Chapter 2
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Newton Deck of Cards |
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From An Eames Primer (2002) by Eames Demetrios:
The Newton Cards would be a perfect gift for the Nobel laureates, just right for the occasion. When, exactly, was the dinner? In four days. . . .The outlines of the task became clear. The images had to be selected from those Charles had already taken in England. With the Eameses, photography was part of the design process, a way of discovering and exploring. There were thousands of images taken for the Newton exhibit, but they had already been distilled to the ones used in the show, so this is where the selection process started. Of course it is possible that previously unselected (rejected would be too strong a word) images were considered, but Charles and Ray had a deep respect for effort that had gone before. It was not a matter of avoiding work, but rather of avoiding the pitfalls of pursuing on novelty for its own sake. Charles often advised, "innovate as a last resort." Ironic, because Charles and Ray are known for the freshness, invention, and, yes, innovation of their work. But to them such qualities were only a means to an end, not an end in itself. The danger of any innovation was chance of losing the wisdom that had gone into the development of the idea to that point.A timeline was worked out to get staff member Randy Walker and the cards to the airport on the last flight before the dinner. Twenty-six images were selected and the Eames Office moved into action. Bill Tondreau started printing each of the 12 sets of 26 cards by hand in the Eames Office color print laboratory. Randy Walker began building a special wooden box to hold the decks. Etsu Garfias and Hap Johnson in the front office were applying marbled paper to the back of each card. John Neuhart was putting an ellipse containing Newton's signature onto each box. Someone else was applying the gold leaf onto the edges. Mike Ripps, then editing a movie, was put to work on the cutting dies for the cards. Literally "everyone in the office . . .really got involved, hands-on." Dick Donges remembers "it was a hectic one, went home and slept for a couple of days."
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