UNDERSTUDY

From our recent book Understudy Studies / featuring some works by @simkyudong and @jonrafman This collective volume brings together the work of 29 creatives in an exploration of the often overlooked and under-recognized figure in the creative process: the understudy. Curated and edited by Daniella Wilson and Arthur Morisset, published by Understudy Studio and with texts by Mildred Simantov, Understudy Studies pays tribute to the in-between moments—those formative phases of observation, support, and silent contribution that underpin all artistic growth. “Every creative journey includes a chapter spent in the shadows, a time of learning, absorbing, and growing. Understudy Studies pays tribute to this vital phase of artistic evolution.” Featuring contributions from: Vytautas Kum̌za, Juan Brenner, Etienne Buyse, Heavens Okwuego, Thomas Rousset, Parker Ito, Maggie Shannon, David Brandon Geeting, Lina Sun Park, Alice Schillaci, Dario Salomone, Charles Nègre, Charlie Engman, Sim Kyu Dong, Erica Ohmi, Hubert Marot, Manabu Koga, Ashling Massoumi, Studio Ingmar, Atelier Brenda, Casa Susanna, Hans Neumann, Sophie Becker, Quinn Bentley, Dean Giffin, Jon Rafman, Olivier Noraz, Casper Sejersen & Elin Svahn @vytautaskumza @juan_brenner @etienne.buyse @heavens_o @thomasroussset @creamydreamy @maggiehshannon @davidbrandongeeting @oo0000oo0 @aliceschillaci @dario.salamone @charlesnegre @charlieengman @simkyudong @ericaohmi @hubert_marot @manabukoga_underwater @ashlingmassoumi @studioingmar @_atelierbrenda @casasusana @hansneumann @trophysophie @quinn_bentley @joy.cgi @jonrafman @oliviernoraz @caspersejersenstudio @elinsvahn_ Curated and edited @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset Text by @mildred.simantov Design by @guillaumechuard @studio.ardworks Published by @understudy.studio

Faces and ingredients for Le Montana Creative Direction by us Shot by @mrqs.jean Chef @mcntmcnt

Understudy Studies Hair Papers Casper Sejersen, Olivier Noraz, Elin Svahn From the real to the projected, or perhaps the reverse, from the double to the original model, Hair Papers oscillates on the borderline between “a dreamlike world and a dystopian reality.”
 We must take into account the body and its epidermal production. Hair spreads out, the mane multiplies into flying sheets, each one a marker of identity. Why the head, why touch the head? Because it is from there that our thoughts, our natural resources, our associated knowledge escape. We could associate the scene to A Sudden Gust of Wind by Jeff Wall. The same scattering of pages and the same chaos in the wind. The difference lies in the intention. While Jeff Wall wanted his characters violently assaulted by sheets of paper, Casper Sejersen, Olivier Noraz, and Elin Svahn depict a composed woman holding her pose, cigarette in hand. Her spirit escapes, doubled and exfiltrated in a “whirlwind of hair sheets, that embodies the complexity, fragility, and unexpected consequences of our actions within a codified system.” Photographer: Casper Sejersen CD : Daniella Wilson and Arthur Morisset Styling: Elin Svahn Set Design : Samuel Fasse / Carl Taegert Hair : Olivier Noraz Make Up : Thierry Do Nascimento Models: Tess Mcmillan Text : Mildred Simantov Production : Error 404 Production Studio : Maria Studio @caspersejersenstudio @oliviernoraz @elinsvahn_ @tess @tess_mcmillan @error404__production @mildred.simantov @thierry.do.nascimento @samuelfasse @carltaegert @lucaaimee @maria.studio.paris

PERFORMER by Isabelle Wenzel F/W25 ALAINPAUL campaign Seen and performed by @isabelle.w.e.n.z.e.l Creative direction @alainpaul in collaboration with @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset @understudy.studio Styling by @vanessareidofficial

PERFORMER by Isabelle Wenzel F/W25 ALAINPAUL campaign Seen and performed by @isabelle.w.e.n.z.e.l Creative direction @alainpaul in collaboration with @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset @understudy.studio Styling by @vanessareidofficial

PERFORMER by Isabelle Wenzel F/W25 ALAINPAUL campaign Seen and performed by @isabelle.w.e.n.z.e.l Creative direction @alainpaul in collaboration with @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset @understudy.studio Styling by @vanessareidofficial

