Books | NEW YORK
-Do you like art? Do you have any preferences for an artist? And/or for creators of artistic work?
Well, my favorite inventor was Tesla. Artist of all time is Goya, though sometimes El Greco. Artist of our era would be Paul Lafolley. Fashion is still Karl Lagerfeld. I don’t know any chefs, really, other than Andy Nusser who did Babbo. He’s a sweet guy and really good at weirder foods.
-Why is that? What special quality do you like in their work or personalities?
I guess they’re all willing to push limits or to think laterally. Bring things in from places their peers may not think appropriate.
-Could we feature your favorite artist in our magazine and/or online?
I don’t see why not. I’d go with Laffoley.
-In which way do you think architecture, writing, documentary-making, art and design are different and/or similar?
Not sure. I think they all suffer from the same problems, which is that newer practitioners often forget that these disciplines are plagued with conventions that may not be appropriate. People tend to accept these conventions as given circumstances. And their work ends up unconsciously limited as a result. I totally get how this happens. You want to be accepted by your peers, by the industry, by the media. And most of the people looking at your work are looking at it through some specific contemporary framework. It’s so hard to just be, but the minute you come across the work of someone who has transcended the conventional, you see right through time.
-Do you aspire to collaborate with any artist from another artistic discipline?
You mean is there someone I want to work with? Sure - tons of people. Eno would be cool. I’d like to work with Walter Kirn again. We did a screenplay maybe 20 years ago. I think we’d do better together now. Maybe my old high school friend Aaron Sorkin. Do something really strange with him, though. Not just a realistic West Wing sort of thing. I’d be into working with Michael Tilson Thomas, of the SF Philharmonic. Maybe Stephen Sondheim. I’d bet he’s a mad collaborator.
-Do you have a favorite company or any other exciting creator you would like to work with?
I used to be friends with Evan Williams at Twitter. He’s smarter than most of these folks, and I think he’s got yet another Great Idea in his career. I’d enjoy working with him. Or maybe Dennis Crowley over at 4square. In fact, I think I’ll shoot him an email.
-Do you follow any philosophical or psychological approach in writing your books or making documentaries?
Gosh, I don’t think so. If I have a philosophy, it is that people should be afforded agency. I think people are smart enough to exercise free will. I don’t believe we have to prevent democracy from happening in the US. I think we should try it for real. And this faith in the possibility for human beings to rise to the level of cognition definitely informs my work. I work under the presumption that people can think or can learn how to think. It wasn’t until recently that I learned this was a minority opinion.
-What is your favorite building in the world?
I’m probably old school on this. I guess the Hundertwasser Building in Germany. That and Gaudi’s Mind House in Barcelona. I like the effort to incorporate organic shapes.
-What is your favorite hotel?
I’m bad at this. I like really simple and easy-to-use hotels with breakfast you can *take* and Wi-Fi that just works. So DoubleTree has become my standard hotel in the US. As far as, like, the favorite/best hotel of all time I ever stayed in, I guess Brown Hotel in Denver. But that was back when publishers sent authors on book tours, and the author would get a special room in the hotel made for authors. With bookcases and a fireplace and food and stuff.
-What would be your best home?
You mean a city, a place? Or a structure? Until very recently, “home” meant the town one lives in - not the structure - so I’ll take it that’s what you mean. If it were just me, I’d probably be best off in Topanga Canyon, CA. There’s enough strange people there. Or maybe Asheville, North Carolina. I would live outside the US, but it’s really not fair. We made this mess so we kind of have to clean it up.
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