SNAKE Q&A 005: Geoff Snack / Wrong Answer
SNAKE Q&A 005: Geoff Snack / Wrong Answer
Toronto/New York based paper pusher on Lewitt, Warhol, Boeri, Butthole Surfers
Now at Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, collectibles and adjacent fields is worth celebrating and learning from. Expect sellers, buyers, set decorators, artists, adjacents, etc… but first, some housekeeping:
I will be hosting a Toronto release of my book, Sheer Drift, on Friday, June 9 at the Innis College screening room on Sussex Ave. It’ll be a movie screening, with a discussion after; it’s limited cap and a ticketed event (to defray costs). Tickets are available in Toronto through Midnight Mass Books and Emissions Record Shop. If you would like to attend and wanna pay online, you can message me. I found out about the movie we’re showing from my stylish friend Michael when he posted about it a few years ago. I watched it soon after. I think and have thought for a while that it’s the best flick of the 2000s… it is the most stylish, unbelievable, violent movie. Miike, the director, directed four other films that year, too. It’s a masterpiece; no one talks about it, few have seen it, no one shows it. More info here:
Thank you. And now back to the Q&A…
Here’s the fifth….
Geoff Snack / Instagram / New York / Toronto / I work in strategy and education and sell books
Geoff runs Wrong Answer, an elite-level paper pusher (art books, xx, xx). He exhibited a Raymond Pettibon flier collection at Colbo in March and coming up xx. (Wrong Answer web store here)
SNAKE Q&A 005
Fav flea market?
Aberfoyle flea market. It’s just outside of Toronto. It’s outdoors and there’s never anything all that great, but one of the better flea market browsing experiences with lots of funky crafts and occasionally a decent chair or vase to be found.
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
When I was very young, my dad would take me to the Sunday flea market in the town I grew up in. There would be some guys selling tools and things like that. I liked the guy selling video game stuff and there were a few people selling records. One day, the video game guy had a Turbografx 16 handheld system and we did some negotiating and were able to purchase it.
Best eBay purchase?
I paid up for it, but probably a very large joined set of posters for 2 Donald Judd shows. One at Kunsthalle Berlin and another at Kunstmuseum Basel. I’ve never encountered another copy of either poster. Apparently they are usually separated, but these are not. They’re one giant poster.
Best Craigslist find?
I found a few Sol Lewitt artist books [one below] as part of a collection of children’s books. I guess the person listing them thought they were educational books. I struck up a nice conversation with the person listing them and he worked as an artist and artists assistant in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I asked if he had other books and he prepared some stacks for me to look through in a van outside his house. I ended up with a good stack of architecture books, artist books, and some art.
Best LiveAuctioneers find?
I picked up a very rare Basquiat catalogue for a 1984 show in Scotland. I paid $50 for the lot and the catalogue usually trades for $1,000 upwards to $2,500.
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?
@two_poems is flawless.
Thing you most regret passing on?
My memory is short and I didn’t really pass on it, but I recently purchased a prototype Eames LKX chair that was a little too fragile to sit on. For that reason, I traded it back to the person I purchased it from. It’s a 1 of 1 that will likely make its way back to me at some point.
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
I picked up a Robert Loughlin Brute, painted on a Coors 12-pack cardboard case and a Robert Loughlin abstract [not pictured] for a very good price from a dealer who was very active from the ‘70s to ‘90s.
Best thing you overpaid for?
A Cini Boeri modular sofa. Leather is well-worn and the plastic base still has original stickers. It’s a great size, great proportions, and there’s a space for books in the back, which I’ve never used.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
Hate to say it, but it is my sewing stool by Pierre Jeanneret. I know Jeanneret is a pretty boring thing to mention in a newsletter like this, but the shape and patina is literally perfect. An ingenious design and so incredibly simple.
[Jeanneret kicks ass! — Snake]
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
A copy of Popism signed by Andy Warhol with a small drawing. It belonged to the artist Richard Kern for a while and it was then purchased by NYC design impressario Jim Walrod. After he passed, Mast Books sold a good portion of his library. Months after the sale, I found this on the bottom shelf in a corner at Mast and got it for a very fair price. A bargain, even. The drawing and provenance gives this book a really special energy.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
A pair of modernist andirons that are shaped to have bull heads and snake feet. I don’t have a fireplace and have never had a fireplace. I don’t even really like fireplaces. I thought the snake feet were cool but they are completely useless and take up a lot of space. I can’t seem to find anyone that wants anything to do with them.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
Nelly Furtado. Canadians always quietly do the most.
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)
Not necessarily a spot, but there’s a great dealer in Toronto who traveled to and from Paris and New York in the ‘80s and has amazing taste. He has one of the best collections of Cubist paintings I have ever seen, and incredible lighting and furniture. Memphis, folk art, Jean Prouve, etc. He has it all. Most is not for sale, but sometimes I get lucky. His collection is housed in his apartment and an unassuming storefront below.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
I have a box of about 30 incredibly rare punk and hardcore shirts from the 1980s. Lots of Black Flag, Butthole Surfers, etc.
Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)
I was at a rare book and ephemera show about five years ago and was on my way out and saw a dealer with some really boring art books and a few bins of $5 books on the ground. I saw a guy spending a bit of time looking through the bins, so I took a look too. The bins were filled with photography, conceptual art, and artist books. The guy who was there before me pulled a very rare Judd catalogue, a stack of Ed Ruscha’s artist books, and more that I couldn’t quite decipher. I was about 20 minutes late but still got some decent stuff. I later learned that it was the library of a Toronto artist loosely associated with General Idea [the Canadian art collective] who had recently died and the estate mismanaged his library, so it ended up with a dealer who just wanted to get rid of it for cheap.
Favorite Russian novelist?
Dostoyevsky
Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)
Italian children’s toys and puzzles. For books, association copies.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
A Blue Monday flipbook featuring art by Robert Breer and produced by Factory Records as a Christmas present for friends and family of the label. I already have one, but it’s always good to have a spare. https://www.ebay.com/itm/333144610205.
An item that has been on my watch list for years that I recently bought is the Rooster Stool by Barry Simpson. It’s an incredible little stool that folds completely flat to be easily stored.
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
Definitely in the wild. The very best stuff is always found in private collections.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
No.
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
Porch Modern has one of the best collections and spaces in Canada
Follow Geoff and Wrong Answer on Instagram