Jauretsi and Crystal

Self-described “creative peas in a pod,” Jauretsi Saizarbitoria and Crystal Moselle discovered a mutual love of documentaries and vérité-style filmmaking over the course of a hectic week at Art Basel Miami in 2009. Saizarbitoria directed and released her first documentary, East of Havana, filmed in Cuba, in 2007. At the same time, Moselle was producing her first feature documentary, Excavating Taylor Mead, about the Warhol superstar and beat poet, which screened at the 2006 Whitney Biennial. In December 2010 the pair co-founded a content creation collective, enlisting a cast of innovative artists that varies from project to project. Jauretsi’s editorial background includes positions at Jane, Details and Paper, as well as a current stint as editor for André Balazs’s Standard Culture website. She also produced a Webby-nominated short film, Mnemosyne, directed by Daphne Guinness. Crystal has lent her visual prowess to projects for Levi’s, Kate Spade and Ralph Lauren. She also works on underground music videos, and collaborated with Spike Jonze for AsDSSka’s song “Hold On.”

Crystal Moselle (left) and Jauretsi Saizarbitoria by Rebecca Weber, Lucky Strike Cafe, New York, 2010

More From Jauretsi and Crystal

December 1, 2010

Directors Jauretsi and Crystal Moselle Ask Artists at the 2010 Art Fair About Life

A graffiti kid who started out climbing New York's billboards in the middle of the night, Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, now garners comparisons to Takashi Murakami and Keith Haring, and his collectors include Lance Armstrong and Pharrell Williams. The artist's often candy-colored paintings and sculptures wink at pop culture, appropriating characters such as The Simpsons, The Smurfs, the Michelin Man and SpongeBob into a fantastical, offbeat world. Original Fake, the company founded by KAWS in the 90s and based out of Tokyo’s Aoyama district, releases his vinyl toys and clothing line, securing an avid fan base in Asia; recently a 16-foot sculpture featuring a pirate skull on the body of Mickey Mouse was erected in Hong Kong's Harbour City. The new career-spanning monograph KAWS—which he will be signing in the OHWOW bookstore at Miami's Standard Hotel on Friday December 3—brings the elements of his one-man empire together: "Seeing the book has given me perspective on everything I've done until now," he says. "I can now mentally move on to the next thing.” Directors Jauretsi and Crystal Moselle caught up with the 35-year-old in his Brooklyn studio as he was shipping paintings to Miami's Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin for this year’s Art Basel Miami 2010. His current shows at Galerie Perrotin, Paris, and the Aldrich Museum in Connecticut, run through December 23 and January 2, 2011, respectively.