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Bored Panda reached out to Eno.
“Well, when I started this project it was the beginning of quarantine. I had just gotten laid off from both my jobs because of the pandemic, so I was, like everyone else, stuck inside watching TV for hours a day. In my case, I was rewatching Star Trek pretty much all day every day."
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"I'd already known about a few designers whose work was used: Carsten Jorgensen (the 'Picard Cup'), Maurice Burke (the Tulip Chair from TOS), and Joe Colombo (the Boby Cart used in almost every sick bay). I was always really delighted to see furniture and objects I recognized on screen and I was curious about what else had been used. I started an Instagram as a kind of personal project to document what I learned. It turned out other people liked it, and it's grown pretty exponentially."
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"Pretty soon after beginning, I found the websites Quark’s Qantina and Ex Astris Scientia, which each maintain pages sourcing the tableware and chairs, respectively, used across Star Trek series. I shouldn't have been surprised I was not alone in this hobby. Some of the posts on my Instagram and website are originally from them (always credited). Now that I've learned a lot more about design history and styles, I've been increasingly able to source objects on my own. I actually collaborate with both Quark's Qantina and EAS now, which is kind of a dream since I admire them so much.”
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Of course, there were more things we wanted to ask Eno! So first, we wanted to know about the most challenging parts when it came to finding interior pieces featured in Star Trek.
"That’d probably be finding some of the objects that were used in The Original Series. In general, it’s easier to find better-known designer pieces, which Star Trek certainly did use fairly often, but the production designers also used furniture from department stores and props warehouses. So it’s difficult to find these pieces from the 1960s, from furniture companies that no longer exist and weren’t well-known enough to have anything written about them. On top of that, a lot of the furniture, tableware, etc. was altered by set designers to make them look more futuristic or cohesive with the aesthetics of the show. TOS pieces probably account for the majority of my 'Unidentified' folder."
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We figured that finding all of the sources wasn't an easy job, so we wanted to know how long it usually takes to search for them.
"That’s dependent upon the object. Some have already been identified by other Trekkies or collectors (who I always credit in my posts), and some I just recognize from life or can find fairly easily because I’ve become more familiar with different styles and periods. Then there are some objects, like the Paul Boulva chairs used most famously in Ten Forward, that took over a year to find. For those, I spent so much time emailing furniture designers selling similar (or the same) chairs, but almost no one seemed to know who made them. One seller offered that they knew they were made in Canada, so I started reading everything I could about Canadian postmodern furniture designers and manufacturers. Eventually, I found Paul Boulva’s website, which is literally just a YouTube video. It became pretty clear why people had so much trouble finding these despite how incredibly iconic they are since there are no searchable terms on his website."
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Demotivation is something most of us have dealt with, but when it comes to searching for hidden gems, that is certainly not the case for Eno.
"No, quite the opposite! I get frustrated sometimes when I’ve been searching for something for a long time and can’t find it, but that just makes me more motivated. The biggest example is this 1980s tubular steel dining set that was used in several crew quarters in TNG, and it’s honestly become my white whale. I’ve emailed some dealers who I’ve seen selling it and periodically I make Instagram stories asking if anyone knows anything, and I’ve gotten some good leads but no attributions. What I know so far is that it's Canadian and it’s definitely not Amisco."
We also wanted to find out how people reacted to the work Eno does for the fandom.
"Always positively! I’m honestly startled by how many people appreciate Star Trek + Design, since it’s so niche. The closest I’ve gotten to a 'negative' reaction is someone correcting me when I made a misattribution, which I actually really appreciate because I’d like everything I post to be accurate."
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Finding all of these pieces must be a fun hobby on its own, but we wanted to know what was the most enjoyable part of the process.
"Learning about design history, for sure. When I started the project, I didn’t actually know much about it. I still don’t have the knowledge of someone with, say, classical education in design, but I love learning. I have some great followers who have taught me so much about Italian Modernism and Space Age and others. I was, and am, a Trekkie, but learning about industrial design history has been enriching for my own life and increased my appreciation for Star Trek, which I didn’t think was possible.
Another thing that’s really exciting for me is that I’ve started collaborating with Ex Astris Scientia on identifying the commercially available chairs and lighting used in Trek, and with Quark’s Qantina on glassware and tableware, which is really rewarding because I admire them and their work so much."
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As for the last question, we wanted to ask Eno what inspired him to start his Instagram page.
"I was already aware of (and owned) some of the objects used in Trek and thought it’d be a fun quarantine project to learn more about the other pieces that were used. I started an Instagram because I like the interactive nature of the platform and thought I could collaborate with people who might know more about design than me, and that’s exactly what happened. At this point, it’s become a rabbit hole. I have a folder on my computer with over 3,000 Star Trek screencaps of both identified and unidentified objects. It’s funny, when I started Star Trek + Design, I was worried I’d eventually hit a wall and run out of objects to make posts about, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem any longer."
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