Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/65912
This year's Design Talks takes a look at design legacies, via collectors, designers and curators. Here we chat with Kyle DeWoody, daughter of Beth Rudin DeWoody and co-founder of Grey Area. time for a chat? Kyle DeWoody Why did you launch Grey Area? We launched Grey Area in an effort to provide a new venue for all of the fantastic things artists were mak- ing or wanted to make that broke the boundaries be- tween art and design. I knew a lot of artists who had beautiful things that had no home in the galleries, so we created that home with a clean and curated web- site and various pop-up shops. We're now set up in an incredible space in SoHo where we bring art and object together in unexpected ways, exploring themes among the works and providing more well-rounded ex- periences with interactive performances and show- specific projects. Grey Area satisfies so many of my creative impulses: I get to curate, design, write and experiment. We're in the beginning stages of producing our own objects, so I'm starting to bring together artists with brands and organizations to conjure up fun new projects and cre- ate even more ways of getting art out there. What is one of the greatest lessons learned from your mother? One of the best lessons my mother has taught me is to trust your eye no matter what anyone else might think. There are so many times I thought my mom was crazy for buying something, and then later, in the con- text of her collection, it totally worked. I try to stick with that mentality, especially when buying art or choosing pieces for Grey Area. So far it's worked out. She also has a shopping credo that it's better to buy something you don't need now than regret not having SNARKITECTURE it in the future. I don't follow it often, but I did recently buy a Lucite Vladimir Kagan bassinet from the '60s that was extremely cheap in an antiques store's "everything must go" sale. Of course, I'm the furthest of everyone around me from having a baby. Your mother has been known to support the careers of younger artists. Do you follow suit? I certainly try to support the careers of younger artists. Like my mother, I love discovering something or some- one new and sharing the discovery with others. At Grey Area, one of the biggest thrills is to work with talented artists who are excited for the opportunity to get their work out there. Give us a snapshot of growing up in your family. I was indeed reared in a creative household, with an artist for a father and a mother who manages to sur- round herself with some truly interesting and creative people. As a young girl, I would hang out at my dad's studio in Tribeca and make art with origami paper, or collage cigar boxes with my godmother, Joanne Cas- sullo. One summer she and photographer David Croland sewed together a whole collection of clothing for my barbie dolls—not your average craft project. Since I can remember, my mother has constantly been just back from, or about to embark on, some amazing trip that always includes meeting interesting people, seeing extraordinary things and having a myriad other random but incredible experiences. I've learned that if you can muster the energy to keep up with her, it's never a disappointment. Alex Mustonen, co-founder of Snarkitecture with Daniel Arsham, is one of the speakers at Design Miami's Design Talks. Here he tells us about the evolution of his studio and his collaboration with Grey Area. Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen sitting on one of their sculptural works, A Memorial Bowing, at Marlins Park, Miami. 48 CULTURED Snarkitecture operates in a space that is at the same time art, architecture, performance and design. Was this always the mission, or did the studio evolve to this point? Snarkitecture is neither art nor architecture. We didn't really conceive of the practice as a multidisciplinary studio, but that idea was partly latent given our respective backgrounds in art and and architecture. Our original discussions were largely about identifying sites within architecture that could be misrecognized or repurposed to create unexpected moments. These ideas about making architecture perform in unexpected ways have led us to consider questions about object or stage design through this lens of architec- tural confusion. Do you view Grey Area as a platform that makes your work more accessible? The model that Manish [Vora] and Kyle have created offers a kind of parallel to our practice in that they are interested in exploring the grey areas between disciplines. While we have not worked with production objects before, Grey Area offers the possibility for our smaller edition and custom objects to reach a wider audience.