Lou Dorfsman's 'Gastrotypographicalassemblage'
Clockwise from top: "Gastrotypographicalassemblage" as restored by the Center for Design Study, a detail of the wall, Lou Dorfsman in front of the wall. Photographs from TCFDS on Flickr
Lou Dorfsman, who had a 40-year run as advertising and corporate design director at CBS, (during the heyday of what was once known as the "Tiffany Network"), died last week at 90.
The food angle here? Dorfsman designed an amazing work of art for the cafeteria at CBS headquarters called the "Gastrotypographicalassemblage." It was a wall 35 feet long by 8.5 feet tall that represented all sorts of foods and food-related things as playful words reminiscent of the old wood type seen in advertising posters of the late 1800s.
"Gastrotypographicalassemblage" was unceremoniously ripped from the walls of the cafeteria in the early 1990s, but the Center for Design Study in Atlanta got a hold of it and has restored it. You can see more photos of it here. [via The Daily Heller]
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6 Comments:
Holy crap! Speaking as a graphic artist, that was AMAZING!!! Thank Bacchus they restored it! I know what my new desktop picture is gonna be! Thanks.
http://gonzogastro.wordpress.com
vinovamp at 12:27PM on 10/28/08
Awesome. Glad you liked it, vinovamp. I was worried no one would appreciate this amazing work by Dorfsman.
Adam Kuban at 12:30PM on 10/28/08
These remind me a lot of a friend of mine who does paintings with various places printed on a canvas to sort of show where one has been in their life. What a wonderful piece!
bobfole at 12:31PM on 10/28/08
It reminds me of our kitchen wall when i was very little...Mom (an artist) painted in yellow on white hundreds of food words and quotes in different sizes and shapes. At a distance it looked like a texture, but up close it was so fun to read while eating....wish I had a picture.
Cary at 3:06PM on 10/28/08
@Cary: Wow! That's so neat. Your mom sounds cool. I wonder if she knew about Dorfsman's wall.
Adam Kuban at 3:27PM on 10/28/08
This is..like...the holy grail of type-fiend foodies. (I am sure I'm not alone here - letterpress junkies are clearly possessors of refined taste, in more ways than one.) Seriously beautiful; thanks for posting!
miso at 9:33PM on 10/28/08