<< ON EDUCATION

I consider myself enormously fortunate to have had some amazing mentors and amazing students as well. I find that as I get older, my mentors all go on to the next life. As I get older, I find that my students improve in amazing ways. It is a mixture of the sad and happy. I become more aware of this constant balance on a daily basis. I wrote about one of my key mentors, Ikko Tanaka [once]. And I recall a happy encounter with the reason for how I got here [Paul Rand].

Education is an important endeavor to pursue. First of all, it means that you have to study for a lifetime (otherwise your students can easily get ahead of you). Secondly, it means that you get to cheat your own eventual obsolescence by being an active part of the pool of evolving knowledge of a school. Third and most important, it means that you can pay back the lifelong debt to some teacher or mentor out there that gave you the spirit of hope when you needed it most. To me, education is the highest form of intellectual philanthropy Experimentation is also an important endeavor to pursue. You can be an experimental educator of course, but you should also be an avid experimentor in your own work. Experiments can take the form of something exotic, but they do not necessarily have to be of an outlandish nature. Often the most obvious experiment is the most difficult to perform. I believe that students have the luxury of doing daily experimentation. I try to make it clear how great a privilege students have. I regret that some do not understand until only after their time runs out. (A note on a dilemma that instructors often have [here].) There are few great educators out there. If you can't find one, don't be surprised. And don't give up. Technology has caused a serious disruption in our academic system. Students usually know many times more than teachers when it comes to technology. This is not natural. But do not give up hope. I pride myself on finding great students. They will soon be a part of the educational landscape. They already are. They are the future that you search for. Thankfully each student has developed quite differently. If you wish to study performance, seek out Golan Levin. If you wish to study typography, seek out Peter Cho. If you wish to study form, seek out Casey Reas. If you wish to study virtuality, seek out Reed Kram. If you wish to study computation, seek out Jared Schiffman. If you wish to study fashion, seek out Elise Co. If you wish to study visualization, seek out Ben Fry. If you wish to make a living doing something very interesting contact David Small. There will be more. All of my students are hybrids - meaning that they are both deft technologists at the same time deft artists and designers. More hybrids are desperately needed today. See Writing on "Humanist Technologists" 1998, An interview in Milan 2001, and "Real Artists Don't Go To MIT" 2000.