Collaborative’s philosophy is simple: to be as undisciplined as possible. From such a loose footing, this atypical design collective slips between disciplines, experiments with new materials and technologies, and generally gets their hands dirty in order ‘to glorify all and subvert all in the name of design and decoration’. Instead of merely speculating with fellow designers about the possibility of doing this and that, Collaborative goes out and tries and tests their ideas, however far-fetched they might seem at the get-go. Their self-generated investigations have led them to explore how to make a white carpet that is easy to clean, utilise electroluminescent film (used in mobile phone interfaces) to create household objects or address difficult issues that are relevant to society, such as the recent Foot-and-Mouth epidemic. Co-founder Anton Ginzburg asserts that from the beginning the impetus behind Collaborative was to bypass the limitations of working for a firm where ideas get diluted due to restrictive budget-margins, the specific needs of the client and preventative time frames: ‘Rather than recycling methodologies, we were interested in taking an idea as far as it would go.’
The four, 30-something members of Collaborative officially began working together in 2000. Jessica Corr, studied product and furniture design at Parsons School of Design in New York, where she met Russian-born Ginzburg, who was majoring in graphic design. Joe Serrins studied architecture at Rhode Island School of Design with William Doll. They were friends for ten years, and officially started working together three years ago. What makes their approach unique is their steadfast commitment to the primary goals of Collaborative as a forum for dialogue and an impartial platform for the exchange of ideas, an ideology that so far has not generated a substantial income for the group. But that isn’t the point. Collaborative is strictly an after-hours project, they each have fulltime jobs. Joe Serrins gained his practical training at architecture offices such as the boutique firm of Keenen/Riley before setting up his own interior design practice in 2001. He has recently completed a number of residences and is currently working on a house in Lebanon. Anton Ginzburg’s consultancy STUDIO RADIA (an acronym for Russian Artistic Director in America) works on brand imaging for fashion clients like Anthony Nak as well as book design, objects and advertising. William Doll works for Tony Chi and Associates, a New York-based firm specialising in restaurant interiors where he met his wife Corr, who has since left the firm to start her own product and furniture company, and who also teaches lighting design at her alma mater, Parsons School of Design. Corr’s interests lie in researching new materials and manufacturing processes. In 2002, Jacob’s Chair, a low-slung lounger made from a perforated leather sling attached to a curvilinear base of leather-laminated steel, was selected for the Milan and New York furniture fairs.
Collaborative’s inspiration derives from multiple sources, including the artworld. They describe their working methods as similar to the indeterminate production inherent in the Surrealists’ automatic writing. Unlike many designers working today who boast the seamless process of generating designs on the computer that can be sent directly to a manufacturer to realise, Ginzburg asserts that they are interested in challenging the creative process and revealing the hand of the designer in their work. ‘We are open to change and allow ourselves to go down different corridors as the design develops. That’s where the beauty of a design comes together. We don’t follow a formula.’ Working out of their apartments and, when the need arises, renting workshop space, this ad-hoc group has become a fixture at the off-site events held outside the main halls of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in galleries and retailers in downtown Manhattan.
In 2001, Collaborative was prompted to develop a range of designs on the subject of humans’ relationships to animals, triggered by news reports about cloning and the outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease. ‘Design rarely speaks about issues pertinent to contemporary society,’ says Ginzburg. ‘We create work that speaks of the time in which it is made and reflects current obsessions in the media.’ The result was F&M Glasses, a project spearheaded by Ginzburg. Reminiscent of props from an episode of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, these otherworldly designs for a champagne flute and beer glass are hand-blown in the shape of a deer’s and a cow’s hoof respectively. Surprisingly, this sinister glassware sold out at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum’s store and is now only available through the designer. Equally creepy were Corr’s throw pillows made from memory foam that retains the imprint of the hand when squeezed, then gradually recovers its initial shape. Its potential to be poured into a mould and set in any shape made it ideal for creating the peculiarly shaped cushions. Moved by reports of the mass slaughter of animals infected with Foot and Mouth disease, Corr was provoked to create a design that spoke directly of the inherent failings of nature, albeit with a humorous tone. Choosing the donkey as her motif – an animal often ridiculed throughout history for being an inferior to the horse – Corr cast a ubiquitous china donkey lawn ornament. Once the donkeys had set, she gilded the imperfections to highlight the flaws in the foam. She remarks that, ‘Casting each by hand meant that no two donkeys were ever the same. It’s the differences that are important.’
