Life-Changing Art: Bruce Willen (Post-Typography, Double Dagger)

What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?

Michael Cataldi did two installation series in Baltimore several years ago called Tire Swings and Flower-Pot-Holes. He would carry a spool of rope with him as he wandered through the city, and wherever he found an abandoned tire by the side of a road or in a vacant lot, he used the rope to hang a tire swing from the nearest sturdy object. For Flower-Pot-Holes, Mike filled large potholes with flowers and potting soil, turning neglected roads and alleys in Baltimore into temporary planters. These projects really blew me away with their concise beauty, generosity, and quiet optimism. The idea of doing something so powerful with such a minimal set of discarded or overlooked materials still resonates strongly with me. Mike is a great artist, and we were fortunate enough to have him create the cover art for Double Dagger's Sophisticated Urban Living single last year, based on our song "Luxury Condos for the Poor." He recently had a show called University of Trash up at Sculpture Center in New York.

Bruce Willen is co-founder of Post-Typography, the amazing graphic design firm, and bass player for Double Dagger, the local punk group. Willen partners with Nolen Strals for both projects, and tomorrow (the 29th), the duo celebrates the publication of their new book, Lettering & Type (published by Princeton Architectural Press), with a launch party at MICA's Brown Center. The event, which runs from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, will include two-minute odes to various alphabet letters by 26 artists and designers. Willen says we can expect multi-media presentations, poems, videos, stories, songs, rants, and even some stand-up comedy.