On stage were two chairs, two microphones and two very different people.
Using this simple approach, the Hammer Museum has hosted more than 100 hourlong, lecture-style installments of its Hammer Conversations series, including last week’s session, which brought together fashion designer and photographer Scott Sternberg and journalist and culinary author Kevin West.
The two talked about the overlap between food and fashion.
Speakers from all walks of life are invited to participate in the series and engage in unscripted and unprepared dialogue, which does not always end up focusing on what the audience might expect. Instead, the free-flowing chats give the speakers a chance to talk in a fresh and unrestrained way. The dialogue is followed by a question and answer session, which provides for an impromptu, engaging discussion.
West said that people tend to think that food and fashion are distinct and don’t have much in common.
“They are subject to the same climactic shifts,” West said, noting that both food and fashion fads respond to changes in location and popular trends.
But according to the two speakers, cultural changes are not the only thing that unites the two seemingly different worlds.
Because people more easily relate to things they are familiar with, like past fashion trends and home-cooked meals, Sternberg said that nostalgia is an important part of both style and cuisine. Feelings of authentic nostalgia are something that he is passionate about and incorporates into his work.
Sternberg’s fashion campaigns use Polaroid-style photographs, which add a vintage touch to his advertising while connecting the buyer to the styles being shown.
“In terms of fashion, that touch of nostalgia is my way of enticing people. It’s where the emotion really comes into play,” Sternberg said.
Nostalgia plays an integral role in West’s work as well.
The recipes in his cookbook, “Saving the Season: A cook’s guide to canning, pickling, and preserving,” reflect his Tennessee roots. Childhood photographs and stories of recipe origins accompany the 220 recipes. Combined with quotations from childhood characters like Paddington Bear, West attempts to relate to the reader with nostalgic references.
The talk also took a more personal turn as Sternberg and West both spoke about various moments in their careers.
Both took the opportunity to rethink their aspirations and set off in new directions. These changes sprouted from the same thing – slight dissatisfaction and a bit of unhappiness.
West and Sternberg both left their steady industry jobs to pursue self-driven projects. Upon leaving his job at the Creative Artists Agency, Sternberg founded the clothing line Band of Outsiders. Similarly, after 13 years as a writer at W Magazine, West left in 2010 to work on his cookbook.
“Our distinct shifts in career paths didn’t seem to make sense, but proved successful. It goes to show that you can make for yourself the work you want to do, even if it seems unexpected,” West said. “There’s no secret code – just put in the hours, put in the work.”
The Hammer Conversations series is a place where dialogue, education and entertainment intersect, said Darin Klein, public programs associate at the Hammer Museum.
“The series allows a personal look that you don’t normally get. You can read an interview with a person. But this is very immediate, off the cuff. It allows an opportunity to ask questions, to really see them in a candid and unguarded way,” Klein said.
This opportunity to be in such an intimate and forthright setting is what appealed to Brook Wiers, a science teacher at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. Having recently relocated from Jersey City, N.J., Wiers came to the event hoping to better connect with his new home in Los Angeles.
“I was looking for intellectual exposure to the ideas that are being discussed in this city,” Wiers said. “I found that the conversation tonight was very fresh and unfettered, as both West and Sternberg were very open to discussing their personal motivations and ideas.”