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An artist is
a title that you earn.
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And it's a little embarrassing
to hear
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00:00:52,356 --> 00:00:53,914
people refer to themselves
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00:00:53,991 --> 00:00:55,219
as artists.
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00:00:55,292 --> 00:00:58,125
It's like referring to
themselves as a genius.
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00:01:01,165 --> 00:01:05,499
This was a man who was
a Merlin of curiosity.
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00:01:05,569 --> 00:01:07,560
He was driven by his curiosity.
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We weren't sure
quite what he was.
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Was he an architect?
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00:01:13,811 --> 00:01:14,903
Was he a designer?
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00:01:14,979 --> 00:01:16,139
Was he a filmmaker?
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But what he was, obviously,
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00:01:18,415 --> 00:01:20,383
was something
we all wanted to be.
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00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,549
I had been trained
as a painter,
15
00:01:24,622 --> 00:01:28,319
but when we were working
on furniture,
16
00:01:28,392 --> 00:01:30,223
and again in film,
17
00:01:30,294 --> 00:01:33,730
it never seemed like leaving
painting in any way,
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00:01:33,797 --> 00:01:35,822
because it was
just anotherform.
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00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:39,529
She made paintings out of
what she was surrounded by.
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00:01:39,603 --> 00:01:43,437
Everything she touched, she
turned into something magical.
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00:01:43,507 --> 00:01:46,476
Everything that they did
in design, she saw as
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00:01:46,543 --> 00:01:48,101
an extension of her painting.
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00:01:48,178 --> 00:01:50,408
And everything they did in
design, he saw as an extension
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00:01:50,481 --> 00:01:52,449
of his architecture.
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00:01:52,516 --> 00:01:55,280
For them, these names like
painter and architect,
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00:01:55,352 --> 00:01:57,013
they weren't job descriptions.
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00:01:57,087 --> 00:01:58,486
They were ways of looking
at the world.
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00:01:58,555 --> 00:02:01,752
They were
introducing people
29
00:02:01,825 --> 00:02:04,919
to look at the world
differently.
30
00:02:04,995 --> 00:02:08,192
Life was fun, was work, was fun,
was life.
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00:02:08,265 --> 00:02:12,065
People would say
it was childlike behavior,
32
00:02:12,136 --> 00:02:13,865
butwhat's wrong with that?
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00:02:13,938 --> 00:02:17,237
The Eameses have put
all this joy back in life.
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00:02:17,308 --> 00:02:19,139
You know that modernism,
let's face it,
35
00:02:19,209 --> 00:02:22,235
was getting boring.
36
00:02:22,313 --> 00:02:24,781
Had they just designed
the furniture,
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00:02:24,848 --> 00:02:26,748
they'd be in the pantheon.
38
00:02:26,817 --> 00:02:30,719
It's the multifaceted nature
of the career
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00:02:30,788 --> 00:02:34,189
that is extraordinary.
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00:02:34,258 --> 00:02:37,989
They give shape to America's
20th century.
41
00:03:06,323 --> 00:03:09,520
I came from
an architectural office
42
00:03:09,593 --> 00:03:13,461
where there were individual
tables with a conference room,
43
00:03:13,530 --> 00:03:15,964
and there was carpet
on the floor.
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00:03:16,033 --> 00:03:17,193
There were lights.
45
00:03:17,267 --> 00:03:19,428
We had drafting tables,
and all the equipment
46
00:03:19,503 --> 00:03:21,596
that you needed,
et cetera, et cetera.
47
00:03:21,672 --> 00:03:23,867
I walk into Eames Office,
48
00:03:23,941 --> 00:03:25,875
and it was like walking
into a circus.
49
00:03:28,312 --> 00:03:33,181
I walked in the door, and
of course I immediately thought,
50
00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:35,946
"Got any jobs here?'
51
00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:41,981
I'm just totally blown away
by the patina on every surface
52
00:03:42,059 --> 00:03:45,051
of graphics, and there were
models everywhere,
53
00:03:45,129 --> 00:03:46,619
and there was just stuff.
54
00:03:46,697 --> 00:03:48,062
I was just overwhelmed.
55
00:03:48,132 --> 00:03:52,296
I saw this incredible
apparition
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00:03:52,369 --> 00:03:54,735
of animation stands
57
00:03:54,805 --> 00:03:57,296
and photographs
spread out on tables.
58
00:03:57,374 --> 00:03:59,842
Models being lit
for photography,
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00:03:59,910 --> 00:04:01,275
a screening room,
60
00:04:01,345 --> 00:04:03,245
and a wonderful wood shop.
61
00:04:03,313 --> 00:04:05,110
Saltwater tanks.
62
00:04:05,182 --> 00:04:08,948
There were Eames chairs
with Steinberg drawings on them.
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00:04:09,019 --> 00:04:12,614
Every kind of visual treat
you can imagine.
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00:04:12,689 --> 00:04:15,487
And I thought, "I've come
to work in Disneyland."
65
00:04:17,661 --> 00:04:19,629
If you had taken
the roof off of it,
66
00:04:19,696 --> 00:04:21,459
you would see that place
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00:04:21,532 --> 00:04:23,022
changing constantly.
68
00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:25,534
So we'd just go around
69
00:04:25,602 --> 00:04:28,093
and take everything
out of the middle
70
00:04:28,172 --> 00:04:30,333
ofthe studio,
to put up a movie set
71
00:04:30,407 --> 00:04:33,205
to take pictures tomorrow,
and then the next day,
72
00:04:33,277 --> 00:04:36,212
you'd take out all the movie set
and put the tables all back up,
73
00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:37,975
and everybody's
back at work again.
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00:04:40,184 --> 00:04:41,947
It was very informal.
75
00:04:42,019 --> 00:04:44,317
I mean, there wasn't ever
any kind
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00:04:44,388 --> 00:04:45,582
of routine.
77
00:04:45,656 --> 00:04:48,216
There were no
"regular meetings."
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00:04:49,793 --> 00:04:52,557
Because I did not have
a design degree,
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00:04:52,629 --> 00:04:55,655
many of the people
in the Office thought
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00:04:55,732 --> 00:04:57,723
I probably shouldn't bethere,
81
00:04:57,801 --> 00:05:00,793
but Charles had
a different attitude.
82
00:05:00,871 --> 00:05:03,465
And he said this to me --
83
00:05:03,540 --> 00:05:07,476
"l can teach you
how to draw.
84
00:05:07,544 --> 00:05:11,878
"lf you can think
and you can see,
85
00:05:11,949 --> 00:05:15,043
and you can prove that to me,
you can work here."
86
00:05:19,590 --> 00:05:23,890
For four decades,
901 Washington Boulevard
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00:05:23,961 --> 00:05:25,826
in Venice Beach, California,
was one of the most
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00:05:25,896 --> 00:05:28,592
creative addresses on Earth.
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00:05:28,665 --> 00:05:30,997
Dozens of gifted young designers
90
00:05:31,068 --> 00:05:33,866
cuttheirteeth within the walls
ofthe studio.
91
00:05:33,937 --> 00:05:38,670
But the vision for the Office
came from the top.
92
00:05:38,742 --> 00:05:42,576
We have to have
a place where you can recognize
93
00:05:42,646 --> 00:05:44,307
where you're going
when you start out.
94
00:05:44,381 --> 00:05:46,178
Modern design was born
95
00:05:46,250 --> 00:05:48,445
from the marriage
of art and industry.
96
00:05:48,519 --> 00:05:51,920
The Eames Office was born
from the marriage
97
00:05:51,989 --> 00:05:54,890
of Ray Kaiser --
a painter who rarely painted --
98
00:05:54,958 --> 00:05:58,325
and Charles Eames --
an architecture school dropout
99
00:05:58,395 --> 00:05:59,987
who never got his license.
100
00:06:00,063 --> 00:06:04,523
"Eventually, everything
connects," Charles said.
101
00:06:04,601 --> 00:06:07,297
Furniture, toys, architecture,
102
00:06:07,371 --> 00:06:09,669
exhibitions, photography,
103
00:06:09,740 --> 00:06:11,605
and film were all connected
104
00:06:11,675 --> 00:06:15,042
in the wild, whimsical world
of the Eames Office.
105
00:06:15,112 --> 00:06:19,981
Charles and Ray Eames
wanted to bring
106
00:06:20,050 --> 00:06:22,348
the most magnificent experiences
107
00:06:22,419 --> 00:06:25,081
that you could have
with your eyes
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00:06:25,155 --> 00:06:28,454
to the largest number of people.
109
00:06:28,525 --> 00:06:30,789
I don'tthinkthere's anything
more important
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00:06:30,861 --> 00:06:32,192
for an artist to want to do.
111
00:06:32,262 --> 00:06:35,129
It was a career
that defined
112
00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:37,531
what it means to be a designer.
113
00:06:37,601 --> 00:06:41,002
And it all began with a chair.
114
00:06:41,071 --> 00:06:44,973
Charles, where did the
classic Eames chair come from?
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00:06:45,042 --> 00:06:46,942
Did it come to you
in a flash,
116
00:06:47,010 --> 00:06:49,035
as you were shaving
one morning?
117
00:06:49,112 --> 00:06:51,512
It sort of came to me
118
00:06:51,582 --> 00:06:55,541
in a 30-year flash,
if you want.
119
00:06:55,619 --> 00:06:57,917
TIME magazine called it
120
00:06:57,988 --> 00:07:01,253
"the greatest design
ofthe 20th century."
121
00:07:01,325 --> 00:07:03,623
But it didn't start out
that way.
122
00:07:03,694 --> 00:07:06,458
It began as a failure.
123
00:07:06,530 --> 00:07:08,725
Responding to a competition
124
00:07:08,799 --> 00:07:11,893
at the museum of modern art
in 1940,
125
00:07:11,969 --> 00:07:13,937
two unknown young architects --
126
00:07:14,004 --> 00:07:17,337
Charles Eames and his friend,
Eero Saarinen,
127
00:07:17,407 --> 00:07:21,138
set out to reinvent
the very idea of the chair.
128
00:07:21,211 --> 00:07:24,305
The goal is to create
an inexpensive,
129
00:07:24,381 --> 00:07:27,509
mass-produced chair
which is well designed,
130
00:07:27,584 --> 00:07:31,111
and which is molded to the body,
because it doesn't need a lot
131
00:07:31,188 --> 00:07:33,816
of upholstery, which is,
"a," old-fashioned,
132
00:07:33,890 --> 00:07:35,824
and "b," expensive.
133
00:07:35,892 --> 00:07:38,053
Upholstery is what
Louis XlV did.
134
00:07:38,128 --> 00:07:43,327
Working at the Cranbrook
Academy of Art near Detroit,
135
00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,459
Eames and Saarinen thought they
could mold
136
00:07:45,535 --> 00:07:47,264
the new miracle material,
plywood,
137
00:07:47,337 --> 00:07:48,599
into two directions at once
138
00:07:48,672 --> 00:07:51,368
to make a comfortable,
form-fitting shell.
139
00:07:51,441 --> 00:07:53,671
The critical point
140
00:07:53,744 --> 00:07:56,838
is where that back
becomes the seat.
141
00:07:56,913 --> 00:08:00,178
The glues aren't good
enough, and the chair splinters,
142
00:08:00,250 --> 00:08:01,478
which means,
when you'd sit on it,
143
00:08:01,551 --> 00:08:02,813
itwould be a little
uncomfortable.
144
00:08:02,886 --> 00:08:04,877
So they have to upholster it.
145
00:08:04,955 --> 00:08:06,684
Despite failing
146
00:08:06,757 --> 00:08:10,193
at their goal of creating
a single-piece plywood shell,
147
00:08:10,260 --> 00:08:14,492
Charles and Eero
won the competition.
148
00:08:14,564 --> 00:08:18,295
The irony is that
149
00:08:18,368 --> 00:08:21,166
the chairthat
Eames and Saarinen designed,
150
00:08:21,238 --> 00:08:23,536
they couldn't really
manufacture.
151
00:08:23,607 --> 00:08:27,668
Even with the upholstery
to cover the cracked surface,
152
00:08:27,744 --> 00:08:31,373
no existing machine could
successfully mold the plywood
153
00:08:31,448 --> 00:08:33,643
into the shape of the chair.
154
00:08:33,717 --> 00:08:34,945
It couldn't be made
155
00:08:35,018 --> 00:08:37,578
in the way that they claimed
it could be made.
156
00:08:37,654 --> 00:08:39,349
They had designed
the look of it
157
00:08:39,423 --> 00:08:41,357
without designing
the substance of it.
158
00:08:41,425 --> 00:08:45,191
After many unsuccessful
attempts,
159
00:08:45,262 --> 00:08:47,321
Eero Saarinen scrapped
the project.
160
00:08:47,397 --> 00:08:49,524
But Charles wasn't ready
to give up --
161
00:08:49,599 --> 00:08:52,295
this time, with a new partner.
162
00:08:52,369 --> 00:08:52,402
At Cranbrook, he had become
friendly with Ray Kaiser,
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00:08:52,402 --> 00:08:56,395
At Cranbrook, he had become
friendly with Ray Kaiser,
164
00:08:56,473 --> 00:09:00,603
a talented young artist who had
helped with the chair project.
165
00:09:00,677 --> 00:09:02,338
I said to Ray one day,
166
00:09:02,412 --> 00:09:05,210
"How did you and Charles
get together?'
167
00:09:05,282 --> 00:09:08,217
"Oh! I can't talk about it."
168
00:09:08,285 --> 00:09:09,343
I said, "Well, why not?'
169
00:09:09,419 --> 00:09:11,478
"Well, we just did."
170
00:09:11,555 --> 00:09:15,321
They sparked, and
the rest is literally history.
171
00:09:15,392 --> 00:09:16,882
And I think in Ray,
172
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,757
he really found his complement.
173
00:09:18,829 --> 00:09:21,320
But there was a problem.
174
00:09:21,398 --> 00:09:24,094
Charles was already married.
175
00:09:24,167 --> 00:09:27,102
He had moved up to Cranbrook
from St. Louis
176
00:09:27,170 --> 00:09:30,833
with his wife, Catherine,
and his young daughter, Lucia.
177
00:09:30,907 --> 00:09:38,814
The love letters are
Charles's letters to Ray,
178
00:09:38,882 --> 00:09:42,443
because the letters that Ray
wrote back to Charles,
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00:09:42,519 --> 00:09:45,454
Charles destroyed,
because he was married.
180
00:09:45,522 --> 00:09:49,288
They show Charles madly in love
with her.
181
00:09:49,359 --> 00:09:51,190
There's no doubt about that.
182
00:09:51,261 --> 00:09:53,661
He talks about walking past
183
00:09:53,730 --> 00:09:55,391
the building
that she used to live in
184
00:09:55,465 --> 00:09:56,659
and looking up at her window,
185
00:09:56,733 --> 00:09:58,928
and they are very moving.
186
00:09:59,002 --> 00:10:03,439
These letters are talking about
187
00:10:03,507 --> 00:10:09,935
a joined future
as artists together.
188
00:10:10,013 --> 00:10:13,278
I think
his decision feels made.
189
00:10:13,350 --> 00:10:18,253
Ray certainly felt uncomfortable
enough to leave Cranbrook
190
00:10:18,321 --> 00:10:20,619
and go away and think about
191
00:10:20,690 --> 00:10:23,955
what she was going to do
thereafter.
192
00:10:26,229 --> 00:10:29,357
Catherine was
a very impressive person.
193
00:10:29,433 --> 00:10:31,697
Knowing them both, as I did,
194
00:10:31,768 --> 00:10:35,602
you can see why
they didn't stay together.
195
00:10:35,672 --> 00:10:39,938
He really thought he had
something to offer the world,
196
00:10:40,010 --> 00:10:43,207
and this was going to be
a journey
197
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,181
with a lot
of unexpectedness.
198
00:10:46,249 --> 00:10:49,844
This was a journey that might
not lead to, uh, success.
199
00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,013
And I think that maybe
at that point in her life,
200
00:10:52,088 --> 00:10:53,453
this was not necessarily
201
00:10:53,523 --> 00:10:57,789
the place that Catherine
wanted to go.
