History of Industrial Design Week 5: Art Deco

These videos were made in 2020 as a desperate COVID-era attempt to help keep students engaged in learning as in-person teaching stopped. With no support, no resources, a ridiculous "production schedule," and no idea they would become a sort of permanent record of the time, I just threw them at YouTube. The students mostly didn't watch them, but lots of others did, and that continues to amaze me. I decided to leave them up for anyone who is just curious about design.

This was the FIRST lecture recorded, intended for the three students who needed to get home fast. It is rough, to say the least..

NOTE: If you are a current student at Rhode Island School of Design and your professor has sent you here to watch these videos, you should really worry about how much tuition you are paying just to have a teacher sending you to YouTube instead of teaching you themselves. Just saying...

[hythekent]

Three years have passed since you made this superb video for your students, and for the wider world. Those of us who love design, and here, with this video art deco, please accept our sincere appreciation.

[madeleine]

Thank you, I am not student just someone who likes Art Deco. I found your presentation so interesting and I have learned a lot. : )

[cutclassnotfrog]

As someone who can’t afford traditional education thank you for making your knowledge

[steffenbrandorff]

What a treasure chest of knowledge. I am not one of your students, but an old guy trying to learn about design. I have never encountered videos of a similar breadth and depth. Thank you for doing it even when you seem to think nobody is watching - I will be. Greetings from Denmark, Europe.

[loaferlover]

This presentation was so absolutely informative..wow. I am 80 years old...and I am a former high school teacher. Your ability to instruct, inform, and present such detailed information is a real gift. I can well imagine your students are so delighted to be in your classes. I thoroughly enjoyed this one presentation and I learned so much. Thank you for sharing.

[jenniferharper]

Wow! Came across this gem in my feed! Love this. Quite funny, at 42.52 mins in he says none of that matter, no one is still watching! Of course I am!

[combatgirl]

Also here of my own free will, and I feel grateful for it too! I grew up in a very large family of doctors and academics and listening to you crack deadpan jokes and move on as if you'd never made them is my second favorite part of stumbling upon and slipping into the back of this class. The first is learning the technical angles of an era that stole and kept my heart almost 40 years ago. I have always found great joy in the streamlining designs and I had No idea that it also serves a key purpose in structural integrity.

Thank you very much for your time and excellent deliverance of your vast knowledge of this endlessly fascinating subject! I will be looking forward to seeking out the rest of your classes.

[ZTK-RC]

Please don't feel like you are going on too long, this is all very fascinating.

[atlantaWF]

Please don’t be so hard on your production values. You are an educator.... a teacher.... And by God you can teach! I not only stayed for the entire program I was fascinated.

[mikeeb]

I'm only 5 minutes in and I can tell you're a great teacher. I came for just a presentation on Art Deco but I am subscribing because of your attitude and look forward to seeing more content!

[keeferhuges]

Yes, yes, we are still watching at the very end. No, no, we're not doing anything else. We're riveted to the screen.
Such a good teacher.
k

[eriksmith]

Hi there -- Hey, I just want to say that I am one of the "outsiders" (not in your class) who stumbled across your video and found it fascinating. Honestly, the content you provide here is of such value -- available nowhere else on YouTube -- that you really don't need to make apologies for the lack of slickness. I think there are many of us who enjoy watching academic-level lectures on everything from the Napoleonic Wars to the history of industrial design. Honestly, the apologies get a little distracting and they really aren't needed. It is rare that I learn something new in a field I already know plenty about. Where art deco is concerned, I've loved the style all my life, and I am currently furnishing a vintage-1935 house entirely in art deco furnishings. I find that the angular style of 1925-1935 mates very well with the later streamline moderne style of about 1936-1952. (I hate that so many call this "midcentury modern, " as late-50s styles really are quite different than what came before.) One other thing I have noticed, in looking at what is readily available in my region, the Pacific Northwest, shopping via Craigslist and FB Marketplace, is that about half of what survives was originally available at some point in the Sears catalog. This shows us the inordinate influence of department stores in promoting the new style, something you note in your script, and a point that often is overlooked. Anyway, I think your video is a great service to the general public, not just the students in your class. If slickness is a concern, your PowerPoint slides and your core script are so good and so spot-on that I think this might be worth redoing. I am fascinated by the history of industrial design, and there is really no one on YouTube who describes it with the authority, detail and level of academic knowledge that you do here. A little tweaking and I think you could establish preeminence in the field. A friendly suggestion from someone who enjoyed your presentation immensely. (P.S. -- My hometown is Spokane, Wash., and I loved seeing the slide of our fabulous vintage-1931 Fox Theater, where I saw many a Disney movie and became acquainted with art deco as a kid. I think that's where I got hooked.)

[manon]

OK I'm a doctor from Brussels so I have no idea how I got here but I am passionate about Art Nouveau and Art Deco and this is just such a lovely class. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. Cheers !

[chadHK]

Self-depreciating aside, this is one hell of a tutorial that is engaging and very thorough. I was distracted by the teacher perhaps not wearing pants, and the phallic-like silver object on the shelf behind him didn't help, but this and his other vids on Bel Geddes and ID are good enough to buy. I am very grateful for this man.

[lnkiii]

You may not see this but dual-enrollment student here! Using this video for an introduction to art deco since I’m doing a project about it and I want to crochet while listening to it! So far super interesting!

[Tollef.m]

Absolutely incredible presentation. The 2 hours actually went by really fast. A+ from beginning to end. Massive thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm. Will be watching this again.

[thrillscience]

Just what I needed! Thank you, Matthew!

(And your YouTube audience isn't wearing pants either!)

[billeekroll]

I hope this comment is read. I just wanted to say that these videos have helped me get through one of the worst periods of depression I've ever experienced. Thank you for posting them. It's been very nice hearing your take on a specific and paramount part of the ongoing human endeavor. It's nice seeing beautiful things and learning about their creation and contribution to the story of humanity and our progression. Thank you.

[d-m]

You tube, my favorite watching these day, has finally suggested your video to me. As everyone has already commented, it is a fantastic lecture. I love art deco but never knew so much about it as I do after watching your lecture.
As an aeronautical engineer, allow me to correct the aircraft names shown at 1:05:13.
The top left one is not a Sopwith Camel, but a Bristol Fighter.
The bottom left one is not a B-17, but the XB-19, which was much bigger.
And now back to the video :-)

[lemony]

This was really interesting - not a 'hot mess' at all! Thank you for sharing beyond your students.