Setting up a retail shop after establishing yourself as a successful motion and still photographer takes a certain leap of faith. But for Charlie Schuck, who runs a nascent design store in Seattle, Washington, it seemed like the logical next step. “The space was born out of an affinity with things my friends were making,” he says of his new role as merchant.
Located on 2nd Avenue in Seattle’s Belltown district, Object consists of 280 square metres of low-rent space, with a small anteroom at the back accessed by a set of spiral steps.
With its double-height ceilings and all-white walls and floors, the store displays its wares like a gallery. An assortment of objects – like tiny triangular white-and-grey flags for decorating cakes, or fortune cookies made of porcelain – is laid out in rows across low-lying plinths, and there’s no sign of a cash register.
Schuck’s curated inventory boasts exceptionally well-made conceptual works, many by Seattle artists like Grain and Iacoli & McAllister. It also features various refined pieces by Japanese designer Oji Masnora, including a countertop knife stand made of polished brass; and artisan Hidetoshi Takahashi, who makes beautiful coffee mugs hand-crafted out of turned Castor Aralia wood.
There are also furniture pieces valued at several thousands of dollars, like the upright Eillers grand piano, built in 1916, that’s described on the shop’s online store as a “found object.”
Schuck has an elegant eye for detailed arrangements, a skill he says he inherited from his mother and his picture-taking career. “As a photographer, I’m always rearranging things,” he says. The plan is to make Object a hub of various creative activities. The location is also the office for Object magazine, an annual print publication with will also have an online presence.
Object is located at 2316 2nd Avenue, Seattle, Washington. Open Thurs to Sat 1-7pm, and by appointment.