New York, New York!

Woo double post! (After our posts stop affecting our grades, darnit!) Anyway, I'm in New York/New Jersey for spring break, and having a blast!

I was at the MoMA yesterday and saw a couple of cool things I wanted to show. First, as a homage to our sustainability class, GROW: a wall installation that uses thin-film photovoltaic cells, piezo electric generators, and conductive ink to capture solar and kinetic energy.

Next is Sol LeWitt's Serial Project, I (ABCD).

According to jenlaaa, he pioneered a type of work where the actual work is an idea and a possibly a set of instructions, with the actual execution left to anyone. Basically, the idea is the work of art, and the representation is the transmission of the idea. Originally conceived in 1966, I think it has relevance in today's global competition. We've often heard that the only way for the US to have any competitive advantage now is through differentiation by design. Once the idea is there, you can outsource nearly all aspects of manufacturing and distribution. Like in LeWitt's work, ideas are key.

Lastly, some of these names look familiar!

Some thoughts

First, I'm really bad at posting regularly. I inevitably build up a pile of draft posts which never get seen because they reference events that are no longer current, or because I never get around to finishing them.

Second, there was a business conference somewhat recently in the UK called "The Big Rethink" (http://www.economistconferences.co.uk/redesigningbusiness/home) If nothing else, I think we can take away the 4 big future trends stated by Robin Bew:

1. The Shift to Emerging Markets
2. The Rich World's Aging Population
3. Carbon Pricing
4. A Lack of Capital

Basically, the game's a lot harder now than it used to be, and it's just going to get harder. Not only do you have to make stuff, you have to do it with less, and you have to do it responsibly. That's probably the way it always should have been, but coming from where we are now, it will certainly be a challenge.