Name: Yoktan
Location: East Village
Size: 400 sqft
Favorite: The high quality of building materials and skill that went into this apartment even though it was built as a tenement.
"I like to convert things," says Yoktan. This is not an understatement. Yoktan, through his mere 400 square feet of real estate, takes us through the entire industrial age and into the 1950's in both France and the United States. Items are on display but they often serve a function as well...
Yoktan moved into the former tenement apartment this past summer. He has been working diligently since then to actively achieve a curated space. He removed linoleum from the floor and will be stripping the paint off all the door frames. He hired a contractor to expose brick on one whole side of the apartment, reseal the floors, and paint.
Even though almost all of his belongings are acquired rather than bought, the results are more particular than many people's purchased assemblages. Sometimes, people end up buying something they don't really want or even like. Yoktan has a keen eye for discarded materials. He knows what would work in his apartment and only takes home those things. Some objects wait patiently to get a prime display spot, while others are integrated immediately. For example, there are some 1940's ice trays that await transformation, whereas the oddly shaped maroon colored formica covered plywood is currently serving as a cantilevered coffee table within a pre-existing ladder. (see the slideshow).
Yoktan, one might say, has a perversion for objects. He is drawn to some objects to the point of having empathy for them. In order to save them from a landfill and obscurity, he turns them into something useful or uses them to make a worthy and notable contribution to his decor. While looking through the photos and the video, you will notice certain themes--the refrigerator, the 60's color palette, and creative storage alternatives.
Like many curbside shoppers, Yoktan's habits developed out of an inability to afford more conventional methods of acquisition. It pains him, now that he can afford to buy stuff, that he will occasionally succumb. He struggles with the pull in both directions.
Yoktan says his objects define his style. I think this is true to a certain extent, but I also think that he has a subconscious filter that lets in certain objects, colors, and styles, and keeps out others. He enjoys the limitations posed by decorating an apartment in this way and maintains an admirable patience and skill while doing so. It is a work in progress that will likely continue as such.
Yoktan's tips:
1. Use clear caulking to fill big gaps in old floor boards. The polyurethane seal is insufficient for this purpose.
2. When removing layers and layers of paint, use Peel Away #7. He has been experimenting with various methods of removal and this seems to work best. As opposed to scraping the paint off, the stripper will not cause paint chips (often lead filled paint chips) to fly around your apartment. Rather, it turns the paint into goo which you can then wipe away. It is also a much faster process.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Um, that part about the asian wood over the kitchen bathtub when "not in use"?? Is that for real? Does he actually bathe there? I can't figure out how that would even be possible in that little space below the cabinets?
And did he rescue a special stepstool to get in the thing??
it is the only bathtub in the apartment. There are still plenty of apts in NY that have the same situation. The only difference is that these days, more people belong to gyms with showers.
His place is awesome. Reminds me of my old apartments. I love making every corner a work of art by making do. When my place looked like that I could spends days in it not wanting to leave. I would just keep working on it.
You might want to blur out the numbers on the shot of the files. He appears to be holding a bill or invoice of some sort
Bathtub: Those things work damn well - because they're deep, you don't wind up splashing water outside. And they can hold a 250lb 6'7" person easy (I had a friend that size bathe in it a few times).
You don't need a step-ladder if you can lift your leg to your waist.
Ingenious use of space and items. Reminds me of where I grew up - only we shared a tub with the neighbors - total working class NY.
It seems this is a person with a true artist's heart and soul and that's a good thing to see these days. The red is wonderful. He seems to have an awesome sense of respect for his surroundings.
Upon further review of the photos, it occurs to me that there are several shots that in themselves could be bound in a volume of urban still life. The switchplates, the freezer doors, etc. The freezer doors in particular could easily be a museum exhibit. Yoktan: consider doing a book of photos close up and from various angles in addition to what I see here. Its a history unto itself and quite beautiful. Even the photo with the painter's tape and the framed wall with the peeling paint - its more than just interesting.
If you do "succumb" to buying other things, preserve all of this. The colors and themes are incredible. Good luck.
It is refreshing to see this after seeing the loft that was up yesterday. Nice balance of life.
Please tell me you are going to recruit this homeowner for SSBS! Another example of how one doesn't have to give up cultivated collections to live in a small space.
I am particularly partial to the old freezer doors on the kitchen wall, and the typewriter keys in a coffee urn. Thank you for sharing.
....ditto, Jennifer.
Yoktan, your place has SO much personality! You have taken other people's junk and made it into beautiful and/or useful parts of your home environment.
Thanks for all your comments - it is really nice to be able to share these things.
Doing this AT visit has had 2 significant results.
One is that it has brought me to verbalize my approach to these things and gain a better sense of why I do this. Being a nomad with no firm origin, inscribing myself in the lineage of an object is one of the fundamental ways I have of engaging culture. Since I don't have a family town or an ancient anthem, I spread roots by taking in these drifting abandoned objects full of history and seek to both recognize/honor that history whilst breathing new life into it.
The other thing which this AT visit has prompted is further work on some significant pieces. I don't know if I can submit new photos, but I will take some and see.
In the meantime, if you really like my freezer doors, here is my Paris collection:
http://yoktan.com/flat/pages/PICT0262.html
Yoktan...I LOVE your work! It's beautiful and it does what I want to do all the time--it rescues lost and abandoned things. It sounds as if that isn't your main purpose. (I'm trying to think of a way to describe my ideas about things without sounding pretentious or new agey. I have never tried it and I can't do it yet.)
Where do you get Peel Away #7? What is it and who makes it?
Thank you for showing us that Paris collection. Please post more of your work.
A bath in the kitchen so practical we had one in our first apartment forty years ago. Babies could play in the bath while food was prepared.
