Three years after White Gold, came a collaboration with Murano glass maker Venini where we did an audacious intervention in the processes used to make various iconic pieces of blown glass. We stopped the work at mid-point, and our full-gallery installation was revelatory of their hidden process. The photo above is of both a finished bowl and of the bowl in process. The result was another a dramatic repositioning of a company.

In 2005, we mounted a large scale exhibition called The 180 Year Waltz which was pivotal in repositioning the famed Austrian glass company Lobmeyr. And over the next several years, we did similar exhibitions with similar results for Moser, Meissen, KPM, Richard Ginori, Manufacture Nationale de Sevres and Baccarat.

Our experience with such clients recently is that we are often hired based on our established expertise, such as retail or curatorial experience, and once contracted and working, we are asked for a wider scope of services. We believe this is directly related to the processes described above and to a demonstration of expertise in related categories.

 We have a wealth of embedded knowledge and informed opinions, about product design, research, marketing, the market, and partnerships, resulting from our many years in this business, and we are able to interpret and apply that knowledge into actionable advice to a broad range of clients. At base, we are a reliable and savvy sounding board, and more interaction leads to the delivery of greater direction.

The photograph above, for example, is of the burning of very recognizable pieces of furniture. When we met Maarten Baas, just graduated from Eindhoven with his idea to reshape existing furniture by remaking it with flame, we advised him to burn pieces that were important to people, rather than anonymous vintage furniture. And that was what his solo exhibition at MOSS consisted of.

When Swarovski initiated its radical Crystal Palace plan to invite designers to create chandeliers from their crystals, MOSS's strong advocacy and extraordinary displays helped lead to an expansion of the plan and its eventual integration into the company’s product line.

RETAIL CURATION

MOSS was an internationally recognized, groundbreaking design retail operation for nearly twenty years. There were many attempts to break the code of our success but we guarded our secrets rigorously, as anyone who ever tried to take a photograph in the store, or even a note, quickly learned.

However, the experience gained from those years, as well as the validation or adaptation, of retail philosophy, policy and operational expertise is what underlies the retail oriented consulting services we offer now, which range from concept formation, to vendor and product sourcing, to display review and re-design. 

One of the most remarked upon aspects of the Moss store was its display. We were intent upon delivering a narrative, where one piece would "speak to" another. Items were never displayed together based on function.

It was with an eye trained to maximize the potential of existing materials and pieces, and to provide expert and knowledgeable guidance as to what should be added, taken away or moved to a new position.  Every wall is a canvas, every floor. Every lamp is a source. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is ignored.

Our curatorial expertise extends also into residential, though most of our residential clients were familiar with the curatorial direction of the gallery. Often there were renderings that would make that direction clear.