What do you do?
YM: Fake I.D. is actively involved in both the Art and Design realms, and we produce a variety of independent publications and hybrid activities.
What's the difference between an office and a studio?
JT: Intention. It's a semantic game that North Americans have mastered the art of...creating ideological realities through language manipulation. Home
office, Studio apartment, and so on...
How do you physically use your work space? Psychologically?
JT: Our storefront is divided in three areas that reflect the design process: concept, design and production. The concept area is where we hold meetings and come up with ideas. It faces the street, so it doubles as an exhibition space where we do installations. The design area is also partly viewable from the street, through a built-in "reception window", giving a behind-the-scenes peek to passersby. And hidden from the public is the workshop, where testing, cutting, gluing, and other production is performed.
Psychologically, these architectural divisions structure our workflow.
What do you think the studio says about your creative philosophy?
JT: Economy of means.
Is there a particular object or trinket in the work space which inspires
you? Why?
YM: In our "reception window" rests a little plaque that reads "Receptionist". I'm stationed behind the window, and a lot of people walk in and treat me like a receptionist, assuming we're an art gallery or furniture boutique.
They're confused by the contradictory props: the mural on the wall, the camping stools, the bunkbed icon on the door, the toy grenade, and most of all, the receptionist plaque.
We enjoy keeping 'em guessing. I find it humorous how imprisoned we are by preconceived roles like designer, artist, professional, etc.
Define the ideal work studio for the future.
YM: There is this annoying tendency for clients to judge a designer's capabilities according to the amount of technological gadgets we surround ourselves with. So I think the ideal and most liberating studio would be no studio at all. No physical headquarters. I'd like Fake I.D. to operate more like a mobile visual department. Eventually intercontinental travel will be inexpensive and time-efficient enough, that say, if a client in Italy is interested in our work, we'll just pack our laptops and move there for the duration of the project.
Yvan Martinez & Joshua Trees interviewed by SK Lam for IdN, Studios issue, Hong Kong, 2001