202
00:10:57,861 --> 00:11:00,056
But I think that maybe
in Charles's mind
203
00:11:00,130 --> 00:11:04,794
that he had wanted a life
where love and work
204
00:11:04,868 --> 00:11:07,598
and life and work
were all blended together.
205
00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,331
Charles quit his job
at Cranbrook,
206
00:11:12,409 --> 00:11:17,403
and, in one last letterto Ray,
asked for her hand in marriage.
207
00:11:21,651 --> 00:11:23,118
His future with his new bride
208
00:11:23,186 --> 00:11:27,680
now depended
on making the chairwork.
209
00:11:31,428 --> 00:11:34,226
Broke and short on options,
210
00:11:34,297 --> 00:11:37,130
Charles and Ray
headed from Michigan to L.A.
211
00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,135
to finish what he had started.
212
00:11:40,203 --> 00:11:42,797
Part of this journey
to California was
213
00:11:42,873 --> 00:11:44,773
they were both
going to figure out
214
00:11:44,841 --> 00:11:48,072
how to mass-produce molded
plywood and compound curves --
215
00:11:48,144 --> 00:11:50,476
which sounds very unromantic,
but I think it probably
216
00:11:50,547 --> 00:11:52,572
was pretty romantic,
underthe circumstances.
217
00:11:52,649 --> 00:11:56,278
In their two-bedroom
apartment in Westwood Village,
218
00:11:56,353 --> 00:11:59,811
Charles and Ray set up
a makeshift workshop.
219
00:11:59,890 --> 00:12:02,358
The --
the first to --
220
00:12:02,425 --> 00:12:04,017
that did the molding,
221
00:12:04,094 --> 00:12:06,585
which was so magic,
222
00:12:06,663 --> 00:12:09,223
we called it by a magic name.
223
00:12:09,299 --> 00:12:11,529
So we called it "Kazam!"
224
00:12:11,601 --> 00:12:15,799
The "Kazam!" machine was
a jury-rigged molding device
225
00:12:15,872 --> 00:12:18,534
made out of heating coils
and a bicycle pump.
226
00:12:18,608 --> 00:12:22,374
But in 1942,
with the nation atwar,
227
00:12:22,445 --> 00:12:27,348
raw materials were scarce,
and the "Kazam!" lay silent.
228
00:12:30,620 --> 00:12:34,954
Butwith the setback,
there was also opportunity.
229
00:12:35,025 --> 00:12:39,189
The U.S. military
needed better splints.
230
00:12:39,262 --> 00:12:42,459
The standard-issue
splintwas metallic,
231
00:12:42,532 --> 00:12:44,329
and so the vibration of
the two people carrying them
232
00:12:44,401 --> 00:12:46,665
actually would make
the wound worse.
233
00:12:46,736 --> 00:12:48,033
Theywould actually be
better off
234
00:12:48,104 --> 00:12:50,072
if you grabbed a stick
off the ground and tied it to it
235
00:12:50,140 --> 00:12:51,300
than with this
amplification.
236
00:12:51,374 --> 00:12:53,604
So Charles and Ray said,
"Well, you know,
237
00:12:53,677 --> 00:12:55,907
we're experimenting
with molded plywood.
238
00:12:55,979 --> 00:12:58,243
Why don't we try
and design a new splint?'
239
00:12:58,315 --> 00:13:01,807
They're trying to make
a three-dimensional curve,
240
00:13:01,885 --> 00:13:03,113
kind of a bowl, you might say.
241
00:13:03,186 --> 00:13:04,949
They can't quite do it yet.
242
00:13:05,021 --> 00:13:07,581
So they need holes
in the plywood
243
00:13:07,657 --> 00:13:08,783
in order to release the tension,
244
00:13:08,858 --> 00:13:10,291
'cause otherwise
it's going to splinter
245
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:11,349
where they try to do it.
246
00:13:11,428 --> 00:13:12,952
Butworking within
the constraints,
247
00:13:13,029 --> 00:13:15,020
what's nice is that this is
exactly what you need
248
00:13:15,098 --> 00:13:17,498
for a splint, 'cause you need
a place for the bandages to go.
249
00:13:17,567 --> 00:13:21,435
In a rented warehouse
space,
250
00:13:21,504 --> 00:13:24,371
their team of skilled designers
and craftspeople
251
00:13:24,441 --> 00:13:27,808
made 150,000 splints.
252
00:13:27,877 --> 00:13:30,937
With peace approaching,
Charles and Ray
253
00:13:31,014 --> 00:13:33,312
had one thing on their minds --
254
00:13:33,383 --> 00:13:36,147
applying the lessons
of the splints
255
00:13:36,219 --> 00:13:38,687
to the failed
plywood chairs.
256
00:13:38,755 --> 00:13:42,782
Thistime, they wouldn't design
the look of the chairfirst.
257
00:13:42,859 --> 00:13:45,657
They would never make
that mistake again.
258
00:13:45,729 --> 00:13:48,630
They would let the design flow
from the learning.
259
00:13:48,698 --> 00:13:51,861
That meant
knowing who they were serving.
260
00:13:51,935 --> 00:13:53,095
In Charles's words,
261
00:13:53,169 --> 00:13:54,966
it was always about being
262
00:13:55,038 --> 00:13:57,029
a good host to their guests.
263
00:13:57,107 --> 00:14:01,100
The people we
wanted to serve were varied,
264
00:14:01,177 --> 00:14:04,669
and to begin with we studied
the shape and postures
265
00:14:04,748 --> 00:14:07,945
of many types --
averages and extremes.
266
00:14:11,054 --> 00:14:12,578
But it was more
than just a search
267
00:14:12,656 --> 00:14:15,124
for the best chair design.
268
00:14:15,191 --> 00:14:18,319
Itwas the beginning
of the Eames design process,
269
00:14:18,395 --> 00:14:22,092
a process of learning by doing.
270
00:14:22,165 --> 00:14:24,827
In the design
of any structure,
271
00:14:24,901 --> 00:14:26,766
it is often the connection
272
00:14:26,836 --> 00:14:30,272
that provides the key
to the solution.
273
00:14:30,340 --> 00:14:33,901
"Never delegate
understanding," Charles said.
274
00:14:33,977 --> 00:14:37,469
It would become a hallmark
of Eames design,
275
00:14:37,547 --> 00:14:39,378
their secret ingredient.
276
00:14:39,449 --> 00:14:41,815
Charles said,
yeah, there's a secret.
277
00:14:41,885 --> 00:14:44,877
First you have an idea,
then you discard the idea,
278
00:14:44,954 --> 00:14:48,720
then you have 50 other ideas
and you discard them,
279
00:14:48,792 --> 00:14:52,250
and then you do several models,
and they don'twork,
280
00:14:52,328 --> 00:14:53,886
and you throwthem out.
281
00:14:53,963 --> 00:14:57,399
And the secret is work and work
and work and work and work.
282
00:14:57,467 --> 00:15:02,905
The plywood furniture
was good to go in 1946.
283
00:15:02,972 --> 00:15:05,099
Charles said of the furniture,
284
00:15:05,175 --> 00:15:10,340
"We wanted to make the best
for the most for the least."
285
00:15:10,413 --> 00:15:12,108
That sentiment struck a chord
286
00:15:12,182 --> 00:15:14,742
with the Herman Miller
furniture company.
287
00:15:14,818 --> 00:15:18,015
Honest and simple
in its use of materials,
288
00:15:18,088 --> 00:15:22,024
the plywood furniture was also
affordable for the common man.
289
00:15:22,092 --> 00:15:25,721
Together, they would become one
of the great success stories
290
00:15:25,795 --> 00:15:27,660
of the postwar era.
291
00:15:35,238 --> 00:15:38,605
Charles and Ray Eames
provide much of the furniture
292
00:15:38,675 --> 00:15:41,508
for a kind of
Upper-middle-class,
293
00:15:41,578 --> 00:15:43,011
educated audience
294
00:15:43,079 --> 00:15:44,944
moving to suburbia.
295
00:15:45,014 --> 00:15:47,414
When the Second World War ended,
296
00:15:47,484 --> 00:15:50,476
itwasn't just five years
of pent-up demand.
297
00:15:50,553 --> 00:15:52,453
Itwas actually almost 15 years,
298
00:15:52,522 --> 00:15:54,820
because you also have 10 years
of the Depression.
299
00:15:54,891 --> 00:15:57,883
And people have much more money,
300
00:15:57,961 --> 00:15:59,792
so if you wanted to sort of
do something
301
00:15:59,863 --> 00:16:03,526
differentthan your parents,
you boughtthat Eamesfurniture.
302
00:16:05,401 --> 00:16:08,962
And itwas promoted that way.
303
00:16:09,038 --> 00:16:11,029
Everything around the marketing
suggested,
304
00:16:11,107 --> 00:16:14,372
"Here is something new
for a new society."
305
00:16:14,444 --> 00:16:17,436
And America was a new society
in '45.
306
00:16:20,717 --> 00:16:22,878
In the decades
to follow,
307
00:16:22,952 --> 00:16:25,113
Charles and Ray scored success
308
00:16:25,188 --> 00:16:28,282
with line after line
of Eames furniture.
309
00:16:28,358 --> 00:16:29,791
And their unmistakable designs
310
00:16:29,859 --> 00:16:32,726
became a ubiquitous part
of American culture,
311
00:16:32,796 --> 00:16:36,789
right up to today.
312
00:16:36,866 --> 00:16:39,357
Sold for $900, 232.
313
00:16:39,435 --> 00:16:43,997
I think the work retains
a real freshness.
314
00:16:44,073 --> 00:16:47,804
Elements of it still inform
contemporary design today.
315
00:16:47,877 --> 00:16:49,902
$700.
316
00:16:49,979 --> 00:16:51,105
$2,000.
317
00:16:51,181 --> 00:16:52,170
$2, 100.
318
00:16:52,248 --> 00:16:53,681
$2, 100.
319
00:16:53,750 --> 00:16:55,342
$7,000.
320
00:16:55,418 --> 00:16:57,818
Fair warning,
selling...$13,000.
321
00:16:57,887 --> 00:16:59,218
Are we done?
322
00:16:59,289 --> 00:17:00,620
Sold for $13,000.
323
00:17:00,690 --> 00:17:01,952
The rightness
of thefurniture
324
00:17:02,025 --> 00:17:05,119
will continue to appeal
325
00:17:05,195 --> 00:17:08,096
to new generations.
326
00:17:08,164 --> 00:17:11,600
The word "Eames" has now
become a generic word.
327
00:17:11,668 --> 00:17:16,002
I mean, if you go on eBay,
it always says, "Eames era"
328
00:17:16,072 --> 00:17:18,165
blah, blah, blah.
329
00:17:18,241 --> 00:17:20,004
So it's become
a word like "Victorian."
330
00:17:20,076 --> 00:17:22,237
Maybe it's, in a way, accurate,
331
00:17:22,312 --> 00:17:24,576
because just like Queen Victoria
332
00:17:24,647 --> 00:17:27,172
represents an attitude,
333
00:17:27,250 --> 00:17:30,879
Eames also embodies
a certain approach
334
00:17:30,954 --> 00:17:33,650
to life and to thinking.
335
00:17:33,723 --> 00:17:36,351
By the early '50s,
Charles had grown
336
00:17:36,426 --> 00:17:40,055
an outsized reputation
as an icon of modernism,
337
00:17:40,129 --> 00:17:42,825
fighting to inject
an ethical dimension
338
00:17:42,899 --> 00:17:44,560
into American capitalism.
339
00:17:44,634 --> 00:17:46,295
At that price,
the customer knows
340
00:17:46,369 --> 00:17:47,768
exactly what
he's going to get.
341
00:17:47,837 --> 00:17:48,826
This!
342
00:17:48,905 --> 00:17:52,966
In MGM's
"Executive Suite,"
343
00:17:53,042 --> 00:17:54,168
William Holden stars
344
00:17:54,244 --> 00:17:56,838
as a curiously
Charles Eames-like
345
00:17:56,913 --> 00:17:58,540
furniture designer.
346
00:17:58,615 --> 00:18:00,082
We'll have a line
of low-priced furniture,
347
00:18:00,149 --> 00:18:02,208
a new and different line,
348
00:18:02,285 --> 00:18:04,753
as differentfrom anything
we're making today
349
00:18:04,821 --> 00:18:07,381
as a modern automobile is
different from a covered wagon.
350
00:18:07,457 --> 00:18:10,722
In the outside world,
Charles's reputation
351
00:18:10,793 --> 00:18:12,784
may have grown larger than life,
352
00:18:12,862 --> 00:18:14,727
butwithin the Eames Office,
353
00:18:14,797 --> 00:18:18,233
there was always the lingering
question of credit.
354
00:18:18,301 --> 00:18:21,395
There are still
some sore issues
355
00:18:21,471 --> 00:18:25,498
among certain people who feel
they never were recognized
356
00:18:25,575 --> 00:18:27,668
as much as they should,
357
00:18:27,744 --> 00:18:30,474
but it's a very delicate issue.
358
00:18:30,546 --> 00:18:35,779
The issue came to a head
back in 1946
359
00:18:35,852 --> 00:18:38,719
atthe unveiling
of the original Eames chair
360
00:18:38,788 --> 00:18:43,487
when the museum of modern art
gave Charles a one-man show.
361
00:18:43,559 --> 00:18:48,622
MOMA gives the name
Charles Eames,
362
00:18:48,698 --> 00:18:52,532
and this causes a certain
tension in the Office,
363
00:18:52,602 --> 00:18:55,298
because it was thought to be
a collaborative effort.
364
00:18:55,371 --> 00:18:59,831
It's not that he's swooping
in or is doing nothing
365
00:18:59,909 --> 00:19:02,400
and scarfing up all the credit,
366
00:19:02,478 --> 00:19:05,276
but he is not the only designer
that was involved.
367
00:19:05,348 --> 00:19:08,374
This happens
all the time.
368
00:19:08,451 --> 00:19:10,942
Agroup of young people
co-creating
369
00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:14,547
and influencing each other
and inspiring each other,
370
00:19:14,624 --> 00:19:16,615
and then the question is,
"Who did what?'
371
00:19:16,693 --> 00:19:19,423
One of the last projects
372
00:19:19,495 --> 00:19:22,726
I worked on was
"Day of the Dead," the film.
373
00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:25,768
I was down in Mexico
helping with thatfilm,
374
00:19:25,835 --> 00:19:27,826
shooting, gathering objects,
375
00:19:27,904 --> 00:19:30,099
and setting the type.
376
00:19:30,173 --> 00:19:32,368
And I wrote,
"Assistance in Mexico,"
377
00:19:32,442 --> 00:19:35,172
and I wrote the names
ofthe people.
378
00:19:35,244 --> 00:19:40,807
So Charles came by my desk
and said, "What is that?!"
379
00:19:40,883 --> 00:19:44,910
And I said, "But we worked
on it, didn't we?'
380
00:19:48,858 --> 00:19:51,053
I went to New York
many, many times,
381
00:19:51,127 --> 00:19:53,493
putting the time life
lobbies together,
382
00:19:53,563 --> 00:19:55,463
and Charles never went
and saw them
383
00:19:55,531 --> 00:19:57,624
while the things
were being constructed,
384
00:19:57,700 --> 00:20:00,601
but I could never say
385
00:20:00,670 --> 00:20:02,934
that I designed anything
at the Eames Office.
386
00:20:03,006 --> 00:20:06,737
I never saw anything
come out of there that was not
387
00:20:06,809 --> 00:20:10,404
signatured, you know,
by him and Ray.
388
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,917
When a product
comes out,
389
00:20:14,984 --> 00:20:16,076
it's a river.
390
00:20:16,152 --> 00:20:17,210
It starts at one point,
391
00:20:17,286 --> 00:20:18,878
and it ends at another point.
392
00:20:18,955 --> 00:20:23,221
Many people jump into it
along the way.
393
00:20:23,292 --> 00:20:27,922
And everybody contributes
a small piece,
394
00:20:27,997 --> 00:20:29,589
but only if they go on
after that
395
00:20:29,665 --> 00:20:31,792
to produce
a stunning amount ofwork,
396
00:20:31,868 --> 00:20:33,836
I think, are they
capable of saying,
397
00:20:33,903 --> 00:20:35,393
"l did this, this, and this
398
00:20:35,471 --> 00:20:37,632
in the Eames Office
with no credit."
