Author Kurt Andersen will deliver a keynote address on the meaning of creative value in the 21st century as part of a Pratt Institute symposium titled “Redefining the Good Life” on September 26, 2009 from 2-5:30 PM in Memorial Hall on Pratt’s Brooklyn campus. The symposium will include talks from world-class social innovators and will conclude with a book signing by Andersen of his new book Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America (Random House, 2009). The symposium is free and open to the public; however, reservations are required due to limited seating.
Andersen’s lecture will be followed by talks from compelling thought leaders including President Barak Obama’s director of video field production, Arun Chaudhary; nationally recognized installation artist Jean Shin; environmentalist David de Rothschild; contemporary artist Mary Temple; world-famous architect Carlos Zapata; and expert in global foresight and innovation Andrew Zolli.
Kurt Andersen is a Pratt Trustee, critically-acclaimed novelist, and host and co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning public radio show Studio 360. His best-selling novels include Heyday (Random House, 2007) and Turn of the Century (Delta, 2000) and he contributes to Vanity Fair. Andersen is also part of the team behind the Very Short List email newsletter, and editor-at-large for Random House. As a media entrepreneur, he co-founded Spy magazine and Inside.com, and served as editor-in-chief of New York magazine. He has written for The New Yorker and TIME, and has served as TIME’s architecture and design critic.
Arun Chaudhary is a filmmaker working in politics, who has set a new standard in documenting history. A key member of president Barack Obama’s New Media team during the presidential campaign and transition period, Chaudhary now serves as the official White House videographer. His work defines him as a new type of political auteur with a unique style that challenges convention.
David de Rothschild is an adventurer and environmentalist whose 2006 crossing of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada made him the youngest Briton to reach both geographical poles. He is among the few to have traversed the continent of Antarctica and was part of a team that broke the world record for the fastest crossing of the Greenland ice cap. He currently investigates the life-cycle and ecological impact of everyday consumer products from field to shelf on a Sundance Channel television series, titled Eco-Trip: The Real Cost of Living.
Jean Shin is a Pratt alumna and adjunct professor nationally recognized for her monumental installations that transform everyday objects and materials into elegant expressions of identity and community. She has had solo exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. (2009) and the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia (2006).
Mary Temple is a visual artist in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who uses latex paint to create what appear to be shadows on architecture. She has had solo exhibitions and site-specific commissioned works at the Museum of Arts and Design (2009), Brooklyn Museum (2009), Aldrich Museum (2006), and Smack Mellon (2006).
Carlos Zapata is a Pratt alumnus and New York-based architectural designer who has quietly impacted major cities around the world with his designs. From furniture to architecture projects, from Las Vegas to Vietnam, Carlos Zapata Studio experiments with building in a way few designers dare to do. Recent projects include Soldier Field, Chicago; Miami Airport Concourse J, Miami; a futuristic 68-floor office tower in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam, and The Cooper Square Hotel, New York City.
Andrew Zolli is an expert in global foresight and innovation, who studies the complex trends at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and global society that are shaping our future. He is also the curator and executive director of PopTech, a renowned thought leadership forum and social innovation network based in Brooklyn.
The general public may RSVP to Alumni Relations by calling 718.399.4447.