Interview articles from May 2009

Interview archives from May 2009

Mayview: let's flip a coin over a design issue: Interview's editorial director and editor in chief discuss the issue.
May 1, 2009... GLENN O'BRIEN: This is our first design issue. CHRISTOPHER BOLLEN: Should we say it's our first annual design issue? O'BRIEN: Do you need reassurance? BOLLEN: I was thinking that maybe if we say it's our first annual design issue,...

Jesse Hudnutt moved to New York to design menswear. He reads James Joyce for his mind and Star magazine for guilty pleasure.(Discovery)(Interview)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AGE: 23-HOMETOWN: Originally, I'm from Cleveland--the suburbs of Cleveland. It's a good place to come from in that it's a good place to leave. CURRENTLY RESIDES: The East Village, New York. I've been there for about...

Rooney Mara wants to save orphaned kids in Kenya, but in the meantime, she's okay with building a brilliant acting career.(View Girl)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... IN INDIE-FILM-STAR terms, 2009 is the year of Rooney Mara--at least to everyone but Rooney Mara. Personally, the early-twenty-something actress would rather be in Kenya. Never mind that she has four films coming out: the comedy The Winning...

Olly Alexander grew up touring amusement parks, which proved to be the perfect background for his roller-coaster film career.(View Guy)(Interview)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... "INTENSE IS A GOOD WORD for it," says Olly Alexander about his upcoming film debut. He isn't kidding: The 18-year-old British actor recently completed work on the surrealistic drama Enter the Void. It's directed by Gaspar Noe, the man also...

James Franco spots young director Cary Joji Fukunaga, whose first feature involves first brutal gangs, desperate immigrants, dangerous train rides, and 2,000 extras.(Nominations: GREAT TALENTS INTRODUCE A NEW GENERATION)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... "CARY'S FILM IS inspiring," says actor and fan James Franco of 31-year-old director Cary Joji Fukunaga's first feature film, Sin Nombre, which opened in theaters this spring. "He took it upon himself to go to Mexico and research this film. He...

Capture.(outdoor photography)
May 1, 2009... A weird cat, a car running on vegetable oil, high art made of string, and a bunch of other far-out scenes caught on phone or camera by our friends all over the globe. M BLASH ARTIST AND FILMMAKER--JAN. 18, 2009 | 8:11 A.M. ...

Janelle Monae has a sound rooted in old-school funk, but this conceptual lyricist stretches her soulful grooves way beyond R&B into post-pop Blade Runner territory.(Postapocalyptic Pop)(Interview)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... "IT'S A BIG UNIVERSE" says singer Janelle Monae. "To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself." The 24-year-old is operating way outside the hackneyed American Idol set that a lot of music seems currently slumped in to be sure:...

Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, is back a new album that's a meditation on fame, religion, and the spiritual lives of artists--and a postcard to his old peace-, love-, and wonderment-devoted self.(True Believer)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... FOR ANYONE WHO grew up in the '60s or '70s, the voice of Cat Stevens was a permanent and very beautiful part of the cultural landscape. A self-taught musician, born and raised -in London, he's written many pop standards--"The First Cut is the...

Juun.J is creating the most coveted menswear of the moment. You could call it militant-macho-origami-unisex futurism. Or just plain cool.(Back to the Future)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... EXPLAINING HIS mildly obsessive love affair with the unisex trench coat, 42-year-old Korean designer Juun.J muses, "When I put on a trench coat, I try not to use any other accessories. The look is fabulous. It's perfect as it is." Creating an...

Cyprien Gaillard loves it when things fall apart. The young French artist sees beauty in destruction, and that is why much of his incendiary work goes up in smoke.(Smoke Screen)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I'M INTERESTED in things failing, in the beauty of failure, and the fall in general" says 28-year-old mixed-media artist Cyprien Galliard, who clearly has a healthy appetite for destruction. He's also garnered quite...

