Ep. 105: Design Impresario Murray Moss
Design impresario Murray Moss grew up in a house his father engineered with a drinking fountain in the dining room. At 5, he redecorated his farmhouse bedroom with a Chinese motif. In college, after accidentally burning down his apartment with a fondue pot, he found his love of theatre. The ‘90s were all about MOSS, his Soho New York boutique that lit up the global high-design scene and paved the way for a new era of design as art. Cut to today: he’s a pedagogue, a retail consultant and as fabulous as ever.
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Photo: Rainer Hosch
What is your earliest memory?
That would have to be when I was just a baby, lying in my crib, unable to open my eyes because I had Scarlet Fever. (I don' t know how that would have been possible - to remember something that happened to you as an infant - but I don't think I imagined that memory. I think it was real.)
A young Murray
How do you feel about democratic design?
If 'democratic design' were a term used to define that which is the result of an innovative idea, good research, rigorous critical thinking, and a beautiful and renewable manner of production, I would certainly praise it! But the majority of times I have heard that phrase used it is used to define something very narrow and highly subjective - i.e. that which is affordable for 'most people'.
That is a noble agenda, but futile and even arrogant - most of what we in America consider to be affordable is certainly not affordable to most people on the globe. And by the way, a designer is not bound by a kind of Hippocratic Oath to propose only that which a majority of the earth's population can afford, any more than a writer is bound to write only that which can be understood by a majority of readers on Earth. Are we so thin-skinned that we cannot tolerate the thought of running into something that we cannot afford for ourselves? Are each of us the economic profile that should be addressed? Are we supposed to eliminate those extravagant gestures that can make something very special and very costly, lest someone see it who does not happen to have the financial wherewithal to acquire it? In short, 'democratic' is a noble and serious word which, in my opinion, should not be used to describe a good deal.
What’s the best advice that you’ve ever gotten?
"Wait until tomorrow before you respond."
Teaching at RISD
How do you record your ideas?
Handwritten or drawn notes, most likely on an opened envelope. Very low tech.
What’s your current favorite tool or material to work with?
Courage.
What book is on your nightstand?
Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson, and Jane Brody's Guide to the Great Beyond: A Practical Primer to Help You and Your Loved Ones Prepare Medically, Legally and Emotionally for the End of Life.
Why is authenticity in design important?
For me, 'authenticity' is when a designer creates a new object which he or she has in all probability inadvertently and unknowingly plagiarized without being aware of doing so. We learn from exposure, from experience. We admire certain thinking. We are inspired by people and by work we see, and the totality of all of those references and experiences educates us and somehow, when all strung together, merge to become our unique take on the world. Authentic does not refer to the originality of an idea - to me, it suggests that the object in question reflects the personal truth of the designer, arrived at through their own experiences.
Favorite restaurant in your city?
Even though we live now in Connecticut, I become a New Yorker again when it comes to 'favorite restaurant'. And that would have to be Ristoro del Cinghiale, on east 27th Street in Manhattan. The Marzovilla family are perhaps my oldest friends, and they own and operate this sensational Italian restaurant, and have been an important part of my life. Go, and meet Dora who makes the fresh pasta each day, and her son, Nicola, whom I wouldn't know how to begin to describe, except somewhere between love and fury lies a really good man.
What might we find on your desk right now?
Tape measure, extra pair of reading glasses, stapler, Ikea task light, computer, printer, post-it stickers, paper clips in Chinese cloisonne bowl, iPad, pencils and gum eraser, and a Meissen porcelain mug with pens.
What’s your favorite project that you’ve done and why?
To me, that's like asking "Which child do you love the most?" To complicated and emotional a task for me today!
What are the last five songs you listened to?
Me, singing quite loudly (at home) Don McLean's 1971 super hit “American Pie”
Me again, singing (at home) “Vesti la Giubba” from the opera Pagliacci
“All I want for Christmas” (a la Mariah Carey)
“Don't Forget Me” from Smash by Ivy Lynn
And of course, Baby Shark, by PINKFONG
Be sure to check out Moss Bureau to stay up to date with Murray’s latest projects.
Please Do Not Touch: And Other Things You Couldn't Do at Moss the Design Store That Changed Design by Murray Moss and Franklin and Franklin Getchell.
Moss Bureau’s collaboration with Rhode Island School of Design.
Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.
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