Knife Fork Spoon: An Afternoon in Los Angeles with Dung Ngo and Darrin Alfred

Join us at Heath Los Angeles for an afternoon with editor and publisher Dung Ngo, celebrating the launch of his new book, Knife Fork Spoon: Modernist Cutlery 1900–2025, and Darrin Alfred, curator of architecture and design at the Denver Art Museum, currently home to the Knife Fork Spoon exhibition.

In this new publication, Dung Ngo spotlights the often-overlooked artistry of flatware, revealing how designers reinvented these humble items in response to new materials, social change and evolving aesthetics. Join Dung and Darrin as they explore how the objects we use in everyday life reflect and shape the way we live.

The event is on November 14 in the Heath Los Angeles Showroom at 3:30pm, with the conversation at 4pm. Books will be available for purchase, and refreshments will be served.

Spots are limited—RSVP Here.

For our friends in the Bay Area, join Dung, Su Wu, Catherine Bailey, and Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher on November 17 in celebration of his new book and Su's new book, Mesoamerican Modern: Ancient Ideas in Contemporary Mexican Homes. Get the details.

Event Details
November 14
3:30pm–5:30pm
Heath Ceramics Los Angeles
7525 Beverly Blvd

About the Author

Dung Ngo is a design writer, the editor-in-chief of AUGUST Journal, a print magazine on travel and design, and the publisher of August Editions, a bespoke publishing house with a focus on historical and contemporary visual culture. For over a decade he was the creative director and senior editor at Rizzoli International Publications, where he worked on the definitive monographs with such designers as I.M. Pei and Andrée Putman. He is the author of several books, including Bent Ply, a history of 20th century plywood furniture and Tom Kundig: Complete Houses (2025).

Darrin Alfred is Curator of Architecture and Design and Head of Architecture and Design and The Kirkland at the Denver Art Museum, where he oversees one of the region's most significant collections of design and decorative arts, dating from the Middle Ages to the present. His exhibitions include Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design (2026), Biophilia: Nature Reimagined (2024), Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents (2021), and Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America (2018), among others. He conceived the museum's design galleries, spanning over 11,000 square feet of new and renovated space designed by OMA New York, which opened in 2021. He has contributed to numerous publications including Campana Brothers: Complete Works (So Far) (2010), Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America (2018), and Gio Ponti in the American West (2020), and Biophilia: Nature Reimagined (2024).