“When I findsomething soterrifyingI usually haveto conquer it. Itis like jumpinginto deep waterwithout knowinghow to swim.”- April Greiman about newApple Macintosh, 1984
Do you think your time inBasel had a strong influenceon your work?Yes. Weingart likes to takea lot of credit for everythingthat is formal, and he certainlyis deserving of it, but one ofthe important things I learnedfrom him was how to work; ahealthy process. It was moreof a process of discovery andexploration than of trying tomake something that lookslike the teacher’s or anybodyelse’s work. When he gave anassignment, he would encourageus to work on 20 differentinterations all at the same time.I found that method very useful.Also, when I got a computer Icould do the same kind of thing,because you can archive so manydifferent versions and save them,then pick the one which is themost appropriate. They may allbe good solutions, but maybeonly one is really appropriate. Ithink that is the strongest thing Ilearned from Weingart: a playful,beginner’s-kind-of Weingartmind. In retrospect, I rememberI was so nervous about goingto Basel, thinking it was goingto be hard to learn how to be atypesetter and run a printingpress, but once I got there, ohmy God, the atmosphere in theclass was very delightful and fullof spirit. In his class there reallyweren’t any mistakes, and youjust tried things.Weingart wasso very encouraging.So basically, every time a newtechnology came out you feltscared but you needed toovercome it?When I find something soterrifying I usually have toconquer it. It is like jumping intodeep water without knowinghow to swim. That would beme! The Harry and the Henrywere the first editions ofQuantel Paintbox, and theywere video-resolution designedfor broadcast use,which didn’trequire being as high-res as wasnecessary for print graphics.So I learned a bit about themand their thinking, and thathelped me a lot, having thena feeling for the technologyand capabilities that wouldbe our future. However, thosePaintboxes couldn’t handle finetypography, designed more fora spinning logo, or a word thatmoved across the screen quickly.I guess the Macintoshrevolution really exploded in theUS, particularly in California.Again, I was at the right placeat the right time. I had nointerest in getting a computer,but I tried one and withinthe first two months theycame on the market I boughtit from Macy’s departmentstore. That is where they weresold in Southern California.And I bought it thinking, youknow, this will be fun. Therewas actually a very long lineof people at Macy’s in 1984,waiting to try it. I was with afriend who finally said, “Let’snot wait in line anymore, justbuy it.” And I said,“OK.” It was$3,200 or $3,600 for just 128Kof memory. I am not kidding.I put it on my credit card andthat was that! I did posters andworks that had 20 overlaysof acetate. I like that becauseit was really fine art, to reallyhandle material and glue itdown, overlay other materials,media, images. It was art andscience merging, which were,and still are, my favorite things.(29)April Greiman
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