Sebastian Errazuriz, is half merry prankster, half brooding death-poet. But he's all artist and all designer. The young innovator defends his right to make anything--as long us it hasn't been done (or listed on Google) before.(Gallows Humor)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... LAST DECEMBER'S Design Miami fair was supposed to be all about celebrating surefire international design stars like the Campana Brothers or Ross Lovegrove (safe bets in a shaky market hoping to compete with the slightly less shaky art market)....

Karl Lagerfeld used the runway this season to show how sexy young women might look in a zero-gravity future. And one of his models turned reporter for us backstage, asking the legendary designer what the future holds for a man who never looks back.(Futurama)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... THIS SPRING, DURING Paris Fashion Week, Karl Lagerfeld unleashed another youthquake on the runway--tight, militant, and black, with exaggerated shoulders reminiscent of the designer's '80s signature indulgences. No, it wasn't for Chanel, but...

Peter Bjorn and John the cerebral Swedes behind that whistling song, are vying to avoid one-hit-wonderdom with a new album that features children's choir. And they might be onto something.(A Band Apart)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WITH THEIR UBIQUITOUS international hit "Young Folks," Peter Bjorn and John went from longtime indie also-rans--the trio formed in Stockholm a decade ago--to overnight sensations. In short order, Kanye West covered...

Neri Oxman is designing chairs, artworks, even buildings that can reach out and touch someone--literally reach out and touch someone. The artist as architect is bringing some new forms of life to design.(It's Alive)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... IMAGINE A CHAIR that moves when you move, that adjusts to every muscle in your body, that responds like a living organism... a chair kind of like a really excellent lover. Neri Oxman imagined such a chair. Then she built it. The result was...

Mike Mills's Graphics Films.(15 MINUTES: EVENTS PROMOTIONS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Interview and United Colors of Benetton toasted the multitalented graphic artist and film director Mike Mills and his new book, GRAPHIC FILMS, at the Benetton store in New York City. Guests such as Andy Spade, Barbara London, Dave Aron, Diego...

PHI and Interview support Art Production Fund.(15 MINUTES: EVENTS PROMOTIONS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The New York art crowd and friends of Interview were out in force to support Art Production Fund at Phi's SoHo store. Hosted by Phi's Andreas Melbostad and Art Production Fund's Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen, the evening included a...

Andy Spade, the man behind Kate, is a legendary adman, a marketing genius, and an undercover artist. His new company, Partners & Spade, is a little bit of everything, just like him.(Everything Must Go)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HE IS ONE of the great underknown geniuses of Western civilization. He's been a copywriter, a creative director, a fashion mogul, an activist, an art patron, a publisher, a consultant, a gallerist, and an artist in...

Wavves is the stage name for a young SoCal musician who escaped a life of zonked-out video-game boredom by writing songs about it. He now enjoys zonked-out video-game bliss.(Stoner Rock)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... WHILE MOST of his friends back in San Diego are busy smoking weed, playing video games, skateboarding, and complaining of boredom, 22-year-old Nathan Williams is busy writing and singing songs about smoking weed, playing video games,...

Diamond exchange.(This, this, and that)(Solange Azagury-Partridge boutique )(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last year, London-based jewelry designer SOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGE made her New York gallery debut at Sebastian + Barquet in Chelsea, where she re-interpreted some of her designs as decorative objects, like a...

Bottle service.(This, this, and that)(Infusion de Fleur d'Oranger by Prada)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Memories are often triggered by smells. Maybe that's why PRADA reached back into the fabric archives and resuscitated a floral print from the Fall/ Winter 2003 ready-to-wear collection as the packaging for the new fragrance INFUSION DE FLEUR...

Beasty.(This, this, and that)("Veckatimest" by Grizzly Bear)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's been three years since GRIZZLY BEAR released their acclaimed sophomore album, Yellow House, and indie-rock obsessives everywhere have been anxiously awaiting its follow-up. Luckily, the Brooklyn four-piece has...

Art bag.(This, this, and that)(Reality Bag No.2 by Puma)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Collecting contemporary art isn't necessarily a casual hobby, but here's a starter kit that won't set you back seven figures: Swiss artist JOHN ARMLEDER created and curated the PUMA REALITY BAG NO. 2, a blue leather tote covered with his iconic...

