p117 -131, Design Dialogues by Steven Heller and Elinor Pettit.

How would you describe your mission as the curator of contemporary design?

My goal is to do exhibitions that expand the design community’s own knowledge and understanding of itself and that also speak to the general public about the role and value of design in their lives.

Working in a national museum you have these two publics, at least: the specialist public, whether it’s the practicing designer or design historian, and the general public. You have to be able to expand both groups’ understanding of design. In my case, it’s contemporary design, by which I mean twentieth century.

I’m a curator in the intellectual sense but not in the sense of one who cares for objects. And that suits my sensibility. I’m not a person who collects in my personal life. I am more interested in studying and interpreting than building a collection. Although I like to work with collectors, collecting is a certain kind of genius that I don’t have.

In your role, however, don’t you search out and uncover as well? You don’t work just with existing collections?

I tend to approach it from the point of view of an intellectual question first. That leads me toward looking for certain objects as opposed to a lust for objects that leads to intellectual inquiry. When I do an exhibition, I always do the writing first, whereas most curators find the objects first. I like to know the story I’m trying to tell. So for me, the exhibition is just another medium, like teaching, lecturing, designing and writing.

Let’s talk about the media you work in. You do a book to supplement the exhibition. What are the major differences other than form?

The book is a stand-alone document, not a catalogue of the exhibition. There are lots of images in the book that are not necessarily in the exhibition because that’s how the scale works out. They communicate something differently.

Do you see the show and the book appealing to two different audiences?

The book should always be a way to say more than you could say in the exhibition. Here you have more words and fewer pictures. The balance has shifted, and it gives you a chance to do things in greater depth and use footnotes; so you’re providing really interested readers with access to more information and what your sources are, which is something that you can’t do in an exhibition.