TUESDAY 9:15 PM APRIL 8, 2025 MILAN
Checkered Future: Frequency Manifest is a mirrored fever dream, a new installation from OTW by Vans for which creative savant Willo Perron transformed a pocket of Milan into a cross between Studio 54 and a sci-fi cathedral. In a galaxy far, far away known as Salone del Mobile, the Death Star crash-landed at Parco Sempione, bringing with it an immersive indoor-outdoor exhibit that fuses sonic architecture with intergalactic glam. Marking the launch of the brand’s reimagined Old Skool 36 FM sneaker, the exhibit presents a multi-sensory journey that turns frequencies into fantasy. On the day before the show’s opening and accompanying concert series, Perron and I found a quiet corner to talk Björk, Bar Basso, and the beauty in bad design.
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MITCHELL NUGENT: Hi, Willo. Wow, what an installation. I feel like the Death Star just landed here in Milano. It’s like a cross between a Steve Rubell Studio 54 fever dream and a George Lucas concoction. For those who can’t come visit themselves, what’s your elevator pitch for Checkered Future?
WILLO PERRON: Oh man. Yeah, it is like kind of a movie. It is kind of somewhere between a club and a sci-fi movie.
NUGENT: Beam me up, Scotty.
PERRON: And a church, there’s like kind of a churchy moment.
NUGENT: Which is very akin to Studio 54.
PERRON: Right, yeah.
NUGENT: It’s like going to church every night. I was waiting for Sylvester and Grace Jones to come out.
PERRON: Exactly.
NUGENT: It’s really fantastic and unlike anything I’ve seen so far this week.
PERRON: I like your version of it. You should do the elevator pitch.
NUGENT: Done and done. How did you approach brainstorming the project?
PERRON: I really like the impetus of it. The Vans team came to my studio and they’re like, “We’re launching this new shoe and the patterns are inspired by sound frequency.” And I took this thing about sound and kind of what I do in more of the concert space. My practice is really always exploring how you turn a song or an artist into a visual. How do you take the disparate musicians or bands and turn their music into kind of a visual that matches with them? And so I started thinking about sound and design and I was like, “What does architecture sound like?” And there was this movement in Japan in the sort of 80s and 90s where they would hire composers to score lobbies of buildings and I was really fascinated by that idea.
NUGENT: And then add mirrors.
PERRON: Yeah, exactly.
NUGENT: The exhibition is like the museum of narcissism. It’s like, “Wow, I love myself, I’m surrounded by mirrors.” Joan Collins would love it.
PERRON: I think we’re a mirror generation currently.
NUGENT: Totally. What was it like collaborating with the Vans team on the project?
PERRON: They’re great. I mean, I’ve known Ian Ginoza [Creative Director of OTW by Vans] for a really long time, so it was pretty seamless. And on our end, we pitched this idea about having a kind of outdoor show and this broad thing that asks how people engage with sound and frequency. [Inside] it’s like one’s way more meditative and kind of like a personal journey; and outside is meant to be a group experience, like a communal journey.
NUGENT: The inside exhibition feels like a place Björk is going to take a nap tomorrow night after her set.
PERRON: Right. Hopefully she’ll do a meditation session in there or something.
NUGENT: I’m signing up for her the 9:00 AM class the next day.
PERRON: Yeah, exactly [laughs]. I was joking that we should do yoga classes in here.
NUGENT: What was it like collaborating with Tim Hecker?
PERRON: I love Tim and I’m a fan of his work. I’ve also known him for a long time and I’ve always felt like he is scoring, the music that he makes is a score. So it was perfect. I was like, “How do we do scary or grim? How do we do glee?” And then like, what does that look like as a space? What does glee look like? So it’s like that big kind of cathedral moment with all the straight lights and the ceiling going up and the choir.
NUGENT: I felt like we were inside Darth Vader’s head. It’s sublime.
PERRON: Exactly, and it’s also followed up by something really kind of grim, which is the [activation] closing down on you and it goes to a much more saturated light and it gets smoky and all of that.
NUGENT: Are there any Easter eggs or secrets in the exhibit that you may not see upon initial viewing?
PERRON: I think that you could see it 10 times and see 10 different things.
NUGENT: Do you have any guilty pleasures that keep you fueled while you’re working?
PERRON: I’m a spa guy. I love a spa. I could spend a lot of time there. I hate the term “foodie,” but I’m obsessed with food.
NUGENT: So a good meal keeps you stimulated.
PERRON: Yeah, I will travel for food. Wine, food, all of it, love it. Non-stop.
NUGENT: What are you going to eat here in Milan?
PERRON: Oh man, I just think there’s like a bazillion dinners I have to show up at. I’m like a child here. I just get fed. I love it.
NUGENT: When attending your openings, do you ever eavesdrop to hear how people are reacting?
PERRON: Oh yeah, all the time. You kind of have to. A big part of my work is knowing the audience, really kind of figuring out what makes them tick and what makes them react to certain things. And I think it’s beautiful to know. I feel like I’m less and less anonymous now, it’s like you can kind of tell when people are looking at you because…
NUGENT: Speaking of opinions, are there any elements of design that give you the ick or should be banished from the universe?
PERRON: Yeah, a lot. But also at the same time it’s always the ugliest thing that just becomes a thing that I love. I think that it’s the beauty, you have to kind of stay open-minded. Like, this thing that I hated two years ago, oh yeah, but in this light maybe it’s interesting. And then all of a sudden that becomes part of your life again. So yes, I hate everything, but at the same time I kind of want to be open-minded about it.
NUGENT: You’re an eternal optimist.
PERRON: I really, really am an optimist.
NUGENT: That’s great. As Andy Warhol’s magazine, I have to ask if there’s any good gossip you’ve heard during Salone, names redacted.
PERRON: No.
NUGENT: No comment?
PERRON: I don’t know if I’m a good gossip person. I don’t know what’s happening at all.
NUGENT: What DJ are you most excited to see at tomorrow’s party?
PERRON: Oh, I mean, it’s kind of amazing. Björk, and I actually really like Vegyn. I know it’s a weird thing to like a 50-year-old guy, but there’s a bunch of his music that I like. But both of them, I think they’re going to be amazing.
NUGENT: Last question, are you going to end up at Bar Basso every night?
PERRON: No, absolutely not. Do you still go to Bar Basso?
NUGENT: Yeah, I was there last night with Diana [Louise Bartlett]. She always manages to drag me out.
PERRON: Is she here?
NUGENT: Yeah, she’s here.
PERRON: You should tell her to come tomorrow.
NUGENT: Yeah, she’ll be my date.
PERRON: Okay, cool. But no, I think we’ve out-Bassoed Basso.
NUGENT: There’s always next year.
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