Insider.(This, this, and that)(Genevieve Hanson exhibition)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If Bernd and Hilla Becher had bothered to look inside the industrial buildings they photographed, what might they have found? New York-based photographer GENEVIEVE HANSON shoots the interiors of silos for light and...

Dance tracks.(This, this, and that)(Fischerspooner show)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FISCHERSPOONER is legendary for putting on outrageously unforgettable shows. (If you lived in New York City in the late '90s, you need not be reminded.) The self-described "art, pop performance project" has, in the...

Designer within reach.(This, this, and that)(Matthew Williamson collection)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... MATTHEW WILLIAMSON takes his first crack at menswear with a collection for H&M, joining the long list of venerable designers who have spun cotton into gold for the Swedish retailer. Emerging onto the London fashion scene in 1997 with a...

Atmospheric.(This, this, and that)(Stephen Petronio Company performance)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Weather can be disastrously unpredictable--and surprisingly well-choreographed. To celebrate 25 years in the dance business, the STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY channels storms ("both atmospheric and emotional") for I Drink...

Miamity.(This, this, and that)(The Webster trilevel boutique )(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now Miami Beach revelers can go home with more than just tan lines--they can bring back a great piece of clothing to wear over them, too. Milan Vukmirovic, the creative director of Trussardi, along with...

Deep waters.(This, this, and that)(John Waters exhibition)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... You'd think JOHN WATERS would have run out of things to subvert--or pervert--by now. Well, he hasn't. The director and artist continues to take on the debauched Hollywood machine in "Rear Projection," his latest show of artwork at Marianne...

Ed Westwick is not only here to steal your daughters, screw over your friends, and have a blast in New-York City. In real life, the Gossip Girl actor is a dedicated rock 'n' roller who wears his heart tattooed on his sleeve.(Heartbreaker)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... THE JURY IS STILL out on whether Gossip Girl--the hedonistic teen soap opera beloved by the bobby-soxer in all of us--will rise from its slender-but-influential ratings share and turn the CW network from a caterpillar into a butterfly. And now...

Cuff love.(Shackled)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... NO NEED to hold on to those purse strings any longer. Spring's smartest bags will be handcuffed to the wrist. Bag: CESARE PACIOTTI Dress: ALEXANDER WANG [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bag: ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Jumpsuit: CHLOE ...

Design of all kinds: more than one kind of design: what about drawing the world?(List)
May 1, 2009... What is design now? It's the art of living--applying aesthetics and philosophy to the everyday. A Balinese once told a famous anthropologist: "We have no art. We do everything the best we can." But in the 21st century, we are catching up to the...

Marc Newson ... has turned a chair into a masterpiece of sculptural form. While he's taken over the contemporary art world with his classic references and stunning futurist effects, he is, first and foremost, a craftsman, a man who believes in his materials, and even while he's creating pieces destined for outer space, he finds all the inspiration he needs roaming around planet Earth.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... IN 2007, when the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (ENDS) announced plans to start private space tourism by the year 2012, it was no surprise that they tapped Australian industrial designer Marc Newson to create the interior of the...

Konstantin Grcic ... has designed every object in the house. Even though he is one of the premier industrial-design geniuses, he believes that expertise isn't always the creative answer. Whether it be an espresso machine, a bicycle, or even a laundry basket, the Munich-based designer knows that the objects we cherish most are often funny, imperfect, and, occasionally, a little ridiculous.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] KONSTANTIN GRCIC originally studied to be a cabinetmaker, but a cabinetmaker rarely gets to revolutionize every single item stored within his cabinets. In his nearly 20-year career, Grcic has designed--or...

Ron Arad ... thought he could save the world with his chairs. His furniture may not have actually rescued the planet, but he has surely saved the design world from boredom and predictability: tables standing on walls, armchairs made of car seats, and crystal chandeliers that display text messages ... He's titled a new show "No Discipline"--which could mean that he's transforming all of them.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... THE STUDIO is on Chalk Farm Road in North West London. You enter it by way of a flaky blue gate that opens onto a cobbled lane called Old Dairy Mews. You then climb a steel stair and find yourself, with a dislocating sci-fi effect, inside a...

