Peter (Designandfun): What do you collect?

Evan: I collect mostly Italian objects...Things designed by Joe Colombo and Achille Castiglioni. I really like rare items, things which generate conversation when people see them. I have many decorative objects from Kartell, Artemide, Heller, Danese. I am very interested in the period when plastic was used unapologetically, especially in Italy. When designers made new forms out of the new plastics and were proud of what they were- they didn't feel the need to make the plastic look like wood or glass, they used the plastic as a sort of Utopian material, one that was inexpensive and offered many technical and aesthetic possibilities not possible before. I also love older objects, pre modernist pieces which celebrate their decorativeness.

Peter: How did you get started?

Evan: It is a funny story. The building at Yale where most of my studies happened was across the street from another Yale building which was undergoing renovations. One day I was walking to school and I saw that the workers were throwing furniture into a truck to haul away to the dump. I noticed that among the furniture was an orange upholstered fiberglass chair. I didn't know anything at all about design at this point, but I knew this was a great chair that was about to get thrown out. I didn't know what to do; the workmen were all really big and scary, so I was afraid to ask them for the chair. I stood on the steps of my building across the street and waited, expecting my chair to go into the garbage. But right before the men threw away the chair, they decided to go to lunch! It was amazing! The minute they pulled the truck away I ran across the street and grabbed the chair and ran back to the building. The chair was in perfect shape, with orange naugahyde upholstery. I didn't know what it was, but I noticed that on the bottom it said "Herman Miller".

Later, by searching on eBay and on the internet, I discovered my chair was designed by Charles and Ray Eames (I thought they were brothers at first, since Ray is not a common name for women) and was actually worth a little bit of money! I was so excited by this that I read all I could about the Eames' and their chairs. I also feel that my design sensibilities were beginning to form because I lived right across the street from Eero Saarinen's Ingalls Hockey Rink here at Yale. My collecting of modernism had begun, and this is still my favorite way to get things, to find them in the trash or in a store where the seller doesn't know what they are. It is like hunting, and it is very addictive. I have found most of my collection that way: a perfect Eames Aluminum group lounge chair, a Castiglioni Arco lamp, a set of Giotto Stoppino nesting tables at the Salvation Army for $20. Later, after the Eames chair finds (I found another one so now I have two that match) I really got interested in Joe Colombo. I liked his designs aesthetically, his rounded curving lines, and also that he began as a painter. I have quite a few of his objects and I would love to find his Elda chair. I thought about buying one new since they are still made. The US price? $5500. So I will have to wait.

Peter: That was a very interesting story how you found that Eames chair - you mentioned for you it became addictive, how come? What is it that makes it addictive for you?

Evan: Well, I suppose there are two reasons for that feeling. One is the thrill of the hunt, the feeling of finding a treasure and grabbing it. It's a thrill to see something that no one else appreciates but that you really like, then being able to get it for free. So much of this type of furniture gets thrown out, especially here at Yale, and most of it is in good shape. I lived in New York City for a few years and, not being rich, I became aware of all the great stuff, furniture included, that people throw away. It's actually known as "dumpster diving", named for crawling into the big industrial garbage bins which are often along New York streets. Dumpsters that often contain furniture and other stuff.

The other reason for the feeling of addiction stems from a great appreciation for those designs. Anyone that grew up in America (and other places I suspect) has grown up with imitations of these iconic designs.
There are so many bad examples of Castiglioni's "Arco" lamp and so many bad copies of the Eames or Saarinen fiberglas chairs, for example. So actually learning about design and being able to see why the Herman Miller Eames chairs are better made and more elegant designs than the copies is a great thrill. The modernist furniture, especially the post-war American designs and the post-war Italian designs, expressed such optimism, such an innovative, curious spirit, it is difficult not to get "addicted" to that. I grew up in a lower middle class home in a small town; The furniture I was used to was mostly bad, cheap, particle-board stuff with no style what-so-ever. The Eames chairs and the other furniture I like are the opposite of that. They are full of grace and intelligence and sophistication. I'm just sorry that some of the stuff which was designed to be so inexpensive is now often way out of my price range. The Eames LCW, the low plywood chair that made them famous originally sold for 25 USD!


Peter: New material, plastic, new forms by many Italian Designers, your favorites are Colombo and Castiglioni. You mentioned the rounded curving lines Colombo used, what is it about Castiglioni that you like?

