let me jot that down.

a couple of weekends ago, i bought the weekend australian - the first time since returning home from overseas. i always trawl through the magazine first. i rather enjoy seeing what controversial subject phillip adams has addressed in his weekly column [religion and violence, in 'killers for christ', 06.08.11, which i agreed with]. and susan maushart never fails to provide a source of great amusement.

[side note: after texting a friend to say that the australian had to keep masuhart for as long as possible, i got a reply asking whether i had seen page 2. and there it was: ashleigh wilson had finally been promoted to editor of the arts for the newspaper. "congratulations", i texted back. i added, "now you need to publish articles on clever + intelligent architecture." "i know someone who could do that", he responded. i guess i had better get my arse into gear.]

on the weekend in mention, maushart delved into the world of lists, in 'let me jot that down'. writing lists, losing lists, finding lists, iphone lists, grocery and personal development lists [and how she tends to confuse the two]. isn't there a saying along the lines of how we write lists to forget things. i have tried this. sadly, i forget i have written the list, or where i wrote it, thus forgetting everything in the forgotten process.

not everyone, though, is as forgetful as i am. in fact, some have hand written or illustrated or typed or collaged fabulous lists. one such collection of lists is the morgan library's current exhibition, lists: to-dos, illustrated inventories, collected thoughts, and other artists' enumerations from the smithsonian's archives of american art. there are around eighty lists exhibited, which delve into the lives of some of the most celebrated artists of the last two centuries, including pablo picasso, vito acconci, eero saarinen, alexander calder and h.l. mencken. from to-dos, appointments, places to see, important things to friends in case of death by flying, packing lists, illustrated lists in journals [see adolf konrad, packing list, december 16, 1963,below], and inspirational quotes, the lists provide insight into its author's personal habits and decision-making processes.

[konrad, via]

[picasso, via]

[janice lowrey, via]

[acconci, via]

i would love to see this exhibition. it would make me dance with delight. more lists here.