About Ars Longa
Ars Longa is a journal of fine arts, modernist design, and thrift shop archaeology. Nicely designed objects and beautiful artworks can be affordably attained by everyone, you just have to know where to look.
Each month I visit dozens of thrift shops, junk dealers, garage sales, flea markets, and the occasional antique store in an archaeological search for mid-20th century modernist decorative, applied, and fine arts. Because of the way I go about searching for and researching objects, the pieces I normally find are quite eclectic. My tastes are constantly evolving, and the items I purchase often reflect those changes. One moment I may be drawn to Russel Wright's dinnerware, the next moment I'm looking at a great piece of Eames furniture. I will also often pick up a nicely designed object even if I don't know the artist or designer. Sometimes these pieces end up being the most fun and challenging to research, and research is an integral of building a great collection.
Another topic I will visit from time to time is fine art — specifically works on paper. Again, my small collection is eclectic, so artists I discuss will be whomever has my interest at the moment. Normally I am drawn to "the moderns" ... but I often am distracted by other periods, styles, and artistic movements.
The one important factor in my collecting—whether midcentury modern objects or art—is if an item "speaks" to me. Does it have beauty in form? Does it function as it was intended? If it does, I will likely pick up that discarded and under-appreciated object from the junk shop shelf and bring it home as mine.
Hopefully in reading these memoirs you'll be inspired to begin your own hunt. I'm always interested in hearing your ideas and input, so please don't ever hesitate to email me or make a comment on the site with your thoughts. And remember: life is short, art endures.
Scott Lindberg
Sllab Modern
scott@sllab.net
About Scott Lindberg
When not scrounging through thrift shops and antique stores, Scott Lindberg works full time as a graphic designer with The Design Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although he officially began his graphic design career in 1985 as a high-schooler with a freelance logo design, he has also experienced the joys of retail toy sales as well as the frantic life in the technology sector durng the technology boom of the late 1990's. A survivor of the infamous dot.com crash, Scott's observations on personal finance include, "stock options are a joke."
Scott earned a bachelor's degree in Studio Art from Saint Olaf College in 1992 and an associate of applied science degree in multimedia/digital graphics in 2000. Between his two stints in higher education, Scott worked at a toy store in "the largest shopping mall in the United States" building life-sized display models out of LEGO®, the famous Danish construction toy. This unlikely venue was Scott's introduction to the people who make up Siege Perilous Films, an independent independent motion picture production company with whom Scott collaborates in his "off hours."
Scott currently lives in Champaign, Illinois, with his wife Kate and daughter Izzy, although he'll always be a Minneapolitan at heart. His favorite color is orange, his facial hairstyle changes on a whim, and he once owned the largest collection of Atari 2600 games in Minnesota. That collection was put aside long ago, and replaced by a passion for modernist decorative and fine art. A passion which he enjoys sharing with anyone who will listen.