Art To Live With #1: Josh & Matt in Melbourne
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Hi Josh! Hi Matt! To begin, please tell our Third Drawer Down community a little bit about yourselves. Who are you, and what do you do?
Hey guys! We are Josh & Matt, two artists and content creators based in Melbourne. Our adventure as artists began when Covid first hit, and we went into lockdown in Sydney; it really forced us to reflect on our lives and what we wanted to do. We both realised we love art and colour and decided to go for it, jumping into the deep end, learning and experimenting with colour and art as much as possible. We loved how free creating made us feel, so we made a move to Melbourne at the beginning of 2021 with a dream of becoming full-time artists and designers. We decided to share this journey, our apartment, art and designs on TikTok and Instagram, and it all began to take off very quickly. Before we knew it, we were working full time on our art and sharing it with an audience from all across the globe! It’s been an amazing journey, and we love being able to share our creativity with so many wonderful people!
The apartment is so fantastic, guys, a super-colourful oasis high above Melbourne’s CBD; how do you describe the style of your home?
Thank you very much! Being in lockdown was really our turning point of experimentation and asking ourselves what our ideal oasis would look like now that spending time in our apartment was a large chunk of our lives. We’d say the overarching theme would be curated maximalism, with eclectic decor and design elements from the postmodern era, retro-futurism, pop art. Believe it or not, we used to have no colour in our apartment besides the occasional brown here and there. Now it feels like we live in our own personal art gallery surrounded by objects of affection.
What draws you to a particular piece of décor? What kind of qualities does it have to have?
It can be quite a varied and often surprising experience when we are drawn to something! We love a lot of colour, interesting textures, organic shapes and materiality that will last a lifetime. That being said, we think the most important aspect of choosing or finding the next piece for our collection is the feeling an object may give you. If something makes us smile or the colours bring joy, you can’t go wrong with it! Decor is about expressing yourself, and it can be such a rewarding experience finding those special items.
What’s more important: form or function?
Form and function are great together, but we don’t believe it’s necessary to merge both all the time. Breaking the rules can result in really interesting and out of the box ideas! We love Gufram and Memphis Milano and think these design powerhouses are great examples of form and function not having to meet to make an impact. It’s about your own personal relationship with design, and if you weigh form over function or vice versa, that’s completely fine! The world would be quite boring if everyone thought the same. :P
How important is Art in your life, and what role does it play?
Art has played a huge role in completely changing our lives. When Covid first swept across the world (and even as it continues to impact us today), we felt quite concerned and hopeless. But art and imagination were the things Covid couldn’t take away from us. Every day and night in lockdown, we’d be sketching, painting, throwing ideas around, upcycling, just a stream of constant creation, and it really helped us see how important creativity and art is for the world! Art is one of the longest and most widespread forms of language and communication there is, and we believe it will always play a huge role in humanity. We are constantly working on new designs, creating, and exploring new ideas, so we really are just surrounded by art and live in art; We wouldn’t have it any other way.
We love that you picked our Louise Bourgeois fine bone china dinner plates to showcase, she was famous for hosting dinners at her house post-gallery openings in New York, you know; what made you choose these pieces from our collections in particular?
We love the idea that art can be in everything. And for us, these Louise Bourgeois dinner plates demonstrated that. We loved the story behind how these designs came to fruition. It’s art that you can both display or use, and we love that about these plates! Plus, the design is so beautiful that it fits right into all the colour in our apartment.
And on that note, let’s talk dinner parties; what are your tips for a great dinner table setting?
Have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to layer the heck out of your table settings and add interesting conversation starters to the centre. That way, it sets the tone, encourages fun, and you’ll all be conversing all night! Our go-to is burning some of our lava candles as a centrepiece; the colourful wax flow is always a great conversation starter and sets the mood for a lot of fun ahead!
What are your favourite things to cook/make/serve up?
A good salad! We think that’s one of the most essential dishes to make as it can really compliment anything else you serve up quite nicely. Plus, salads always look pretty on the table, haha.
What’s on the playlist?
Anything instrumental, really, our go-to playlist is lo-fi jazz vibes, always a great way to unwind after a big day!
If you could curate your dream guest list, which well-known people of the moment and from history, would you invite to the table?
Oooh, this is hard; there are so many people. Definitely Verner Panton, Zaha Hadid, Kelly Wearstler, Rihanna, Albert Einstein and Anna Wintour. We think that would be a very interesting dinner party!
Shop our Dinner Party edit here
Shop our Fine Bone China Plates x Louise Bourgeois here
Find Josh & Matt on TikTok talking more about their Louise Bourgeois table setting here
And you can follow Josh & Matt here
