Chasing the Perfect: Thoughts on Modernist Design in Our Time (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Susan Szenasy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A bracing look at the upsides and shortcomings of the designer's urge to create perfection in...post 9-11 America." -- Glen Helfand, CMYK

"An exciting gem of a book full of existential insights." -- Kalle Lasn, author of Culture Jam and Design Anarchy

"Those who would think that design writing and poetry have little in common have not yet read Natalia Ilyin." -- Michael Bierut, Pentagram

Ilyin’s design commentaries will pique the interest of anyone who is serious about design ideology and theology. -- Steven Heller, Eye Magazine, Spring, 2006

Product Description

In Chasing the Perfect, cultural critic Natalia Ilyin delivers her astute, incisive, and wry observations on design and the world it has molded. According to Ilyin, "Modern design is based on deeply idealist notions, and its inherent perfectionism has dovetailed beautifully with our commodity-based economy's need to keep people itching so that they will buy things and keep the society chugging along. I began Chasing the Perfect because I started to become aware of this collusion, this silent pressure that a language of design based in perfectionism had brought to bear on me and on designers like me."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Metropolis Books; annotated edition edition (November 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933045213
• ISBN-13: 978-1933045214
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,024,797 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a brilliantly witty and deeply personal guide to life, January 15, 2006

By	A. Zee "Dark Energy" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I am a theoretical physicist and a writer, so what do I know about design theory and ironic distance? Nothing. But this book is not for designers alone. Rather, it is nothing short of a brilliantly witty and deeply personal guide to life, a heartfelt beacon on the darkling plain "where ignorant armies clash by night" showing us the way to a more joyous and messier life. I came to this book because I'm a fan of Natalia Ilyin's earlier book "Blonde Like Me," which just like this book, is also chock full of fabulous writing and heart-warming insights.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book report, March 7, 2006

By	A. Bansak "A. Bansak" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm finishing up with "Chasing The Perfect" by Natalia Ilyin and when I'm done, I'm going to read it over again.

In my periodic browsing of the Graphic Arts section at B&N I became a statistic and fell for the cover. Bauhaus period minimalism...always gets me. Hmmmm, words on Modernist design from a nutty professor at RSD? Cool.

Went home, logged on, pressed a button and waited...

She's talking about the influence of the "Modernist" aesthetic on our design sense, on our basic human qualities and the effect on society. The unspoken idiom: the crafty subliminal itching that keeps us moving, to desire the next best thing...the perfect. Here's a hint: "Moo".

Scholarly, eloquent, silly and self deprecating. Heady subjects made tangible, this is my kind of read! So many levels of satisfaction, all feeding the creative spirit. This book is an epiphany for delinquent designers who are questioning conformity...that would be me.

Besides the stated subject of examining why we strive towards ever elusive perfection and the resulting mess...Ilyn uses personal example and anecdote, much of which serendipitously occurs in locales I currently inhabit (NY), as well as the landscapes of mind I travel. Anxiety, doubt, depression, hunger, bewilderment, excitement, joy, anger, nincompoopery. Ilyn wrote about herself, but she wrote for ME! The insights are piled high, personal and potent. Plus there are pictures!

I have been improved for having read: "Chasing The Perfect". I would recommend for anyone with a brain.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellence All the Way Around, October 18, 2006

By	K. vK Bomben "Kristin von Kreisler" (Washington) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In ordinary hands, modernist design theory might be a dry and dusty topic, but Natalia Ilyin brings it to life and makes it fascinating. She draws you in with beautiful writing, humor, and razor-sharp perceptions; and along the way, she delves deeply into art -- and into life itself. It took courage to stand up to the current mode of design education. As a writer, Ilyin chased the perfect, and she caught it. And she did it with insight and grace.