Editorial Grid Systems

editorial

systems grid

components grid

margin

column

flowline

module

spatial zone

marker

individual unit of space separated by regular intervals

horizontal divisions between margins

alignments that break the space into

horizonal bands

placement indicators for running heads, folios, etc

groups of modules that form distinct fields

area between format edge and content

margins

page / live area

margins

horizontal anchor /horizon line

page / live area

margins


column

gutter

margins


column

gutter

margins


0.5 inch margins (3 picas) / 3 inch (18 pica) horizon line / 6 column grid

column

types of grid

Structurally the simplest type of grid.Base structure is a large rectangular area taking up most of the page.Its purpose is to accomodate large quantities of continuous text, such as novels or essays.Structure designed around margins, chapter titles, headers, footers, and folios.

manuscript grid

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dolenisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.

Hexer sismodigniam amcommy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.










Hexer sismodigniam amcommy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl

dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.

NO SECOND TROY

34 35

william butler yeats

symmetrical manuscript grid

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conul-landre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.



Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conul-landre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conul-landre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.



Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conul-landre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut ali-quam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullan-dre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.



Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis

NO SECOND TROY

3534

no second troy


asymmetrical manuscript grid

Structure arranged into a series of vertical columns.Very flexible—can be used to separate different levels of information.Secondary structure—establishes positions for flow-lines, hanglines, running headers, folios, or section dividers.

column grid

Lesto odolore tat irit venim eseq-uis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wis-sim velisi.

Giam, volobor alisi er sum-molor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dolenisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.

Hexer sismodigniam am-commy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do

od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volo-bor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolor-perci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.


Giam, volobor alisi er sum-molor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dolenisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.

Hexer sismodigniam am-commy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat.

notes from underground

34 35

fyodor dostoevsky

symmetrical 2-column grid

Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.Lesto odolore tat irit venim

esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do

od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volo-bor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolor-perci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.


Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel do-lenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dolenisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.



Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat

fyodor dostoevsky

asymmetrical 2-column grid

utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.


Hexer sismodigniam amcommy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat

3534

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, volo-borero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, volo-borero doleniat utem zzrillutat.

Notes from Underground

Column grid with a large number of horizontal flow-lines that subdivide the columns into rows.Groups of modules are called spatial zones.Generally used with complex layouts requiring levels of control beyond what column grids can provide.Often used with tabular information such as charts, forms, schedules, or navigation systems.

modular grid

nullutatie eriusci.Hexer sismodigniam am-

commy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ul-luptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos

34 35

symmetrical modular grid


Giam, volobor alisi er sum-molor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dolenisim quipit

autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolor-perci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero do-leniat volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit

Notes from Underground

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat.

fyodor dostoevsky

wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod doleni-sim quipit nullutatie eriusci.


content grid

gutter

margins


column

gutter

header


column

footer

margins


no second troy

gutter

12/13

header


column

footer

margins

folio


no second troy

Lesto odolore tat irit venim eseq-uis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero com-mod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dole-nisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.

Hexer sismodigniam amcommy nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conul-lummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.



Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.

12/13

body copy / body textfedra sans light sc10 pt, leading 12 pt

aligned left, rag rightorleft justified, rag right(uk ranged left)

1 full hard return space between each paragraph


no second troy

utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dole-nim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

Giam, volobor alisi er sum-molor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dole-nibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim ing er irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero com-mod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat wis augait nonsendrerit velenibh esequi tat, con exer ipis eugue et iure del endre mod dole-nisim quipit nullutatie eriusci.

Hexer sismodigniam amcom-my nit alit veliquam, qui blam, conullummy nullam vullam quatio od tem nos aut dolore do etummy nullum do consequipit, con eugait vel ipsusting erostio ex ea aliquisl dolorero con ulluptat. Min hendre tat alit, sim diamcon.




Lesto odolore tat irit venim ese-quis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis num-san vullam, voloborero doleniat

12/13



9 pt indent with no space between paragraphs

first paragraph is never indented


no second troy

inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.Lesto odolore tat irit venim eseq-uis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.



WHAT COULD SHE HAVE DONE?Yeats & Maud Gonne




Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim

12/13

body copy / body text

headline (head)

subheadline (subhead)

fedra sans light sc10 pt, leading 12 pt



fedra sans bold tfall caps10 pt, leading 12 pt

fedra sans bold tfupper + lower case10 pt, leading 12 pt


no second troy

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre com-molobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.









12/13

body copy / body text

headline (head)


sidebar (1 column)

fedra sans light sc10 pt, leading 12 pt





fedra sans medium tfupper + lower case8 pt, leading 9.5 pt


no second troy

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre com-molobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.









12/13

Why, what could she have done, being what she is? Was there another Troy for her to burn?

pullquotewilliam butler yeats

no second troy

Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vul-lam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre com-molobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.Lesto odolore tat irit venim eseq-uis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.







Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim nonsed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim

12/13



no second troy










12/13


headline (head)


sidebar (1 column)



fedra sans medium tfupper + lower case8 pt, leading 9.5 pt

pullquote




gutter

header

folio


column

footer

margins


no second troy










william butler yeats12/13

no second troy





aligned on a baseline grid setting of 12 pt with no top inset










12/13

No Second Troy


no second troy










12/13

No Second Troy

12


no second troy


zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.Lesto odolore tat irit venim eseq-uis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.






Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem

12/13

No Second Troy

12


no second troy


The Green Helmet + Other Poems (1910)

head

deck

fedra sans medium tf48 pt, upper + lower case

fedra sans book18 pt, upper + lower case





Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi. Giam, volobor alisi er summolor sum nos autatem ver susto od tem num il in volore vel dolenibh eu feugiat et la cor alis ad dit wis nim inger irilluptat ipisism olestrud dolorperci elit exero commod mod ea consequis augiatio od eugiat.Lesto odolore tat irit venim esequis alis nulla faccum duis numsan vullam, voloborero doleniat utem zzrillutat. ut aliquam dolenim non-sed dolore te conumsan et nulla conullandre commolobor autpate magnim do od tet wissim velisi.

No Second Troy

william

butler

yeats no

seco

nd

tro

y

page 12


examples grid

BLACK

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STORY BY JEREMY SCAHILL WATER

LANDING ZONE, BAGHDAD. (TECH SGT RUSSELL E. COOLEY IV, USAF)

33S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

fracture / summer 2009

REPU

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ONPRIVATIZATIONOUTSOURCINGON.

SUBPLOT OF THE WARS OF THE POST-9/11

OUTSOURCING ANDPRIVATIZATI

PERIOD IS THEIR UNPRECEDENTED SCALE OF

While the past years of Republican monopoly on government have marked a golden era for the industry, those days appear to be ending. Just a month into the new Congressional term, leading Democrats were an-nouncing investigations of runaway war contractors. Representative John Murtha, chair of the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Defense, after returning from a trip to Iraq in late January, said, “We’re going to have extensive hearings to find out exactly what’s going on with contractors. They don’t have a clear mission and they’re falling all over each other.” Two days later, during confirmation hearings for Gen. George Casey as Army chief of staff, Senator Jim Webb declared, “This is a rent-an-army out there.” Webb asked Casey, “Wouldn’t it be better for this country if those tasks, particularly the quasi-military gunfighting tasks, were being

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From the moment the US troop buildup began in advance of the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon made private contractors an integral part of the operations. Even as the government gave the public ap-pearance of attempting diplomacy, Halliburton was prepping for a massive operation. When US tanks rolled into Baghdad in March 2003, they brought with them the largest army of private contractors ever deployed in modern war. By the end of Rumsfeld’s tenure in late 2006, there were an estimated 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq—an almost one-to-one ratio with active-duty American soldiers.

To the great satisfaction of the war industry, before Rumsfeld resigned he took the extraordinary step of classifying private contractors as an official part of the US war machine. In the Pentagon’s 2006 Quadrenni-al Review, Rumsfeld outlined what he called a “road map for change” at the DoD, which he said had begun to be implemented in 2001. It defined the “Department’s Total

Force” as “its active and reserve military components, its civil servants, and its contractors—constitut[ing] its warfighting capability and capacity. Members of the Total Force serve in thousands of locations around the world, performing a vast array of duties to accomplish critical missions.” This formal designation represented a major triumph for war contractors—conferring on them a legitimacy they had never before enjoyed.

Contractors have provided the Bush Administra-tion with political cover, allowing the government to deploy private forces in a war zone free of public scrutiny, with the deaths, injuries and crimes of those forces shrouded in secrecy. The Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress in turn have shielded the contractors from accountability, oversight and legal constraints. Despite the presence of more than 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq, only one has been indicted for crimes or violations. “We have over 200,000 troops in Iraq and half of them aren’t being counted, and the danger is that there’s zero accountabil-ity,” says Democrat Dennis Kucinich, one of the leading Congressional critics of war contracting.

RIGHT: AH-64 APACHE ADVANCED ATTACK HELICOPTER IN ACTION OVER IRAQ. (TECH SGT RUSSELL E. COOLEY IV, USAF) INSET: BLACKWATER CEO ERIK PRINCE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS. (MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES)

OVERLOOKEDTHE OFTEN OVERLOOKED

PR

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of the Bush Administration’s war team, for whom radical privatization has long been a cherished ideological mission. Blackwater has repeatedly cited Rumsfeld’s statement that contractors are part of the “Total Force” as evidence that it is a legitimate part of the nation’s “warfighting capability and capacity.” Invoking Rumsfeld’s designation, the company has in effect declared its forces above the law—entitled to the immunity from civilian lawsuits enjoyed by the military, but also not bound by the military’s court martial system. While the initial inquiries into Blackwater have focused on the complex labyrinth of secretive subcontracts under which it operates in Iraq, a thorough investigation into the company re-veals a frightening picture of a politically connected private army that has become the Bush Administration’s Praetorian Guard.

GEORGE

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performed by active-duty military sol-diers in terms of cost and accountability?” Casey defended the contracting system but said armed contractors “are the ones that we have to watch very carefully.” Senator Joe Biden, chair of the Foreign Re-lations Committee, has also indicated he will hold hearings on contractors. Parallel to the ongoing investigations, there are several bills gaining steam in Congress aimed at contractor oversight.

Occupying the hot seat through these deliberations is the shadowy mercenary company Blackwater USA. Unbeknownst to many Americans and largely off the Congressional radar, Blackwater has secured a position of remarkable power and protection within the US war appa-ratus. This company’s success represents the realization of the life’s work of the conservative officials who formed the core

34F R A C T U R E 0 2

35S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

fracture / summer 2009

REPU

BLICA

N

ONPRIVATIZATIONOUTSOURCINGON.

