A Conversation with Monica Khemsurov of Sight Unseen
The Sight Unseen co-founder and Boutique's Marc Blazer share their thoughts on soulful objects, homes with points of view, and the importance of shaping travel around flea markets.
- Category
- Q&A
- Written by
- Marc Blazer
- Published
- April 9, 2024
We kicked off Frieze Los Angeles this year with a gathering at one of our most enduring homes, the Lew House, a Richard Neutra original in the Hollywood Hills. With Neutra’s simple geometry and airy spaces, as well as the home’s spectacular views across LA’s canyons and skyline, it was the ideal location for launching a week of conversation around art and design.
Our co-hosts for the event were Sight Unseen, one of our favorite sources for what’s new and next in design and the visual arts. The magazine, founded by Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer, focuses on independent makers working outside traditional disciplinary boundaries, an approach that’s very much aligned with what we do at Boutique. After the event wrapped, Boutique’s CEO Marc Blazer sat down for a conversation with Monica Khemsurov.
Photo: Matt Morris @mattmorrisfilms
Photo: Matt Morris @mattmorrisfilms
Marc Blazer: Last time we met, we were at Lew House. That was a fun night! Was that your first time in a Neutra home?
Monica Khemsurov: Yes, it was a fun night! And, apart from the VDL house, yes.
It’s quite a different experience from a museum, isn't it? The host who owns the house used to live there so her kids grew up there, and I love that it doesn't feel like a rental house. One thing we pride ourselves on at Boutique is that all of our homes are owned by individuals; they're not investment properties made for earning yield on real estate. These are real homes that tell a real story. It actually reminds me a little bit of your book How to Live with Objects because so many of our homes are furnished with the homeowners' passions displayed on the shelves and in the objects throughout the house.
I used to rent my place a few years ago, and I was always afraid that people would be like, “Oh, your stuff's everywhere.” But, funnily enough, I actually got a lot of reviews where people said, “Oh, she has such great things. It's so fun to live in such an eclectic apartment.” They would say, “Oh, this really feels like a local’s apartment.” And they liked that. So I was surprised!
You’ve said that objects give a place a soul.
I think places that don't have those things, they just don't feel very personal. When we were working on the book, it took us six months to find houses to shoot because there are a lot of houses that are beautifully designed but don't have any personal touches in them. An interior designer came in and made them pretty, and that was it. Then there are a lot of houses that have a lot of personal touches, but they aren't camera ready! It's great when you can find homes that have both.
When you travel, does that come into your consideration of where you want to stay?
When I look on travel platforms, I can tell from images where something looks, as you said, soulless, or like it's owned by a rental company. Then I think, “Okay, if it's owned by this soulless rental company and decorated with stuff from a big box store, why am I staying here? Why don't I just stay in a hotel?” And then other times, you can tell when a place has more of a design-minded vibe. I would say most rental homes don't have personal objects in them. But certain ones, you can at least tell that the person who owns the space has a point of view and is involved in the space, which I think is key.
"Anyone who has money can fill a house with things, but if it looks like a catalog or that you just bought it off the shelf, that's not the same as really having a point of view."
If there's one thing that I hope people take away from our curation, it's that there is a care about the objects in the home. It might not be somebody's heirloom, but there's always consideration.
Yes, and I think a lot of people who rent homes are going to be a little bit scared to rent with designer furniture. So I don't blame them for not always having a house full of designer stuff. But that's where I think vintage is a really nice alternative. Like, “I found this thing at a flea market or an auction, and it's really beautiful. Okay, it's not worth $10,000, it's worth $300.” I think that's like a nice way of resolving that problem, so you still have a space that's interesting and looks like it's got a vibe or personality, and you're also not worried about everything getting destroyed!
What do you look for when you furnish your own place?
I keep my furniture on the simple side because I am a complete object maniac. I dress the same way too. I make my clothing more exciting with jewelry, and then in my house, I have a lot of objects. I am always looking for things that are unusual. I like things that are a little bit weird, or that don't look like anyone else would have them. When you walk in, you'd never say, “Oh, I recognize that!” You'd be like, “What the hell, where did that come from?” My favorite thing is telling people, “Oh, that came from a thrift store, and it was $4.” Because it's so beautiful, and you would never know.
Photo: Matt Morris @mattmorrisfilms
How do you square your obsession with vintage with Sight Unseen, which is all about what's next?
I would say that I'm probably Sight Unseen's resident vintage-obsessed person! I've always been that way. I wrote the vintage chapter in our book. But you don't really have to think of them as separate because the contemporary designers or design styles that are most relevant, or of the moment, often draw inspiration from movements or aesthetics of the past. And there's always some sort of through line. So I might not be able to afford a $20,000 sofa or a $5,000 table, but I can always find things that reference the aesthetics that I'm interested in, even though they might be by an anonymous designer from the past.
