Goons
Interview
Mia/Paul: Born in Busan and Halifax. Studied, lived, and worked in Seoul, Toronto, Montreal, LA, and New York. Now based in Paris for about 10 years.
Mia: When I first read about Nam June Paik, his work.
Paul: First time in New York as a kid.
Mia/Paul: Yes.
Our inspiration comes from our daily life. We draw from a compilation of our memories and what we see around us. The work is precisely our taste, so it is quite personal. When we started the studio, we had a simple desire to be surrounded by objects with no extra noise; to eliminate distractions. It’s about keeping only the good stuff.
We are developing the language of goons with each new piece. The vocabulary of this language is the design principles. We don’t decide if a piece fits in a collection. We just keep making pieces and expanding the language.
We usually talk about the upcoming projects and tasks. It’s pretty ordinary; we look at lists. Some Days we are in the studio and sometimes in our apartment. Each day is very different. It’s either sourcing out material and content or references, and some days at the studio building, or testing.
We currently work with 21mm Baltic Birch Plywood and reclaimed architectural wood. The Baltic Birch Plywood fits perfectly within the language of the studio: it is simple, abundantly available, dimensionally accurate, stable, and consistent. The type of reclaimed architectural wood we use is dimensioned structural beams. If another material fits the language of the studio, it is considered.
Our work is very straightforward but technically precise. We are really focused on not complicating our lives and setting up efficient processes. After years of working in design ateliers, we are conditioned to care for the quality of anything that leaves the studio, even if the design is super simple.
Start making things.
By appearance, it might seem close to minimalist or brutalist, but our philosophy is way more straightforward than that.
It’s impossible to say. Too many over the years.
We enjoy looking at works by younger generations.
We are always looking at new things.
We don’t know. Goons’ language is always expanding.
“We don’t decide if a piece fits in a collection. We just keep making pieces and expanding the language.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Calmness
Death
Impatience
Insincerity
Our parents
At the moment, anything for our son
Optimism
Not sure
Authenticity and sincerity
Authenticity and sincerity
What
–
–
Our life
–
Paris for now
This new clock we made last week is pretty great at the moment
Mia: Waiting in line
Paul: Waking up early for an obligation
Artist
Mia: Being direct and not being able to lie
Paul: Calm optimism
Fun and sincerity
It keeps changing
We don’t have one
–
Our siblings
–
Lies
No regrets
Old
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“Our work is very straightforward but technically precise.”
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