Harry Pearce’s Book List
I'll never forget overhearing a graphic designer expounding on the number of business management books by his bedside. At first I panicked, thinking about my own reading preferences. I went home and looked through all my many, many shelves of books and realized there were none whatsoever on “business management.” In fact, very few were even about design; most were—and still—are concerned with the nature of the human mind.
I’m as passionate a reader as I am a traveler. I think the two are synonymous. Strange, as reading is thought of as a sedentary activity, but the more I move, the more I read.
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Ben Kelly gave me this book. It’s a collection of selected correspondence of Marcel himself—much from all the years he was apparently lost to the world. Wonderful eloquent writing direct from a fascinating mind.
Anyone interested in dreams and dreaming, as I am, will find this an astonishing read. Anthony Lunt was an advanced student of R.D.Laing until Laing’s death in 1989. This is both a personal and historical journey. Meticulously researched and profoundly moving, a true account of the way of the dream.
Recommended to me by Roy Harper (it’s a part influence on his song “I Hate the White Man”), it is the true account of a Sioux Indian, both spiritual and historical. It’s a moment inside the heart of a man watching the destruction of his culture in early 1890s America. It ranks alongside Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
From all my years of devouring books on Duchamp, I think this read was the moment I felt someone had captured the spirit of the man himself, beyond the work we all know.
One of the most sincere and inspiring books you’ll ever read. It’s as much about all the mistakes and the lessons learned along the way as it is about anything one would normally view as success. A humbling read.
A very short but complex book that delves into the nature of human relationships. Try and get an early edition; the typography inside is far superior to later versions, and for this book it really matters.
At almost 600 pages, this is a long and deep journey into Rothko’s life. Somewhere among all those pages I remember Rothko being quoted as saying his work was “silent music”—words that have remained with me forever. The book is full of wonderful observations like that.
I first read this book at the age of 17. I didn’t really understand it, but I felt it, and was profoundly moved. I’ve since read it three or four times, and it has undoubtedly become one of the most important books in my life. It’s a journey into the human mind like no other, and so much of what I discovered within its pages have proved a beautiful truth. I hope that one day a full and uncensored version, as Jung intended, makes its way finally to us all.
Ancient Chinese writing, part poetry and part philosophy—a constant source of inspiration.
This is a view into the mind of one of Japan’s great thinkers. A huge influence on Bernard Leach and the wonderful Shoji Hamada. A Japanese insight into the nature of beauty, full of wonderful observations on culture, design, and—ultimately—humanity.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
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Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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