Beautifools / Memoir May – June 2018

Located on the third floor of Block 37 across from the Chicago Design Museum in an empty retail space, Beautifools / Memoir was a public collaboration fusing Thirst and Satoru Nihei (Cranbrook MFA), Japanese designer and 2018 Thirst Artist in Residence.

Conceived and designed by Rick Valicenti, the two-week pop-up installation explored alternative design methods from phone app animations, a bespoke soundscape, 3D printing, four display dioramas, laser etched mirrors, and Shou-Sugi-Ban. These methods of making were put in concert to reveal a familiar narrative arc between two-love struck individuals locked in an intense virtual connection.
See the limited edition 142-page Beautifools Memoir book here.

“It is not like me to over hype graphic design research, but this installation still feels like a rather unique experiment. Just the notion of leveraging an all too ubiquitous retail space and turning it into a proscenium and stage for dramatic narrative and thinly veiled social commentary pushes all of my buttons.” — RV