Tom Sachs Deconstructs Frank Ocean’s Stage Set
Stuart Brumfitt interviews Tom Sachs about his contributions to Frank's stage design for Amuse, i-D/Vice's lifestyle arm.
Tom Sachs created the Demi-Endless speaker that appears in the warehouse where Endless was filmed. Tom Sachs also asked Frank to be involved in his video for NIKECraft film The Hero's Journey.
From the interview:
And how involved were you in the whole stage design, or just certain elements?
I guess Frank and I are friends, so we just talked about stuff, but I wasn’t directly involved in the stage design. I do remember talking about a disco ball at some point. There are other people – I know Spike’s [Jonze] involved with the video projection stuff and the graffiti I didn’t do [it all], but I worked on a little bit. I think that was done more by the community at large. Different people pitched in and did that – I don’t think it was one artist. Frank and I did some doodles and Spike and a bunch of other people did some drawings and they took it to the next level. I’m not exactly sure!How did Frank Ocean get into your work?
I’m not really sure how Frank discovered what I do, but I know that he’s interested in all kinds of different things in art. But I certainly love what he does. I’ve met a lot of interesting people over the years who are experts in their fields – from artists to musicians and scientists – and it’s always really gratifying when they appreciate my work and I appreciate theirs. I think Frank’s a special case because he’s breaking some new ground in a unique way and he doesn’t get caught up as much as some of the other artists in the over-producing to meet the market’s demand. He’s keeping his axe razor sharp. As long as he sticks with that, he’s got a formula for a long and healthy career, making great stuff, so I think this new record is even better than the last one. He’s on it. So it was fun to make that boombox for him.
