Luncheon #9
We are quickly adapting to the virtual interview: whether the ubiquitous laptop view on TV, the tinny sound of Skype on the radio, or a passing reference in a written story, the intimacy of spending fact to face time with a subject has disappeared for now.
Which makes this week’s arrival of the ninth issue of Luncheon the perfect treat. Built around the idea of time spent together, over lunch, this large-format celebration of art and culture presents long form transcriptions of conversations.
Record executive Ferdy Unger-Hamilton talks music with Baxter Dury in South Kensington, and we hear how Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis is apparently ‘just like Mr Burns.’ Design writer Emily King (who leads the recent Fantastic Man paean to Rem Koolhaas) meets NY film maker/activist Linda Goode Bryant, who discusses thoughts of obsolescence as success.
Perhaps best of all, photographer Mike Owen talks to designer Roland Mouret about the photographer/surrealist Angus McBean, who Owen used to assist.
These are long interviews, giving participants the time to show their character above and beyond the cut and thrust of their exchanges. Reading, you feel like you’re sat at the next table earwigging someone else's lunchtime encounter. No attempt is made to soften the extent of the conversations – they are proudly wordy in content and design.
As well as giving such space to the written, Luncheon has plenty of time for the visual too, and a highlight here is a ‘Table For One,’ a charmingly daft fashion story shot by Annie Collinge, with models styled as food (above).
Luncheon is always a rich, timeless experience, and this latest issue offers an ideal serving of satisfying comfort food for the lockdown.
Editor-in-chief and creative director: Frances von Hofmannsthal
Art director: Giulia Garbin