Cultured Magazine

Winter 2014

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98 CULTURED Clockwise from top left: Cherrybomb pendant light; Lindsey Adelman in her metal shop; Catch wall light; Adelman and team inside her studio; Catch chandelier. Lindsey Adelman New York: 10012 BY BRENT LEWIS Lindsey Adelman's new studio, filling the upper floor of a NoHo building, is energetic and captivating. It is filled with lights: wild, yet restrained, and the perfectly crafted glass, bronze and steel elements from which they are made. The experience of visiting is energizing in a way unique to industrial design studios. Punctuating the suspended presence of so many fantastic, well-known designs is the unexpected sight of even more beautiful, radical and prototypical objects. Here, we discuss the two worlds. Industrial design is about the relationship between humans and objects. How does that come into play when you are designing? We often see products and furniture presented without people. It's important that an object looks good on its own, but its real function is to become a part of someone's life. It is like a soundtrack. They witness parties and fights and homework and tenderness and anxiety and breakthroughs and celebrations. The work I do is not the last word. The life of my work begins after I say goodbye to it. How does thinking about this relationship change your work? I don't want my work to feel precious or separate from people. I want what I make to make people feel better! I am in the midst of a few video and photography projects that portray people and objects that illustrate this: they're hiding under the daybed, dancing on a sofa, sneaking along the walls with ornaments or turning on lights, wearing jewelry—living with it and interacting with it and touching it. You're talking about the power an object has in shaping our experience. Think about every bit of matter that you look at and touch every day. It affects you and you affect it. The impact is fascinating. Some things makes us feel amazing or special; some make us feel like we have good taste, a good eye; some represent a secret within ourselves or just make us happy in a way that can't be explained. The best part of visiting your studio was getting a glimpse of so many projects that seem totally unrelated to the work for which you are known. Yes! The company has two departments—the Department of Reality and the Department of Fantasy—they are both important! The Department of Reality is self-explanatory, but I am aggressive about carving out time for our fantasy projects. These are about making work out of a craving. It is not responding to demand. STUDIO PHOTOS BY BRENT LEWIS, COURTESY OF LINDSEY ADELMAN Contributing Editor Brent Lewis is the director of Wright New York. He brings back stories and snapshots from his studio visits exclusively for Cultured.

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