#myartcoustic with Christian & Kathrine X House of Finn Juhl

Artcoustic: Please tell us what you do as a profession?
Christian: I am partner in the furniture manufacturer House of Finn Juhl and take care of our Export Sales. Kathrine: I work as Marketing and PR manager for House of Finn Juhl. That is where Christian and I met.

Artcoustic: What is it that made you want to work with furniture?
Christian: When I saw the Chieftain Chair by Finn Juhl at a museum as a child I fell in love. The interest in furniture came much later than the love for the Chieftain Chair. I knew that one day I had to own it. After some years in the fashion industry, I felt the need to work with something meaningful to me. Something that I could personally vouch for. When the opportunity came to work professionally with Finn Juhl's designs – it was an easy decision!

Kathrine: I’ve always wanted to work in the creative industries with either art or design. Earlier on I thought I wanted to work as an architect, but I later realized that there are many ways to be part of a creative process. In my job at House of Finn Juhl I get to point out the brand’s aesthetic direction in terms of storytelling and photography. Being a part of a company with a rich history and genuine designs is very fulfilling. 

Artcoustic: What has an influenced you?
Christian: We seek inspiration both on social media and magazines but also the countless exhibitions and fairs we attend. In our apartment our furniture game is pretty strong, so we are spending a lot of time broadening our horizon in terms of art. We have started collecting ever so slowly and we spend a lot of time attending exhibitions and following local galleries on social media. We just bought a few pieces by the female Danish artist Gudrun Hasle. She suffers from dyslexia, but really embraces this in her written embroidered works. You can’t not feel something when seeing her works. Check her out!

Kathrine: We also just realised now that we have almost only artworks done by male artists, so it feels good that the Gudrun Hasle pieces will soon be part of our home. You just know that you’ve been inspired by something when you can’t stop thinking about it after you have seen it, and that’s the way we both felt after we had seen her work.

Artcoustic: As a couple and a family how is music/sound important in your life?
Christian: Music is a very important factor in our lives. We listen to a lot of music. Mainly the radio and vinyl. As all other hipsters, I took up vinyl a few years ago, and it is a very appealing way of listening. Because you are “forced” to listen to the entire album. You don’t jump to the smash hits, as when you are streaming. Playlists are not our cup of tea. We discuss music. What we like and certainly what we don’t like. Just like art, music has to make us feel something to be good. And in general, the music we listen to has a touch of melancholy to it. The artist has to feel something to make us feel something.

Artcoustic: On another note, but so important in equal measures. What is “quality of life” to you?
Christian: We have a small son who was born premature. He had a tough start but is totally fine and cheeky now. To follow his positive development is the epitome of quality of life. Having time enough or at least reserving time to be a family is the ultimate luxury. That is one good thing about the current pandemic. The calendar is empty, and we can spend a lot of time sitting on the floor playing with our son. He also loves dancing to good music. Nick Drake is his favourite artist. When Friday comes and he is put to bed there is nothing better than putting on a nice record that we’ve listened to a million times before and sharing a nice bottle of red burgundy. When the album runs out, we will hit the couch binging Netflix series.

Kathrine: I agree with Christian. Earlier on I feel like we were constantly on the run – traveling, attending parties, hosting events, stuff like that. I actually hope that we can maintain a slower pace of life after lockdown and keep appreciating the proximity. With that being said, I also look forward to life getting back to normal in some ways – for instance, I can’t wait to show our son some of our favourite places around the world.

Artcoustic: What is your favourite piece of music? Christian: All-time favourite album is Hunky Dory by David Bowie. Boxer by The National is runner up. Lampshade by Kashmir is a current favourite, as it makes our son fall asleep.

Kathrine: This is very embarrassing but my musical understanding was non-existent until I met Christian, so I’m still learning and have yet to find my favourite piece of music. 

Artcoustic: What is it about our speaker that made you choose Artcoustic?
Christian: A product where form and function are equally important is right down our alley. Our speaker has been produced in the same colour as our wall – so when the “front cover” is on it basically disappears. When we take it off it looks really cool and vintage. When Finn Juhl designed furniture, it was to make light and elegant furniture which you can behold and admire. But they are also “transparent” and can be ignored. Loud when you want it to and quiet when you want it to! And that suits our interior quite well. The sound quality is second to none.

Kathrine: One of the worst scenarios I can think of is being forced to have huge, ugly speakers dominating the interior. Therefore, the Artcoustic Speakers are perfect. I love that the speakers have been customised to fit our living room, so that they sophistically blend in both when the front cover is on and also when it is off. As Christian mentioned, the sound quality is also amazing, meaning that we didn’t have to compromise between the sound quality and the aesthetics.