399
00:20:37,707 --> 00:20:43,373
I think he ran the Office
a bit like a Renaissance studio.
400
00:20:43,446 --> 00:20:44,879
You know, there's
a master painter,
401
00:20:44,947 --> 00:20:47,142
butthen there are
all the other people
402
00:20:47,216 --> 00:20:48,581
who help realize the work.
403
00:20:52,255 --> 00:20:55,486
He may have been
exploiting us,
404
00:20:55,558 --> 00:20:58,152
but if you were not stupid,
405
00:20:58,227 --> 00:21:02,163
you were also exploiting
that relationship.
406
00:21:02,231 --> 00:21:03,994
I was happy,
407
00:21:04,067 --> 00:21:07,127
being exploited
408
00:21:07,203 --> 00:21:10,331
by a proper master.
409
00:21:14,577 --> 00:21:16,545
The most
wonderful work is --
410
00:21:16,612 --> 00:21:19,775
is the conscience
and the talents of a person
411
00:21:19,849 --> 00:21:22,010
who have every right
to have their name on it,
412
00:21:22,085 --> 00:21:24,383
even though it's done
by minions of other people.
413
00:21:24,454 --> 00:21:27,423
Things good and bad,
414
00:21:27,490 --> 00:21:31,085
he rightfully has his name
on them, and they rightfully
415
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,028
are Charles Eames or
Charles and Ray Eames products.
416
00:21:35,098 --> 00:21:35,398
Almost always,
when there's a successful man,
417
00:21:35,398 --> 00:21:40,358
Almost always,
when there's a successful man,
418
00:21:40,436 --> 00:21:43,496
there is a very interesting
and able woman behind him.
419
00:21:43,573 --> 00:21:46,041
And a better case
could seldom befound
420
00:21:46,109 --> 00:21:47,906
than in Ray and Charles Eames.
421
00:21:47,977 --> 00:21:49,501
Come on in, Ray.
422
00:21:49,579 --> 00:21:51,513
Hello,
I'm so happy to see you.
423
00:21:51,581 --> 00:21:53,947
This is Mrs. Eames,
and she's going to tell us
424
00:21:54,016 --> 00:21:55,881
how she helps Charles
design these chairs.
425
00:21:55,952 --> 00:21:57,214
How do you manage that?
426
00:21:57,286 --> 00:21:59,880
Well, uh, aside from serving
427
00:21:59,956 --> 00:22:02,652
as an extreme in the testing,
428
00:22:02,725 --> 00:22:05,694
there are a million things,
429
00:22:05,761 --> 00:22:09,754
but, uh, I think
the most difficult thing
430
00:22:09,832 --> 00:22:12,130
is to keep the big idea,
431
00:22:12,201 --> 00:22:15,466
to be able to look
critically at the work.
432
00:22:15,538 --> 00:22:20,271
Arlene Francis is
clearly having a hard time
433
00:22:20,343 --> 00:22:24,177
with this husband and wife
working together.
434
00:22:24,247 --> 00:22:26,977
You know, this is the era
of "Mad Men,"
435
00:22:27,049 --> 00:22:28,607
as we're watching now.
436
00:22:28,684 --> 00:22:30,345
This is not fitting.
437
00:22:30,419 --> 00:22:35,356
And Charles Eames is trying
to promote Ray Eames,
438
00:22:35,424 --> 00:22:37,949
as saying that,
"We collaborated on this."
439
00:22:38,027 --> 00:22:40,655
Well, uh, Ray --
Ray was a painter.
440
00:22:40,730 --> 00:22:43,927
Ray worked here in New York with
Hans Hofmann for a long time,
441
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,490
which is a pretty good start.
442
00:22:45,568 --> 00:22:47,798
I actually thought
Charles was more embarrassed
443
00:22:47,870 --> 00:22:48,894
than Ray.
444
00:22:48,971 --> 00:22:50,802
Ray is hidden away.
445
00:22:50,873 --> 00:22:55,310
Charles is being highlighted,
the great male designer.
446
00:22:55,378 --> 00:22:57,573
It's a very interesting moment
447
00:22:57,647 --> 00:23:00,844
of American sexual politics
in the 1950s.
448
00:23:00,917 --> 00:23:03,408
Uh, I wonder if you're going
to maybe take us through
449
00:23:03,486 --> 00:23:05,852
and show how -- how the Eames
chair has developed.
450
00:23:05,922 --> 00:23:07,685
And, Ray, shall we
let Charles do it,
451
00:23:07,757 --> 00:23:08,849
or do you want
to help with it?
452
00:23:08,925 --> 00:23:10,187
Please, please.
453
00:23:10,259 --> 00:23:12,625
No, you see, as I told you,
she is behind the man,
454
00:23:12,695 --> 00:23:13,753
but terribly important.
455
00:23:13,829 --> 00:23:15,490
Thank you, Ray.
All right, Charles --
456
00:23:15,565 --> 00:23:18,796
The feminist conscience
had not been yet raised.
457
00:23:18,868 --> 00:23:23,931
Ray would always stand
behind Charles.
458
00:23:24,006 --> 00:23:28,534
And on camera or in interviews,
she said hardly anything.
459
00:23:28,611 --> 00:23:31,444
Her warm
but quiet conversation
460
00:23:31,514 --> 00:23:33,982
shrank to total silence
before the camera,
461
00:23:34,050 --> 00:23:36,883
but her impact on Eames' work
spoke for her.
462
00:23:36,953 --> 00:23:40,081
She sat like a delicious
dumpling in a doll's dress,
463
00:23:40,156 --> 00:23:42,386
concentrating
on a sweep of subjects
464
00:23:42,458 --> 00:23:45,825
which would seemingly
choke a computer.
465
00:23:45,895 --> 00:23:47,726
People always made
the mistake
466
00:23:47,797 --> 00:23:51,255
that Charles and Ray,
it was two brothers.
467
00:23:51,334 --> 00:23:53,393
They were a married couple,
468
00:23:53,469 --> 00:23:56,267
while at the same time,
they were partners
469
00:23:56,339 --> 00:23:58,739
in whatever
their design effort was.
470
00:23:58,808 --> 00:24:03,074
Ray felt, I think,
471
00:24:03,145 --> 00:24:06,512
deeply enraged
and hurt, on occasion,
472
00:24:06,582 --> 00:24:10,541
when it was assumed that it was
473
00:24:10,620 --> 00:24:14,386
actually just Charles's business
474
00:24:14,457 --> 00:24:16,516
and it was the office
of Charles Eames,
475
00:24:16,592 --> 00:24:19,390
not the office
of Charles and Ray Eames.
476
00:24:19,462 --> 00:24:23,262
It was Charles
who was in charge,
477
00:24:23,332 --> 00:24:25,698
but the body of work
would not have been the same
478
00:24:25,768 --> 00:24:27,736
without Ray's contributions,
479
00:24:27,803 --> 00:24:32,035
and how you separate that out,
I don't know.
480
00:24:32,108 --> 00:24:35,271
If the public saw Ray
as little more
481
00:24:35,344 --> 00:24:37,904
than the devoted wife
supporting her husband,
482
00:24:37,980 --> 00:24:41,472
Charles saw a talented artist
who had participated
483
00:24:41,550 --> 00:24:44,610
in the birth of abstract art
in America.
484
00:24:44,687 --> 00:24:47,815
Her mentor was the German
abstract expressionist
485
00:24:47,890 --> 00:24:49,619
Hans Hofmann.
486
00:24:49,692 --> 00:24:52,820
Hofmann is one
of the great catalytic figures
487
00:24:52,895 --> 00:24:54,522
in American art.
488
00:24:54,597 --> 00:24:59,034
He starts a school
in New York City in '33
489
00:24:59,101 --> 00:25:02,264
with at times no more than
a dozen or two students.
490
00:25:02,338 --> 00:25:06,297
They, together, are the seed
out of which
491
00:25:06,375 --> 00:25:08,935
the new American art
really grows.
492
00:25:14,183 --> 00:25:16,515
He was getting ideas from people
493
00:25:16,585 --> 00:25:19,679
Iike Mondrian, Paul Klee,
Kandinsky,
494
00:25:19,755 --> 00:25:22,451
but he was communicating them
495
00:25:22,525 --> 00:25:27,827
not as textbook learning, but as
this incredibly visceral
496
00:25:27,897 --> 00:25:29,626
sensation.
497
00:25:29,699 --> 00:25:34,159
And I have talked to people
who remember him
498
00:25:34,236 --> 00:25:37,399
walking into the studio and
looking at a drawing of theirs
499
00:25:37,473 --> 00:25:39,703
and tearing it down the middle
500
00:25:39,775 --> 00:25:43,506
and then taking the two parts
and moving them.
501
00:25:43,579 --> 00:25:46,446
And then suddenly something
that had been very static
502
00:25:46,515 --> 00:25:47,812
was dynamic.
503
00:25:49,618 --> 00:25:52,519
So I think it's there
that Ray learned
504
00:25:52,588 --> 00:25:55,921
some, at least, of this
wonderful capacity that she had
505
00:25:55,991 --> 00:25:59,154
for collaging,
for juxtaposition.
506
00:25:59,228 --> 00:26:02,095
She could move things around
very, very easily
507
00:26:02,164 --> 00:26:05,622
and beautifully and find form,
508
00:26:05,701 --> 00:26:09,865
and find form
in relation to other form.
509
00:26:14,009 --> 00:26:17,843
Ray knew what was art
510
00:26:17,913 --> 00:26:19,540
and what was not.
511
00:26:19,615 --> 00:26:25,110
And Charles depended
on her aesthetic genius.
512
00:26:25,187 --> 00:26:30,215
And she would put
objects on shoots
513
00:26:30,292 --> 00:26:33,921
that would just bring
the whole thing to life.
514
00:26:35,731 --> 00:26:40,464
By putting the stack
of black wire chairs
515
00:26:40,536 --> 00:26:43,664
naked with the wooden bird
516
00:26:43,739 --> 00:26:45,604
with the little wire legs,
517
00:26:45,674 --> 00:26:50,008
gave you a very different
feeling about those chairs.
518
00:26:52,114 --> 00:26:54,776
Charles could not deal
with the idea
519
00:26:54,850 --> 00:26:57,512
that any of the furniture
would have color on it.
520
00:26:57,586 --> 00:26:59,611
If you put a palette of colors
in front of him,
521
00:26:59,688 --> 00:27:01,679
they just-- like he couldn't
handle it.
522
00:27:01,757 --> 00:27:04,191
It just went
over his head.
523
00:27:04,260 --> 00:27:06,785
He deferred to her completely
on color sense.
524
00:27:06,862 --> 00:27:09,854
She saw everything
as a painting.
525
00:27:09,932 --> 00:27:12,457
She had these enormous eyes
that were --
526
00:27:12,535 --> 00:27:14,901
they were open like this
all the time.
527
00:27:14,970 --> 00:27:18,167
And I think Charles
was very dependent on that.
528
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,640
You could just
hear him say,
529
00:27:20,709 --> 00:27:22,609
"Ra-ay!"
530
00:27:22,678 --> 00:27:24,543
Which meant, "Come and help!"
531
00:27:24,613 --> 00:27:26,843
At the Library
of Congress,
532
00:27:26,916 --> 00:27:30,408
Ray's letters
to a traveling Charles
533
00:27:30,486 --> 00:27:32,511
show herfastidious attention
to every detail
534
00:27:32,588 --> 00:27:34,215
of their life and work.
535
00:27:34,290 --> 00:27:37,054
When she writes to Charles
in Paris
536
00:27:37,126 --> 00:27:40,493
and she's talking about
the slides that he's just taken,
537
00:27:40,563 --> 00:27:43,054
and she has this sketch
showing how she
538
00:27:43,132 --> 00:27:46,727
and Sandro and Don Albinson
have changed the chair.
539
00:27:46,802 --> 00:27:49,293
And then she's going on
about thefilms,
540
00:27:49,371 --> 00:27:51,305
and she's going on
about Elmer Bernstein.
541
00:27:51,373 --> 00:27:53,967
Then she tells him all
the places to shop in Paris
542
00:27:54,043 --> 00:27:55,476
and where to get his shoes
543
00:27:55,544 --> 00:27:56,772
and where to get her gloves
544
00:27:56,846 --> 00:27:58,905
and whatthe stitching
should be like on the gloves
545
00:27:58,981 --> 00:28:02,940
and howthis perfume
by Balmain is $55 an ounce here,
546
00:28:03,018 --> 00:28:06,283
but it's cheaper in Paris,
"and please get it for me."
547
00:28:08,624 --> 00:28:10,489
It's as if
they were one individual
548
00:28:10,559 --> 00:28:13,392
with two different
special areas,
549
00:28:13,462 --> 00:28:15,293
and a lot of it was unspoken,
550
00:28:15,364 --> 00:28:17,594
just eye -- eye contact.
551
00:28:17,666 --> 00:28:19,293
A nodding of something --
an idea
552
00:28:19,368 --> 00:28:21,336
thatthey both would agree on.
553
00:28:21,403 --> 00:28:25,066
So that's how
you begin to separate
554
00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,904
their artistic personalities
and their contributions.
555
00:28:27,977 --> 00:28:30,571
Butthe separating them
isn't the important part.
556
00:28:30,646 --> 00:28:33,706
It's what they created together.
557
00:28:33,782 --> 00:28:36,478
That's why it's so good.
558
00:28:41,190 --> 00:28:44,091
Perhaps the greatest
Eames design of all
559
00:28:44,159 --> 00:28:47,356
was the image
of Charles and Ray.
560
00:28:50,132 --> 00:28:53,192
Their playful self-portraits,
eccentric dress,
561
00:28:53,269 --> 00:28:56,033
and quotable quotes
all contributed
562
00:28:56,105 --> 00:28:58,938
to the endearing picture
of a happy, modern couple
563
00:28:59,008 --> 00:29:01,442
absorbed in the challenges
of their work.
564
00:29:01,510 --> 00:29:05,503
Charles and Ray
were cultural icons,
565
00:29:05,581 --> 00:29:11,417
buttheir public face masked
a deep desire for privacy.
566
00:29:11,487 --> 00:29:15,184
After long hours at 901,
567
00:29:15,257 --> 00:29:17,589
they would retreat
to the home they built
568
00:29:17,660 --> 00:29:20,128
in Pacific Palisades.
569
00:29:20,195 --> 00:29:23,892
Charles and Ray were
their own community,
570
00:29:23,966 --> 00:29:27,925
and we were
in the satellite group.
571
00:29:28,003 --> 00:29:29,630
And so was everybody else.
572
00:29:29,705 --> 00:29:37,669
I had no sense that they
were trying to keep out
573
00:29:37,746 --> 00:29:40,715
the outside world
or anything else.
574
00:29:40,783 --> 00:29:43,877
They had created a world
and a lifestyle
575
00:29:43,953 --> 00:29:46,820
thatjust required them to go
576
00:29:46,889 --> 00:29:49,915
in this tunnel from their house
577
00:29:49,992 --> 00:29:52,893
to the work, you know,
back home again,
578
00:29:52,962 --> 00:29:56,193
sowhat you surround yourself
with and the choices you make
579
00:29:56,265 --> 00:29:58,426
about where you live
and how you live
580
00:29:58,500 --> 00:30:01,060
and the artifacts you have,
581
00:30:01,136 --> 00:30:03,229
they're all based upon
trying to create
582
00:30:03,305 --> 00:30:07,867
a seamless environment
and a seamless life.
583
00:30:07,943 --> 00:30:13,404
Originally, the house
was designed by Charles
584
00:30:13,482 --> 00:30:15,382
with Eero Saarinen as part of
585
00:30:15,451 --> 00:30:19,148
the influential case study
housing program in 1945.
586
00:30:19,221 --> 00:30:24,022
But Charles and Ray were not
ones to let a good design rest.
587
00:30:24,093 --> 00:30:27,756
Charles Eames and
Eero Saarinen designed a house
588
00:30:27,830 --> 00:30:30,128
that we now call
the Bridge House,
589
00:30:30,199 --> 00:30:31,689
and it was forthis site.
