Doug Aitken. sleepwalkers. 2007. Installation view, The Museum of Modern Art, January 16–February 12, 2007

This past fall, MoMA Courses Online launched Catalysts: Artists Creating with Video, Sound, and Time, a six-week survey of performance, video, and sound art created since 1960. As MoMA’s 12-month Digital Learning intern, I facilitated the production and monitored the progress of online courses, in addition to troubleshooting digital and technical issues.

Cover of Living Well Is the Best Revenge

First published in 1971 and newly reissued by MoMA, Living Well Is the Best Revenge by New Yorker staff writer Calvin Tomkins is the now-classic account of the lives of Gerald and Sara Murphy, two fascinating American expatriates who lived an extraordinary life in France in the 1920s.

As indicated in the previous posts in this series, MoMA paintings conservators and conservation scientists have been studying five Magritte paintings for the past two years in preparation for Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938.

Installation view of MoMA Studio: Sound in Space, with Joe McKay’s Light Wave. Photo: Jackie Armstrong

Since I began working at the Museum, every MoMA Studio has undergone a complete evaluation. Evaluation strategies include interviewing visitors, surveying participants, observing/tracking/timing visitors, using prompts to encourage responses on comment boards, facilitator reflections, and a few other participatory forms of data gathering.

Cover of The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule

Beginning in the mid-1990s, a loose affiliation of filmmakers, graduates of the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin, began creating films that offered a new, aesthetically-driven form of cinema.

MoMA’s celebration of the landmark year 1913 continues with the 22nd installment in our series of videos highlighting important works from 1913 in the Museum’s collection.

Billy Liar. 1963. Great Britain. Directed by John Schlesinger

These notes accompany screenings of John Schlesinger’s </em>Billy Liar</a> on December 4, 5, and 6 in Theater 2.</p>

John Schlesinger (1926–2003) represents something of an anomaly in postwar British film history.

The holidays are upon us, and the MoMA Design Store is ready to help you celebrate with a wide selection of unique gifts that are sure to bring joy to everyone on your list. Just as the Museum continues to promote the values of good design through its awe-inspiring exhibitions, the MoMA Design Store strives to bring work that exudes quality, creativity, and innovation to everyday living.

How you set your holiday table can be just as fraught as the great Thanksgiving food debates—canned cranberry sauce vs. real, sweet potato pie vs. pumpkin pie, stuffing cooked in the bird or in a pan. In my family, the size of our group prohibits the formal elegance of a matched dinner service, and instead every pan, dish, and utensil is put to use. The hodgepodge is really quite charming, and what I love in particular are the pieces that only grace us with their presence at these official family gatherings—my grandmother’s aluminum roasting pan, for instance, which has probably seen at least twice as many Thanksgiving dinners as I have. To celebrate this annual showcase of dining accoutrements I’ve selected some pieces from MoMA’s Architecture and Design collection that would enhance any Thanksgiving table.
 

Smart Design, New York. Good Grips Peeler. 1989. Stainless steel and rubber. Manufactured by Oxo International
A behind-the-scenes workhorse—how many potatoes, yams, and carrots did you peel today?—this vegetable peeler has become a standard fixture in kitchens around the world. Sam Faber, a retired kitchenware manufacturer, was inspired to create a line of comfort-grip kitchen tools after his wife developed arthritis. Working with Smart Design Inc., Faber launched the original 15-piece Good Grips collection, with handles based on gardening tools and prototyped using bicycle handlebar grips, through Oxo International.
 

Vico Magistretti. Two-Piece Carving Set, 1980. Sterling silver. Manufactured by Cleto Munari, Venice
Whoever has the honor of carving the bird at your table would probably appreciate this sterling-silver set by Italian deisgner Vico Magistretti. (You may also be familiar with his iconic Eclisse Table Lamp). The minimalistic design, with only a curved thumb-piece interrupting the sleek lines of the handle, reflects the architectural influence that was prevalent throughout the 1980s.
 

Russel Wright. Casual China Casserole Dish. 1946. Glazed vitreous china. Manufactured by Iroquois China Co.
Russel Wright was a successful American industrial designer; his American Modern dinnerware was the best-selling line ever created, with over 80 million pieces sold from 1939 to 1959. Wright, along with his wife Mary, not only designed clean-lined, colorful ceramics that were a major change from traditional porcelain services, but also excelled at marketing his products for modern, casual lifestyles. The couple even wrote a how-to book that promoted easy entertaining tips like buffet-style dinners. A stove-to-table casserole dish like this one—in a period-appropriate shade of chartreuse—would be just the thing for baking and serving a green bean casserole.
 

Eva Zeisel. Hallcraft/Tomorrow’s Classic Sauce Boat with Ladle. c. 1949–50. Glazed earthenware. Manufactured by Hall China Co.
The sculptural, organic lines and pure white of this sauce boat and ladle are the perfect embodiment of designer Eva Zeisel’s style (in contrast to Russel Wright’s colorful mix-and-match serving pieces). Beloved by the design world, Zeisel’s work never seems to look dated—which might explain why so many of her pieces are still in production today.
 

Wilhelm Wagenfeld. Salt and Pepper Shakers. 1953. Manufactured by Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik
Bauhuas-trained designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld promoted standardized, functional forms in order to elevate mass produced goods. The thoughtful proportions of these salt and pepper shakers are accentuated by the minimal design (somewhat reminiscent of a scientific beaker) and use of industrial materials (stainless steel and glass). And best of all, they’re for sale at MoMAstore.org.
 

12-Cut Pie Marker. 1950s. Cast aluminum. Unknown Italian Manufacturer
This round-up ends exactly where it should: with dessert. Ensuring that everyone gets an equal slice? If you value Thanksgiving-table harmony, you should probably considering getting one of these. Now you just have to decide what type of pie it’s going to be? Apple? Pumpkin? Sweet potato? Personally, I’m going with pecan.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Roy M. Cohn in Point of Order. 1963. USA. Directed by Emile de Antonio

These notes accompany screenings of Emile de Antonio’s </em>Point of Order</a> on November 27 and 29 in Theater 1.</p>

Intermittently over the coming months, as we make our way through the 1960s, we will look at the impact of two new developments in the production of documentary films.