JST X Sunfish Interview

JST:
We’re so stoked we were able to work with you guys this holiday season to create one of our favorite JST pieces ever, the stone menorah. What was the process of designing this menorah like?

SUNFISH:
At first, it was kind of crazy thinking about working on Judaica. I feel like everyone assumes that Judaica has to be this super maximalist, old world, kitschy type of object. We were really excited to offer an alternative that is more minimalist, natural, and really considers a menorah’s most essential functions.

JST:
It’s a very deceptively simple piece. It seems like a lot of Sunfish designs are like that - approaching objects from their most essential functions and working backwards. Sunfish is a relatively new project - how did you two start designing together?

SUNFISH:
Yeah, Sunfish started in 2021, but we’ve been making stuff together for nearly a decade. We come from a fine art background and have an art practice together under the moniker of Tenet. Our work with Tenet is interested in all of the strange byproducts of interiors and architecture, particularly when one material is meant to mimic another. Like a plastic coating on a counter that’s supposed to look like marble. It’s crazy the lengths people will go to disguise a material or make it look like something that it’s not. Sunfish sort of developed as an answer to the questions Tenet asks. Sunfish is a representation of how we like to live and how we think others should live -  an intentional, honest way of interacting with the material world. 

JST:
You’ve mentioned before that research is a huge part of your design practice, and that Isamu Noguchi was at the forefront of your thought process when thinking about the menorah. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

SUNFISH:
Yeah, we’ve spent a lot of time researching his approach to design. He was very reserved in his manipulation of materials, with a very elemental approach.  

JST:
How did that ethos come to play in the menorah?

SUNFISH:
By letting the materials lead the way. River rocks and sapele wood are both sustainable, accessible materials. We didn’t want to disguise them in any way, instead we wanted to highlight the natural properties in each of them. 

JST:
It’s cool how durable the materials you selected are. I like thinking about someone just throwing the menorah in a tote bag and setting up a Hannuka picnic, not having to worry about the fragility of materials like clay or glass. 

SUNFISH:
For sure. And there’s an unexpected poetic element to the way the piece was carved as well. To carve out the hollows for each stone, we had to follow the grain in the wood. This means that the stones are situated in a sort of directional flow, like the stream of water that smoothed them into the texture they have today. 

JST:
Were you guys thinking about any Jewish symbolism while making the piece? I feel like there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Jews and stones. 

SUNFISH:
For sure. Well, there’s the obvious tradition where Jews place a rock on the headstone of a gravesite they visit. Kind of a somber reference, but there’s something really moving about that. Instead of placing flowers that will eventually die next to the headstone, you leave behind a rock and it sort of serves as a representation of a bond that extends beyond the physical realm. 

JST:
The word for pebble in Hebrew, tz'ror, is actually a homonym with the Hebrew word for bond. 

SUNFISH:
That’s really cool to hear. We like to incorporate sort of humanist values into our design, so thinking about objects being a part of bonding experiences or cross generational traditions is really meaningful.

JST:
Are you referring to the hand-carved nature of the menorah?

SUNFISH:
Yeah. We carved each individual menorah by hand. Every river stone is slightly different, so we had to be carefully attuned to the curves of each rock.

JST:
I love that individuality. There’s a warmth that comes from handmade objects that’s really special.

SUNFISH:
Yeah, we think that gets lost in a lot of modernist designs that end up relying on industrial production methods. Sometimes the imperfections of the human hand are what elevates an object. It can be alienating to be so removed from how something was made. Our menorah is really obvious in that way - we’re not trying to hide anything about the way it was created. 

JST:
I can’t imagine carving out each of those sapele boards like that. Were you thinking about anything in particular while you were working? 

SUNFISH:
Honestly, the history of Julia’s family came up a lot. Julia is a Sephardic Jew, and actually received Spanish citizenship this year because of a recent bill that grants citizenship to Jews whose ancestors were expelled in the 15th century during the Inquisition. 

JST:
Woah, congrats! That is so interesting!

SUNFISH:
Yeah, Julia’s family was expelled during that time, but a lot of Jews actually stayed in Spain. In order to avoid persecution, they had to practice their religion in secret. 

JST:
I think there’s a term for those Jews… and I think the term is actually cryptojews. 

SUNFISH:
Right! 

JST:
There’s even a Catholic patron saint of cryptojews, Queen Esther. 

SUNFISH:
Yeah, it’s crazy that Jewish tradition was still practiced in secret for literal centuries. In a way, this would be the perfect menorah for that. Again, kind of a somber reference, but…unassuming materials, like stones and wood, represent a way to maintain the longevity of Jewish tradition in such an environment. 

JST:
It’s somber, but it’s also hopeful. It’s amazing to think of the circumstances in which Judaism has survived and thrived, all because of the creativity and innovation of Jews throughout history. We’re really thankful to be able to help create objects that contribute to that legacy.