The exhibit “Some of Tom’s Typewriters: From the Collection of Tom Hanks,” installed by Simon Doonan, is on view at The Church in Sag Harbor. The show features 35 typewriters from actor Tom Hanks’s collection. The Church has been transformed into a fanciful home for these magical machines to be displayed in all their iconic glory. The show will run through March 10. We spoke to Doonan — best known as the former creative director of Barneys and for his books and essays on culture and style — about the exhibit.
Tell us about the exhibit “Some of Tom’s Typewriters” and what inspired you to design an exhibition of Tom Hanks’s typewriters.
When Eric Fischl invited me to be the installation designer, I shrieked loudly and agreed immediately. This project took me right back to my window dressing days at Barneys.
What is your connection to The Church in Sag Harbor, and how did this partnership come about?
I am a longstanding Shelter Islander. Sag Harbor is, for us, the closest thing we have to a shimmering metropolis, and Jonathan Adler and I make frequent visits. The Church is a truly great life-enhancing community hub.
What fascinates you most about the typewriter?
Typewriters are COOL! Screenplays, final demands, books, love letters, office memos were all banged out on typewriters. The mechanisms are complicated but also insanely simple. The click-clack of a typewriter provided the soundtrack to the 20th Century, at least the earlier decades, before laptops.
Can you tell us about the programming that coincides with the exhibition?
Typewriters changed the course of people’s lives. I gave a talk at The Church highlighting the impact of typewriters back in the day, using my parents as an example. When WWII was over, Terry and Betty Doonan wisely learned to type. This decision changed the course of their lives, saving them from the grind of factory work. They both ended up working in the news department of the BBC! All thanks to typing.
What do you love most about the East End?
The East End has astonishing variety. It runs the gamut from gritty to szhooshy. I like both.
