The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, November 9, 2012 - 5

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November 9, 2012 - 5

Designer Sagmeister
talks happiness, diaries

The IASA core has been planning Friday's show since last March.
IASA prepares for
'ZASTANA'"

By JULIA KLINE
For the Daily
Stefan Sagmeister's work is
simultaneously playful and pro-
found. Towering inflatable mon-
keys proclaim "Everyone Always
Thinks They Are Right." A wall
of green and overripe bananas
shouts the mantra "Self Confi-
dence Produces Fine Results."
A digital interactive spiderweb
responds to the slightest move-
ments of the observer.
Sagmeister, an idiosyncrat-
ic graphic designer who gave
Thursday's Penny W. Stamps
School of Art & Design Speaker
Series, has created these and doz-
ens more strikingly original piec-
es in. a career that has spanned
four decades.
The Austrian-born design
luminary began his career at a
youth magazine at the age of 15.
After honing his craft in Hong
Kong and New York, Sagmeis-
ter founded the New York-based
design firm Sagmeister Inc. in
1993.
He first gained widespread
attention in 1999 when he adver-
tised alecture by having an intern
slice the relevant details into
Sagmeister's torso. The result-
ing photo advertisements were
shocking and representative of
Sagmeister's design style, which
is convention-shattering and
unflinchingly brave. Other mod-
ern icons have gravitated toward
this inspired iconoclast. David
Byrne of the Talking Heads and
Rolling Stones are only a few of
Sagmeister's long-standing col-
laborators.
In this lecture, called "Design
and Happiness," he explored the
factors that contribute to happi-
ness and posed the question: Can
I pursue happiness in design?

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meister discussed his less- ers shouldn't expect the film to
onventional approach to make them happy, any more than
g happiness in his work. they'd expect watching a workout
seven years he closes Sag- video to make them skinny. The
r Inc. for the year to go on idea is that the viewers would be
ical. inspired to implement these ideas
ing these sabbaticals, he in their own life, he explained.
s no new work from cli- Sagmeister also challenges
instead spending time in the so-called "negativity bias" in
contemplation exploring modern life by journaling three
nging concepts. On a recent positive things each night. Jour-
ical in Bali, he tackled naling has been very important
tormous question of what to Sagmeister's work as a whole.
us happy. Many of his designs have begun
s critical period of reflec- as quirky lines from his diary.
inspired Sagmeister to The phrase "Trying To Look
ce "The Happy Film," 15 Good Limits My Life" provided
es of which were screened the genesis for a series of bill-
he lecture. Sagmeister boards Sagmeister created for a
ed all his research on hap- French company.
by saying that men are just "I always kept a journal since I
py as women. Climate plays was 13," Sagmeister said. "Twen-
e in happiness and money ty-three years ago I was influ-
important up to a certain enced by a business article of a
Whether a person is mar- guy saying the best thing he ever
nd religious are the most did was writing a business diary.
tive factors of happiness. I started and find it very helpful.
In the best of ways, it's a little bit
meditative."
In 2008, Sagmeister published
meister once "Things I Have Learned In My
I text cut into Life So Far," a collection of twen-
ty gems of insight that began as
his torso. entries in his diary. One of the life
lessons reads, "Keeping a Diary
Supports Personal Develop-
ment," creating a self-referential
humorous segue, Sagmeis- linkage between the book's wis-
g unmarried atheist, said dom and its success.
e had to pursue his happi- Sagmeister's presence is just
n a very different way. In as inspiring as his design. Leah
Happy Film," Sagmeister Whiteman, a junior in the School
pts to capture this by imple- of A&D and frequent Penny W.
ng his life mantra: "Having Stamps lecture attendee, felt that
iways works out for me." Sagmeister's talk was particular-
equences show Sagmeister ly engaging.
gutsy things like compli- "He was one of the best speak-
ng strangers or implement- ers we had ever had," Whiteman
ifficult design concepts, said. "He talked about his work
isually astounding results. but he also talked about his pro-
meister said that view- See SAGMEISTER, Page 6

