John Wood (design theorist)

John Wood, DipAD, ADF(Manc), FRSA (b. 25 August 1945) is Emeritus Professor of Design at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He taught many Young British Artists when he was Deputy Head of the Fine Art Department at Goldsmiths between 1978 and 1988.^[1] He has received AHRC and EPSRC funding for research into metadesign.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

 

The King and Six Swift Nudes (1968)

 

The Machine For Saying Sorry (1974)

Born in Bath, Wood attended Harrow County School for Boys, and then studied Fine Art at Manchester School of Art. Examples of his early works include: 'King of Shouting House' (1969) - a computer assisted play, for the ICA;^[2] 'Tune Doodler' (1972) - mass-produced electronic sculpture commissioned by Jasia Reichardt.^[3] He also created "solar energy artworks" - 'Black Box' - control circuit regulated a practical solar roof at Eithen-y-Gaeir, North Wales (1974)^[4] and Sunsharer' window maximized solar energy for domestic use without compromising plant needs (1975).^[5]

Wood is an original member of the rock band Deaf School where he performs as Max Ripple,^[1] he was also an original member of the Kreutzer Quintet.

Publications

• Designing for Micro-utopias (2007); Thinking beyond the Possible, Ashgate, UK, ISBN 0-7546-4608-4;^[6]
• The Virtual Embodied; presence, practice, technology (1998), (Ed.)^[7]
• The Culture of Academic Rigour: Does Design Research Really Need It?^[8]

and he is also a contributor to Sublime Magazine.^[9]

References

1. "Professor John Wood". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
2. Punt, M., (2008), 'Play Orbit: a play on the history of play', Technoetic Arts: a Journal of Speculative Research, Print ISSN 1477-965X, Volume 6, Issue 2, August 2008, p. 135-148
3. Reichardt, J., 'Twenty Years of Symbiosis between Art & Science', Impact of Science on Society, 24, 1, 41-51, Jan/Mar 74.
4. Brachi, P., (1974) "Sun on the Roof", New Scientist, 19 September 1974
5. TV programme - "A House for the Future" introduced by Brian Truman, broadcast July 1974 (Granada Television)
6. Wood, John (2 March 2017). Design for Micro-Utopias: Making the Unthinkable Possible. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-94519-6.
7. The virtual embodied : presence/practice/technology. London: Routledge. 1998. ISBN 978-0-203-43815-2. OCLC 252715634.
8. Wood, John (1 March 2000). "The Culture of Academic Rigour: Does Design Research Really Need It?". The Design Journal. 3 (1): 44–57. doi:10.2752/146069200789393599. ISSN 1460-6925. S2CID 145141963.
9. "John Wood". www.sublimemagazine.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.