In 1986, American artist Michael Green sat down in front of an original Apple Macintosh and created a transcendent piece of history — a fully illustrated book of digital art and philosophical reflection, written, drawn, and laid out entirely by one man on an original Macintosh desktop. This was unheard of for the time — so much so that the year it was released, Steve Jobs himself invited Michael to Cupertino to receive an award for Publication of the Year — and it was never published again.
We stumbled across the book while researching early digital artworks for our Kinetic 2.0 concept, and found it near impossible to obtain a copy. We were so captivated by the work that — not only did it help to inform elements within our latest shoe concept — but with permission from Michael, we felt it our duty to run a very limited reprint of this incredible piece of history to share with our community. This marks the very first book from HIDDEN PRESS, and we are honored to shine a spotlight on this underground masterpiece.
“With AI reshaping the creative landscape, the spirit of curiosity and human-scale discovery at the heart of Zen and the Art of the Macintosh feels newly relevant. Forty years ago I was trying to understand what happens in the space between imagination and making. I am still trying. That space is where everything lives.” — Michael Green