Posted by Danni Le Toullec on June 2, 2010
Los Angeles curated bookstore, Family is a place where records lay beside art books and magazines. Roll over in the bed and you will find that DVDs, clothing and posters have also taken up residence. Joining forces with Absolut Vodka and Spike Jones, Family recently ran Thirty Days NY.
We chatted with David about his opinion of transgressive sex books, Shana Moulton's performance piece and Albert Maysles on-stage presence.
Danni Le Toullec: How did the idea for Thirty Days NY come about?
David Jacob Kramer: Absolut Vodka worked with Spike Jonze on a short film called I'm Here. They wanted to follow that up with a temporary creative space in New York, so Spike set up a meeting and we all got along. We worked with some of the artists involved with that film like Aska Matsumiya who composed the soundtrack, and Meryl Smith whose sculptures were featured in the film.
We've wanted Family to do something in NY for a while and this thing was really satisfying because we had the resources to do it on a much grander scale than our spot in LA. Family LA is about the size of a bus, with limited budget and the NY spot was 4200 sq feet and we were able to construct stuff like a psychedelic light theatre with Joshua White (who basically invented the psychedelic light show in the 60s for people like Hendrix and the Grateful Dead). Ben Jones of Paper Rad built these amazing bookshelves too. And there was a whole team helping construct them. We weren't used to an idea being manifested so quickly and easily and so well.
DL: What was a personal highlight from the month long event?
DJK: The slideshow and discussion between photographer Peter Sutherland and legendary documentarian Albert Maysles who made Gray Gardens and Gimme Shelter etc. Albert doesn't often do off the cuff talks and he was super funny and irreverent onstage, making fun of clips he was shown and dissing bad filmmaking. He was also really insightful, of course. Also Shana Moulton's performance blew people's minds - she's a NY-based performance artist who also makes video pieces.
DL: Do you have any similar projects in sight for the future?
DJK: Right now we are excerpting a lot of the talks from Thirty Days, as well as compiling all the artwork into a little catalogue. Should be out soon.
DL: Family is a curated bookstore, what inspired you and Sammy to step away from the mainstream bookshop?
DJK: We didn't want it to be an 'indie bookstore' either. We didn't want people to walk past the store and feel like they knew what would be inside. We don't carry any books on tattoos, anarchist philosophy, bongs, transgressive sex stuff, graffiti etc. That shit is gross.
We just wanted a place to get the most exciting things being published across the widest possible spectrum in print, keep things challenging and unpredictable. That means anything in multiple form, so also records, artist's books, zines, and prints. The idea was to contextualize things that aren't normally seen together; like mix contemporary literature with cassette-only local record labels. We have an emphasis on the book as an object, aesthetically sound in all regards. We also wanted Family to be commercially viable, because this stuff should be commercially viable.
DL: How did your work at Family help you in curating ThirtyDaysNY?
DJK: Basically Family NY was just like Family in LA, but amplified and intensified. We compiled everything - the art show, events, and interior - in around week. We were ready to go.
Photo by Bryan Derballa
david kramer, thirtydaysny, family, family bookstore