Almost Useful

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As craft moves from the margins of a process to its center, it also changes in its usefulness: the hobbyist may be happy with a wobbly chair or table because for them, the act of making is useful in itself; craftspeople who experiment with their work may produce objects which do not live up to their productive potential, but being “almost useful” can be proof enough that a certain process is worth pursuing. This year's Michael Owen Jones exhibition, co-curated by Glenn Adamson and the MOJ student committee, seeks to explore such objects at the edge of utility to illuminate new directions and contemporary trends in craft work for the 21st century.

A public lecture with writer-curator Glenn Adamson will be held on Monday, January 22, at 5pm in Campbell Hall 153.

2024 MOJ LECTURER + GUEST CURATOR:


Glenn Adamson is a curator, writer and historian based in New York and London. He has previously been Director of the Museum of Arts and Design and Head of Research at the V&A. Dr. Adamson’s publications include Thinking Through Craft (2007); The Craft Reader (2010); Postmodernism: Style and Subversion (2011, with Jane Pavitt); The Invention of Craft (2013); Art in the Making (2016, with Julia Bryan-Wilson); Fewer Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects (2018); Objects: USA 2020; and Craft: An American History (2021). His next book, A Century of Tomorrows, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2024.

Dr. Adamson is Artistic Director for Design Doha, a new biennial festival for Qatar (forthcoming in 2024), and editor of Material Intelligence, a quarterly online journal published by the Chipstone Foundation. He will serve as curatorial director for Design Miami/ in December 2024. His current curatorial projects include Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth (2023) and Worlds Within: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu at the Isamu Noguchi Museum (forthcoming in 2024, and touring thereafter).

2024 MOJ COMMITTEE:


Bhargavi Murthy (M. Arch, 2024)

Sasson Rafailov (PhD in the Constructed Environment)

Tabi Summers (BS Arch, 2024)

Madeleine Zahn (M. Arch, 2025)

The annual Michael Owen Jones lecture and exhibition is a student-led initiative which hosts a trailblazing individual in architecture or an associated discipline at the School of Architecture. The initiative is made possible by the generous support of the MOJ endowment, named in honor of a former student, Michael Owen Jones (BSArch '85).