590
00:30:31,767 --> 00:30:33,234
It would have cantilevered
from the hillside
591
00:30:33,302 --> 00:30:36,135
out into the middle
of the meadow.
592
00:30:36,205 --> 00:30:38,503
One of the ideas of the house
was to use technologies
593
00:30:38,574 --> 00:30:40,201
that had come
out of the war effort.
594
00:30:40,275 --> 00:30:42,402
So all the parts of this house
595
00:30:42,478 --> 00:30:44,446
were off the shelf.
596
00:30:44,513 --> 00:30:48,176
But the Bridge House
was never built.
597
00:30:48,250 --> 00:30:49,342
After World War ll,
598
00:30:49,418 --> 00:30:50,885
there were major
material shortages,
599
00:30:50,953 --> 00:30:52,386
and it took about
two or three years
600
00:30:52,454 --> 00:30:54,183
to even get the parts
thatthey had ordered.
601
00:30:54,256 --> 00:30:56,383
And in that time,
Charles and Ray
602
00:30:56,458 --> 00:30:57,618
fell in love with this meadow.
603
00:31:02,164 --> 00:31:06,191
We spent all --
all our spare time here.
604
00:31:06,268 --> 00:31:09,829
Began to think itwould be
criminal to put that house
605
00:31:09,905 --> 00:31:11,896
in the middle
ofthe field.
606
00:31:14,743 --> 00:31:16,472
Charles realized,
607
00:31:16,545 --> 00:31:20,208
"Oh, we're making the classic
architect's mistake."
608
00:31:20,282 --> 00:31:22,147
You find
a beautiful site,
609
00:31:22,217 --> 00:31:25,709
and you plunk a house
in the middle of it.
610
00:31:25,788 --> 00:31:27,983
With the meadow in mind,
611
00:31:28,057 --> 00:31:30,855
Charles and Ray redesigned
the Bridge House
612
00:31:30,926 --> 00:31:33,588
and began construction.
613
00:31:33,662 --> 00:31:35,926
It was relatively quick,
614
00:31:35,998 --> 00:31:41,197
because they were relying on
some form of prefabrication,
615
00:31:41,270 --> 00:31:44,706
of bringing materials
to the site
616
00:31:44,773 --> 00:31:47,765
and assembling them.
617
00:31:47,843 --> 00:31:52,280
On Christmas Eve, 1949,
618
00:31:52,347 --> 00:31:54,747
Charles and Ray moved in.
619
00:31:59,588 --> 00:32:01,988
The Eames house
in Los Angeles
620
00:32:02,057 --> 00:32:04,855
on that bluff
overlooking the Pacific Ocean
621
00:32:04,927 --> 00:32:09,864
is surely one of the great
buildings ofthe 20th century.
622
00:32:09,932 --> 00:32:12,799
Known to architectural
historians
623
00:32:12,868 --> 00:32:15,029
as Case Study House Number 8,
624
00:32:15,104 --> 00:32:18,301
it is the archetypal
modern house.
625
00:32:18,373 --> 00:32:21,240
Or at least,
it started that way.
626
00:32:21,310 --> 00:32:23,972
The Eames house
as it was first made
627
00:32:24,046 --> 00:32:26,776
is very different
from what it became
628
00:32:26,849 --> 00:32:28,874
as they lived in it
through the years
629
00:32:28,951 --> 00:32:32,512
and as it acquired
all their little touches.
630
00:32:32,588 --> 00:32:33,885
I think people miss that
631
00:32:33,956 --> 00:32:35,856
unless you've really been there
and been inside of it.
632
00:32:35,924 --> 00:32:37,289
Now, do you remember this?
633
00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:38,485
Do you remember this?
634
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:40,528
I do.
I do.
635
00:32:40,596 --> 00:32:43,895
Uh, I don't remember
this one here,
636
00:32:43,966 --> 00:32:47,834
but there was at least one
at the Office.
637
00:32:50,472 --> 00:32:53,566
Modern design has this
sort of clich� of being
638
00:32:53,642 --> 00:32:56,304
the, you know,
the homes of super villains.
639
00:32:56,378 --> 00:32:57,606
Very hard-edged things.
640
00:32:57,679 --> 00:32:59,613
You can't have, you know,
your Pepperidge Farm cookies
641
00:32:59,681 --> 00:33:01,842
on the kitchen counter,
because that's going to ruin,
642
00:33:01,917 --> 00:33:03,612
you know,
this perfecttableau
643
00:33:03,685 --> 00:33:05,152
of this perfect life
that you live.
644
00:33:05,220 --> 00:33:07,051
But you would never look
645
00:33:07,122 --> 00:33:09,852
at the Eames House
and think that.
646
00:33:09,925 --> 00:33:13,520
The container for your life
can be simple,
647
00:33:13,595 --> 00:33:16,029
but that doesn't mean
your life has to be simple.
648
00:33:20,102 --> 00:33:23,503
What was in the house
was a combination of things
649
00:33:23,572 --> 00:33:26,405
that one hadn't seen before.
650
00:33:26,475 --> 00:33:29,137
There was a tumbleweed
hanging from the ceiling.
651
00:33:29,211 --> 00:33:31,839
Well, now you can see a lot of
tumbleweed around
652
00:33:31,914 --> 00:33:33,745
in people's houses,
but in those days,
653
00:33:33,816 --> 00:33:35,010
itwas.
654
00:33:35,083 --> 00:33:38,416
And nearthe tumbleweed
hanging from the ceiling,
655
00:33:38,487 --> 00:33:40,614
there were two
Hans Hofmann paintings
656
00:33:40,689 --> 00:33:43,556
suspended from
the deck of the roof.
657
00:33:47,963 --> 00:33:50,193
The floorwas just another
canvas for Ray,
658
00:33:50,265 --> 00:33:52,233
the ceiling was
just another canvas,
659
00:33:52,301 --> 00:33:56,237
a sofa was a canvas
for a collage of objects.
660
00:33:56,305 --> 00:34:01,333
She would have entirely
all of her famous
661
00:34:01,410 --> 00:34:03,344
blue and white dishes
stacked up.
662
00:34:03,412 --> 00:34:06,643
But she would have little red
hearts or little red accents.
663
00:34:06,715 --> 00:34:08,842
And it was all perfect.
664
00:34:12,087 --> 00:34:13,714
I went to dinner
665
00:34:13,789 --> 00:34:16,690
at Ray and Charles's house
one night,
666
00:34:16,758 --> 00:34:20,250
and it came to dessert.
667
00:34:20,329 --> 00:34:22,661
So what they had arranged
for dessert
668
00:34:22,731 --> 00:34:25,529
was three bowls of flowers
669
00:34:25,601 --> 00:34:28,195
thatthey put in front of you
670
00:34:28,270 --> 00:34:31,433
to admire,
so it was a visual dessert.
671
00:34:31,506 --> 00:34:34,339
I was really off
with that,
672
00:34:34,409 --> 00:34:36,309
I can tell you.
673
00:34:36,378 --> 00:34:39,711
I was really --
because I hadn't eaten much.
674
00:34:39,781 --> 00:34:42,375
I was saving up for the --
so I'm looking
675
00:34:42,451 --> 00:34:44,681
atthese stupid flowers,
you know,
676
00:34:44,753 --> 00:34:47,688
and I'm saying, "What the hell
is wrong with these people?'
677
00:34:47,756 --> 00:34:49,383
You know, so I got in my car,
678
00:34:49,458 --> 00:34:51,949
and I drove out to the nearest
Dairy Queen.
679
00:34:52,027 --> 00:34:56,657
"Take your pleasure
seriously," Charles said,
680
00:34:56,732 --> 00:34:59,530
and that's exactly
whatthey did.
681
00:35:04,273 --> 00:35:06,639
Every time
682
00:35:06,708 --> 00:35:08,335
the Ringling Brothers
and Barnum & Bailey Circus
683
00:35:08,410 --> 00:35:11,868
would come to town, we would all
get out our cameras
684
00:35:11,947 --> 00:35:13,778
and our ectochrome, and we'd go
685
00:35:13,849 --> 00:35:16,943
running downtown, and we'd
photograph the circus.
686
00:35:20,522 --> 00:35:22,547
And he said, "Photograph."
687
00:35:22,624 --> 00:35:23,784
"What?'
688
00:35:23,859 --> 00:35:26,293
He said, "Anything you want.
Just photograph."
689
00:35:26,361 --> 00:35:28,761
And a couple of people
of the audience
690
00:35:28,830 --> 00:35:30,058
were there to feed you.
691
00:35:30,132 --> 00:35:31,463
It's like a machine gun,
692
00:35:31,533 --> 00:35:33,831
somebody was feeding you
the cartridges.
693
00:35:33,902 --> 00:35:37,497
And I took a lot of pictures.
694
00:35:37,572 --> 00:35:40,837
What impressed him was
how everybody knew their place,
695
00:35:40,909 --> 00:35:42,638
and sometimes they had
696
00:35:42,711 --> 00:35:45,236
two or three different tasks
thatthey had to do.
697
00:35:45,314 --> 00:35:50,377
The circus looks
like a free-for-all
698
00:35:50,452 --> 00:35:53,580
and is absolutely
a model of constraints.
699
00:35:53,655 --> 00:35:59,560
And for Charles,
this was one supreme example --
700
00:35:59,628 --> 00:36:02,529
"the performance."
701
00:36:02,597 --> 00:36:07,557
"Never let the blood show,"
he would say.
702
00:36:07,636 --> 00:36:10,764
And this went back
to his philosophy
703
00:36:10,839 --> 00:36:14,138
of no good design,
no good performance
704
00:36:14,209 --> 00:36:17,406
without restrictions, without
restraints, without rules.
705
00:36:17,479 --> 00:36:20,505
He goes to the circus,
and he just
706
00:36:20,582 --> 00:36:22,709
is overwhelmed by the richness
707
00:36:22,784 --> 00:36:24,308
of everything, you know,
708
00:36:24,386 --> 00:36:25,819
the costumes and the wagons
709
00:36:25,887 --> 00:36:27,252
and the tent.
710
00:36:27,322 --> 00:36:28,653
And he comes back,
and he's trying to --
711
00:36:28,724 --> 00:36:31,352
you can't turn a circus
into a piece of furniture,
712
00:36:31,426 --> 00:36:33,917
but he's desperately wanting to.
713
00:36:33,996 --> 00:36:38,160
Charles and Ray did not
turn the circus into a chair,
714
00:36:38,233 --> 00:36:41,566
butthey did turn
the Eames Office into a circus.
715
00:36:54,883 --> 00:36:56,544
He wasn't
embarrassed at all
716
00:36:56,618 --> 00:36:59,280
about what it is
that he was doing.
717
00:36:59,354 --> 00:37:01,254
You know, he felt really
confident about,
718
00:37:01,323 --> 00:37:02,984
"Yeah, this is a toy shop.
719
00:37:03,058 --> 00:37:04,457
This -- I'm just
having fun here.
720
00:37:04,526 --> 00:37:06,824
And, you know, somehow or other,
you guys bring me money
721
00:37:06,895 --> 00:37:09,227
and tell me to go ahead,
and I'm going to."
722
00:37:09,297 --> 00:37:13,734
Royalties from
Herman Miller gave Charles
723
00:37:13,802 --> 00:37:17,135
the freedom to move beyond
his reputation
724
00:37:17,205 --> 00:37:20,003
as a designer
of modern furniture.
725
00:37:20,075 --> 00:37:22,305
Herman Miller
was always after him
726
00:37:22,377 --> 00:37:25,710
to do more chairs, and he would
do chairs every now and then,
727
00:37:25,781 --> 00:37:29,615
but I don't think he liked
to think of himself
728
00:37:29,684 --> 00:37:31,049
or have others think of him
729
00:37:31,119 --> 00:37:33,917
as the chair designer.
730
00:37:53,308 --> 00:37:55,367
I was a film critic,
731
00:37:55,444 --> 00:37:59,904
and that gave me an excuse
to go down to 901.
732
00:38:01,750 --> 00:38:05,584
I fell in love with
the whole concept of 901,
733
00:38:05,654 --> 00:38:06,916
which was a kind of
734
00:38:06,988 --> 00:38:10,321
Renaissance art workshop,
where they did everything.
735
00:38:10,392 --> 00:38:12,826
At the time, he was considered
736
00:38:12,894 --> 00:38:16,489
a kind of cutesy,
pass� little filmmaker,
737
00:38:16,565 --> 00:38:19,762
but no one had ever written
about the films.
738
00:38:36,651 --> 00:38:39,711
Eames films
are their own genre,
739
00:38:39,788 --> 00:38:43,246
the product not of a film studio
concerned with profits,
740
00:38:43,325 --> 00:38:45,816
but of a curious mind
yearning to communicate
741
00:38:45,894 --> 00:38:48,556
the complex beauty
of everyday objects.
742
00:38:51,299 --> 00:38:55,633
We've never used
film as an art form.
743
00:38:55,704 --> 00:38:59,003
We just use film as a tool.
744
00:39:03,178 --> 00:39:05,043
They were, at heart,
745
00:39:05,113 --> 00:39:08,640
a kind of mixture of vanity
and self-expression.
746
00:39:08,717 --> 00:39:11,185
They only had one obligation,
and thatwas
747
00:39:11,253 --> 00:39:13,016
to satisfy Charles.
748
00:39:13,088 --> 00:39:15,249
Much of our energy
749
00:39:15,323 --> 00:39:17,723
is like the guy in Vaudeville
that has
750
00:39:17,792 --> 00:39:19,623
the plates going, and he's
751
00:39:19,694 --> 00:39:22,822
intent on getting 30 plates
spinning at one time,
752
00:39:22,898 --> 00:39:24,195
but part of the process is
753
00:39:24,266 --> 00:39:27,064
quickly being aware of the ones
that are winding down,
754
00:39:27,135 --> 00:39:29,103
and keeping them spinning.
755
00:39:30,906 --> 00:39:32,965
One of the titles
that began to circulate
756
00:39:33,041 --> 00:39:34,440
between all the employees
757
00:39:34,509 --> 00:39:37,205
was the Eamery,
because it was like this place
758
00:39:37,279 --> 00:39:40,112
where everyone was driven
to work all the time.
759
00:39:40,182 --> 00:39:42,810
It was 24/7,
760
00:39:42,884 --> 00:39:44,408
365.
761
00:39:44,486 --> 00:39:46,954
Going
to the Eames Office
762
00:39:47,022 --> 00:39:49,422
and watching people
at their desks
763
00:39:49,491 --> 00:39:51,686
was like watching people
take their brains out
764
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:55,025
and knead them like dough.
765
00:39:55,096 --> 00:39:58,497
People that came
from the outside
766
00:39:58,567 --> 00:40:01,866
couldn't believe that this was
the way things were done,
767
00:40:01,937 --> 00:40:06,397
but itwas a delicious agony.
768
00:40:06,474 --> 00:40:10,501
Itwas like a temple for me.
769
00:40:10,579 --> 00:40:12,979
Many of us
understood very well
770
00:40:13,048 --> 00:40:19,385
thatwe were very poorly suited
for employment
771
00:40:19,454 --> 00:40:21,319
in certain kinds of jobs.
772
00:40:21,389 --> 00:40:26,224
We were very well suited
to be thete.
773
00:40:26,294 --> 00:40:30,731
Charles had a terrible
time interacting with people.
774
00:40:30,799 --> 00:40:33,267
Several times, I hired people,
775
00:40:33,335 --> 00:40:34,893
and they would be there
like three days,
776
00:40:34,970 --> 00:40:37,131
and he'd come to me and say,
"l just can't stand that guy.
777
00:40:37,205 --> 00:40:38,365
Get him out of here."
778
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,965
And I never did know what it was
779
00:40:41,042 --> 00:40:43,169
that he saw in that person
780
00:40:43,245 --> 00:40:45,008
that he could just not
work with them.
781
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:49,608
I happen to have
a sort of interest in language
782
00:40:49,684 --> 00:40:53,848
as a means of communication,
which I like to believe
783
00:40:53,922 --> 00:40:56,049
can be simple and direct.
784
00:40:56,124 --> 00:41:00,493
Charles, I would say,
didn't subscribetothat.
