The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday February 9th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday February 9th — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Monday February 9th — —

Inspirations — Moritz Firchow

The super inspirational Mannheim-based creative studio Deutsche & Japaner was formed in 2009 by Moritz Firchow, David Wolpert, Ina Yamaguchi and Julian Zimmerman: working in the field of graphic, product and interior design with a rich and highly aesthetic style. Since their start we’ve always been a big fan of their multidisciplinary work. The studio focuses on communication, regardless of its physical condition, environmental, haptical or visual, but always in regard of sustainable experiences, which over the course of the last years resulted in incredible free work, which blends smoothly with commissioned assignments. Next to Moritz’ endeavors under the Deutsche & Japaner flag, he has also been running another important source of inspiration named Arcademi; an online publication focusing on (autonomous) creative work from all over the world. To which he added two other amazing projects in 2012; Aesthetics Habitat, through which content is created in collaboration with brands and creative visionaries with thrilling results so far, and lastly in the same year he co-founded a distinguished winery named Love Me Los Angeles, together with wine-expert Katharina Riess, Florian Breimesser. Having been constantly inspired by the creative mind of Moritz, we now ask him about his – general – inspirations.

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Please introduce yourself.
My name is Moritz Firchow, I am founder and partner of Deutsche & Japaner Creative Studio, Arcademi.com, Aestheticshabitat.com and Love me Los Angeles.

Who is the most inspiring person in history and why?
Lord?!

Who is the most inspiring person in your life and why?
Good Lord?! Seriously, my family & friends and definitely my partners and colleagues.

Who do you consider the most inspiring photographer?
You mean like ever, forever ever, forever ever?
Robert Mapplethorpe. I’d love to mention more.

And the photograph that will always stay in your mind?

Let’s go with the first one that came to my mind, a picture of me and my parents sitting in a restaurant when I was about 3 years old. It is just perfect.

Who for you is the most inspiring artist?
Life is about the marvelousness of diversity, there are many artists I really appreciate, each for another reason.

A few names for your satisfaction: Georg Pfahler, Olivier Kosta-Théfaine, Albert Oehlen, Isa Genzken, Alicja Kwade, Thorsten Brinkmann, Tauba Auerbach, Swyndle & Hawks, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Cosima, Jeff, George, Henry, Seth and so on …

And what is the most inspiring music?
Music to driveby.

The thing you never go without?

My Seamaster and a bracelet I received as a gift from Togbe Ngoryifia Céphas Kosi Bansah, king of the Gbi Traditional area of Hohoe, Ghana. It was sanctified by Voodoo priests and is a serious lucky charm for me.

Your favorite city?
Zurich

Your favorite hideout?
Under water

The website you often check?
There is naturally many, Qompendium.com, Contemporaryartdaily.com or dazeddigital.com, just to name a few.

The books on your coffee table?
Adrian Frutiger – ‘Schriften: Das Gesamtwerk’
Beni Bischof – ‘Psychobuch’
Robert Heinecken – ‘Object Matter’

The books on your bedside table?
‘Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece’ by Gustav Schwab
Martin Kordic – ‘Wie ich mir das Glück vorstelle’
Antonia Baum – ‘Ich wuchs auf einem Schrottplatz auf, wo ich lernte, mich von Radkappen und Stoßstangen zu ernähren’

What is your dream?
Getting on track at a LeMans Classic race someday.

What would you do if you could start all over again?

Try to stay more relaxed in troublesome times, but pretty much all the same.
It would be a shame to miss out on all those beautiful mistakes.

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Portrayed with the interview is a selection of some of the recent work from the different platforms operated by Moritz. Created by Deutsche & Japaner: the incredible book ‘Absolute New York’, and the branding for fashion label Dorothee Schumacher. From Aesthetics Habitat: the ‘Nike + R.T.’ campaign together with Studio Amos Fricke, the most recent project focussing on Love Me Los Angeles together with Matthias Weingaertner and finally the most recent imagery for the Love Me Los Angeles Pinot Noir 2009. So many amazing projects!

(And sorry for pushing it a little bit with the generality of the questions, Moritz!)

Make sure to follow Deutsche & Japaner, Arcademi, Aesthetics Habitat and Love me Los Angeles and everything Moritz will come up with in the future!