RISD’s John Maeda in One-Man Show in London

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

GoLocalProv Features Team

Sometimes you're the president of a major art school, sometimes you're a performance artist sitting for hours in a sandpit in a trendy London gallery.

Sometimes you're John Maeda, and you're both.

The forward-thinking educator, designer, artist and philosopher is in London this week, performing John Maeda is The Fortune Cookie, a live exhibition during which the RISD president dispenses wisdom from a sandpit on the upper floor of the Riflemaker Gallery in London's Soho.

Ten-minute advisory slots with Maeda filled up quickly. Each visitor gets to choose one of five methods of communication with him: from sending a text to Tweeting. Maeda responds to each question by drawing in the sand of his box or writing a message on a glass window with his finger in his own breath.

Sound odd? Yes, but it's classic Maeda, who is no stranger to playing thoughtfully in the landscape of media and communication, from missives in Chinese cookies to the newest digital formats.

Billed as "the overall experience being somewhere between McKinsey Consulting going on tour and a visit to the hairdresser," this provocative piece runs, with Maeda seated at the center, through November 19th.

John Maeda is The Fortune Cookie, RIflemaker Contemporary Art Gallery, Nov 16-19, 2-8pm. For more, check out the Web site, here.

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