785
00:41:00,562 --> 00:41:06,159
Uh, no, we have to -- you know,
the only thing is, uh, Perry,
786
00:41:06,234 --> 00:41:10,603
we have to have some sort of
a background before we do this,
787
00:41:10,672 --> 00:41:13,004
because one sort of begins to --
788
00:41:13,074 --> 00:41:16,942
His speech wasn't
yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda.
789
00:41:17,012 --> 00:41:19,776
It was stop and go,
and stop and go.
790
00:41:19,848 --> 00:41:23,443
No, you -- you let me -- cut
this, let me re-- let me --
791
00:41:23,518 --> 00:41:27,614
He had
this incredible ability
792
00:41:27,689 --> 00:41:29,987
to surround every subject
793
00:41:30,058 --> 00:41:33,425
with a little cloud ofwords.
794
00:41:33,495 --> 00:41:35,360
We -- we were hoping to --
795
00:41:35,430 --> 00:41:38,365
there were two --
there were several things.
796
00:41:38,433 --> 00:41:39,559
There was, uh...
797
00:41:39,634 --> 00:41:40,862
You finally
got the message
798
00:41:40,935 --> 00:41:44,837
at the end of about
15 or 20 minutes of wondering,
799
00:41:44,906 --> 00:41:46,771
"Whatthe hell is he
talking about?'
800
00:41:46,841 --> 00:41:50,572
It finally dawned on you
that he was telling you
801
00:41:50,645 --> 00:41:51,976
you were an absolute clown
802
00:41:52,047 --> 00:41:53,844
becausethere's something wrong.
803
00:41:53,915 --> 00:41:57,442
This one is
going to have something to do
804
00:41:57,519 --> 00:42:00,317
with what I think of
as the new covetables.
805
00:42:00,388 --> 00:42:05,325
He appeared
one day at a conference at UCLA,
806
00:42:05,393 --> 00:42:10,831
and he started to speak, and it
just ran right off the track.
807
00:42:10,899 --> 00:42:13,595
Looked up, and he said,
"I'm sorry.
808
00:42:13,668 --> 00:42:16,466
I just --
isn't going to work today."
809
00:42:16,538 --> 00:42:18,836
And somebody said, "No, no!"
810
00:42:18,907 --> 00:42:20,772
So he said,
"Well, give me a minute."
811
00:42:20,842 --> 00:42:22,810
He put his head down.
812
00:42:22,877 --> 00:42:25,903
And everybody waited.
813
00:42:25,980 --> 00:42:27,777
And it took about two minutes.
814
00:42:27,849 --> 00:42:29,646
And he raised up.
815
00:42:29,718 --> 00:42:31,879
And he just took off.
Boom.
816
00:42:31,953 --> 00:42:34,421
Reams of paper.
817
00:42:34,489 --> 00:42:36,719
What you do with a ream of paper
818
00:42:36,791 --> 00:42:41,751
can never quite come up
to what the paper offers.
819
00:42:43,231 --> 00:42:45,927
He knew
where his center was.
820
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,901
And there are not a lot of
people that can do that.
821
00:42:48,970 --> 00:42:51,165
I -- I have buttons
that get pushed,
822
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:54,037
but I don't know
where my center is.
823
00:42:54,109 --> 00:42:57,738
For Charles,
knowing where his center was
824
00:42:57,812 --> 00:43:00,406
meant working
for powerful clients
825
00:43:00,482 --> 00:43:02,916
without compromising his ideals.
826
00:43:02,984 --> 00:43:06,385
And making a film to represent
the United States
827
00:43:06,454 --> 00:43:09,355
in communist Russia in 1959
828
00:43:09,424 --> 00:43:12,359
would put that philosophy
to the test.
829
00:43:17,031 --> 00:43:18,794
At the height
of the Cold War,
830
00:43:18,867 --> 00:43:19,925
the American government
831
00:43:20,001 --> 00:43:21,366
and the government
of the Soviet Union
832
00:43:21,436 --> 00:43:25,532
decided to hold
joint expositions.
833
00:43:25,607 --> 00:43:29,600
The United States would show
what America was about
834
00:43:29,677 --> 00:43:31,269
to the Soviet public,
835
00:43:31,346 --> 00:43:35,783
and the Soviet Union would show
what they were about to America.
836
00:43:35,850 --> 00:43:38,341
And one of the centerpieces
were a series
837
00:43:38,420 --> 00:43:40,411
of American kitchens,
838
00:43:40,488 --> 00:43:42,115
and it was there
that Khrushchev and Nixon
839
00:43:42,190 --> 00:43:44,886
had their so-called
Kitchen Debate.
840
00:43:44,959 --> 00:43:48,759
There are some instances
where you may be ahead of us.
841
00:43:48,830 --> 00:43:50,798
There may be some instances --
for example,
842
00:43:50,865 --> 00:43:52,924
color television --
where we're ahead of you.
843
00:43:53,001 --> 00:43:55,026
But in order
for both of us --
844
00:43:56,237 --> 00:43:57,534
For both of us
to benefit --
845
00:43:57,605 --> 00:43:58,902
for both of us to benefit --
846
00:43:58,973 --> 00:44:01,999
But the U.S.
Information Agency
847
00:44:02,076 --> 00:44:05,443
decided that they had to show
Russians more about America
848
00:44:05,513 --> 00:44:08,209
than just cars
and household appliances.
849
00:44:08,283 --> 00:44:13,846
The idea is that
Charles and Ray will make a film
850
00:44:13,922 --> 00:44:17,858
"Glimpses of the USA."
851
00:44:17,926 --> 00:44:19,257
How could you make the world
852
00:44:19,327 --> 00:44:21,158
as we see it
in the United States --
853
00:44:21,229 --> 00:44:23,094
how could you make it
really credible
854
00:44:23,164 --> 00:44:24,961
to an audience like that?
855
00:44:25,033 --> 00:44:28,833
We could've shown the greatest
freeway in the United States.
856
00:44:28,903 --> 00:44:31,531
If we'd shown one picture
and they'd gone,
857
00:44:31,606 --> 00:44:32,937
they'd say, you know,
858
00:44:33,007 --> 00:44:35,407
"They've got the great
freeway interchange,
859
00:44:35,477 --> 00:44:36,739
but we've got one at Minsk,
860
00:44:36,811 --> 00:44:38,836
and we're going to build one
at Smolensk,
861
00:44:38,913 --> 00:44:40,881
and we'll have two,
and they have one."
862
00:44:40,949 --> 00:44:44,385
But in the redundancy
of the multi-imagetechnique,
863
00:44:44,452 --> 00:44:46,511
in something like 12 seconds,
864
00:44:46,588 --> 00:44:50,581
I think we showed
120 freeway interchanges.
865
00:44:55,063 --> 00:44:56,792
People were sent
all overthe country.
866
00:44:56,865 --> 00:44:58,628
Friends were called
to take images
867
00:44:58,700 --> 00:45:01,760
so that it looked
nationalistic.
868
00:45:01,836 --> 00:45:03,770
It couldn't look specific
and regional.
869
00:45:03,838 --> 00:45:06,932
It had to be
national and egalitarian.
870
00:45:09,077 --> 00:45:10,942
Charles said --
wanted pictures
871
00:45:11,012 --> 00:45:12,343
of people setting off for work,
872
00:45:12,413 --> 00:45:15,940
children coming from school,
coming up from the subway.
873
00:45:16,017 --> 00:45:17,882
And freeways.
874
00:45:17,952 --> 00:45:19,817
So I did my first,
875
00:45:19,888 --> 00:45:22,186
you know, helicopterflights,
876
00:45:22,257 --> 00:45:24,225
sort of strapped in,
leaning way out.
877
00:45:28,997 --> 00:45:33,434
I think the State Department
had sort of envisioned
878
00:45:33,501 --> 00:45:35,992
having lots of troop marches.
879
00:45:36,070 --> 00:45:37,560
And Charles said
he'd do the film,
880
00:45:37,639 --> 00:45:42,975
but he didn'twant to have it
reviewed before it was shown.
881
00:45:43,044 --> 00:45:45,535
The government
really didn't have any idea
882
00:45:45,613 --> 00:45:47,080
whatwas happening.
883
00:45:47,148 --> 00:45:48,945
We would have these showings
884
00:45:49,017 --> 00:45:52,418
for the guy who would represent
the government, coming out.
885
00:45:52,487 --> 00:45:54,421
It seemed like each time,
886
00:45:54,489 --> 00:45:58,084
itwould just get going,
and then it'd go blank.
887
00:45:58,159 --> 00:46:02,255
And we'd say, "That's as far
as we are right now."
888
00:46:02,330 --> 00:46:05,663
And he'd say, "Well...
889
00:46:05,733 --> 00:46:08,224
Yeah, I guess it looks okay.
890
00:46:08,303 --> 00:46:09,702
I don't know."
891
00:46:09,771 --> 00:46:11,432
So he'd go away.
892
00:46:14,776 --> 00:46:17,142
Well, as Charles
said, sometimes
893
00:46:17,211 --> 00:46:19,304
if you don't ask
for people's opinions,
894
00:46:19,380 --> 00:46:20,677
then they don't
give them to you.
895
00:46:20,748 --> 00:46:21,942
They just got there
the day before,
896
00:46:22,016 --> 00:46:23,108
and I think by that time,
897
00:46:23,184 --> 00:46:24,378
the USlAwas just relieved
898
00:46:24,452 --> 00:46:28,013
that there'd be anything
to show.
899
00:46:28,089 --> 00:46:31,718
You know, and here you
have this giant effort
900
00:46:31,793 --> 00:46:32,953
that'd gone into
building the building
901
00:46:33,027 --> 00:46:34,654
and putting the screens up,
902
00:46:34,729 --> 00:46:38,290
and tickets being --
all of that happening.
903
00:46:38,366 --> 00:46:40,561
And he's waiting
till the very last minute.
904
00:46:40,635 --> 00:46:42,330
It's just kind of his nature.
905
00:46:42,403 --> 00:46:44,166
Right at the end,
906
00:46:44,238 --> 00:46:45,762
he would suddenly appear,
907
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:48,400
and itwould look
like itwas effortless.
908
00:46:48,476 --> 00:46:49,738
He'd say, you know,
909
00:46:49,811 --> 00:46:53,110
"This is just a little something
we've been doing."
910
00:46:53,181 --> 00:46:55,342
You know, and there'd be
blood all over the floor
911
00:46:55,416 --> 00:46:57,611
from the thing, you know?
912
00:47:00,521 --> 00:47:02,648
When we look
atthe night sky,
913
00:47:02,724 --> 00:47:05,488
these are the stars we see --
914
00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:09,553
the same stars that shine down
upon Russia each night.
915
00:47:09,631 --> 00:47:13,727
We see the same clusters,
the same nebulae.
916
00:47:13,801 --> 00:47:16,361
And from the sky, it would be
difficult to distinguish
917
00:47:16,437 --> 00:47:18,735
the Russian city
from the American city.
918
00:47:18,806 --> 00:47:21,866
If you're
going to communicate
919
00:47:21,943 --> 00:47:24,605
with 3 million Soviet citizens,
you need to say something true.
920
00:47:24,679 --> 00:47:26,772
You can't just show off
you've got
921
00:47:26,848 --> 00:47:28,816
better weapons
or this or that.
922
00:47:28,883 --> 00:47:31,716
You've got to try to speak
from the heart, and they did.
923
00:47:41,629 --> 00:47:43,290
Was it propaganda?
924
00:47:43,364 --> 00:47:45,491
Goodness, yes, have you seen it?
925
00:47:45,566 --> 00:47:48,194
Yes, it's, it's selling
the U.S.,
926
00:47:48,269 --> 00:47:52,433
and it's selling, I think,
a very sanitized USA.
927
00:47:56,511 --> 00:47:59,002
Of course
it was propaganda.
928
00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:03,847
They were Cold Warriors.
929
00:48:03,918 --> 00:48:05,249
The difference is they --
930
00:48:05,319 --> 00:48:07,378
I believe they genuinely
believed it.
931
00:48:12,927 --> 00:48:17,193
One of the interesting
things was how to end this.
932
00:48:17,265 --> 00:48:20,428
Charles had this idea
of a jet plane.
933
00:48:20,501 --> 00:48:24,665
Ray still felt this might be
a bit hard-edged, a bit --
934
00:48:24,739 --> 00:48:27,299
could have
military implications.
935
00:48:27,375 --> 00:48:30,867
We never had an ending,
and one day Ray walked in
936
00:48:30,945 --> 00:48:33,880
and said, "Forget-me-nots."
937
00:48:33,948 --> 00:48:36,212
Charles said,
"Okay, forget-me-nots."
938
00:48:42,490 --> 00:48:44,151
Forget-me-nots,
939
00:48:44,225 --> 00:48:46,693
the universal symbol
of friendship,
940
00:48:46,761 --> 00:48:50,162
translates directly
into Russian,
941
00:48:50,231 --> 00:48:52,756
Nezabudki, "forget me not."
942
00:48:52,834 --> 00:48:55,325
They described
Nikita Khrushchev
943
00:48:55,403 --> 00:48:58,736
with tears
running down his cheeks.
944
00:48:58,806 --> 00:49:04,574
So you have this wonderful
sort of double ending
945
00:49:04,645 --> 00:49:09,173
of the simplicity of a flower,
butthen this "Forget me not."
946
00:49:09,250 --> 00:49:12,947
And it worked
like the best Hollywood movie.
947
00:49:13,020 --> 00:49:17,252
The Moscow show made
Charles and Ray newly famous,
948
00:49:17,325 --> 00:49:21,284
not as designers of furniture,
but as communicators.
949
00:49:21,362 --> 00:49:25,458
Communicators who used images
ratherthan words.
950
00:49:36,878 --> 00:49:38,869
Charles was
very wary of words.
951
00:49:38,946 --> 00:49:40,140
It's not about writing a script.
952
00:49:40,214 --> 00:49:42,648
It's about a sequence of images
953
00:49:42,717 --> 00:49:43,979
that can tell a story.
954
00:49:44,051 --> 00:49:47,509
In the Eames film
"Tops,"
955
00:49:47,588 --> 00:49:50,682
there are no words,
just pictures.
956
00:49:53,661 --> 00:49:57,995
In a way,
the film is a kind of an essay
957
00:49:58,065 --> 00:50:01,796
aboutthe nature and meaning
of a top.
958
00:50:04,639 --> 00:50:08,439
In the beginning,
it's all aboutwinding up,
959
00:50:08,509 --> 00:50:12,536
getting started,
putting it together,
960
00:50:12,613 --> 00:50:14,843
assembling the materials.
961
00:50:14,916 --> 00:50:17,407
And then it's
aboutthrowing them,
962
00:50:17,485 --> 00:50:19,612
seeing how they work,
what they do,
963
00:50:19,687 --> 00:50:23,248
how they dance,
how they spin, how they sing,
964
00:50:23,324 --> 00:50:27,124
whatever it is
that their meaning is.
965
00:50:28,963 --> 00:50:32,330
But then you come to one moment
966
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:35,801
where there's an architectural
plan on thetabletop,
967
00:50:35,870 --> 00:50:40,307
a blueprint,
and what spins
968
00:50:40,374 --> 00:50:43,810
is a thumbtack, and you realize
969
00:50:43,878 --> 00:50:48,815
you have suddenly gotten
directly into the essence
970
00:50:48,883 --> 00:50:52,319
of what it means to be a top.
971
00:50:55,623 --> 00:50:59,559
Things have meaning,
things have personality,
972
00:50:59,627 --> 00:51:04,326
things express ideas.
973
00:51:04,398 --> 00:51:09,700
Many designers were
and still are happy with
974
00:51:09,770 --> 00:51:13,536
the manipulation of objects.
975
00:51:13,608 --> 00:51:17,908
Hewas only truly deeply happy
976
00:51:17,979 --> 00:51:21,142
manipulating an idea.
977
00:51:21,215 --> 00:51:27,245
Beginning in the 1950s,
the idea ofthe computer
978
00:51:27,321 --> 00:51:30,688
triggered fear in the minds
of Americans.
979
00:51:30,758 --> 00:51:33,693
People were seeing
computers,
980
00:51:33,761 --> 00:51:35,524
and there was a worry
about them.