SUBPLOT OF THE WARS OF THE POST-9/11

OUTSOURCING ANDPRIVATIZATI

PERIOD IS THEIR UNPRECEDENTED SCALE OF

While the past years of Republican monopoly on government have marked a golden era for the industry, those days appear to be ending. Just a month into the new Congressional term, leading Democrats were an-nouncing investigations of runaway war contractors. Representative John Murtha, chair of the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Defense, after returning from a trip to Iraq in late January, said, “We’re going to have extensive hearings to find out exactly what’s going on with contractors. They don’t have a clear mission and they’re falling all over each other.” Two days later, during confirmation hearings for Gen. George Casey as Army chief of staff, Senator Jim Webb declared, “This is a rent-an-army out there.” Webb asked Casey, “Wouldn’t it be better for this country if those tasks, particularly the quasi-military gunfighting tasks, were being

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From the moment the US troop buildup began in advance of the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon made private contractors an integral part of the operations. Even as the government gave the public ap-pearance of attempting diplomacy, Halliburton was prepping for a massive operation. When US tanks rolled into Baghdad in March 2003, they brought with them the largest army of private contractors ever deployed in modern war. By the end of Rumsfeld’s tenure in late 2006, there were an estimated 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq—an almost one-to-one ratio with active-duty American soldiers.

To the great satisfaction of the war industry, before Rumsfeld resigned he took the extraordinary step of classifying private contractors as an official part of the US war machine. In the Pentagon’s 2006 Quadrenni-al Review, Rumsfeld outlined what he called a “road map for change” at the DoD, which he said had begun to be implemented in 2001. It defined the “Department’s Total

Force” as “its active and reserve military components, its civil servants, and its contractors—constitut[ing] its warfighting capability and capacity. Members of the Total Force serve in thousands of locations around the world, performing a vast array of duties to accomplish critical missions.” This formal designation represented a major triumph for war contractors—conferring on them a legitimacy they had never before enjoyed.

Contractors have provided the Bush Administra-tion with political cover, allowing the government to deploy private forces in a war zone free of public scrutiny, with the deaths, injuries and crimes of those forces shrouded in secrecy. The Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress in turn have shielded the contractors from accountability, oversight and legal constraints. Despite the presence of more than 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq, only one has been indicted for crimes or violations. “We have over 200,000 troops in Iraq and half of them aren’t being counted, and the danger is that there’s zero accountabil-ity,” says Democrat Dennis Kucinich, one of the leading Congressional critics of war contracting.

RIGHT: AH-64 APACHE ADVANCED ATTACK HELICOPTER IN ACTION OVER IRAQ. (TECH SGT RUSSELL E. COOLEY IV, USAF) INSET: BLACKWATER CEO ERIK PRINCE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS. (MARK WILSON, GETTY IMAGES)

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of the Bush Administration’s war team, for whom radical privatization has long been a cherished ideological mission. Blackwater has repeatedly cited Rumsfeld’s statement that contractors are part of the “Total Force” as evidence that it is a legitimate part of the nation’s “warfighting capability and capacity.” Invoking Rumsfeld’s designation, the company has in effect declared its forces above the law—entitled to the immunity from civilian lawsuits enjoyed by the military, but also not bound by the military’s court martial system. While the initial inquiries into Blackwater have focused on the complex labyrinth of secretive subcontracts under which it operates in Iraq, a thorough investigation into the company re-veals a frightening picture of a politically connected private army that has become the Bush Administration’s Praetorian Guard.

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performed by active-duty military sol-diers in terms of cost and accountability?” Casey defended the contracting system but said armed contractors “are the ones that we have to watch very carefully.” Senator Joe Biden, chair of the Foreign Re-lations Committee, has also indicated he will hold hearings on contractors. Parallel to the ongoing investigations, there are several bills gaining steam in Congress aimed at contractor oversight.

Occupying the hot seat through these deliberations is the shadowy mercenary company Blackwater USA. Unbeknownst to many Americans and largely off the Congressional radar, Blackwater has secured a position of remarkable power and protection within the US war appa-ratus. This company’s success represents the realization of the life’s work of the conservative officials who formed the core

34F R A C T U R E 0 2

35S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

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YOU

THERAPTHERPIST

Asaid

MY

NOT TO

no more

03

SEE YOU For some reason, I’ve always been a

magnet for intense and disturbed women. In some ways, this has been a good thing—such women tend to be exceptionally exciting and uninhibited lovers—

I must admit, however, that even within

but I always end up paying an emotional price far in excess of any benefit I may have obtained from

J A M E S , “ L A I D ”F R O M T H E A L B U M L A I D R E L E A S E D O C T O B E R 5 , 1 9 9 3M E R C U R Y R E C O R D S

the situation.this rarified group, one particularly unusual woman has burned herself into my consciousness forever.

Given the circumstances of our first meeting, I probably should have known that my relationship with Julie would be memorable, to say the least. I first met her at a party hosted by a demented brother and sister who I had befriended several years earlier. Eric and Lisa were as known for their unusual and spec-tacular gatherings as they were for their remarkable, and apparently insatiable, appetites for intoxicants and controlled substances. Their east-end house always seemed to be some unwholesome com-bination of Jay Gatsby’s mansion, the Moulin Rouge, and a late-1980s Ibiza nightclub. More often than not, I would arrive at one of their social events—and leave three days later.

work in progress / summer 2012

YOU

THERAPTHERPIST

Asaid

MY

NOT TO

no more

03

SEE YOU For some reason, I’ve always been a

magnet for intense and disturbed women. In some ways, this has been a good thing—such women tend to be exceptionally exciting and uninhibited lovers—

I must admit, however, that even within

but I always end up paying an emotional price far in excess of any benefit I may have obtained from

J A M E S , “ L A I D ”F R O M T H E A L B U M L A I D R E L E A S E D O C T O B E R 5 , 1 9 9 3M E R C U R Y R E C O R D S

the situation.this rarified group, one particularly unusual woman has burned herself into my consciousness forever.

