It’s a Brooklyn kind of day today. If you’ve had the opportunity to visit the borough and see one of the many collective design shows held there over the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the work of Matt Gagnon. For us, it’s his Paper Table that made the indelible impression, a recycled paper magazine rack made of the stuff it holds. It’s not surprising he demonstrated sculptural ability at a young age… SMK

Paper Side Table.

When did you decide to become a designer?
I have been interested in making things. By the end of junior high school I decided I wanted to study Architecture.

Things in general? Was there a specific area of design you were interested at a young age?
Not really. I did not know about areas of design. I just liked building things. I tried making vases out of broken dishes from my dishwasher job in high school. I built sculptures out of scrap wood and hid them around our back yard. When I was younger I made lots furniture, toys, art pieces and worked construction. Now I distinguish between things for myself and things for others. I am selective about what I show others. For myself I am an easy client.

Where do you do most of your design work?
In my studio. But I am always carrying around some project in my head.

Do you ever have one of those "ah ha!" moments, where you'll figure out some type of solution to one of your designs in progress? Or does it usually happen in your studio?
I suppose it happens anywhere. Often it is in the studio simply because I am in the studio so much.

Where, or from what, do you get inspiration for your work?
Everything and everywhere. The more places I look for ideas the more excited I am about my work.

Grid Wall.

Based on work you've already completed, can you give me some examples of what inspired some of the pieces?
SqueezeLamp: weaving, knitting and the construction industry. The lamp is made from a 2 inch piece repeated in such a way to create a large textural object that obscures the individual part. In the same way buildings are assembled from units. I am trying to develop techniques for making dynamic forms without the need of highly skilled craftsmen or computers that could be translated into the construction industry. Ultimately I see the squeeze lamp as a model for a tall building. The screen and the grid wall fall into this category as well. acrylic lamps: The on and off of various floors of skyscrapers at night. paper table: The stone formations of monument valley in Arizona and a poetic idea of the lifecycle of materials - the magazines that the table holds complete the form of the recycled block of paper

What is your favorite part of the design process and why?
After an initial concept, I produce many, many studies. During this process there are unexpected ideas that arise by working through all the necessary issues. The unexpected ideas are the most rewarding and the reason to follow through with the months of work it takes to realize a project.

Has any unexpected idea sprung from one project, didn't make it to the final cut, but then morphed into another project? Maybe something you worked on later down the road?
Yes projects are always informing each other. The ceramic lamp started as an investigation into making 3d forms out of flat surfaces such as in a baseball, (although the leather in a baseball is stretched to form a more perfect sphere). We made several prototypes for spherical lamps made from rolled up flat stock. The acrylic and resin Ball Lamp is one of the iterations from this study. But the seam between the two materials was never satisfactory. After staring at the cardboard models for the Ball Lamp for about a year I decided that the form and the way it could play with light was more interesting than the idea of its construction. So we proceeded with casting the form in ceramic.

Ceramic lamp.

How would you label/categorize your work?
In progress.

At what point, if any, do you feel you will be able to have a defined style?
I am not interested in defining a style. Other people may see a style in my work. But I want my work to concern itself with the development of ideas and concepts that create interesting spaces and objects. The idea of honing a visual aesthetic does not interest me. Ultimately, one's work may tend to look similar, but that is not a goal of mine.

What's next?
Tentatively a collaboration with artist Fritz Welch on a public drawing project at the World Financial Center in NYC early September. The artist's idea for the event is a blind drawing meditation. I am designing a structure that allows the public to create drawings without looking. The drawings will become part of a larger piece Fritz Welch is creating. The development is still in progress... so I don't have anything to share yet. But the event is through the River to River festival and their website is rivertorivernyc.com/events

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VITAL STATS
Full name: Matt Gagnon
Location: Brooklyn New York
Size of team: 3
In business since: 2002
Claim to fame projects: ?
Spare time: my 6 month old son

MEDIA FAVES
Favorite website(s): nytimes.com and kcrw.com
What music is on your iPod or radio? Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, My Morning Jacket, Steven
Your favorite magazine(s): Metropolis
Last or current book you are reading: Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World by Haruki Murakami
Last movie you saw: Good Night And Good Luck