981
00:51:35,596 --> 00:51:38,622
And this notion
of the electronic brain
982
00:51:38,699 --> 00:51:40,132
feeds into fears that we're
983
00:51:40,201 --> 00:51:42,396
going to be taken over
by machines.
984
00:51:44,171 --> 00:51:47,732
At the time, computers
were synonymous
985
00:51:47,808 --> 00:51:50,800
with just one company -- lBM.
986
00:51:50,878 --> 00:51:52,505
What was lBM's product?
987
00:51:52,580 --> 00:51:55,811
Big vacuum tube machines,
huge room-size machines,
988
00:51:55,883 --> 00:51:58,477
building-size machines, so that
989
00:51:58,552 --> 00:52:01,749
the average individual
was feeling an alien,
990
00:52:01,822 --> 00:52:05,883
science-fiction type
invasion of my privacy.
991
00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:07,393
How do you combat that?
992
00:52:10,998 --> 00:52:13,228
lBM turned
to the Eames Office.
993
00:52:13,301 --> 00:52:16,464
To overcome the computer's
PR problem,
994
00:52:16,537 --> 00:52:20,598
Charles and Ray set out
to humanize it.
995
00:52:20,675 --> 00:52:24,076
Properly related,
it can maintain a balance
996
00:52:24,145 --> 00:52:27,205
between man's needs
and his resources.
997
00:52:27,281 --> 00:52:28,612
It's done in this,
998
00:52:28,683 --> 00:52:30,514
what to us today
looks really corny --
999
00:52:30,584 --> 00:52:35,351
but at the time, this was
thoughtto be radical --
1000
00:52:35,423 --> 00:52:38,915
to do a film for a science
company, like a cartoon.
1001
00:52:38,993 --> 00:52:42,019
Something has now
emerged that might make
1002
00:52:42,096 --> 00:52:44,860
even our most elegant theories
workable.
1003
00:52:44,932 --> 00:52:47,196
And you go
from the abacus.
1004
00:52:47,268 --> 00:52:50,704
As human problems
become more complex,
1005
00:52:50,771 --> 00:52:53,501
people invent
more complicated machines
1006
00:52:53,574 --> 00:52:54,836
to solve those problems,
1007
00:52:54,909 --> 00:52:58,743
and the culmination of that is
the computer.
1008
00:53:00,481 --> 00:53:02,608
This is a story
of a technique
1009
00:53:02,683 --> 00:53:05,743
in the service of mankind.
1010
00:53:05,820 --> 00:53:08,618
It's not
going to take over the world,
1011
00:53:08,689 --> 00:53:10,350
it's not going to be robots.
1012
00:53:10,424 --> 00:53:13,154
It's the logical
evolutionary progression
1013
00:53:13,227 --> 00:53:17,823
of man developing products
to solve problems.
1014
00:53:17,898 --> 00:53:21,425
Charles's visionary
interest in computers
1015
00:53:21,502 --> 00:53:24,994
helped to bring lBM into
the Eames Office stables.
1016
00:53:25,072 --> 00:53:28,098
But it was not expertise
that made Charles and Ray
1017
00:53:28,175 --> 00:53:30,803
indispensible to
the rapidly growing company.
1018
00:53:30,878 --> 00:53:31,379
You sell your expertise,
1019
00:53:31,379 --> 00:53:33,939
You sell your expertise,
1020
00:53:34,015 --> 00:53:36,006
you have a limited repertoire.
1021
00:53:36,083 --> 00:53:39,484
You sell your ignorance,
it's an unlimited repertoire.
1022
00:53:39,553 --> 00:53:40,952
He was selling his ignorance
1023
00:53:41,022 --> 00:53:43,456
and his desire to learn
about a subject.
1024
00:53:43,524 --> 00:53:44,923
And the journey --
1025
00:53:44,992 --> 00:53:47,961
of him not knowing to knowing --
was his work.
1026
00:53:52,666 --> 00:53:55,931
Over two decades,
Charles and Ray would complete
1027
00:53:56,003 --> 00:54:00,235
dozens of projects,
large and small, for lBM.
1028
00:54:00,307 --> 00:54:04,038
But perhaps the most bold was
their pavilion
1029
00:54:04,111 --> 00:54:07,478
for the 1964 New York
World's Fair,
1030
00:54:07,548 --> 00:54:10,949
a 1.2-acre experimental space
1031
00:54:11,018 --> 00:54:15,011
celebrating the role
of computers in everyday life.
1032
00:54:19,226 --> 00:54:20,887
I was drawing the stuff
1033
00:54:20,961 --> 00:54:23,521
as fast as he
could conjure it up,
1034
00:54:23,597 --> 00:54:25,292
and they came up with this idea
1035
00:54:25,366 --> 00:54:29,564
of putting thattheater
up on top of these trees.
1036
00:54:29,637 --> 00:54:31,901
And so I knew they were going to
have these plungers
1037
00:54:31,972 --> 00:54:34,099
going into the ground --
they are going to move,
1038
00:54:34,175 --> 00:54:36,040
you know,
400 people up on this ramp.
1039
00:54:36,110 --> 00:54:38,772
And I knew, as a designer,
I knew I was going to
1040
00:54:38,846 --> 00:54:42,441
have to figure out some way
to make all that happen.
1041
00:54:42,516 --> 00:54:46,885
And he's just so excited
about this thing.
1042
00:54:46,954 --> 00:54:49,548
And I'm just standing there
like that.
1043
00:54:49,623 --> 00:54:51,318
And I said,
"Charles, this is just nuts."
1044
00:54:51,392 --> 00:54:54,418
And he says, "Yeah, and no one
had told us not to do it."
1045
00:54:57,331 --> 00:55:01,324
For the show in Moscow,
they had used seven screens.
1046
00:55:01,402 --> 00:55:07,068
But at the lBM Pavilion,
there were 22.
1047
00:55:07,141 --> 00:55:10,372
Charles was very big on
making people feel welcome.
1048
00:55:10,444 --> 00:55:14,107
You don'tjust get them in
an auditorium and showthe film.
1049
00:55:14,181 --> 00:55:16,046
You have a host.
1050
00:55:16,117 --> 00:55:18,642
But, uh, it was very hard.
1051
00:55:21,755 --> 00:55:26,920
Everything you said not only had
to be memorized and rehearsed,
1052
00:55:26,994 --> 00:55:28,427
but it had to be timed,
1053
00:55:28,496 --> 00:55:30,487
so when you pointed
to this screen,
1054
00:55:30,564 --> 00:55:33,431
what you were talking about
appeared on this screen.
1055
00:55:33,501 --> 00:55:35,969
And the same with that screen
and all the others.
1056
00:55:36,036 --> 00:55:40,200
Butthe problem was,
1057
00:55:40,274 --> 00:55:42,970
the host
had a nervous breakdown.
1058
00:55:45,346 --> 00:55:47,644
As Charles and Ray's
reputation
1059
00:55:47,715 --> 00:55:49,342
as visual communicators grew,
1060
00:55:49,416 --> 00:55:52,078
so did their list
of corporate clients.
1061
00:55:52,153 --> 00:55:53,211
N is for...
1062
00:56:06,367 --> 00:56:09,666
Westinghouse,
Boeing, and Polaroid
1063
00:56:09,737 --> 00:56:11,864
all trusted the Eames Office
1064
00:56:11,939 --> 00:56:14,737
to solve their problems.
1065
00:56:34,395 --> 00:56:38,354
When the Office was hired
by Alcoa
1066
00:56:38,432 --> 00:56:39,694
to show off the uses
of aluminum,
1067
00:56:39,767 --> 00:56:42,930
they built a solar-powered
Do-Nothing Machine,
1068
00:56:43,003 --> 00:56:46,200
which did exactly that.
1069
00:56:46,273 --> 00:56:49,265
That was
in the golden years,
1070
00:56:49,343 --> 00:56:52,369
when the heads of corporations
would speak,
1071
00:56:52,446 --> 00:56:55,006
a chair away from the designer.
1072
00:56:55,082 --> 00:56:57,744
So that if you needed
to talk to somebody,
1073
00:56:57,818 --> 00:56:59,911
you talked
to the decision maker.
1074
00:56:59,987 --> 00:57:04,390
You didn't talk to a manager
who talked to a director
1075
00:57:04,458 --> 00:57:06,085
who talked to a chief director
1076
00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:07,821
who talked to a vice president
1077
00:57:07,895 --> 00:57:09,658
who talked to
a senior vice president
1078
00:57:09,730 --> 00:57:11,755
who talked to
an executive vice president
1079
00:57:11,832 --> 00:57:14,323
who was allowed to talk to God.
1080
00:57:14,401 --> 00:57:18,770
Almost never
was there a dissenting voice.
1081
00:57:18,839 --> 00:57:21,637
We trusted his decision making
entirely.
1082
00:57:21,709 --> 00:57:24,769
So his freedom to do
and to explain
1083
00:57:24,845 --> 00:57:26,472
and to conceive and execute
1084
00:57:26,547 --> 00:57:29,107
was almost unparalleled.
1085
00:57:29,183 --> 00:57:32,118
They didn't have
contracts.
1086
00:57:32,186 --> 00:57:33,653
They had a handshake.
1087
00:57:33,721 --> 00:57:37,452
All those huge projects
were done on a handshake.
1088
00:57:37,524 --> 00:57:39,924
"We're going to give you
the best product,
1089
00:57:39,994 --> 00:57:42,929
butwe can't tell you
what it's going to cost."
1090
00:57:42,997 --> 00:57:44,794
And for lBM
1091
00:57:44,865 --> 00:57:48,198
and for Polaroid,
and for Herman Miller,
1092
00:57:48,269 --> 00:57:49,566
it was okay.
1093
00:57:49,637 --> 00:57:52,970
And for Charles,
1094
00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:56,441
these gentlemen's agreements
went both ways.
1095
00:57:56,510 --> 00:58:02,107
The budget for
"Mathematica" was $150,000.
1096
00:58:02,182 --> 00:58:06,118
It actually ended up
costing $300,000,
1097
00:58:06,186 --> 00:58:09,519
and Charles paid
for the $150,000
1098
00:58:09,590 --> 00:58:11,285
that itwent over budget.
1099
00:58:11,358 --> 00:58:13,758
Sothe whole thing
aboutwhatthings cost
1100
00:58:13,827 --> 00:58:15,886
and trying to keep it
within the budget
1101
00:58:15,963 --> 00:58:17,692
and meet the clients,
he didn't care about --
1102
00:58:17,765 --> 00:58:21,861
he cared about it, but he just,
he couldn't stop himself.
1103
00:58:24,271 --> 00:58:27,934
Charles and Ray's career
began with a utopian notion
1104
00:58:28,008 --> 00:58:31,409
of providing low-cost,
high-quality goods to the masses
1105
00:58:31,478 --> 00:58:33,446
through industrial production.
1106
00:58:33,514 --> 00:58:35,482
But they never viewed their work
1107
00:58:35,549 --> 00:58:37,983
for corporate titans
as selling out.
1108
00:58:38,052 --> 00:58:40,919
They wanted to work
for the Google of their time,
1109
00:58:40,988 --> 00:58:44,151
and they did, and it allowed
them incredible experimentation.
1110
00:58:44,224 --> 00:58:46,522
And they believed they could
have a bigger impact
1111
00:58:46,593 --> 00:58:49,687
on everyday life by working
forthe bigger company.
1112
00:58:59,506 --> 00:59:01,872
lBM shared Charles's concern
1113
00:59:01,942 --> 00:59:06,208
that American kids were falling
behind in math and science.
1114
00:59:06,280 --> 00:59:09,010
And as usual, they gave
the Office free rein
1115
00:59:09,083 --> 00:59:10,516
to address the problem.
1116
00:59:10,584 --> 00:59:12,779
Maybe, Charles felt,
1117
00:59:12,853 --> 00:59:14,718
a film could help.
1118
00:59:14,788 --> 00:59:17,723
We begin
with a scene one meter wide,
1119
00:59:17,791 --> 00:59:19,759
which we view from just
one meter away.
1120
00:59:19,827 --> 00:59:22,159
Now, every ten seconds,
we will look
1121
00:59:22,229 --> 00:59:23,890
from ten times farther away,
1122
00:59:23,964 --> 00:59:26,797
and our field of view will be
ten times wider.
1123
00:59:26,867 --> 00:59:29,427
"Powers of Ten" would
become the best known
1124
00:59:29,503 --> 00:59:33,769
of all the Eames films,
viewed in countless classrooms
1125
00:59:33,841 --> 00:59:37,140
and copied freely by
filmmakers around the world.
1126
00:59:37,211 --> 00:59:40,203
Everyone has seen
"Powers of Ten."
1127
00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:42,578
They may not have seen
the version Charles did,
1128
00:59:42,649 --> 00:59:43,911
but they have seen
1129
00:59:43,984 --> 00:59:46,885
one of the countless rip-offs
ofthat film.
1130
00:59:46,954 --> 00:59:50,117
Ten to the sixth,
a one with six zeros,
1131
00:59:50,190 --> 00:59:52,920
a million meters --
soon the earth will show
1132
00:59:52,993 --> 00:59:54,153
as a solid sphere.
1133
00:59:54,228 --> 00:59:57,595
Nobody had done
a movie like that.
1134
00:59:57,664 --> 01:00:01,430
How can you fail,
doing a cosmic zoom
1135
01:00:01,502 --> 01:00:04,164
in and out from all that is?
1136
01:00:04,238 --> 01:00:06,672
And so the concept is,
all by itself, mind-blowing.
1137
01:00:06,740 --> 01:00:09,038
The trip back to
the picnic on the lakefront
1138
01:00:09,109 --> 01:00:11,907
will be a sped-up version,
reducing the distance
1139
01:00:11,979 --> 01:00:15,415
to the Earth's surface by one
power of ten every two seconds.
1140
01:00:15,482 --> 01:00:17,541
It's "Ch-ch-ch-ch-shoo,"
1141
01:00:17,618 --> 01:00:20,143
excessive information,
dizzying information.
1142
01:00:20,220 --> 01:00:22,654
Ten to the ninth
meters,
1143
01:00:22,723 --> 01:00:24,850
ten to the eighth...
1144
01:00:24,925 --> 01:00:27,689
Like in a chase
sequence in a movie,
1145
01:00:27,761 --> 01:00:29,752
everything is going by so fast,
1146
01:00:29,830 --> 01:00:32,298
it forces the observer to choose
the information
1147
01:00:32,366 --> 01:00:33,355
that's truly important,
1148
01:00:33,434 --> 01:00:34,958
which is the car
or the person
1149
01:00:35,035 --> 01:00:36,229
that is running away from you --
1150
01:00:36,303 --> 01:00:37,770
i.e., the idea.
1151
01:00:37,838 --> 01:00:40,830
One. We are back
at our starting point.
1152
01:00:40,908 --> 01:00:42,899
Eames was aware that,
in fact,
1153
01:00:42,976 --> 01:00:44,466
that this was somewhat dizzying,
1154
01:00:44,545 --> 01:00:45,807
and that it wasn't possible
1155
01:00:45,879 --> 01:00:47,710
to get all
of this information across
1156
01:00:47,781 --> 01:00:50,113
in a single viewing,
and that was fine.
1157
01:00:50,184 --> 01:00:52,846
What he probably didn't know
1158
01:00:52,920 --> 01:00:56,151
was that he was also looking
into the future
1159
01:00:56,223 --> 01:00:58,123
of audio-visual perception.
1160
01:00:58,192 --> 01:01:01,252
The pace at which we receive
information today
1161
01:01:01,328 --> 01:01:07,198
is as fast as he was doing
back then.
1162
01:01:07,267 --> 01:01:10,862
As a single proton
fills our scene,
1163
01:01:10,938 --> 01:01:13,133
we reach the edge
of present understanding.
1164
01:01:13,207 --> 01:01:16,404
As time went on,
1165
01:01:16,477 --> 01:01:21,540
Charles became more and more
and more interested in ideas,
1166
01:01:21,615 --> 01:01:24,379
especially science
and mathematics.
1167
01:01:24,451 --> 01:01:30,253
Ray was less engaged.
