I don’t actually have Netflix, but they have a new original documentary series out called, Abstract: The Art of Design. It’s a look at “eight of the most creative thinkers” working in art and design. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Here are those 8 people:
Es Devlin (stage designer)
Ilse Crawford (interior designer)
Ralph Gilles (Chrysler head of global design)
Bjarke Ingels (architect)
Platon (photographer)
Christoph Niemann (New Yorker cover illustrator)
Paula Scher (graphic designer)
Tinker Hatfield (Nike sneaker designer)
The trailer feels unnecessarily dramatic for a documentary, but I’d still like to watch it. The reviews also seem to suggest that it’s pretty good. Below is the trailer. If you can’t see it below, click here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYaq2sWTWAA?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
If you’ve already seen it, what did you think?
Last weekend I watched Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things. I’ve been reading the blog for awhile now (I blogged about it) and so the movie has been on my to-do list since it came out.
Now, I am not a minimalist to the same extent as Joshua and Ryan, and some of the people featured in the film. I have not reduced all of my personal belongings to 51 things and I have not renounced any sort of permanent residency. I own some stuff.
But I am very much attracted to the philosophy that less can be more. That less can make us happier. That quality is more important than quantity. And that we actually need far less stuff than we think we do, especially in a consumerist society like ours.
One word that comes up a lot in the documentary is: deliberate. In other words, we should be more deliberate about the choices we make, the things we buy, and so on. Will it create value in my life?
And that’s one of the reasons I like this notion of minimalism: It’s a challenge. You have to think. Because if you don’t, you will be told what to do and what to buy, and you will accumulate things without even knowing. It’s essentially a constant battle against excess.
Perhaps the biggest potential for excess happens with our choice of housing, which is why small homes feature so prominently in the film. A tiny house isn’t going to be for everyone, but many people have certainly come to the realization that square footage alone does not equate to more happiness.
“Toronto is probably the world’s most diverse city.”
That is how a new interactive documentary called The World in Ten Blocks starts. Produced by Lost Time Media and hosted at theglobeandmail.com, the documentary examines a ten block stretch of Toronto’s Bloorcourt neighborhood and tells the story of a diverse set of small-business owners who have moved to this city from all around the world. People from Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, as well as many other places.
It’s amazing to be reminded just how diverse ten small blocks of this city can be; especially at a time when immigration has become such a polarizing topic around the world. I sometimes take it for granted just how diverse this city is. I forget and assume that this is just how cities are. But of course that is not always the case. Toronto is an exceptional city.
Click here for The World in Ten Blocks.