What are your favorite memories of your grandparents?
I have a lot of great memories of staying at their house, spending time playing. And great memories of their office because it was so unbelievably rich. They had aquariums, home movies, great food, architectural models that were so elaborate for whatever exhibition they were doing. There was always a lot going on and always something new to explore.

In particular, though -- When I was a kid I worked at the aquarium in San Francisco. They made me a junior scientist and I had a chance to go to the South Pacific and swim with a whale shark. The night before I was supposed to leave Charles showed up totally unexpectedly and gave me a camera. He said he was concerned that if I was using my parents Nikon, I would be so worried about dropping it into the ocean, I wouldn't take any pictures. He brought me this cheap camera that I didn't have to worry about and it was exactly what I needed. And that's how they thought. They were considerate and focused on what was appropriate. It was a great gift for him to give me and I did get a few good shots.

What words of wisdom did they have for you?
They would tell me to always be gracious.

As a child, how did you see your grandparents?
I just saw them as being a lot of fun. They would always be sharing adventures and doing cool things but to me, they were just my grandparents. I knew they were good people, I didn't realize that in certain quarters they were on a world stage. But you have to remember that my grandparents are more famous now than they were then. To certain people, they were very well known and admired. It was a great group of people to be known by but then it was small.

What are some of your favorite Eames works?
"Toccata for Toy Trains" is an almost perfect film and I really love the molded plywood screen. The Eames house is amazing. That's just a handful I pulled out of the air -  there's so much.

How do you describe your work?
I consider myself a filmmaker, artist, writer. The best way to describe it really is just to say I wear a lot of different hats.

Are there similarities between your work and the modern design work of your grandparents?
I'm sure the connections are there between what I create and what they did, but I never really think of how they would take my work. Whether they would like it or not, I think they would respect the thinking that goes into it. And they would be happy to know that I'm keeping busy.

What's keeping you busy now?
Kymaerica. It's a story told in a physical way. You might call it a massively multimedia project. It is an alternative universe with thousands of gwomes (a term meaning "the footprint of [a] nation) occupying an area somewhat congruent with North America. Each culture has its own history. It is a kind of reinterpretation of the American landscape. The project involves a web component, photography, books, performances, and physical installations--including a series of plaques marking important sites in Kymaerican history. Some information is available at www.kymaerica.com.

I've always been fascinated by photography and filmmaking. With Kymaerica I have the ability to combine the visuals with text and create a reality with physical sites--I've crafted a moment in time when the fictional, virtual world, Kymaerica, connects with the non-fictional world.

Tell me about "Ping Pong."
It's a film follows the design process back and forth. Through the evolution [Emeco and Frank Gehry's] SuperLight chair, the film looks at the world of design by showing the design process as a process of discovery.