Given the circumstances of our first meeting, I probably should have known that my relationship with Julie would be memorable, to say the least. I first met her at a party hosted by a demented brother and sister who I had befriended several years earlier. Eric and Lisa were as known for their unusual and spec-tacular gatherings as they were for their remarkable, and apparently insatiable, appetites for intoxicants and controlled substances. Their east-end house always seemed to be some unwholesome com-bination of Jay Gatsby’s mansion, the Moulin Rouge, and a late-1980s Ibiza nightclub. More often than not, I would arrive at one of their social events—and leave three days later.


16

YOU CAN’T TAKE THREE STEPS WITHOUT ENCOUNTER ING GHOSTS BE AR ING ALL THE PRES-T IGE OF THEIR LEGENDS.

[17]

u r b a n i s m

A l l c i t i e s a r e g e o l o g i c a l .

sp

ri

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2

00

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d e r e l i c t a p a r t m e n t c o m p l e x i n p a r i s s u b u r b o f c l i c h y - s o u s - b o i s , 2 0 0 5 .

i v a n c h t c h e g l o v

f o r m u l a r y n e w

We move within a closed landscape whose landmarks constantly draw us toward the past. Certain shifting angles, certain receding perspec-tives, allow us to glimpse original conceptions of space, b u t t h i s v i s i o n r e m a i n s f r a g m e n -t a r y . It must be sought in the magical locales of fairy tales and surrealist writings: castles, endless walls, little forgotten bars, mammoth caverns, casino mirrors.

These dated images retain a small catalyzing power, but it is almost impossible to use them in a sym-bolic urbanism without rejuvenating them by giving them a new mean-ing. There was a certain charm in horses born from the sea or magi-cal dwarves dressed in gold, b u t

f o r a

t h e y a r e i n n o w a y a d a p t e d t o t h e d e m a n d s o f m o d e r n l i f e . For we are in the twentieth century, even if few people are aware of it. Our imaginations, haunted by the old archetypes, have remained far behind the sophistication of the machines. The various attempts to integrate modern science into new myths remain inadequate. M e a n -w h i l e a b s t r a c t i o n h a s i n -v a d e d a l l t h e a r t s , c o n -t e m p o r a r y a r c h i t e c t u r e i n p a r t i c u l a r . Pure plasticity, inanimate and storyless, soothes the eye. Elsewhere other fragmentary beauties can be found−while the promised land of new syntheses continually recedes into the distance. Everyone wavers between the emo-tionally still-alive past and the already dead future.

drift / spring 2008

16

YOU CAN’T TAKE THREE STEPS WITHOUT ENCOUNTER ING GHOSTS BE AR ING ALL THE PRES-T IGE OF THEIR LEGENDS.

[17]

u r b a n i s m

A l l c i t i e s a r e g e o l o g i c a l .

sp

ri

ng

2

00

8

d e r e l i c t a p a r t m e n t c o m p l e x i n p a r i s s u b u r b o f c l i c h y - s o u s - b o i s , 2 0 0 5 .

i v a n c h t c h e g l o v

f o r m u l a r y n e w

We move within a closed landscape whose landmarks constantly draw us toward the past. Certain shifting angles, certain receding perspec-tives, allow us to glimpse original conceptions of space, b u t t h i s v i s i o n r e m a i n s f r a g m e n -t a r y . It must be sought in the magical locales of fairy tales and surrealist writings: castles, endless walls, little forgotten bars, mammoth caverns, casino mirrors.

These dated images retain a small catalyzing power, but it is almost impossible to use them in a sym-bolic urbanism without rejuvenating them by giving them a new mean-ing. There was a certain charm in horses born from the sea or magi-cal dwarves dressed in gold, b u t

f o r a

t h e y a r e i n n o w a y a d a p t e d t o t h e d e m a n d s o f m o d e r n l i f e . For we are in the twentieth century, even if few people are aware of it. Our imaginations, haunted by the old archetypes, have remained far behind the sophistication of the machines. The various attempts to integrate modern science into new myths remain inadequate. M e a n -w h i l e a b s t r a c t i o n h a s i n -v a d e d a l l t h e a r t s , c o n -t e m p o r a r y a r c h i t e c t u r e i n p a r t i c u l a r . Pure plasticity, inanimate and storyless, soothes the eye. Elsewhere other fragmentary beauties can be found−while the promised land of new syntheses continually recedes into the distance. Everyone wavers between the emo-tionally still-alive past and the already dead future.

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Previous anniversaries had been celebrated with little ceremony. Indeed under the stern military rule of the

strongman, General Pica, and his obscure successor (note to subs: have forgotten his name, please check) few Serriffeans felt they had much to celebrate.

However, since free elections were held and the handsome, popular, charismatic, boyish, charming, dynamic, modest, new leader Antonio Bourgeois was catapulted into office, the atmosphere in San Serriffe has been transformed. Nothing has actu-ally happened, but the atmosphere has been transformed.

Regular followers of politics in this region will recall that San Serriffe comprises two islands, Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse, shaped curiously like a semi-colon, sited (usually) in the Indian Ocean. Since the country briefly hit global headlines in 1977, Western journalists have steered clear, in the belief that little was to be gained from visiting these shores, particularly in the matter of expenses.

