Category: Thinking

Theory and musings

  • Book cover says: Let Love Lead You To Rebellion a coloring book by Mari MIller. It's in black and white so it can be colored in and features stamps of a raccoon, pigeon, flowers, worms, and insects

    Let Love Lead You to Rebellion Coloring Book

    Find out how I made “Let Love Lead You to Rebellion,” a decolonial coloring book

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  • Black Walnut Tree Studies

    For the next year+ I’m studying the black walnut trees on my street in an effort to build a better relationship with the non-human world around me. Why I’ve foraged nuts from these trees for a few years and want to enter into a more reciprocal relationship with them, which I’ll talk about more in…

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  • promo banner images with cut outs of a chromatography print. Text says: Mari Miller The Land Loves Us, Chinese American Museum of Chicago 238 W 23rd St, 4th FI Chicago, IL, 60616, January 7 - February 18 Reception January 7, 2-5pm, Spotlight Series curated by Larry Lee

    Announcing: The Land Loves Us

    I am so proud to announce that my chromatography work is currently on display at the Chinese American Museum of Chicago. The show, Mari Miller: The Land Loves Us, runs from January 7th-February 18th, 2024 as part of the museum’s Spotlight Series of Chinese American artists, curated by Larry Lee of Molar Productions. Radical love…

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  • pothi book fanned out, page made from watercolor paper with earth tone color swatches on it

    Intro to Sewn Book Binding Part 1: Pothi Books

    Book binding is an easy entry to making. And while there are specialized book binding materials, this lesson doesn’t require any of them. In fact, if you wanted, you could pick up a pad of drawing paper and yarn at a dollar store, spending only a couple of bucks on enough materials to make a…

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  • brick red faux suede being sewn on a metal sewing machine

    The Power of DIY

    There is a lot of power in DIY.  One of the essential tenets of marxism is that workers are alienated from their labor. I think an essential part of our current crisis with capitalism is that this alienation goes beyond jobs. It extends to all facets of our lives.  We are alienated from our food.…

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  • abstract splotches that ripple across the paper, almost like flames or steep mountains

    Love, Land, and Chromatography

    Last year, I learned how to do chromatography. You may be familiar with science class experiments where you apply a ground up plant or a marker to a piece of filter paper and watch as the colors in your sample separate out as capillary action carries them across the paper.  In photography, chromatography is based…

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  • A bee harvesting pollen from a purple borage flower

    On Art, Craft, and Design as Separate Disciplines

    The distinctions between art, craft, and design are not universal truths that separate us from supposed lesser beings. They are not even truths shared by all human cultures throughout time. They are relatively recent inventions spread to reinforce European supremacy.

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  • three stacked copies of the "Designing with Waste: open source collaboration in experimental design" hardcover book

    Criteria for Planet-Centric Design, MDes Thesis pt 4

    The formal written part of thesis projects at the UIC School of Design is a thesis documentation book. See excerpts from my documentation book, including criteria for planet-centric design, as well as my full bibliography below. This is the fourth part of my Master of Design thesis project. If you have not already, go see…

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  • screenshot of the Designing with Waste home page. Oversized text says, "Designing with Waste Means..." Below that are three clickable tiles titled "recycling", "learning", and "sharing"

    Designing With Waste, MDes Thesis pt 3

    DesigningWithWaste.com grew out of frustrations with seeing awesome experimental design projects never go beyond a classroom because of a lack of infrastructure. Making matters worse, students often have to reinvent the wheel when they have an experimental design project since the industrial design community lacks a collaborative hub where people can improve upon each others’…

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  • gif of flipping through the first few chapters eBook pages, from the table of contents to the

    Pasta Water for Designers, MDes Thesis pt 2

    In order to help get the Cai Modeling Materials out into the world so that students and professionals can work more sustainably, I wrote a 48 page book that teaches people how to make the materials while encouraging them to experiment with the recipes.

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