Savage Mind to Savage Machine: Design, Racial Science, and the Ergonomics of the Spirit

By Ginger Nolan

This exhibition is based on a forthcoming book, Savage Mind to Savage Machine: Racial Science and Twentieth-Century Design. This historically researched study addresses a gap in existing literature on modernist primitivism by revealing discursive connections between technologically oriented design practices, a preoccupation with so-called “primitive” thought, and constructions of race. Professor Nolan hopes that viewers will be encouraged to consider various strains of design history in light of these connections.