Edward Tufte’s sculptures
In June, Businessweek published Tufte’s Invisible Yet Ubiquitous Influence, an article featuring an interesting slideshow of Edward Tufte’s work, including his sculptures. The sculptures mentioned are all quite large—and getting larger: his 2007 Rocket Science is 32 feet high and 72 feet long.
It’s unsurprising to learn that Tufte cites among his influences Richard Serra, whose Wake is arguably the finest piece here in Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Both men think big with strong, clean lines. But where Serra’s work flows organically and naturally as though it just happened, Tufte’s works are studiously composed and cerebral.
It’s inspiring to see Tufte still exploring and growing at 67. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information and his other books should be considered required reading for all designers, including web designers.
And the term sparkline is almost as cool as the idea.