I am a bit enamored with Mid-Century fashion, style and design*. Some might 
say obsessed. So I salivated somewhat on hearing about the new exhibit at the Getty Institute “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980,” which explores the postwar Southern California art scene.
I was a bit confused though, by some of the posters, including one of the rapper Ice Cube celebrating Mid-Century design darlings Charles and Ray Eames. Their style, ethos and aesthetics seemed incongruous at best, with those expressed or articulated by Mr. Cube*.
According to a recent New York Times article, it would seem that Ice Cube studied architectural drafting in the ’80s. He has a particular fondness for the mix and match and recreate ideals of the Eameses which he likens to sampling or mash-ups, the musical equivalent of combining seemingly unrelated music elements to create a new iconic sound.
Best yet, Ice Cube expressed an inspiring world view on life, business success:
What I learned from architectural drafting is that everything has to have a plan to work. You just can’t wing it…
Whether it’s a career, family, life — you have to plan it out.
And as evidenced by the Eameses and Ice Cube – plan anything well enough, and it will seem to effortlessly fall into place.
*I literally wrote the book on it- Hello Gorgeous! Beauty Products in America ’40s-’60s which will be reissued in 2012
*Insert your own cheap and easy joke about Cubism here