SAN SERRIFFE’S OFFSHORE OIL RESOURCES ARE THE KEY TO ITS NEWFOUND PROSPERITY.

However, the figure 22 has a peculiar symbolic power in the mystic tradition of the Flong people, San Serriffe’s indigenous tribe. There are, for instance, (approxi-mately) 22 people in a Serriffean cabinet, 22 verses in the national anthem and 22 miles between the Upper Caisse port of Adze and Cap Em on the southern island. Accord-ingly, traditionalists have this year secured funding from the San Serriffean National Lottery for a full programme of cultural celebratory events.

A mysterious large object is being erected for the occasion by the banks of the Tempo River as a monument to Mr Bourgois’s mar-tyred compadre, Pierre Myriad. Mr Myriad had planned to live there (despite concerns that its 14 acres would be a little cramped)

Now it will stand as the political memorial to a man whose fight for an end to social inequality won him the undying love and ad-miration of several of his political associates. The monument is to be decorated with special wallpaper supplied by the Government’s legal adviser, Lord Grot.

Much has changed since the long years of Pica-ist rule. General Pica maintained an iron grip on power until being forced out in a palace coup in 1990 by General Melior—known as The Obscure One—who tricked his way into the General’s Office under the

4 34 2

SAN SERRIFFE WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM WESTJET’S NEW DAILY ‘SELF-SERVE CLASS’ FLIGHTS.

e v e n t i n t h e p a t c h y —e v e n b l o t c h y — h i s t o r y o f t h i s

R E M O T E S E A - G I R T N AT I O N .

s t r u c k a f a t a l b l o w

u n t i l h e w a sT R A G I C A L LY

o n t h e h e a d b y a v e r y l a r g eS U M O F M O N E Y.

return to san seriffe / up! magazine, november 2007

Previous anniversaries had been celebrated with little ceremony. Indeed under the stern military rule of the

strongman, General Pica, and his obscure successor (note to subs: have forgotten his name, please check) few Serriffeans felt they had much to celebrate.

However, since free elections were held and the handsome, popular, charismatic, boyish, charming, dynamic, modest, new leader Antonio Bourgeois was catapulted into office, the atmosphere in San Serriffe has been transformed. Nothing has actu-ally happened, but the atmosphere has been transformed.

Regular followers of politics in this region will recall that San Serriffe comprises two islands, Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse, shaped curiously like a semi-colon, sited (usually) in the Indian Ocean. Since the country briefly hit global headlines in 1977, Western journalists have steered clear, in the belief that little was to be gained from visiting these shores, particularly in the matter of expenses.

SAN SERRIFFE’S OFFSHORE OIL RESOURCES ARE THE KEY TO ITS NEWFOUND PROSPERITY.

However, the figure 22 has a peculiar symbolic power in the mystic tradition of the Flong people, San Serriffe’s indigenous tribe. There are, for instance, (approxi-mately) 22 people in a Serriffean cabinet, 22 verses in the national anthem and 22 miles between the Upper Caisse port of Adze and Cap Em on the southern island. Accord-ingly, traditionalists have this year secured funding from the San Serriffean National Lottery for a full programme of cultural celebratory events.

A mysterious large object is being erected for the occasion by the banks of the Tempo River as a monument to Mr Bourgois’s mar-tyred compadre, Pierre Myriad. Mr Myriad had planned to live there (despite concerns that its 14 acres would be a little cramped)

Now it will stand as the political memorial to a man whose fight for an end to social inequality won him the undying love and ad-miration of several of his political associates. The monument is to be decorated with special wallpaper supplied by the Government’s legal adviser, Lord Grot.

Much has changed since the long years of Pica-ist rule. General Pica maintained an iron grip on power until being forced out in a palace coup in 1990 by General Melior—known as The Obscure One—who tricked his way into the General’s Office under the

4 34 2

SAN SERRIFFE WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM WESTJET’S NEW DAILY ‘SELF-SERVE CLASS’ FLIGHTS.

e v e n t i n t h e p a t c h y —e v e n b l o t c h y — h i s t o r y o f t h i s

R E M O T E S E A - G I R T N AT I O N .

s t r u c k a f a t a l b l o w

u n t i l h e w a sT R A G I C A L LY

o n t h e h e a d b y a v e r y l a r g eS U M O F M O N E Y.


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1 “Fuller Image” The Iranian, Iranian.com, March 1st 2007.<http://www.iranian.com/Books/2003/September/Persepolis/>

innocence, curiosity, honesty, and a self-awareness that is undeniably human and real. Marji provides insight through her untainted quest for knowledge and understanding. We see an ordinary family expe-rience a revolution, regime change, and propaganda. We see the defeat of the Shah regime and the victory of the Islamic Revolution, both carrying devastating acts and results of war. Through Marji’s learning, we are exposed to the history of Iran as well as her fam-ily. With all that said, is it enough to accept the infor-mation we are given without question? Is the historic information told through graphics and text factual or accurate? How valid is Marji’s perspective and telling of life through the Islamic Revolution?

The unique perspective given in Persepolis must be considered when estimating the validity of its tale. Remember that Marji is telling the story, that she is a young girl, innocent and curious. Her reflections are personal. Not everyone in Iran felt the same or had the same experiences. Feelings and experiences are relative. It is her reflection of specific events that are most at risk of error and discrepancies. However, con-sider again that the graphic novel is autobiographical, which means we are receiving true, real-life informa-tion. Information filled with personal experience.

