This book has been more than fifty years in the making. It begins with the enduring love that I received from my mother Mary, who taught me not to be afraid to stand out in the crowd. An understanding of how things work and thinking "big" came from my father Timothy. I love you both. In the early years of my craft, my stepfather Richard bestowed upon me his work ethic and his support of my art, which were vital to my later practice. Love you. I am thankful to my sister Patricia Filasky for her strength and perseverance, and to my brother Donald O'Callaghan, who taught me about leadership and tolerance. I love you both.

Kevin O'Callaghan is a design wizard and Monumental is his manifesto, featuring hundreds of beautiful and useful design objects made out of obsolete, useless, cast-off technology. Since 1985, O'Callaghan has taught a now-legendary 3-D design class at New York's School of Visual Arts, where students solder, rivet, and weld the flotsam of mass-produced consumer culture into new, different, and, most importantly, functional objects. For “Yugo Next,” an exhibition that toured the United States—and mesmerized the media wherever it went—students transformed so-called “useless” Yugo automobiles into a piano, a barbecue, a shower, a confessional, an accordion, a gigantic telephone, and a toaster that actually popped, among other things. O'Callaghan is a philosopher, comedian, entrepreneur, and social critic who shows how design can make the world a better place.

THE REAL O'C

INTRODUCTION

YUGO NEXT

THE NEXT BEST...DING!

NBC EARTH DAY FRAME

HORSEPOWER

MOONLIGHTING:

THE MTV MOONMAN TAKES

ON NEW ROLES

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

SIDESHOW

TROPHIES

DISARM

URBAN PEDDLERS

MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?

BEDTIME RITUALS

OFF-ROADING:

THE REINVENTION OF THE

AMERICAN GAS-GUZZLER

A TWISTED CHRISTMAS:

ON BROADWAY

BED, BATH, AND BOMB SHELTER

ECHO PHONES

DISCONNECTED

EXHIBITION DESIGN:

RETROSPECTIVES

TVs FOR MOVIE PEOPLE

THE TURN OF THE CENTURY:

A CAROUSEL

INDEX