Evan Orensten and Josh Rubin are partners and the founders of COOL HUNTING, an online media publication unveiling inspirations and discoveries at the crossroads of design, culture, and technology. The duo are also hosts of the Design Tangents podcast, where they delve into the minds and journeys of a variety of creative change makers. Together, they sat down with SINGULART to share insights into their everyday routines, individual styles, and the unexpected yet meaningful works of art that have found a place in their lives.
Welcome to our Inner Worlds series, where we step into the personal realms of art lovers from all walks of life, exploring the profound ways in which art is integrated into their lives.
Can you share a bit about yourself, your background, and your profession?
Josh: I was born in Vermont, but grew up going back and forth between Vermont and Miami. Evan was born and raised in Minneapolis, and moved to upstate New York for college. I went to grad school in New York City while Evan went to grad school in Paris. We were both living in New York City when we met, almost 25 years ago.
Evan: The moment we met it was an immediate connection, like cosmic waves. We were working for the same company, the foundation of the constantly blurred line between work and our personal lives.
Josh: Years into our relationship–and with different jobs–we would always come home and talk about things that we were inspired by…books, tech, food…We ultimately wanted a place where we could hold these things for reference.
Evan: Neither of us are the most physically organized…
Josh: …so we created COOL HUNTING as a tool for ourselves to capture our musings and inspirations. And it started to develop an audience. It was a side project for the first six years, then it took off, and we decided to focus on it full time. We were able to turn it into a business and build a small team around it.
How would you describe your individual styles? And what is the outcome when they come together?
Josh: I think the best way to summarize my personal style is urban hippie with a strong Japanese influence.
Evan: Josh is always experimenting. He has a wide range just like his hair: it’s long and then it’s short; it’s white, and then it’s blue. There’s a constant evolution. On the other hand, because we travel so much, I tend to live out of a carry-on bag. So I have fallen more into having a kind of uniform. I don’t want to expend too much energy on my style.
Josh: But where it comes together is around color palette, we’re pretty aligned on that. Evan: We’re very different in a lot of ways, but we’ve always had this very natural alignment on kind of how we want to live and what that looks like.
How would you describe your living space?
Josh: Our place is pretty maximalist. There’s a lot of stuff. And somehow, it’s also very comforting. Because it’s familiar, these bookmarks of moments. It’s stuff that has meaning for us that we’ve accumulated over many years.
Do you think your personal styles translate into the art that you like?
Josh: I think our taste in art is probably more aligned than our personal fashion. It’s rare that one of us loves a piece and the other doesn’t.
When looking at art, what do you notice first?
Josh: We’re actually drawn to the process of making the work and how it is revealed in the final piece. If there’s a pattern, a texture, a curiosity that comes from the process. It ties to the fact that we find it really important to know the story behind the work.
Evan: We really appreciate the labor that goes into a work. We are drawn to artists who are able to focus and spend a mind-boggling amount of time to create something.
Do you have any special pieces in your home?
Evan: A piece by Dodi Wexler, an American based in London creating collage work. There are photographs in this work, but all cut up. Also, much of the structure is formed using Chinese food containers. In the middle there is a sun, surrounded by a darker ring that is actually made up from the countless individual pieces of photographs. I don’t even know how many thousands of little pieces there are that are all hand glued or stapled together. It’s pretty impressive because it’s calming from afar, but when you delve into it, it’s a bit crazy.
How do you experience art in your everyday lives?
Evan: Our work takes us to art fairs all over the world and we write about the topic, so we are always absorbing it. Outside of work, whenever we are in a new place we always try to discover art, whether at a museum, a gallery, or an artist’s studio. It’s a way for us to create a connection to that place.
Josh: There are many artists that we’ve met and to be able to see them make their work is so special, and something that we really, really value. Sometimes it’s even more valuable than the piece itself.
Do you have daily routines or weekly rituals?
Evan: When we are home, our day always starts by taking our dog for a walk. A few miles all together, we call it our pack walk.
Josh: I think resetting is one of the big practices that we’ve been focusing on in the last couple years. We’re trying to have fewer back to back experiences so that we can have the time to properly reflect on them.
Travel plays a vital role in your life. Any specific trips that were particularly significant or memorable?
Josh: Japan is definitely a very special place for us. There’s an integrity and multigenerational commitment to craft, process and style. We’ve also been to multiple countries in Africa, and the word I would use to describe the continent is calibrating. It resets my perspective on the world, and I always leave grounded and inspired.
Evan: We were recently in Egypt, and it was just incredible knowing the impact pharaonic art has had on the world, in fashion, in style, and so on.
Are there any unique activities or special objects you’re into right now?
Josh: One thing that I’m very into are crystals and rocks. We have stones everywhere… bedside, kitchen windowsill…There is a lot of energy and meditation and perspective that we can get from crystals.
Evan: …And plants. When we moved out of the city, being closer to nature was important to us. I just kind of got a little bit addicted to the green thumb thing. We love the routine of nourishing and nurturing them, and the beauty you get back from them is powerful.
Do you have any unique stories about your collection?
Evan: The first piece we got together by Kenichi Yokono.
Josh: We were at an art fair. We turned a corner and there was this wall that wasn’t actually part of the fair, just a perimeter wall. But an independent artist had hung these red and white circular woodcuts that we immediately fell in love with.
Evan: The artist was very young and didn’t have a gallery. Amazingly, he sold most of his pieces within an hour. We realized he only had one piece left, but another couple also wanted this piece. So we decided to flip a coin. It’s just a great piece with such great energy. It’s always been such a big part of our home and it’s almost always been in our bedroom.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their journey as an art collector?
Evan: Our advice, always, is don’t overthink it. “Cool” is just an emotional response. And what may trigger it for me is probably different for each of you. I also think it is important to value art that I don’t personally care for. I can still appreciate the craft, the technique, the style, even if it doesn’t resonate personally. So go by what you feel, but also try not to exclude things. Because you may not like something at first, but you might discover something within it that educates you, informs you or helps evolve your own sense of style.
