Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week

Apartamento Bookshop

Milan Design Week

Biographies, memoires, monographs, even catalogues raisonnés rarely represent the reality of an artist’s process. Such books have to deal with a vast amount of information—on different levels and different media—in a single object, and naturally this requires an amount of cutting and condensing. Everyone loves a good story, and our human need to make sense of time with historical accounts forces a collection of overlapping events into a neat timeline, without much room for the kind of experimentation, mistake-making, doing-over, and all-round messiness you’ll find of any creative practice. The challenge is compounded when the output, say, ranges from underwater mosaic sculptures and scrap-metal chaise longues to a gem-encrusted, wrist-worn, labyrinth-style ball game. Enter, Misha Kahn.

In his 10 years of making, Misha has stayed at the frontier of innovation in design, constantly challenging technical and material possibilities, trends and styles, right down to the way his own brain functions, and emphatically avoiding categorisation for the very real fear it might box him in, close off fresh, breakable ground. As such, Misha has become a leading creative voice of his generation. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Walker Centre, to name just a few; is held in museums and permanent collections such as Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Corning Museum of Glass; and is some of the most sought-after by collectors and design buffs around the globe.

We’ve admired him for a long time, and are extremely proud to have published Casually Sauntering the Perimeter of Now. It’s the second in our series with Friedman Benda, looking closely at the process behind an artist’s work. What makes them tick? How do they begin? Why take that decision? All this background stuff, the bit before the artwork goes out into the world, allows us to better understand the person creating it—ultimately, what Apartamento has always been about.

We celebrated the book’s release at Milan Design Week 2023, with a week-long pop-up shop, a special exhibition of sculptural works by our guest of honour, Misha Kahn, as well as a busy schedule of events and celebrations, including an author signing, the official launch, limited-edition copies, plus the magazine’s belated 15th birthday party. Thank you to everyone who came by to celebrate with us in one way or another, and if you missed out, read on to see more from the Apartamento Bookshop and all it had to offer. 

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week

Introducing Casually Sauntering the Perimeter of Now, Misha Kahn’s first ever book, walking through a decade of his work. Glitzy, wobbly, hairy, witty—no number of adjectives aptly describes an output as vast as his. Neither strictly an artist nor a designer, he emphatically avoids categorisation, for the very real fear it might box him in and close off fresh, breakable ground. It’s this boundless energy for every new material or technical challenge, combined with his singular ideas and aesthetics, that has made him a leading creative voice of his generation.

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Crater. Resin and glass, 10 x 7 x 4 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Quagmire. Ceramic, grout, epoxy, 9 x 6 x 1.75 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
VR. Walnut, 9 x 6.75 x 2 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Crater. Resin and glass, 10 x 7 x 4 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Steel and Glass. Steel, glass, 9 x 6 x 6 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Chromed Clay. Stainless steel, chromed clay, 9 x 6 x 2.5 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Claymation. Cast foam, 10 x 7 x 3 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Scrappy. Natural fibres, 9 x 7 x 1.5 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Saturday Morning. Resin, 11.5 x 7.5 x 6 in. Photography by Clemens Kois.

Inside the book, Misha’s sketches, process shots, final works, and installation set-ups are contextualised by six candid conversations (at a nail bar, on a hike, in a back garden) with other creative luminaries: Nick Haramis, Dries Van Noten, WangShui, Kellie Riggs, Todd Oldham, and Su Wu. These are prefaced by writer and curator Glenn Adamson and his reflection on Misha’s practice through the years, while our author adds a finishing touch, annotating the book by hand with commentary on his own words and works.

 

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week

In the lead up to the launch of Casually Sauntering the Perimeter of Now, Misha worked away at a special collection of objects: 50 dust jackets for the book itself—one-of-a-kind artworks, handcrafted in all sorts of materials including resin, steel, glass, fabric, wood, foam, and clay. These were on display and exclusively available to purchase during Milan Design Week.

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.
Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Process shots by Misha Kahn.

When we launched our first book in this series, Faye Toogood: Assemblage 6, Unlearning, back in 2021, we released a limited number of special-edition copies of the book, the covers of which Faye brought to life with interventions in masking tape. These and all other copies sold out quickly, so we stashed away a small batch for our own personal archive in Barcelona, but Milan Design Week and the release of the second title in this series seemed too good of an opportunity not to release these final few books into the world.

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
Special-edition covers by Faye Toogood.

So, we invited Faye to make brand-new interventions on all of the covers, and held a signing one morning with the designer herself. It was a beautiful book, looking closely at the inception of Faye’s sixth collection through hundreds of close-up photographs of her small, handmade maquettes, only a few of which eventually make the passage from conceptual representations to real-life, full-scale furniture and sculpture—letting go of the last copies was bitter sweet!

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week

More excitement: we also made available some exclusive copies of Apartamento issue #31 ahead of its worldwide release in May. Incase you missed it, featured on the cover this issue is a crayon drawing by the artist Tal R, interviewed within the issue alongside his partner, writer and filmmaker Emma Rosenzweig by our very own editor Robbie Whitehead, and photographed at their home in Copenhagen by Jesper D Lund. There are two different spine options, with work by another couple, the Italian painters Lucia Di Luciano and Giovanni Pizzo. The story is a loving tribute to Giovanni—who passed away in the autumn—in a final interview with Fabio Cherstich, and a celebration of a 70-year partnership in life and art.

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week

We loved sharing all of our recent projects with so many of you, and can’t wait to do it again soon. In the meantime, check out our online shop for all available Apartamento titles, including puffy, orange tome Nicola L.: Life and Art and Dominique Nabokov’s heart-warming photobook Tante Simone.

Until next year!

 

Apartamento Magazine - Apartamento Bookshop <p> Milan Design Week
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