Reunited

Today was a little reunion of sorts. Five years ago I shot an industrial for Wolf Kitchen/Sub-zero, as patriarch to a nice family of four. They wanted to update the video to reflect a half-decade's worth of product updates, and they thought my "wife" and I were such a fine couple they invited us to reprise our roles.

She grew her hair and more of mine turned gray, but other than that, we picked up right where we left off. Me making glib remarks (since it was MOS) and her pretending to be into a husband who's an inch or two shorter than she is.

It was a long day. Up at 4:45 am to drive to Madison, and not home until almost 9 pm. But what was cool about the gig was the place where we shot it. It's a training facility for their sales people. Since this is pretty high-end product (one fridge sells for $12,000), the environment reflected that.

So amongst many dozens of stainless steel-clad and hardwood-cabineted stoves and ovens and refrigerators in simulated kitchens were spectacular artworks and furnishings, all wrapped in an architectural gem of a building. There were four giant Chihulys suspended like mobiles in the vaulted glass atrium/lobby. One of the kitchens had a ceiling taken from an old farmhouse in Tuscany.

And beyond all the art in canvases on the walls was the reception room, where one giant wall was itself an artwork. I didn't catch the name of the artist, but the entire wall, made up of broad, horizontal-stripes in alternating tones of fuschia, was itself the canvas. Apparently, the artist came there to paint it. I didn't know they made housecalls.

A downright inspiring place to work. I know it brought out some of my best vegetable cutting and sauteing.