1168
01:01:30,324 --> 01:01:35,990
I mean, I'm no mathematician,
and I'm no -- not an architect,
1169
01:01:36,063 --> 01:01:39,226
I'm not -- I haven't had
certain training,
1170
01:01:39,299 --> 01:01:45,636
so I just try to help in the way
that I -- in any way I can.
1171
01:01:45,706 --> 01:01:48,436
I don't stop to think
whether I can.
1172
01:01:48,509 --> 01:01:50,943
I just go as far as I can.
1173
01:01:51,011 --> 01:01:54,174
And if I --
1174
01:01:54,248 --> 01:01:59,777
if I can't, I can't.
1175
01:01:59,853 --> 01:02:01,753
I think Ray
may have suffered
1176
01:02:01,822 --> 01:02:03,517
from a feeling
of marginalization,
1177
01:02:03,590 --> 01:02:06,354
because some
of those last projects
1178
01:02:06,426 --> 01:02:10,328
were heavy on ideas
and not as heavy
1179
01:02:10,397 --> 01:02:15,926
on the kind of visual richness
that was Ray's forte.
1180
01:02:16,003 --> 01:02:18,665
She's no longer
as instrumental
1181
01:02:18,739 --> 01:02:20,036
in the entire thing.
1182
01:02:20,107 --> 01:02:21,631
She can apply an aesthetic,
1183
01:02:21,708 --> 01:02:23,471
she can dress a set, and so on,
1184
01:02:23,544 --> 01:02:27,310
but, um, she's no longer
as central.
1185
01:02:27,381 --> 01:02:31,750
Ray's exquisite taste,
her eye for form and color,
1186
01:02:31,818 --> 01:02:34,150
made her indispensible
to the Office.
1187
01:02:34,221 --> 01:02:37,520
But it could also be
aterrible burden.
1188
01:02:43,630 --> 01:02:47,589
I remember peering
into Ray's office
1189
01:02:47,668 --> 01:02:49,568
only once or twice,
1190
01:02:49,636 --> 01:02:53,470
because when the door opened
and I looked into it,
1191
01:02:53,540 --> 01:03:00,343
I thought, "l don't everwant
to look in there again,
1192
01:03:00,414 --> 01:03:03,542
because it's a little
frightening."
1193
01:03:07,888 --> 01:03:10,982
Ray had a little room,
smallerthan Charles's,
1194
01:03:11,058 --> 01:03:13,185
directly across the hall
from his,
1195
01:03:13,260 --> 01:03:16,093
thatwas just
absolutely jammed
1196
01:03:16,163 --> 01:03:18,723
with all of her little
pieces of paper
1197
01:03:18,799 --> 01:03:20,391
and all of her little slides
1198
01:03:20,467 --> 01:03:21,764
and all of the little notes
1199
01:03:21,835 --> 01:03:23,632
that people had mailed to her
1200
01:03:23,704 --> 01:03:26,138
and that she was mailing
to them.
1201
01:03:26,206 --> 01:03:28,231
And she would go in
and find things.
1202
01:03:28,308 --> 01:03:29,536
She would say, "Oh, I have one,"
1203
01:03:29,610 --> 01:03:31,339
and she would disappear
into the room
1204
01:03:31,411 --> 01:03:34,039
and come out
with the perfect kite.
1205
01:03:34,114 --> 01:03:37,982
Or she'd go in and find
the perfect scarf or something.
1206
01:03:38,051 --> 01:03:40,576
Shewould go,
and she would fuss with it,
1207
01:03:40,654 --> 01:03:42,815
and change it one day,
1208
01:03:42,889 --> 01:03:44,880
and the next day,
she would look at it again
1209
01:03:44,958 --> 01:03:46,585
and change
a little something else.
1210
01:03:46,660 --> 01:03:49,288
And I think over the years,
1211
01:03:49,363 --> 01:03:52,696
the perfectionism
did get in the way.
1212
01:03:52,766 --> 01:03:55,826
In a way, it crippled her.
1213
01:03:55,902 --> 01:03:59,895
Here is oh, a picnic
basket, a drawing of a basket.
1214
01:03:59,973 --> 01:04:01,804
Up in Seaview Village,
1215
01:04:01,875 --> 01:04:03,365
so probably Deborah Sussman.
1216
01:04:03,443 --> 01:04:06,970
It's a letter
from Lily Saarinen.
1217
01:04:07,047 --> 01:04:08,173
That's cool.
1218
01:04:08,248 --> 01:04:09,579
Look at that,
I've never seen that.
1219
01:04:09,650 --> 01:04:10,674
There we go --
1220
01:04:10,751 --> 01:04:14,016
"Dearest Queen
of all Pack Rats."
1221
01:04:14,087 --> 01:04:16,851
I think it was almost
a nervous tic with her.
1222
01:04:16,923 --> 01:04:19,016
She was constantly
making notes,
1223
01:04:19,092 --> 01:04:22,391
and usually on the back of
Benson & Hedges wrappers.
1224
01:04:22,462 --> 01:04:24,453
This is one of the wrappers,
1225
01:04:24,531 --> 01:04:26,089
and on this side
1226
01:04:26,166 --> 01:04:28,191
she designed something
that looks very reminiscent
1227
01:04:28,268 --> 01:04:30,736
of some
of herfabric designs.
1228
01:04:30,804 --> 01:04:33,272
And you turn it over, and you
see it's a Benson & Hedges.
1229
01:04:33,340 --> 01:04:36,138
And on this side
are notes she made
1230
01:04:36,209 --> 01:04:39,872
for lighting ofthe puppet shows
1231
01:04:39,946 --> 01:04:41,743
at the lBM pavilion.
1232
01:04:41,815 --> 01:04:44,249
You'd find them
everywhere.
1233
01:04:44,317 --> 01:04:45,841
They'd drive you crazy.
1234
01:04:45,919 --> 01:04:48,581
And they could say, "Buy soap,"
1235
01:04:48,655 --> 01:04:50,589
or "Liver and onions
for dinner,'
1236
01:04:50,657 --> 01:04:53,649
or they'd have
very elaborate ideas.
1237
01:04:53,727 --> 01:04:55,957
She had her suits made,
1238
01:04:56,029 --> 01:04:59,021
and they had pockets that went
all the way to the hem.
1239
01:04:59,099 --> 01:05:00,532
So whatever she wanted to keep,
1240
01:05:00,600 --> 01:05:02,431
she would just shove
in the pockets.
1241
01:05:02,502 --> 01:05:05,528
So what would happen
with these notes?
1242
01:05:05,605 --> 01:05:07,402
Well, for a time,
she asked the staff
1243
01:05:07,474 --> 01:05:09,567
to try to type them up,
and I think it became
1244
01:05:09,643 --> 01:05:11,702
too overwhelming
forthe staff.
1245
01:05:11,778 --> 01:05:14,178
It was such an avalanche
of notes.
1246
01:05:14,247 --> 01:05:18,047
Ray didn't communicate
like everybody else does.
1247
01:05:18,118 --> 01:05:20,245
She expected that you
1248
01:05:20,320 --> 01:05:22,982
pre-understood
what she was talking about.
1249
01:05:23,056 --> 01:05:25,854
The people who didn't
make the effort
1250
01:05:25,926 --> 01:05:28,895
would sometimes use
the epithet "Crazy Rayzy,"
1251
01:05:28,962 --> 01:05:31,556
simply because they
didn't understand her.
1252
01:05:31,631 --> 01:05:35,328
But Ray is not crazy.
She's brilliant.
1253
01:05:35,402 --> 01:05:37,996
And Ray had
a lot of competition
1254
01:05:38,071 --> 01:05:39,629
for Charles's attention,
1255
01:05:39,706 --> 01:05:46,407
which I don't think anybody ever
really gave her credit for.
1256
01:05:46,480 --> 01:05:50,610
That everybody wanted Charles
and not Ray.
1257
01:05:52,686 --> 01:05:57,020
He was the guy that
the lBM executives would call.
1258
01:05:57,090 --> 01:05:59,615
He was the guy that you went to
1259
01:05:59,693 --> 01:06:01,752
to discuss the projects
intellectually.
1260
01:06:01,828 --> 01:06:05,958
He was very charismatic.
1261
01:06:06,032 --> 01:06:08,728
Charles was extremely
charismatic.
1262
01:06:08,802 --> 01:06:09,996
He was very charismatic.
1263
01:06:10,070 --> 01:06:11,162
He was very handsome.
1264
01:06:11,238 --> 01:06:14,537
He was very handsome
and very charismatic.
1265
01:06:14,608 --> 01:06:17,202
I know that word is really
overused, but he was.
1266
01:06:17,277 --> 01:06:20,508
And especially very charismatic
to women.
1267
01:06:25,652 --> 01:06:27,483
He reminded me
of Henry Fonda,
1268
01:06:27,554 --> 01:06:31,786
and I met Henry Fonda one time,
and I told Henry Fonda this,
1269
01:06:31,858 --> 01:06:33,120
that I thought
they looked alike,
1270
01:06:33,193 --> 01:06:34,820
and he said,
"That's a compliment."
1271
01:06:34,895 --> 01:06:38,194
I mean, he had
these dimples,
1272
01:06:38,265 --> 01:06:40,392
and he -- "Aw, shucks,"
kind of guy.
1273
01:06:42,636 --> 01:06:46,003
He was handsome
and smart, and cool.
1274
01:06:46,072 --> 01:06:48,540
So, you know, that's a kind of
lethal combination.
1275
01:06:48,608 --> 01:06:50,803
It was the vision.
1276
01:06:50,877 --> 01:06:52,742
It was the personality.
1277
01:06:52,813 --> 01:06:54,246
It was the charm.
1278
01:06:54,314 --> 01:06:56,214
It was the unexpected.
1279
01:06:56,283 --> 01:06:57,409
It was the person.
1280
01:06:57,484 --> 01:07:01,250
This is just a small selection
1281
01:07:01,321 --> 01:07:03,312
of letters that I went through
1282
01:07:03,390 --> 01:07:08,225
to find things that pertain
particularly to the work.
1283
01:07:08,295 --> 01:07:12,391
"ln the next few weeks, I must
pull together a preliminary film
1284
01:07:12,465 --> 01:07:15,229
for the 'Franklin and Jefferson'
show."
1285
01:07:19,673 --> 01:07:22,733
And then the rest is personal.
1286
01:07:28,248 --> 01:07:31,945
I think their marriage,
1287
01:07:32,018 --> 01:07:37,320
it was a mystery to everybody,
in a way.
1288
01:07:37,390 --> 01:07:41,690
They were emotionally
extremely bonded.
1289
01:07:41,761 --> 01:07:48,462
But he found excitement
and thrills outside of Ray,
1290
01:07:48,535 --> 01:07:51,333
and outside of the Office,
1291
01:07:51,404 --> 01:07:56,467
which was really
crushing to her.
1292
01:08:00,313 --> 01:08:03,043
I met him when he was
on the visiting committee
1293
01:08:03,116 --> 01:08:05,346
forthe architecture department
at M.I.T.
1294
01:08:05,418 --> 01:08:08,478
and I was a young
assistant professor.
1295
01:08:08,555 --> 01:08:11,251
Charles said, "Let's experiment
1296
01:08:11,324 --> 01:08:13,792
with some films on art."
1297
01:08:17,631 --> 01:08:22,694
I have many, many letters,
extraordinary letters.
1298
01:08:22,769 --> 01:08:25,294
Because we didn't live
in the same city,
1299
01:08:25,372 --> 01:08:28,705
we tried to see each other
as we could.
1300
01:08:28,775 --> 01:08:31,039
He had come to London,
1301
01:08:31,111 --> 01:08:34,478
and I was there,
and I could not get away.
1302
01:08:34,547 --> 01:08:36,879
And he said, "l will come
and stand in front of the house
1303
01:08:36,950 --> 01:08:40,181
at a certain time," and l
slipped out of this
1304
01:08:40,253 --> 01:08:42,278
ratherformal dinner,
1305
01:08:42,355 --> 01:08:46,086
and there he was, and we just
looked at each other.
1306
01:08:52,699 --> 01:08:57,193
We had a very profound love
for each other.
1307
01:09:00,473 --> 01:09:04,842
He wanted very much
for us to get married
1308
01:09:04,911 --> 01:09:08,210
and to have a child,
1309
01:09:08,281 --> 01:09:10,374
and to close --
he wanted to close
1310
01:09:10,450 --> 01:09:11,974
the Eames Office in Venice,
1311
01:09:12,052 --> 01:09:13,917
which he found very burdensome,
1312
01:09:13,987 --> 01:09:17,479
and for us to open an office
together in New York.
1313
01:09:22,262 --> 01:09:24,924
And I made a decision --
1314
01:09:24,998 --> 01:09:26,898
and I don't know if was
the right decision --
1315
01:09:26,967 --> 01:09:29,401
that I couldn't do it to Ray.
1316
01:09:29,469 --> 01:09:31,403
Because I had a friendship
with her,
1317
01:09:31,471 --> 01:09:34,269
but above all because they had
been together so long,
1318
01:09:34,341 --> 01:09:38,471
and I knew how much
she depended on him.
1319
01:09:38,545 --> 01:09:41,912
And I said, "l can't do it."
1320
01:09:46,920 --> 01:09:50,617
Ray dealtwith it
very privately.
1321
01:09:50,690 --> 01:09:53,784
Shewas hurt deeply,
1322
01:09:53,860 --> 01:09:56,693
but shewasn't
the kind of person
1323
01:09:56,763 --> 01:10:00,290
who would have said,
"It's me or her."
1324
01:10:00,367 --> 01:10:05,202
I don't think
she wanted to leave.
1325
01:10:05,271 --> 01:10:10,368
I think itwas something
that she had to accept.
1326
01:10:10,443 --> 01:10:12,138
This wasn't the era
1327
01:10:12,212 --> 01:10:15,443
of easy-come, easy-go
relationships.
1328
01:10:15,515 --> 01:10:20,452
There was too much
shared life and community,
1329
01:10:20,520 --> 01:10:23,785
and the fact that he, you know,
1330
01:10:23,857 --> 01:10:27,293
had other relationships outside
of the Office...
1331
01:10:29,562 --> 01:10:32,656
he seemed to be constructed
that way.
1332
01:10:32,732 --> 01:10:37,294
But there is a position
that I think is nonsense,
1333
01:10:37,370 --> 01:10:40,498
which is to say that because
Charles was having
1334
01:10:40,573 --> 01:10:43,133
a relationship
with somebody else
1335
01:10:43,209 --> 01:10:45,769
that he couldn't then carry on
a collaboration with Ray.
1336
01:10:45,845 --> 01:10:47,710
I mean,
that clearly didn't happen.
1337
01:10:50,450 --> 01:10:53,647
In fact, Charles and Ray
were about to collaborate
1338
01:10:53,720 --> 01:10:55,779
on the largest,
most complex project
1339
01:10:55,855 --> 01:10:58,551
the Office would
ever undertake.
1340
01:11:00,226 --> 01:11:03,855
For the nation's bicentennial
celebration in 1976,
1341
01:11:03,930 --> 01:11:06,125
the Eames Office designed
1342
01:11:06,199 --> 01:11:08,394
"The World
of Franklin and Jefferson,"
1343
01:11:08,468 --> 01:11:11,369
a traveling show made up
of three films,
1344
01:11:11,438 --> 01:11:15,397
40,000 words
translated into four languages,
1345
01:11:15,475 --> 01:11:18,535
and thousands of photographs
and objects,
1346
01:11:18,611 --> 01:11:22,411
including a stuffed bison.
1347
01:11:22,482 --> 01:11:25,781
When "Franklin and Jefferson"
opened in Paris,
1348
01:11:25,852 --> 01:11:29,379
it was seen by 50,000 people
in two months.
1349
01:11:29,456 --> 01:11:32,857
More than a thousand visitors
saw it each day
1350
01:11:32,926 --> 01:11:34,655
in London and Warsaw.
1351
01:11:34,727 --> 01:11:36,661
But when it came to New York,
1352
01:11:36,729 --> 01:11:40,290
the reception was different.
1353
01:11:40,366 --> 01:11:43,961
When it appeared at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
1354
01:11:44,037 --> 01:11:47,564
The New Yotk Times reviewed it,
and the headline was,
1355
01:11:47,640 --> 01:11:51,838
"What Is This Stuff
Doing at the Met?'
