The Aspen Complex

New York conceptual artist Martin Beck compiles his research and reflections on two exhibition projects from the early 1970s. The International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA) brought together important figures in modern design (Saul Bass, George Nelson) with environmental activists and architects (Sim Van der Ryn, Ant Farm) and French thinkers (Jean Aubert, Jean Baudrillard). The Aspen Movie Map (designed by MIT's Architecture Machine Group Media Lab) served as a seminal prototype for today's GPS systems, both military and civilian. Through Beck s analyses, the two efforts reflect the connections between the art, architecture, design, ecology and social movements at the time, and continue to shed light on those issues today. With accompanying essays by Sabeth Buchmann, Felicity D. Scott and Alice Twemlow.