THE QUESTION OF ACCURACY IN ALL WRITING is one that is weighed with great importance. Freedom of speech and the ability to voice one’s opinion is an important element of our society. It al-lows for anyone, despite their knowledge, education, expertise, or lack there-of, to make their ideas accessible to the world. However, one must consider the possibility of things being lost in translation or lost in a broken telephone type of situation.

It is not realistic to assume that just because something is published, it is the truth. We must ask questions. In historic literature, we must acknowledge the possibility of biases, misinterpretations, and even missing information, all of which contribute to the degree of accuracy in a writing. It is only then, after much consideration, that we are able to determine the validity of the piece. Any discrepancies in informa-tion are to be recognized as untrue, in order to avoid misleading or cor-rupt ideas. In historical works such as Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Francisco Goya’s The Disasters of War, is historical accuracy essential to the validity of the works?

Marjane Satrapi tells a story of what it’s like growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis is very much an autobiog-raphy, telling of the realities of Satrapi’s childhood. The book is writ-ten from the perspective of a ten-year-old girl, Marji, who delivers

EMILY PENNACCHIOGEORGE A. REID AWARD 2006/07 (100 LEVEL)

HISTORICALACCURACY

+ VALIDITY INLITERATURE

Marji’s experiences during pre-revolu-tion and post-revolution Iran are what make her observations so important and valid. She portrays the confusion, obstacles, and frequent contradictions that she worked through every day. Marji humanizes our perception of Iranians, pointing out that not all of Iran supports the Islamic fundamen-talists. “Just like in Canada, or anywhere else, you have people who are very reli-gious, people who aren’t, people who drink, people who don’t, hypocrites, intellectuals, leftists, conservatives and so on. In fact, the personalities in Persepolis are very open, very intellectual and are not in agreement with the Islamic regime.”1

Historical accuracy can again be examined through events and groups. Marji’s reflec-tion of Black Friday and The Committee are innocent reflections that offer insight into contradictions, fear, confusion, etc. Satrapi’s reiteration of her protest on Black Friday presents a simplified and innocent descrip-tion of what went on. She says, “We had demonstrated on the very day we shouldn’t have: on Black Friday. That day there were so many killed in one of the neighbour-hoods that a rumour was spread that Israeli soldiers were responsible for the slaughter. But in fact it was really our own who had at-tacked us.”2 Also, after being confronted by

MARJI’S EXPERIENCES DURING PRE-REVOLUTION AND POST-REVOLUTION IRAN ARE WHAT MAKE HER OBSERVATIONS

SO IMPORTANT AND VALID.

2 Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, (New York: Pantheon 2003) 38–39

01

HISTORICAL ACCURACY + VALIDITY IN LITERATURE LINE BREAK

89

line break / ocad writing + learning centre, 2009

1 “Fuller Image” The Iranian, Iranian.com, March 1st 2007.<http://www.iranian.com/Books/2003/September/Persepolis/>

innocence, curiosity, honesty, and a self-awareness that is undeniably human and real. Marji provides insight through her untainted quest for knowledge and understanding. We see an ordinary family expe-rience a revolution, regime change, and propaganda. We see the defeat of the Shah regime and the victory of the Islamic Revolution, both carrying devastating acts and results of war. Through Marji’s learning, we are exposed to the history of Iran as well as her fam-ily. With all that said, is it enough to accept the infor-mation we are given without question? Is the historic information told through graphics and text factual or accurate? How valid is Marji’s perspective and telling of life through the Islamic Revolution?

The unique perspective given in Persepolis must be considered when estimating the validity of its tale. Remember that Marji is telling the story, that she is a young girl, innocent and curious. Her reflections are personal. Not everyone in Iran felt the same or had the same experiences. Feelings and experiences are relative. It is her reflection of specific events that are most at risk of error and discrepancies. However, con-sider again that the graphic novel is autobiographical, which means we are receiving true, real-life informa-tion. Information filled with personal experience.

THE QUESTION OF ACCURACY IN ALL WRITING is one that is weighed with great importance. Freedom of speech and the ability to voice one’s opinion is an important element of our society. It al-lows for anyone, despite their knowledge, education, expertise, or lack there-of, to make their ideas accessible to the world. However, one must consider the possibility of things being lost in translation or lost in a broken telephone type of situation.

It is not realistic to assume that just because something is published, it is the truth. We must ask questions. In historic literature, we must acknowledge the possibility of biases, misinterpretations, and even missing information, all of which contribute to the degree of accuracy in a writing. It is only then, after much consideration, that we are able to determine the validity of the piece. Any discrepancies in informa-tion are to be recognized as untrue, in order to avoid misleading or cor-rupt ideas. In historical works such as Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Francisco Goya’s The Disasters of War, is historical accuracy essential to the validity of the works?

