia of Modernist Cuisine, the foodie phenomenon resulting from the marriage of food and technology. The books take a sober and scientific approach to food, but also a lush and seductive coffee-table-book giant-color-photograph approach. The set cost about $650 when it first came out and they are down to a bit over $400. I've been reading them at the library where they live in the reference room. Periodically while reading I'll take some notes or take a photo of the page. The page above has two recipes on it. The first one is for garlic cloves and olive oil in a mason jar, in...
Last week I posted the materials that got me interested in knolling. Here is a link to last week's blog. From Wikipedia: "Knolling is the process of arranging like objects in parallel or 90 degree angles as a method of organization." I went to the library to do some research and to learn more about Knoll Associates, a modern furniture company whose angular designs inspired the term. It was a summery day. I went to the Art & Architecture Library in the Steven A. Schwarzman Building - the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. This is the book I was looking for. Entitled Knoll Index of Designs, the book was originally spiral bound, but the spiral was cut...
Hello, my name is John Hoppin. This is a picture of me having a drink with my cat Fred in our apartment in Bushwick. I am in an apron because I cook a lot. I am a scientist, record label executive, and an artist. I am going to share with you some sights, experiences, and analysis in order to better understand and promote the aesthetic qualities of daily life. I can be contacted at john@hoppinworld.com or on twitter @johnhoppin. Let me know if you have any suggestions about something you want to see or have me do. Or say "What up". For my first post, I decided to go to the library to read Vilem Flusser's Philosophy of Photography. Here...
