Access to Tools: Publications from the Whole Earth Catalog, 1968–1974

29/04/2011. Exhibition. MoMA. [NYC] 04/18 - 07/26. 2011
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

In 1968, Stewart Brand founded an alternative information service and distribution system within a single publication, called the Whole Earth Catalog. Influenced by the work of Buckminster Fuller, the catalog developed into an extensive reference tool for designing the environment, living spaces, and new media practices. In sections titled "Understanding Whole Systems," "Shelter and Land Use," "Communications," "Community," and "Nomadics," the catalog publicized a compendium of useful resources, with a primary focus on books. Drawing from the holdings of the MoMA Library, this exhibition surveys many of these publications and gives a history of the catalog itself.

“The World Game.” In Whole Earth Catalog (March 1970).

“The World Game.” In Whole Earth Catalog (March 1970).

Archigram, no. 8 (1968)

Norbert Wiener. Cybernetics; or Control and Communication in the Animal and the

Architectural Design: A.D., October 1971

Organized by David Senior, Bibliographer, MoMA Library.

Function, from Whole Earth Catalog

Books, selected and described by the editorial staff and organized in sections titled Understanding Whole Systems, Shelter and Land Use, Communication, and Community, were the primary resources the Whole Earth Catalog offered. This exhibition of printed matter in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art Library surveys these publications and summarizes the history of the catalogue project. The selection does not represent all the subjects the catalogue featured, but it reflects the publication’s focus on experimental ideas in design and technology and the dialogue between theorists and practitioners these ideas raised.