Eames: The Architect & The Painter Page #11

Was it propaganda?

934

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Goodness, yes, have you seen it?

935

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Yes, it's, it's selling

the U.S.,

936

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and it's selling, I think,

a very sanitized USA.

937

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ALBRECHT:
Of course

itwas propaganda.

938

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They were Cold Warriors.

939

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The difference is they...

940

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I believe they genuinely

believed it.

941

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KIRKHAM:
One of the interesting

things was how to end this.

942

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Charles had this idea

of ajet plane.

943

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48:04,982 -- 00:48:09,146

Ray still felt this might be

a bit hard-edged, a bit...

944

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could have

military implications.

945

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We never had an ending,

and one day Ray walked in

946

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and said, "Forget-me-nots."

947

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Charles said,

"Okay, forget-me-nots."

948

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FRANCO:
Forget-me-nots,

949

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the universal symbol

of friendship,

950

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translates directly

into Russian,

951

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iNezabudki,/i "forget me not."

952

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KIRKHAM:
They described

Nikita Khrushchev

953

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with tears

running down his cheeks.

954

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So you have this wonderful

sort of double ending

955

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of the simplicity of a flower,

but then this "Forget me not."

956

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And it worked

like the best Hollywood movie.

957

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FRANCO:
The Moscow show made

Charles and Ray newly famous,

958

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not as designers of furniture,

butas communicators.

959

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Communicators who used images

rather than words.

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WECHSLER:
Charles was

very wary of words.

961

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It's not about writing a script.

962

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It's about a sequence of images

963

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that can tell a story.

964

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FRANCO:
In the Eames film

"Tops,"

965

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there are no words,

just pictures.

966

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OPPEWALL:
In a way,

the film is a kind of an essay

967

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about the nature and meaning

of a top.

968

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In the beginning,

it's all about winding up,

969

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getting started,

putting it together,

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assembling the materials.

971

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And then it's

about throwing them,

972

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seeing how they work,

what they do,

973

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how they dance,

how they spin, how they sing,

974

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whatever it is

that their meaning is.

975

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But then you come to one moment

976

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where there's an architectural

plan on the tabletop,

977

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a blueprint,

and what spins

978

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is a thumbtack, and you realize

979

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you have suddenly gotten

directly into the essence

980

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of what it means to be a top.

981

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Things have meaning,

things have personality,

982

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things express ideas.

983

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Many designers were

and still are happy with

984

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the manipulation of objects.

985

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He was only truly deeply happy

986

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manipulating an idea.

987

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FRANCO:
Beginning in the 1950s,

the idea of the computer

988

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triggered fear in the minds

of Americans.

989

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ALBRECHT:
People were seeing

computers,

990

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and there was a worry

about them.

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And this notion

of the electronic brain

992

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feeds into fears that we're

993

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going to be taken over

by machines.

994

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FRANCO:
At the time, computers

were synonymous

995

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with just one company... IBM.

996

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SELIGSOHN:

What was IBM's product?

997

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Big vacuum tube machines,

huge room-size machines,

998

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building-size machines, so that

999

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the average individual

was feeling an alien,

1000

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science-fiction type

invasion of my privacy.

1001

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How do you combat that?

1002

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FRANCO:
IBM turned

to the Eames Office.

1003

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To overcome the computer's

PR problem,

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Charles and Ray set out

to humanize it.

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NARRATOR:
Properly related,

it can maintain a balance

1006

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between man's needs

and his resources.

1007

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ALBRECHT:
It's done in this,

1008

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what to us today

looks really corny...

1009

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but at the time, this was

thought to be radical...

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to do a film for a science

company, like a cartoon.

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NARRATOR:
Something has now

emerged that might make

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even our most elegant theories

workable.

1013

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ALBRECHT:
And you go

from the abacus.

1014

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As human problems

become more complex,

1015

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people invent

more complicated machines

1016

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to solve those problems,

1017

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and the culmination of that is

the computer.

1018

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NARRATOR:
This is a story

of a technique

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in the service of mankind.

1020

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ALBRECHT:
It's not

going to take over the world,

1021

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it's not going to be robots.

1022

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It's the logical

evolutionary progression

1023

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of man developing products

to solve problems.

1024

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FRANCO:
Charles's visionary

interest in computers

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