“Times of New York,” Josee Lepage and Tobias Wong
When asked about the defining characteristic of their decade-plus of collaborating, the curator and designer Josee Lepage describes her relationship with Tobias Wong as, “Consistent.” From the time Wong first came to show Lepage, then the Creative Director for Cite, his student portfolio, the two began to make plans. Lepage and Wong had an ongoing professional and personal dialogue that translated into the inclusion of work for Lepage’s collection of design objects, Zweimineral, and commissaries gallery as well as collaborations for various projects and exhibitions including Cappellini x Pappabubble (2009), Japan C (2008), As Long As it Lasts (2007), Wong’s Wrong Store (2007), All I Want is More (2006) and “Waterrr” (2006). Here, Josee Lepage shares memories of Tobias and gives us a sneak peek on their most recent collaboration, “The Times of New York,” a special tribute piece for BrokenOff BrokenOff.
Core77: What was it about Tobias’ work, or was it him as a person, that first drew you to him?
Josee Lepage: It was about him! He was harassing me! He was coming every week to show me his portfolio but I really liked the work. At the time, I knew he was in school, so I didn’t know if those projects were related to school or not. But he was coming every week to show me his book, and he would, like, change the display I just did in the store. I don’t know what else to tell you other than, he struck me.
You two collaborated over a large period of time—on multiple projects spanning different geographies. What was special about your collaborative relationship?
It was the consistency, the same way he was consistent when he wanted something. And the fact that we knew each other for so long and we never really lost contact. It made it easier for both of us to collaborate together and to support each other. Even if we weren’t collaborating, he was advising me on things and I would advise him. It was this very easy, natural way of working together from, I guess, day one. So, when I moved back to New York, a couple of years ago, it was really even more collaboration. We really got into bigger projects together. He also collaborated with other people as well, but it seems like the last maybe four years we did a lot together.
Tobias Wong and Josee Lepage in Japan for Japan C
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