Marjane Satrapi tells a story of what it’s like growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis is very much an autobiog-raphy, telling of the realities of Satrapi’s childhood. The book is writ-ten from the perspective of a ten-year-old girl, Marji, who delivers

EMILY PENNACCHIOGEORGE A. REID AWARD 2006/07 (100 LEVEL)

HISTORICALACCURACY

+ VALIDITY INLITERATURE

Marji’s experiences during pre-revolu-tion and post-revolution Iran are what make her observations so important and valid. She portrays the confusion, obstacles, and frequent contradictions that she worked through every day. Marji humanizes our perception of Iranians, pointing out that not all of Iran supports the Islamic fundamen-talists. “Just like in Canada, or anywhere else, you have people who are very reli-gious, people who aren’t, people who drink, people who don’t, hypocrites, intellectuals, leftists, conservatives and so on. In fact, the personalities in Persepolis are very open, very intellectual and are not in agreement with the Islamic regime.”1

Historical accuracy can again be examined through events and groups. Marji’s reflec-tion of Black Friday and The Committee are innocent reflections that offer insight into contradictions, fear, confusion, etc. Satrapi’s reiteration of her protest on Black Friday presents a simplified and innocent descrip-tion of what went on. She says, “We had demonstrated on the very day we shouldn’t have: on Black Friday. That day there were so many killed in one of the neighbour-hoods that a rumour was spread that Israeli soldiers were responsible for the slaughter. But in fact it was really our own who had at-tacked us.”2 Also, after being confronted by

MARJI’S EXPERIENCES DURING PRE-REVOLUTION AND POST-REVOLUTION IRAN ARE WHAT MAKE HER OBSERVATIONS

SO IMPORTANT AND VALID.

2 Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, (New York: Pantheon 2003) 38–39

01

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The emphasis on function and utility as the principal considerations for design had its roots in the Enlightenment and the principles of rationality and individual-ity that gave rise to modernity, the Indus-trial Revolution, and the phenomenon of mass production. Although he preceded the modernists by a generation, economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen presaged the modernists’ love of machine-age preci-sion and technology. In his 1899 work, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions, Veblen compared two spoons—one hand-made of silver, the other machine-made of aluminum or steel. He argued that there was no substantive dif-ference between them in terms of function; nor in aesthetic terms, silver having no in-trinsic qualities more beautiful than steel. He decried the preference for the hand-made silver spoon as a perverse “gratifica-tion of our sense of costliness masquerad-ing under the name of beauty,” a costliness tied to the inefficiencies of manual produc-tion and the relative scarcity of hand-made

objects.5 He refused to acknowledge any link be-tween design, material, and making, or the user’s response to the completed object. Rather, Veblen poured contempt on the “exaltation of the defective, of which John Ruskin and William Morris were such eager spokesmen in their time [and] their propagan-da of crudity and wasted effort.”6 His utter contempt for the subjective, variable aspects of hand produc-tion, and for craft’s insistence on intermixing con-siderations of materials and manufacture, foreshad-owed modernism’s hostility toward the subjectivity and femininized qualities of craft.

Terry Smith pinpoints the moment in the 1920s when modernity began to lose the “visual in the service of the making hand,” when the visual order began to move away from the relationship between hand and eye that is essential to craft.7 Smith ana-lyzes very clearly the way in which the components of craft were delaminated by mass-production—the task of making peeled away from the impulse to make, and the consideration of material properties separated from the design process. Mass-production absorbed and atomized craft knowledge and skills, and parceled out the isolated tasks to unskilled la-bourers; craft was segregated from art and industrial design, which claimed to better express symbolic content, embodied in particular by modernism’s stylized machine aesthetic.8 Mass-production and

mass-consumption came to define modernity, and the purchase of mass-produced items became more enjoyable than making for oneself.9 Under the mod-ernist dispensation, hand-made objects lost their social value, and as we began to lose the understand-ing of how to make, we lost the ability to appreciate the hand-made.

Smith notes that, as the forces of modernity claimed exclusive right to the expressive and sym-bolizing tasks formerly associated with craft, some craftspeople took on the artist’s role, beginning to embed “significant content”10 in their work. He ap-pears to suggest that in so doing these practitioners were co-opted, ceding to modern art practice the right to establish a hierarchy and set value on per-sonal aesthetic expression. This is one aspect of his analysis with which I take exception. Significant con-tent, in the form of personal or cultural narrative and symbolism, have always been embedded in the de-sign and materiality of craft objects, whether created by a skilled maker in an atelier, or a dedicated ama-teur working on a personal project after a day’s paid work. Crafted objects serve a multitude of functional

and symbolic roles—religious, political, social—and in the hours it takes to design and fabricate a liturgical vessel, a tapestry, or a scrimshaw pendant, the created object is imbued with the aesthetic judgments of its maker, as well as his or her accumulated technical decisions.

In considering the effect of modernism on craft, finally, we are faced with another irony: that the functionalist emphasis on truth in design is best exemplified in craft. In the work of makers from Sam Maloof to Albert Paley to Dale Chihuly, the structure of the object is a key design element. The working qualities of wood, steel, and glass can be traced clearly in the finished object, and the form of the chair, gate, or vessel shows the designer/maker’s understand-ing of how it will interact with the human body, an interior space, or the built fabric of an urban precinct.

MASS-PRODUCTION ABSORBED AND

OUT THE ISOLATED TASKS TO UNSKILLED LABOURERS.ATOMIZED CRAFT KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS, AND PARCELED

SIGNIFICANT CONTENT, IN THE FORM OF PERSONAL OR

CULTURAL NARRATIVE AND SYMBOLISM, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN EMBEDDED IN

THE DESIGN AND MATERIALITY OF CRAFT OBJECTS.

5 Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An

Economic Study of Institutions (New

York: MacMillan & Co., 1905), excerpts of 126–131, 159–

162, excerpted in The Industrial

Design Reader, Ed. Carma Gorman

(New York: Allworth Press, 2003) 50.

6 Veblen: 51.

7 Terry Smith, “Craft, Modernity and Post-

modernity,” Craft and Contemporary

Theory, Sue Rowley, Ed. (London: Allen

& Unwin, 1997) 19–20.