Understudy Studies The Puppeteer Hans Neumann, Sophie Becker, Quinn Bentley “I’d say I’m Jerry’s double, rather than the other way around.” At what moment do we let go of our own hand to find ourselves different, and when do we grasp our identity again? How many days, months, or years can that last? Sophie Becker is a ventriloquist. She notes that it’s rare, and that “this art form is so strange and fascinating to people.” It’s strange because it’s one of the pioneering figures of the “id”, a visual and sonic interaction between a body, a voice, and an inanimate object to which we give movement and personality. Is Jerry the materialization of a thought, an imaginary part, or a Pygmalion? “He’s been in show business a long time, he’s my agent.” Who brings whom to life? Who carries whom? “Directing Jerry and watching him perform allows me to share the stage and learn at the same time.” By creating Jerry, Sophie Becker reinvents herself and doubles herself, like in Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan, where the main character creates a fictitious cousin, an alter ego to lean on. “I find a way to embody two versions of myself, inspired by the one I admire.” Here, Sophie Becker invokes the duality between self and other: watching the other speak is still seeing oneself; making others speak is still listening to oneself. In a relationship between two, there is no going without coming. It’s the graceful motion of a boomerang that always returns to the sender. We might wonder whether love exists, whether friendship means anything, or whether we are always somewhat alone, left to ourselves. “Curiously, the person I understand, and strive to imitate, is actually myself. It raises an important question for me: why haven’t I trusted myself on stage (and as a director) from the beginning?” Artist @trophysophie Photographer @hansneumann Video @quinn_bentley Text by @mildred.simantov Creative Direction @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset Published by @understudy.studio

Understudy Studies Manabu Koga featuring Kiko Mizuhara The bottom of a swimming pool is an almost unreal place. We would have to drain the water to understand its spatiality. Photographer Manabu Koga presents an aquatic episode where the American-Japanese actress Kiko Mizuhara floats in a spontaneous choreography, hidden behind a diving mask, both figures wearing outfits selected by stylist Ashling Massoumi and designed by creators Jameelah Maury, Lucila Safdie, and Katya Zelenstova. The photographer immerses us into the codes of celebrity, passing through anonymity and a loss of bearings. “Putting young designers’ clothes underwater, worn by a star,” emphasizes the desire to end the binary of a visible and invisible world, of stars and doubles. The two almost identical bodies combine to highlight the fragility of the social dive, its possible ascent to the surface, and the subjective perception of success. Photographer: Manabu Koga CD : Daniella Wilson and Arthur Morisset Styling: Ashling Massoumi Models: Kiko Mizuhara, Momoco, Annie Lee Tailor: Jameelah Maury Looks: Jameelah Maury, Lucila Safdie, Ashling Massoumi and Katya Zelenstova Text : Mildred Simantov @i_am_kiko @ashlingmassoumi @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset @manabukoga_underwater @mildred.simantov

Understudy Studies Vytautas Kum̌za, Zoning Out A theory? The memories of childhood are faded images. When we remove them from our black box, their original colors reappear like enchanted works of art. Vytautas remembers a time in primary school when his/her best friend jammed his/her pen cap up his/her nostril. From this image was born the desire “to create meaning from day-to-day objects transforming the banal into extraordinary”. Vytautas Kum̌za, Zoning Out, 2024 Archival ink-jet print, glass, metal hardware, rulers 50 × 40 cm. Artist @vytautaskumza Text by @mildred.simantov Curated and edited @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset Published by @understudy.studio

Understudy Studies Etienne Buyse, Temps d’Arrêt Who owns whom? The double, or the original model that gives it life? Étienne Buyse filters reality through the opalescent glass of a bus shelter. Certainly feeling protected by this refuge, individuals expose themselves under the photographer’s lens. What pleases Étienne is the softly tinted, blurred varnish of their silhouettes. Shifting the focus intentionally, importance is given to a detail like the hinge of the glass, while men, women, and children dissolve into shapes, textures, and materials. The desired object is not the subject itself, but what the subject reveals through this play of depth: a faceless double, an altered identity, another language. Artist @etienne.buyse Text @mildred.simantov Edited and curated @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset Published @understudy.studio

From our recent book Understudy Studies Heavens Okwuego, Proud Boy Can we say that one is well-born only if one knows exactly where they come from, knows where to draw the strength of their roots, and on which side of the border to find them? In Heavens Okwuego’s mind the thought exists of someone who comes from elsewhere—the path of great migrations, the pain of an exodus, tracing the hemorrhage of a people torn from their homeland. Here is where we can find the key to understanding the many overlapping thoughts inside the head of one man, Heavens Okwuego. “Everything seemed to be both a mirror and a magnifying glass in my quest to understanding myself.” With what he knows and what he feels, Heavens Okwuego creates a world, his own, a combination of himself and his other, somewhere, a double in another life, elsewhere. He brings his dreamed images closer to reality, his fictional characters nearer to his family members. He reunites this small world on a patch of land, his own patch of land, a mental plot of land. “Having grown up outside the culture of my heritage, I have often felt like I was searching for a connection that was both distant and intimate.” In the photographer’s words: “In this image, you can see my little cousin, sitting reluctantly in the left corner, clearly annoyed as I was capturing the moment. On the other side of the frame stands the maid, her posture and facial expression presenting a sense of fragility. The contrast between their emotions, the resistance of my cousin and the vulnerability of the maid, reveals layers of human connection, power dynamics, and emotional tensions that I often explore in my work.” Artist @heavens_o Text by @mildred.simantov Curated and edited @daniellawilsonk @arthurmorisset Published by @understudy.studio

Summer Hydrophobic Study with @charlesnegre