Great stuff, Yoktan! Love the display of freezer doors.
Do you own, or rent?
We have brick tenement walls with an inch of paint on them, too. (Click on my name for a picture.)
We're in the process of interviewing contractors to strip the brick walls and replaster some of the plaster ones. We were advised that we would have to get most of our stuff out of there and stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks, so getting the work done will be contingent on when we can get ourselves and stuff out for a couple of weeks.
Why don't I like this place??? I feel bad that I'm apparently the only one who doesn't like it, and usually I LOVE found art collections, etc. ... but this place bothers me for some reason ... seems more clutter than collection. I think it's the office area ... especially the wall with the shelves and tools and stuff ... it just looks like my parent's garage ... I don't know what I'm supposed to be focusing on in that space ... since there are so many different things, it just looks like a bunch of stuff to me.
I do like some parts of this place ... like the freezer doors and the switchplates, and I like how he playfully mixed up uses of the bathroom/kitchen stuff ... but on a whole, I wish he would've hid some of his utilitarian stuff so you could REALLY see the edited collections of stuff. I especially hate seeing all the stuff under the tub.
But I realize I'm in the minority here ...
You're not alone ridge. I too live in a studio of around 400 sq.ft. but I'd never think that clutter equals "art". I'm glad that Yoktan likes it, he's the one who lives there. I'm a fan of minimalism. Likely why I see a mess instead of beauty.
P.S. We also have a kitchen cupboard exactly like the one Yoktan has over the sink, only ours still has the doors. But the cabinet sags like an elderly washerwoman's bosom, so the doors are warped and have to be closed with a large hook-and-eye.
It would be better to build new cabinets than get new doors to line up on the old one, but we don't want to just slap up any old MDF eyesore.
Variety is the spice of life. I also don't care for the space, but can appreciate that the occupant cares for many of the item an enjoys the spac.e
I agree with Ridge. This feels more Sanford & Son than found art. The displays needs refinement and a more cohesive way of display. Maybe try trading some of those open shelves for a few closed cabinets, so that only a few choice pieces can be displayed and appreciated at a time.
I have to agree with the naysayers here. Your collections are great, very creative (and I can certainly sympathize with being unable to buy new things) - but, like these few have pointed out, it just looks cluttered to me. almost dirty, actually, and not because the place is old (that just gives it character), but because you've got so much old STUFF everywhere (and, while I find many of your objects to be much more than "stuff," I think that just piling everything together sometimes takes away from the individual beauty of each object, turning it, instead, into a mess).
If you pare down your collections a bit, I think your place would look a lot cleaner, and draw more attention to each unique piece.
i love your fridge door wall art, your Pez cabinet pulls, your plate/silver storage. there is a lot of invention here. good luck to your on your curating
Well, I think the collection is great as is. Sure, it's a lot in one place, but that's part of the charm here. So much that's unexpected -- the Pez dispensers, butter tray, freezer doors. Some of the objects wouldn't have much interest on their own, but in relation to the others become more interesting.
Re: "You don't need a step-ladder if you can lift your leg to your waist." Ha! You're lucky you're not 5'1" like me!
view TracyM's profile
i like the yellow fridge in the paris apt
view SD913's profile
Your place is wonderful. I am amazed and jealous that you actually get to live there--but I would have to put a shower in!
view inertia's profile
It just seems like another East Village apartment inhabited by a fetishistic pack rat.
view medusa12120's profile
Nice place but you left your ladder on the floor. Might want to fold that up and tuck it away so you can make room for a coffee table or something.
view illegal danish's profile
Pack rat? I say modern kitsch. I love it, so much fun.
view La loca's profile
A fantastic and inventive menagere of goodies. I don't know if I could live with so much stuff, but I certainly empathize with the desire and compulsion to collect. I think this was an AT first for me in saying, I didn't want the slide show to end. very fun!
view reb's profile
oy.typo...menagerie
view reb's profile
Great tour - it reminds me a bit of one I featured on Strange Closets recently (come to think of it, I have another one coming up this Thursday that is also reminiscent).
Here is a link to the past one:
http://www.strangeclosets.com/2008/08/open-house-andrews-west-town-loft.html
Or to see all:
http://strangeclosetshometours.blogspot.com/
Great post - very interesting concept.
T8
www.strangeclosets.com
When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets
view t8's profile
I'd like to second the notion that these are great collections that would benefit from being pared down. Some of the spaces look too cluttered to be comfortable.
Yoktan- you have a very playful way of arranging objects. I like it! Also, used to have that handheld Mickey game. That photo took me back to childhood!
view StudioStarter's profile
there is a lot of life in all this. quite impressing. i guess i wouldn't be able to let go of conventional thinking enough to live like this, but i certainly envy Yoktan that he does.
view maike's profile
I thought this was interesting in the intoduction - "Yoktan, one might say, has a perversion for objects. He is drawn to some objects to the point of having empathy for them."
I can identify with this a bit. I have to hold myself back on found objects and realize that just because I can save something from landfill doesn't mean I should. I find boxes of old photos in vintage stores particularly difficult - it drives me crazy to think of those images and memories being lost. And the worst is when there are names on the back - I want to quit my job and start a new career - "photo detective" :-)
view peacelily's profile
Wow! What a great place! It's full of personality and clever use of space. I really dig the freezer doors! I love it when people collect interesting stuff.
view suzy8track's profile
awesome space, nice repurposing. (those cabinet handles are wonderful!) tremendously creative, and oh! so much more interesting than 'off-the-rack.'
i used to do something similar, although not to this extent. one of my friends told me once, 'you have a lot of stuff to eyeball in here.' and you, yoktan, have a LOT of stuff to eyeball in there.
salvage on!
view loislane's profile