Science as a metaphor and the basis for a design is a concept that has consistently permeated Collaborative’s work. In 2001, Corr developed a design using electroluminescent film. ‘I had always wondered why no one had experimented with it other than in phones,’ she says of the durable material that has a distinct phosphorescent property. Employing a technique similar to that used in the children’s game of paper cutting, Corr die-cut slits into the film. When pulled apart, concertina-like, the organic-shaped structure creates an elegant lighting fixture and glows with a diffused light when an electric current is passed through it. Donald Albrecht, an independent curator who selected Collaborative’s work for the third Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York in 2003, is interested in the growing trend in hybrid, cross-discipline design practices: ‘Collaborative have returned to the tradition of decoration and craft-techniques to create beautiful work. Their practice enables them to, on the one hand, take a conceptual and intellectual approach to design and, on the other through their various skills and interests, develop functional objects that can be produced and taken to the market-place.’
Through their work as interior designers, Joe Serrins and William Doll had often wished they could specify white carpet as a neutral floor covering in their projects, but its notoriety as a material that is difficult to keep clean had been a hindrance. ‘We started out exploring what we could do with resin,’ explains Serrins. Ingeniously trapping square tiles of white carpet inside clear rubber they came up with Eternal Carpet Tiles, a floor covering that is soft underfoot and easy to clean. Serrins admits that the concept ‘is a bit tongue in cheek and, physically, a little strange and unexpected’. He adds that, ‘most people react to it, even if only subconsciously.’
In 2002 Collaborative were invited by up-scale fashion label Shelley Steffee to create an installation during the ICFF. Working in the aftermath of the events of September 11, their work was used the theme of memory manifest in mirrors. They created an installation throughout the store, working primarily with optical film – a highly reflective material used by the photography industry. Shards of the material clustered together in grid-shaped sections on the floor while sections rolled into cones and hung from the ceiling refracted light and reflected images of the customers and clothing displayed in the store.
Over the past year and a half, work commitments and a new addition to the Collaborative family – Corr and Doll’s newborn Sylvan – have slowed down the team’s creative output. However, they have continued to work on a number of one-off projects including a window treatment for the Cooper Hewitt that created an environment for the display of their work in the Design Triennial. The labour-intensive design, made entirely by hand from a purple and lilac plastic mesh, was patterned with a geometric design conceived of by Ginzburg. ‘We wanted to create a bridge between Cooper Hewitt’s building, an old mansion, and the contemporary objects on display,’ says Corr. ‘Our translucent screen merged the two. Its translucency also allowed light to penetrate and bring the outside world indoors.’
More recently the team has turned their attention away from furniture and product design and has been developing entries for a number of design competitions, with the possibility of realising a built project in public space. This year they were finalists in a competition led by public art organisation Creative Time to conceive of a design for an information ‘hub’ for Times Square. The brief called for a focal display where visitors can collect bumf about public art in the area. Collaborative’s idea comprises three jet-black chrome NASA space balloons tethered to the ground with wires. A stepladder (that recalls Yoko Ono’s stepladder that leads nowhere in her 1966 work Ceiling Painting (YES Painting)) leads to a sky that doubles as a lockable display unit for pamphlets and other printed matter. ‘Every billboard fights for your attention with the newest technology in Times Square,’ explains Corr. ‘We wanted to use a simple approach – a beautiful geometric form that reflects the hustle and bustle of the square onto itself.’
Albrecht draws parallels between
Collaborative and firms such as Pentagram, which comprises independent
designers responsible for managing their own teams and bringing in their own
clients under the auspices of the decades-old firm, but at times work
together on individual projects, drawing on their respective knowledge and
talents. ‘I think people have a better time and enjoy their professional
lives a lot more,’ he explains. He also sees a significant payback for the
client who can benefit from a multi-faceted approach to design.
‘Collaborative are a lot younger but I can imagine them setting up a similar
practice.’ Having gained a reputation as inventive thinkers and doers with a
range of skills and interests, Collaborative admit that they have been
approached by a handful of clients looking to retain their services. Yet
they remain resolute in their allegiance to their main goal, which is to be
an autonomous think tank, and are apprehensive about leaving their jobs to
make Collaborative their fulltime gig, or working on projects that are
dictated by a client. In spite of this, they are beginning to take their
projects into the marketplace. Corr is working on producing her pendant
lights and Serrins has used his floor tiles in a number of projects. The
team is considering growing in size and strength by inviting other designers
to take part in their brainstorming sessions and develop ideas with them,
bringing new energy and expertise. ‘Just as Stereolab uses different
musicians on each album,’ asserts Corr, ‘we want to create design jam
sessions and invite others to join us so the ideas keep flowing and remain
fresh.’ Whether or not the new projects will require the team to devote
themselves fulltime to the collaborative, only time will tell. We wait in
anticipation.
Zoe Ryan is a British writer and curator based in New York