Shigeru Ban ... was creating shrines out of sustainable materials when the word green only described a color. For a man who got structural ideas from wicker huts and rolls of fax paper, the buildings of tomorrow can be made of anything--as long us they're built from the heart.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SHIGERU BAN, international architecture superstar, is considered by many to be something of a brilliant Gyro Gearloose character in his field. A seminal "green" architect before ecology became fashionable, the...

Alasdhair Willis ... has already led one design revolution in print. Now he and his partners, who make up the London-based firm Established & Sons, are leading a second charge. It's not a major movement ... yet.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... THE IDEA OF a bunch of friends from art school getting together to start a furniture-design business doesn't sound like much of a radical venture. But when Established & Sons set up shop in London in 2005, it had one surprisingly simple--and,...

Emma Watson.(Interview)(Cover story)
May 1, 2009... EMMA WATSON didn't have to dream about living in the magic kingdom of Harry Potter. She grew up there, plucked from school at the age of 9 to be cast as the female lead in one of the most successful movie franchises in history. She has...

Tough guys do dance: do you dance with tough guys?(Channing Tatum interview)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Channing Tatum might have danced his way into the hearts of teenage girls m Step Up, but he has spent the last year bare-knuckle boxing, running out of burning buildings, and tussling with bad guys--all in the name...

A woman of all seasons: a season for no reason at all: what about falling in love again: Stephanie Seymour Brant, a Lanvin collector, interviews Elbaz and wears his vintage. pieces, while models sport the next season on the streets of Paris.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... ALBER ELBAZ has become the leader of the fashion pack not by shock or trick, but by quietly creating the clothes that women want. His classical style has not only propelled the venerable house of LANVIN to the forefront, but also won the...

Woman of great understanding: the understanding of great woman: what about not being afraid of ourselves? Robin Wright Penn has spent the past decade choosing family over work, while channelling a succession of fraught, doomed wives and mothers in film after film. Now she's sitting on the world's greatest untapped reserve of leading-lady star power. And something has got to give.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ROBIN WRIGHT PENN'S reputation as a Hollywood turncoat is well-earned. For one thing, she lives in Marin County, near San Francisco, with her two kids--daughter, Dylan, 18, and son, Hopper, 15--and her husband of 13...

Donna Karan is New York style. The former top designer of Anne Klein launched the label that bears her name in 1984. Then in 1989, she made her New York love thing official with the line DKNY. Since then, Karan has defined chic for urbane women, made peace with the universe, and discovered that her true ambition is to travel the globe, with her great friend Calvin Klein along for the ride.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DONNA KARAN NEEDS no introduction. And while we're at it, neither does her best friend forever, Calvin Klein. Well, make that BFF-L, for lately. These most iconic of New York's designers have always had a lot in...

Albert Oehlen is a painter who is leading the way. Whether anyone is following is almost irrelevant, because Oehlen's fantastic exploratory techniques and improvisational spirit have blazed a spectacular trail through abstraction. And he has breathed some intoxicatingly revivifying fumes into the corpse of surrealism in the bargain. If he's a one-man movement, maybe that's enough.(Interview)
May 1, 2009... ALBERT OEHLEN STUDIED in Hamburg with Sigmar Polke, played a central role in a prodigious group of artists who came to the fore in the '80s, and was associated with various movements and groups--some apt, some gratuitous. I would describe him...

Red carpet Oscar virgin: a Kodak moment.(Society)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Twenty girls without deformity or blemish in any part of their body... The Vestals wore a white robe... and, on their heads, fillets ornamented with ribbons. Metamorphoses, Ovid, 43...

Matt Dillon was famous at 15. (But he's still a cool delinquent, 30 years on.).(Back Page)(Brief article)(Photograph)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YES, MATT DILLON was once our greatest male teen idol--our '80s James Dean, a modern rebel with no apparent causes but fun and trouble. Dillon was beautiful and irreverent, and still is, in a 45-year-old,...