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Icons: Magnets of Meaning

Icons: Magnets of Meaning cover
Icons: Magnets of Meaning Contents
Icons: Magnets of Meaning pp. 22-23
Icons: Magnets of Meaning, pp. 114-115
Icons: Magnets of Meaning, pp. 204-205

Edited by Aaron Betsky

Foreword by John R. Lane; introduction by Aaron Betsky; essays by Aaron Betsky, Steven Flusty, Chee Pearlman, and David E. Nye

272 pages, 6 x 9 inches, hardcover

Published in 1997

Lipstick. 501s. Las Vegas hotels. What do they mean to us? What do they say about who we are? From freeways to surfboards to corporate logos, twelve everyday objects are recast here as icons — single, physical forms that embody a complex universe of associations. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at SFMOMA, this striking volume explores these icons as benchmarks for the current state of design and suggests new ways to look at the interconnectedness of design, consumer culture, and the aesthetics of desire.

Published in association with Chronicle Books on the occasion of the exhibition Icons: Magnets of Meaning, held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (April 18–August 5, 1997)

ISBN 9780811818575 (hardcover)