28th annual show
to focus on current
generation
By ALICIA ADAMCZYK
DailyArts Writer
Nine students huddle around
tables in the Ross School of Busi-
ness, using the half-hour break
to inhale a light
dinner and take ZASTANA:
a moment to
relax. Papers, Th
computers and of Our
a three-foot
wide banner Generation
are scattered Friday at 7 p.m.
across the Hill Aoditoriom
ground and
tabletops, From $12
where the stu-
dents - all core members of the
Indian American Student Asso-
ciation's cultural dance show -
talk excitedly about the music
and performances that will soon
fill Hill Auditorium.
In its 28th year, the IASA Cul-
tural Show is one of the most
popular and highly regarded
cultural events at the University.
Over 220 IASA members will
dance across the stage Friday,
highlighting choreography from
traditional Indian dances to con-
temporary hip hop.
While the annual show has
become somewhat of a staple
of the University community,
few may realize the strenuous
lengths to which IASA must go
to put on the production each
year.
LSA senior Rohit Maramraju
said the group began prepa-
rations for the 2012 show in
March, when he and fellow
LSA senior Proma Khosla were
selected as show coordinators by
the IASA council. Fast forward
to Friday, Maramraju, Khosla,
who is a Daily Arts writer, and
hundreds of other IASA show
members will showcase eight
months of planning and practic-
ing. But as the co-coordinators

and their seven-member core
leadership team described, the
path to Friday's performance
was no easy feat.
After selecting seven IASA
members to act as liaisons among
the choreographers, dancers
and organizers, Maramraju and
Khosla sat down with the "Fan-
tastic Core" to discuss a theme
for the year's performance. After
arguing well into the night, the
leadership team decided on
"ZASTANA: The Pulse of Our
Generation."
"That just refers to how we, as
a generation, have a mix of cul-
tures," Maramraju explained.
"Some of us may have been born
in India, some of us may have
been born here, but we're still
mixed in some way."
Maramraju said the 22 cho-
reographems, who, applied for
positions in March, contributed
to the theme by fusing western-
ized dances, like jazz and hip
hop, with various types of Indi-
an dances, including Bollywood
and Bhangra.
"When you consider each of
the dances we're doing ... each of
these have their own identifying
characteristics," Neil Bhatt, an
engineering senior and mem-
ber of the seven-person core,
explained. "Fusion elements
refers to Western elements,
Western beats ... that kind of
give the dances different tex-
ture."
- Choreographers then had
five months to create a dance
and select music to fit their
theme. Once classes started in
September, 222 IASA members,
through a lottery process, were
selected to perform in one of the
show's nine dances. Since then,
as Maramraju said, it has been
"practice, practice, practice."
At this point, Maramraju,
Bhatt and the other leaders kept
an eye on dancers and choreog-
raphers, while conceptualizing a
logo for the event. This year, the
show's logo is based off a pea-
cock, the national bird of India.
"The peacock feather is very

intricate," Maramraju said.
"One of the main reasons we
chose it is the cultural aspect ...
we still want to stay humble to
our roots."
Business sophomore Suhind
Kodali said the most difficult
part of planning the show was
making sure to communicate
with the hundreds of members
involved while simultaneously
keeping up with classes and tak-
ing care of the logistical issues of
the show.
"One of the hardest parts I
think as a show core member is
the scale that this show is on,"
Kodali said. "How do you sell
tickets to 4,000 people? How do
you organize 300 dancers?"
In the final weeks leading
to the show, the core said that
virtually all of its time has been
spent focusing on perfecting the
different show elements.
"Sure, we have school,"
Maramraju said. "But for every
minute we get away from school
we truly try to show everyone
the hard effort we've put into it."
Engineering junior Tanay
Kulkarni said the workload for
the planning process increased
incrementally over the eight-
month planning period from an
hour a week at first to several
hours a day in the final week.
"I wouldn't expect it to be
anything less than a full-time
job," Kulkani said.
LSA junior and core member
Mallika Sarma didn't attend
classes this past week in order
to prepare for the show. She
said though friends of hers who
aren't in IASA don't completely
understand her commitment to
the performance, she believes
the sacrifices she made were
well worth it.
"It's very difficult to explain
to other people, when you're like
'Hey, I'm not going to be talking
to regular people for about three
weeks,' " she said with a know-
ing smile. "But at the same time
.. it's definitely worth it. Over-
all, it's one of the best things I've
done in college."

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