In the book, we talk about how you don't have to make a distinction between a designer piece and an anonymous piece, or something that's expensive and something that's cheap. And one of my favorite moments in the book is when we talk about all these famous collectors from the past who would put their original Matisse painting next to a stick they found in their backyard. And that's the most interesting point of view, because the thing is, anyone who has money can fill a house with things, but if it looks like a catalog or that you just bought it off the shelf, that's not the same as really having a point of view that encompasses more of an eclectic perspective.
I think it takes confidence to be able to say, “Okay, I'm going to put a stick next to my Matisse,” right?
The people who had the strongest point of view, in terms of their style, were all like that. That's honestly what makes someone a style icon, that they have enough confidence not to play by the rules or do the expected thing, but they pull it off.
Photo: Oskar Proktor @oskar.proctor
Photo: Clement Pascal @cgbp
When I think about style icons, I always think about the past. But who's a style icon today where you say, “Oh, that person, they've got it”?
MK: That's such a big honor to bestow on someone! I think most design gallerists tend to be style icons, because they're curating and have a point of view. For example, Jermaine Gallacher in London. We really like his perspective and point of view. He’s a risk taker style-wise, which I think is an important part of the equation, but he also just has a really cool aesthetic.
And then, in the States, we really love the work of the designer Giancarlo Valle. He's an interior designer, but he's one of those people where everything he makes and everything he does is just super aspirational, and everything just looks right. When someone nails it every time, I guess that’s the recipe for a style icon. I would also say Jim Walrod, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. He was a trendsetter in the design world, and he was a vintage dealer. He united those two threads of past and present.
I have an 18-year-old daughter, and I don't think she has stepped foot in a mass retailer since she was dressed in Gap Kids. We were in Paris two weeks ago, and there were two places she wanted to go: Les Puces, the flea markets, and very cool little vintage stores in Le Marais. She didn't want to go to all the fancy French luxury brands. She had no interest in those. When you're traveling and you want to bring something home, where do you go?
I'm planning a trip this summer to Europe, and I have to go to Copenhagen for work, but then I'm going to Berlin to visit my friends. I literally planned my schedule so I could go to the flea market two weekends instead of one. It's always part of my planning and consideration. That's because when I'm home with my objects, that’s how I remember these trips and these memories. I'm sitting on the couch, and I have 10 things I'm looking at every day. To me, it's always tied to place, and it's always going to be a flea market find.
Photo: @lama_r__
Photo: Joe Kramm @joeinstakramm
What's the strangest thing you've ever brought back on a plane?
From Mexico City, I brought back an insanely heavy lamp with a blown glass base. It's a sculptural chunk of glass and it weighed so much, but I took it back because I was obsessed with it. And I basically stuck it in my suitcase. My suitcase weighed so much, and I lugged it back home and put new wiring, a new plug, a new shade, everything, and I'm so excited. I think it was like $6 or something, but I had to put a lot of effort in!
I also brought back this wooden sculpture of an old man, just like a strange hand-carved old man wearing purple pants and a blue shirt, and he sits on my desk next to me when I'm working on my computer. I love him. He's so weird.
So, what's exciting you at the moment in the world of design? What are you inspired by?
We've always been excited about people who are inventing their own materials or their own making processes in their studios. But I think it’s also exciting to see what young or new or contemporary talents are doing with a traditional material, bringing a new spin to it. For a while it was ceramics, then it was glass, and now we feel like it's metal.
Are there any particular artists that you're interested in?
There's one in Mexico City, Alana Burns, and we've been following her Instagram forever. She makes really, really gorgeous metal jewelry under the name La ma r, and little utensils and vessels where she works with stone and shells, embedded in metal. She just had a show at The Future Perfect in LA during Frieze, and I love her work.
There are some makers in London who’re metal workers. Barnaby Lewis is doing amazing things, and EJR Barnes, he’s another London designer working in metal that we love. Then there's also a guy who does really fun stuff in LA called theperfectnothingcatalog. He welds semi-precious stones to standard off-the-shelf objects. So, he'll buy beer steins that look like he got them at the dollar store, but he'll encrust them in jewels.
To discover more of Monica’s favorite objects and makers, follow Sight Unseen here.
READ: How to Live with Objects
STAY: Lew House
FOLLOW: Jermaine Gallacher, Giancarlo Valle, Alana Burns, La ma r, The Future Perfect, EJR Barnes, theperfectnothingcatalog