8 Smith: 20–21.

9 Terry Smith, “Craft, Modernity and Post-modernity,” Craft and Contemporary Theory, Sue Rowley, Ed. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1997) 18–19.

10 Smith: 22–23

LINE BREAK 51MAKING + UNMAKING: HOW CRAFT SURVIVED THE 20TH CENTURY50

The emphasis on function and utility as the principal considerations for design had its roots in the Enlightenment and the principles of rationality and individual-ity that gave rise to modernity, the Indus-trial Revolution, and the phenomenon of mass production. Although he preceded the modernists by a generation, economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen presaged the modernists’ love of machine-age preci-sion and technology. In his 1899 work, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions, Veblen compared two spoons—one hand-made of silver, the other machine-made of aluminum or steel. He argued that there was no substantive dif-ference between them in terms of function; nor in aesthetic terms, silver having no in-trinsic qualities more beautiful than steel. He decried the preference for the hand-made silver spoon as a perverse “gratifica-tion of our sense of costliness masquerad-ing under the name of beauty,” a costliness tied to the inefficiencies of manual produc-tion and the relative scarcity of hand-made

objects.5 He refused to acknowledge any link be-tween design, material, and making, or the user’s response to the completed object. Rather, Veblen poured contempt on the “exaltation of the defective, of which John Ruskin and William Morris were such eager spokesmen in their time [and] their propagan-da of crudity and wasted effort.”6 His utter contempt for the subjective, variable aspects of hand produc-tion, and for craft’s insistence on intermixing con-siderations of materials and manufacture, foreshad-owed modernism’s hostility toward the subjectivity and femininized qualities of craft.

Terry Smith pinpoints the moment in the 1920s when modernity began to lose the “visual in the service of the making hand,” when the visual order began to move away from the relationship between hand and eye that is essential to craft.7 Smith ana-lyzes very clearly the way in which the components of craft were delaminated by mass-production—the task of making peeled away from the impulse to make, and the consideration of material properties separated from the design process. Mass-production absorbed and atomized craft knowledge and skills, and parceled out the isolated tasks to unskilled la-bourers; craft was segregated from art and industrial design, which claimed to better express symbolic content, embodied in particular by modernism’s stylized machine aesthetic.8 Mass-production and

mass-consumption came to define modernity, and the purchase of mass-produced items became more enjoyable than making for oneself.9 Under the mod-ernist dispensation, hand-made objects lost their social value, and as we began to lose the understand-ing of how to make, we lost the ability to appreciate the hand-made.

Smith notes that, as the forces of modernity claimed exclusive right to the expressive and sym-bolizing tasks formerly associated with craft, some craftspeople took on the artist’s role, beginning to embed “significant content”10 in their work. He ap-pears to suggest that in so doing these practitioners were co-opted, ceding to modern art practice the right to establish a hierarchy and set value on per-sonal aesthetic expression. This is one aspect of his analysis with which I take exception. Significant con-tent, in the form of personal or cultural narrative and symbolism, have always been embedded in the de-sign and materiality of craft objects, whether created by a skilled maker in an atelier, or a dedicated ama-teur working on a personal project after a day’s paid work. Crafted objects serve a multitude of functional

and symbolic roles—religious, political, social—and in the hours it takes to design and fabricate a liturgical vessel, a tapestry, or a scrimshaw pendant, the created object is imbued with the aesthetic judgments of its maker, as well as his or her accumulated technical decisions.

In considering the effect of modernism on craft, finally, we are faced with another irony: that the functionalist emphasis on truth in design is best exemplified in craft. In the work of makers from Sam Maloof to Albert Paley to Dale Chihuly, the structure of the object is a key design element. The working qualities of wood, steel, and glass can be traced clearly in the finished object, and the form of the chair, gate, or vessel shows the designer/maker’s understand-ing of how it will interact with the human body, an interior space, or the built fabric of an urban precinct.

MASS-PRODUCTION ABSORBED AND

OUT THE ISOLATED TASKS TO UNSKILLED LABOURERS.ATOMIZED CRAFT KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS, AND PARCELED

SIGNIFICANT CONTENT, IN THE FORM OF PERSONAL OR

CULTURAL NARRATIVE AND SYMBOLISM, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN EMBEDDED IN

THE DESIGN AND MATERIALITY OF CRAFT OBJECTS.

5 Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An

Economic Study of Institutions (New

York: MacMillan & Co., 1905), excerpts of 126–131, 159–

162, excerpted in The Industrial

Design Reader, Ed. Carma Gorman

(New York: Allworth Press, 2003) 50.

6 Veblen: 51.

7 Terry Smith, “Craft, Modernity and Post-

modernity,” Craft and Contemporary

Theory, Sue Rowley, Ed. (London: Allen

& Unwin, 1997) 19–20.

8 Smith: 20–21.

9 Terry Smith, “Craft, Modernity and Post-modernity,” Craft and Contemporary Theory, Sue Rowley, Ed. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1997) 18–19.

10 Smith: 22–23

LINE BREAK 51MAKING + UNMAKING: HOW CRAFT SURVIVED THE 20TH CENTURY50

2-column asymmetrical grid2-column asymmetrical grid

Ambrose, Gavin & Paul Harris. Layout. AVA Publishing sa, 2005. Müller-Brockmann, Josef. Grid Systems in Graphic Design. Verlag Niggli ag, 2007. (First published 1981).Samara, Timothy. Making and Breaking the Grid. Rockport Publishers, 2002.

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