What are your thoughts on presenting street art/graffiti in a gallery setting? Arnaud: Kathy grayson, owner of The Hole, wrote the foreword for our upcoming Private Property booklet/catalog. In it she talks about the aestheticization of grafitti, where it is stripped of the grime and street merits—I'm paraphrasing—and appreciated for it's visual features which are then subject and judged by the same rules that commonly apply to art or design. I think this is an interesting way to go about looking at graffiti when it's taken out of the streets (can you even still call it graffiti then?). I think it's one thing to look at graff piece indoors as a point of reference in a greater conversation about the merit of the author of that piece in the streets, and another to look at a graff piece indoors as a visually striking, masterfully executed piece of art. Rarely can you refer to one same piece in both conversations, but with Private Property I believe we've achieve this: each piece is a point of reference to a real "body of work" in the streets and also a pleasing work of art and design.
Do you feel the sustainable/recycled aspect of uHuRu is important? Why? Arnaud: Definitely. Some of the wood that UHURU finds and re-uses for their furniture is basically extinct, from forests that have been wiped out. It's important that we avoid this from happening somehow. I think that showcasing the beauty of finite resources such as the wood used in UHURU furniture can promote responsible use and avoid waste.
Tell us a bit more about the nyAD. Arnaud: New York Art Department is the result of a need and want for creative expression outside of ALIFE and also a vehicle to work on projects that don't necessarily call for ALIFE branding. In a sense, even though it's some 10 years after ALIFE, NYAD is ALIFE's creative engine—It's always been that creative engine, but it was never identified as it's own entity. NYAD has always been here, it is responsible for ALIFE's entire body of work to date, and it's now its own self. It continues to direct Alife, but it has the breadth to direct other projects as well.
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