1356
01:11:51,911 --> 01:11:53,003
It was one of the first times
1357
01:11:53,079 --> 01:11:55,343
the Eameses were ever
criticized.
1358
01:11:57,817 --> 01:11:59,842
It had an enormous
amount of text.
1359
01:11:59,919 --> 01:12:03,013
Nobody could have possibly read
it all, it was so dense.
1360
01:12:05,859 --> 01:12:08,020
This show was
a bit picky for me,
1361
01:12:08,094 --> 01:12:10,062
too many little objects
that I would remember none.
1362
01:12:10,130 --> 01:12:11,563
It was too many things to see.
1363
01:12:11,631 --> 01:12:13,098
I can remember about ten things.
1364
01:12:14,801 --> 01:12:17,668
He knew so much
about all these things,
1365
01:12:17,737 --> 01:12:20,672
he couldn't edit out something.
1366
01:12:20,740 --> 01:12:23,732
These are things
of the period
1367
01:12:23,810 --> 01:12:25,903
and of the time,
from MountVernon.
1368
01:12:25,979 --> 01:12:29,107
They were all
so interesting to him,
1369
01:12:29,182 --> 01:12:30,945
and he was familiarwith them,
1370
01:12:31,017 --> 01:12:32,985
and he could see all these
connections.
1371
01:12:33,052 --> 01:12:35,316
But you can't keep it all
in your head
1372
01:12:35,388 --> 01:12:36,821
if you're not
that familiarwith it.
1373
01:12:39,459 --> 01:12:42,257
You could
call it clutter, butthat's not
1374
01:12:42,328 --> 01:12:43,727
what Charles
would have called it,
1375
01:12:43,796 --> 01:12:46,458
because clutter is
just stuff that's
1376
01:12:46,533 --> 01:12:50,230
dropped and abandoned
and forgotten and leftthere.
1377
01:12:50,303 --> 01:12:51,770
It was dense,
1378
01:12:51,838 --> 01:12:53,829
and it was complex,
1379
01:12:53,907 --> 01:12:56,501
but there was a mind at work
1380
01:12:56,576 --> 01:12:57,975
placing itthere.
1381
01:12:58,044 --> 01:13:01,070
Whether you as the recipient
1382
01:13:01,147 --> 01:13:04,139
were willing and able to accept
that is another question.
1383
01:13:06,419 --> 01:13:08,284
They're pushing up
against the envelope
1384
01:13:08,354 --> 01:13:10,151
ofwhattechnology could do,
1385
01:13:10,223 --> 01:13:13,249
because they're trying to give
the visitor
1386
01:13:13,326 --> 01:13:16,489
a hypertext experience,
1387
01:13:16,563 --> 01:13:19,191
but they're doing it
in physical space.
1388
01:13:19,265 --> 01:13:20,596
And it doesn'twork.
1389
01:13:20,667 --> 01:13:24,034
They are anticipating
1390
01:13:24,103 --> 01:13:25,730
what the computer can do today
very easily
1391
01:13:25,805 --> 01:13:29,206
with layering text and giving
you at different levels.
1392
01:13:29,275 --> 01:13:33,006
So it's a failure,
but it's an honest failure.
1393
01:13:37,150 --> 01:13:39,880
The criticism of
"Franklin and Jefferson"
1394
01:13:39,953 --> 01:13:41,716
hit Charles hard.
1395
01:13:41,788 --> 01:13:44,689
The
"Franklin and Jefferson" show
1396
01:13:44,757 --> 01:13:46,657
was an exhausting show
1397
01:13:46,726 --> 01:13:48,489
because it was huge,
1398
01:13:48,561 --> 01:13:52,395
and I think sort of
the machinery of doing that
1399
01:13:52,465 --> 01:13:54,660
was just tiring.
1400
01:13:54,734 --> 01:13:55,802
I saw Charles
at his happiest
1401
01:13:55,802 --> 01:13:58,464
I saw Charles
at his happiest
1402
01:13:58,538 --> 01:14:01,029
when he was getting to do
a lot of photography.
1403
01:14:01,107 --> 01:14:04,907
And he was very engaged directly
on the creative process
1404
01:14:04,978 --> 01:14:06,411
of doing the photographs --
1405
01:14:06,479 --> 01:14:09,676
which led me to the idea
that maybe he felt
1406
01:14:09,749 --> 01:14:12,411
he was missing something,
you know,
1407
01:14:12,485 --> 01:14:14,112
because he had had
the transition
1408
01:14:14,187 --> 01:14:17,054
to more of an executive
position at the Office.
1409
01:14:17,123 --> 01:14:20,786
It was very hard for him,
because he didn't really have
1410
01:14:20,860 --> 01:14:22,987
a successor,
1411
01:14:23,062 --> 01:14:26,828
and for the years
that I was there, he was always
1412
01:14:26,899 --> 01:14:29,094
Iooking for the perfect person.
1413
01:14:29,168 --> 01:14:31,329
It was a battle one day
1414
01:14:31,404 --> 01:14:35,500
with the lBM representative,
Mike Sullivan,
1415
01:14:35,575 --> 01:14:38,476
and Mike said,
"Why don't you shutthis down?'
1416
01:14:38,544 --> 01:14:39,841
And he said, "I'd like to."
1417
01:14:39,912 --> 01:14:41,641
And Sullivan said,
"Whatwould you do?'
1418
01:14:41,714 --> 01:14:46,344
And he said, "I'd just travel
and shoot."
1419
01:14:46,419 --> 01:14:49,980
"But," he said, "l don't know
what to do about Ray,
1420
01:14:50,056 --> 01:14:52,650
and closing the Office."
1421
01:14:52,725 --> 01:14:55,694
He was tired, and he was,
1422
01:14:55,762 --> 01:14:58,196
I don't know if it was his
heart, but he was cold a lot.
1423
01:14:58,264 --> 01:15:00,926
I brought him one morning --
it was a Saturday morning,
1424
01:15:01,000 --> 01:15:02,797
and I'd made applesauce cake
or something,
1425
01:15:02,869 --> 01:15:04,359
and I brought it to the office,
1426
01:15:04,437 --> 01:15:07,099
and I handed it to Charles
wrapped in tin foil,
1427
01:15:07,173 --> 01:15:09,664
and itwas still warm,
and he took it,
1428
01:15:09,742 --> 01:15:11,232
pressed it to his chest,
1429
01:15:11,311 --> 01:15:13,108
and he was thrilled
to have that warmth
1430
01:15:13,179 --> 01:15:15,841
just sort of on his chest.
1431
01:15:31,464 --> 01:15:36,163
I was out of
the office the day that he died.
1432
01:15:36,235 --> 01:15:40,968
It was, in a way,
it was expected.
1433
01:15:43,743 --> 01:15:47,008
It just didn't
seem possible.
1434
01:15:47,080 --> 01:15:49,844
I mean, I knew that some people
that Charles worked with,
1435
01:15:49,916 --> 01:15:52,510
men in the East, wept.
1436
01:15:55,088 --> 01:16:03,188
He was such a dominant force in
the lives of designers that...
1437
01:16:04,964 --> 01:16:09,663
it was like there was suddenly
a big empty hole.
1438
01:16:14,173 --> 01:16:16,198
There are still days
1439
01:16:16,275 --> 01:16:18,709
when I'm driving
down the highway,
1440
01:16:18,778 --> 01:16:22,043
thinking about things,
and I think,
1441
01:16:22,115 --> 01:16:24,606
"Why did you die?
1442
01:16:24,684 --> 01:16:27,778
I'm notthrough with you yet!
1443
01:16:27,854 --> 01:16:32,484
I haven't finished asking you
the questions I wanted to ask."
1444
01:16:39,132 --> 01:16:43,466
He was the most important person
in my life.
1445
01:16:45,571 --> 01:16:49,268
I mean, he could be, he could
really be tough, you know,
1446
01:16:49,342 --> 01:16:51,810
but he...
1447
01:16:55,348 --> 01:16:57,782
he was an extraordinary
person.
1448
01:17:05,091 --> 01:17:08,083
After Charles died,
1449
01:17:08,161 --> 01:17:09,788
suddenly Ray was
1450
01:17:09,862 --> 01:17:11,625
the head of the Office.
1451
01:17:14,200 --> 01:17:16,168
She gathered everybody around,
1452
01:17:16,235 --> 01:17:19,864
and she talked about her goals
and what she wanted to do,
1453
01:17:19,939 --> 01:17:23,375
and how she needed
our help.
1454
01:17:23,443 --> 01:17:26,435
And it was really very powerful,
1455
01:17:26,512 --> 01:17:28,309
because she had never
donethat before.
1456
01:17:28,381 --> 01:17:32,841
But she felt this huge burden
about carrying on the name
1457
01:17:32,919 --> 01:17:34,682
and carrying on the Office.
1458
01:17:34,754 --> 01:17:38,713
And I think it was killing her.
1459
01:17:38,791 --> 01:17:41,055
And I said, "Come on, Ray,
why don't you
1460
01:17:41,127 --> 01:17:44,153
just close the Office,
and let's go and paint."
1461
01:17:44,230 --> 01:17:46,630
And she said
"No, that's all in the past.
1462
01:17:46,699 --> 01:17:48,564
I can't do that anymore."
1463
01:17:52,138 --> 01:17:53,537
Without Charles,
1464
01:17:53,606 --> 01:17:56,939
activity in the Eames Office
dwindled,
1465
01:17:57,009 --> 01:18:00,376
until it was time
to finally close 901.
1466
01:18:03,115 --> 01:18:05,379
Ray focused
on the painstaking work
1467
01:18:05,451 --> 01:18:08,443
of cataloguing the voluminous
40-year output
1468
01:18:08,521 --> 01:18:11,615
of the Eames Office.
1469
01:18:11,691 --> 01:18:15,252
Nearly 350,000 photographs
1470
01:18:15,328 --> 01:18:17,819
and half a million documents
had to be organized for shipment
1471
01:18:17,897 --> 01:18:21,196
to the Library of Congress.
1472
01:18:24,770 --> 01:18:27,637
But over the years,
a new generation
1473
01:18:27,707 --> 01:18:30,369
Iifted Ray
from Charles's shadow,
1474
01:18:30,443 --> 01:18:33,503
discovering in her
exuberant design sense
1475
01:18:33,579 --> 01:18:37,310
a refreshing alternative
to the austerity of modernism.
1476
01:18:39,585 --> 01:18:42,349
And Ray seemed to finally
find her voice
1477
01:18:42,421 --> 01:18:47,552
as one of the most influential
women of American design.
1478
01:18:47,627 --> 01:18:50,391
Best for the most for the least,
1479
01:18:50,463 --> 01:18:52,454
that was always the principle.
1480
01:18:52,532 --> 01:18:54,466
That's why we became interested
1481
01:18:54,534 --> 01:18:55,796
in mass production.
1482
01:18:55,868 --> 01:18:59,770
At that point,
1483
01:18:59,839 --> 01:19:02,774
women began to point to Ray.
1484
01:19:02,842 --> 01:19:04,332
You know, "lf there are
two Eameses,
1485
01:19:04,410 --> 01:19:05,877
why aren't they both credited?'
1486
01:19:05,945 --> 01:19:07,242
And now, of course, they are.
1487
01:19:26,399 --> 01:19:31,336
She kept saying, in
the hospital, "What day is it?'
1488
01:19:31,404 --> 01:19:35,363
And I would say,
"It's Wednesday the 18th."
1489
01:19:35,441 --> 01:19:37,466
And she would say, "Oh."
1490
01:19:37,543 --> 01:19:38,976
And then the next time
I would come,
1491
01:19:39,045 --> 01:19:41,377
then she would say,
"What day is it?'
1492
01:19:41,447 --> 01:19:42,539
"It's Thursday."
1493
01:19:42,615 --> 01:19:43,946
"Oh."
1494
01:19:48,921 --> 01:19:52,789
I think she wanted to die
on the same day as Charles
1495
01:19:52,858 --> 01:19:57,227
because it sort of symbolized
their being one.
1496
01:20:01,767 --> 01:20:08,229
Her last statement was one
of being with Charles.
1497
01:20:25,524 --> 01:20:30,223
This guy and that guy
could trade places.
1498
01:20:30,296 --> 01:20:32,890
There's probably an Eames chair
1499
01:20:32,965 --> 01:20:35,593
Iiterally in every single issue
thatwe've published.
1500
01:20:35,668 --> 01:20:36,692
You know, you could go
1501
01:20:36,769 --> 01:20:38,600
from the DAX to the DSS
to the LCW,
1502
01:20:38,671 --> 01:20:40,502
you know, you'll get
thiswhole range.
1503
01:20:40,573 --> 01:20:42,370
Clockwise just a little.
1504
01:20:42,441 --> 01:20:43,430
Just a little.
1505
01:20:43,509 --> 01:20:47,138
Thefurniture still has
a quality
1506
01:20:47,213 --> 01:20:48,475
that every young designer
1507
01:20:48,547 --> 01:20:50,481
is searching for,
because of the amount of thought
1508
01:20:50,549 --> 01:20:52,244
that's been put into it
1509
01:20:52,318 --> 01:20:56,448
by everyone whose hands touch
the project.
1510
01:20:56,522 --> 01:20:59,582
I think you see that optimism
of the American spirit
1511
01:20:59,659 --> 01:21:01,889
in their design.
1512
01:21:01,961 --> 01:21:03,690
It provided
just a great blueprint
1513
01:21:03,763 --> 01:21:05,458
for how we could live our lives.
1514
01:21:07,867 --> 01:21:09,630
What furniture
designers
1515
01:21:09,702 --> 01:21:12,637
ever have produced
40 to 50 pieces of furniture
1516
01:21:12,705 --> 01:21:16,141
that have been in production
for five decades?
1517
01:21:16,208 --> 01:21:19,507
Butthe other thing is
the sheer joy,
1518
01:21:19,578 --> 01:21:21,443
that aspect of play.
1519
01:21:21,514 --> 01:21:25,109
No one else, I think,
had that combination
1520
01:21:25,184 --> 01:21:28,119
of the pragmatic
and the aesthetic.
1521
01:21:28,187 --> 01:21:30,348
Seven...
1522
01:21:30,423 --> 01:21:33,392
They loved to say,
"We don't do art.
1523
01:21:33,459 --> 01:21:35,484
We solve problems."
1524
01:21:35,561 --> 01:21:36,619
It's the process.
1525
01:21:36,696 --> 01:21:38,357
It's, how do we get
from where we are
1526
01:21:38,431 --> 01:21:41,093
to where we want to be?
1527
01:21:41,167 --> 01:21:42,725
Grasp the rear
of the viewfinder...
1528
01:21:42,802 --> 01:21:45,327
Charles and Ray were
always looking to the future.
1529
01:21:45,404 --> 01:21:46,894
They weren't
sort of sitting around,
1530
01:21:46,972 --> 01:21:48,872
telling war stories about
organic furniture.
1531
01:21:48,941 --> 01:21:50,169
What they were doing is like,
1532
01:21:50,242 --> 01:21:52,403
"What's the nextthing?'
1533
01:21:52,478 --> 01:21:55,447
They were there
1534
01:21:55,514 --> 01:21:57,539
for the major moments
in American history,
1535
01:21:57,616 --> 01:22:00,016
and they were really the
pioneers of the information age.
1536
01:22:00,086 --> 01:22:02,884
The visitor
can try out the computer
1537
01:22:02,955 --> 01:22:04,616
as a carrier of information.
1538
01:22:04,690 --> 01:22:07,318
The breadth
of the work is extraordinary,
1539
01:22:07,393 --> 01:22:11,295
but there is also a unifying
theme of beauty
1540
01:22:11,363 --> 01:22:14,594
and a desire to reach
a broad audience.
1541
01:22:14,667 --> 01:22:17,397
So if it was pulled forward
a little bit?
1542
01:22:17,470 --> 01:22:19,995
Every designer owes them
some amount of debt,
1543
01:22:20,072 --> 01:22:24,008
but at the same time, part of
that debt should be to kind of
1544
01:22:25,000 --> 01:22:28,000
Take what they did
and move beyond it.
111681
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