Ones to watch: the set that Jack built - set designer Jack Flanagan

Interview, Dec, 1997 by Richard Pandiscio

If we can say that fashion is the most popular theater of the '90s, then we can also say that Jack Flanagan will be one of the most popular set designers of the future. At twenty-four, he is already working regularly with such exacting photographers as Steven Meisel, Mario Sorrenti, and Wayne Maser, and building photo-shoot environments for projects ranging from covers for magazines like Italian Vogue to campaigns for companies like Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. The signature Flanagan look-in-the-making includes extreme use of color and the abstract juxtaposition of unlikely elements.

This is not to say that Flanagan does not bring along a traditional arts background. In 1996 he graduated from London's Central St. Martins College, where he concentrated on theater design. His major project for school was a set for the opera The Rake's Progress, wherein the scenery operated like a three-dimensional chess-board, suggesting all the complexities of that game. While completing his studies, Flanagan also experimented with music videos, costume, film design, and murals; he even filmed a few commercials for Puma and Pepsi.

When asked about transferring his experience from one medium to another, Flanagan says, "Fashion work tends to be more about surfaces, whereas in theater I tend to jump in. Both are a means of capturing imagination, even if the best you can hope for in fashion is half a second more than the other ads."

Flanagan, whose good looks could easily put him in front of the camera instead of behind it, attributes his visual awareness to the restlessness of his upbringing. His father, an engineer, moved the family from the Philippines (where Flanagan was born) to Greece, London, Cairo, South Africa, and Jamaica. Now, relatively settled in New York City, Flanagan hopes to add more large-scale opera production and film work to his resume.