Evan: Colombo's line is so nice, so instantly recognizable. You can look at a Colombo piece and usually see his line. But he was also a great technician, really interested in how things work. Some of the ingenious joints he devised, like on his Fatif professional camera or on the "Spider" lamps, are wonders not only to look at but to use. Castiglioni is also like that. Very, very sophisticated technical engineering which appears, and often is, very simple. Like the "Arco" lamp. It reaches out almost eight feet from the marble base, yet there is only one screw holding it all together. One screw through the marble into the first metal rod. The rest of the lamp is all tension. It's brilliant. Actually many of Castiglioni's objects all boil down to this beautiful, amazing simplicity. One wing-nut in the "Mezzadro" stool, the fishing-rod base on the "Toio" lamp, etc. All very simple concepts which could only be the result of a great intellectual effort. While Castiglioni's designs are beautiful and functional, they are also full of intelligence, often refinements of very traditional objects or designs.
Joe Colombo's designs are like this also. Alive with intelligent energy and also beautiful, sensual objects. This is something all the design I am interested in shares.

Peter: Your description of the Arco lamp for example seemed to me, that you have a special "eye for things", if I may call it that way. Seeing the beauty and the technical aspect of it in combination. Often for people it's either seeing how it looks, or finding out how it works, not both. Did that come from studying Visual Arts, you mentioned you have a BFA and MFA (is that mainly sculpture? Could you explain briefly?), or did you also start to see things differently with seeing iconic design objects?

Evan: My university degrees, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts, are both art degrees, but can apply to different vocations. The BFA was focused on painting and included regular "liberal arts" such as literature and science, the MFA focused on sculpture (although I took German Literature and Architecture courses as well). Both of my degrees were in "studio arts", which means that I was given a studio at the college and had regular visits from artists and critics, who critiqued my work, and both degrees really loosely defined "painting" and "sculpture". I made films and videos, painted, drew, made sound pieces. Sculpture encompasses many types of art making by today's (and Yale's) definition. This is the reason I got interested in design as well. While I was at Yale I lived across from Eero Saarinen's ice rink, which made me start to notice architecture and design much more than I used to. And after I found that Eames chair, I really began looking at design history, especially American and Italian modern. I don't know why it took me this long to start to "see" design. I have always been sensitive to my surroundings, so i'm sure I had an intuitive reaction to and feeling about design. I just didn't know the names and facts yet. I believe that you don't really need to know all the names and facts to appreciate anything, whether it is sculpture or a chair. But I have a drive toward learning and figuring things out. So design was a great field to learn about; spotting chairs and tables and lamps and being able to know who designed them and when and maybe even why is almost like being a detective. Like Sherlock Holmes seeing the clue that everyone else missed. Another long interest of mine has been to see how things work. I'm equal parts messy, hands-on intuitive artist-type and careful technician. Although i'm not always a good technician, I can always appreciate a good machine or device or mechanical solution. And I think you are right, being an artist or someone who creates something makes one really sensitive to how much work is involved in creation. That's also part of the frustration of creating something. Most people will not even notice how much work and thought went into something. I look at Enzo Mari's totally simple pieces for Danese and marvel, yet they almost seem invisible because of how unified the aspects of the design are. But I can imagine him sketching and carving models. I think of the Eames' in their kitchen in the 1940's, using a hand-made contraption to experiment with plywood bending. That is an amazing image and the mark of true artistry.

Peter: Do you have design objects in your living area? Which ones? Or do you keep your collections separate?

Evan: I keep them all in my living area. The "Arco" lamp soars over the living room, the orange Eames fiberglas chairs are there, Joe Colombo "Universale" chairs at the dining table(which is a pill-shaped formica-and-aluminum wonder from the 50's)... I could go on. I really think that, whenever possible, one should live with their collection. Let a chair be a chair. Certain design objects are, in part, revered because of how well they fit into people's lives.

Peter: Is there anything you are hoping to get next?

Evan: I am always interested in anything Joe Colombo. I just saw two super-rare lamps by him on eBay; no one met the reserve on either one. They were amazing bits of engineering! They made me wish I was rich! I would really like some of Castiglioni's "Grand Prix" cutlery, which is still in production so it shouldn't be difficult (except for saving the money!). I would also like to find another green "Deda" vase by Giotto Stoppino, to "interlock" with the one I have.

Thank you, Evan!