{ Monthly Archives: September 2010 }
Jack and Willey did a float test of their matching, 1/4 scale hull models
I feel lucky to have such a congenial and productive crew for my Atelier class this semester. The students presented their 1/4 scale models the morning of our third session and have clearly divided into four teams, each collaboratively pursuing a different hull type appropriate to the scope of the Expedition.
Dean made a beautiful study model of his team’s folding dinghy concept
Stephanie Syjuco’s Shadowshop project opens at SFMOMA this November
My friend, the artist Stephanie Syjuco, has invited me to participate in her Shadowshop project at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, opening this November through May, 2011:
“A temporary and alternative store/distribution point embedded within the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s fifth floor galleries, Shadowshop will stock hundreds of artists’ multiples, small works, tchotchkes, catalogs, books, zines, media works, and other distributive creative output.
While operating as an actual mom-and-pop style store, Shadowshop is also a platform for exploring the ways in which artists are navigating the production, consumption, and dissemination of their work. Four themes (1. artwork-as-commodity, 2. cultural souvenirs, 3. bootlegs and counterfeits, and 4. alternative distribution systems) will contextualize selected projects that are both complicit with and also critical of capitalist circulation. Special projects will be commissioned by Packard Jennings, Juan Luna-Avin, and Imin Yeh.
For six months (November 2010—May 2011) Shadowshop will feature only local Bay Area works, give museum visitors access to a wide variety of affordable wares, and provide a snapshot of a vibrant and energetic art scene.”
I plan to take the opportunity to launch the Deep Craft brand by introducing my Deep Deck Longboard and a series of experiments in skate deck design and related, ancillary products.
My client will soon plant a hedge of bay laurel to camouflage the front of the tower
Though not technically a ‘tree house’ because it makes no connection to any tree, the elevated cabin I designed for a local client has all of the hallmarks of one: 360 degree views through the trees, rustic accommodations, no utilities, and a feeling of being apart from everything but closer to nature. The structure is fully permitted, utilizing an innovative system of helical anchors and tension/compression diagonal bracing. I called it a ‘Free-Standing Observation Tower’ on the plans, but my client has taken to calling it the more poetic ‘House of Tree’.
It’s been very exciting watching the structure take shape as it nears completion under the capable hands of Tom Holland and Richard Ernst. By the end of October, we should have windows and doors installed, a roof in place, siding from redwood milled on the property, and all stairs, landings and rails in place. My client is eager to furnish the interior before the rains begin.
view to the southeast (shot with my phone)
To read more about the development of ‘House of Tree’, please click here and scroll down.
I made a 1/4 scale model of the ’surfboat’ I’ve been studying to use as inspiration for the class. The design represents a type of hull that performs well and is easy to build, requiring no ‘building jig’. The frame for the boat is built off of the main ‘deck batten’, laid upside down on the floor. I encouraged the class to use this concept as a design/build control mechanism as they develop their own ideas, making minor alterations to the overall proportions to suit the requirements of the desired performance of their ideal craft. Most students began by carving study models in foam or wood, which they will cut into sections and translate into construction frame models like the one pictured above. Here’s a little gallery of some of the work progress from our last session: Continue Reading »
I will be simultaneously publishing new content on my Micro-Expedition course on my new CCA weblog, which you can follow by clicking here.
I’m excited to be teaching the Atelier Studio for CCA’s Furniture Program this semester. Russell Baldon invited me to be this year’s Wornick Visiting Professor, and I’ve designed a course I’m calling Micro-Expedition. The class has a total of 7 students, most of whom are Furniture majors, and we meet on Mondays from 9-3 in the ‘benchroom’ at CCA’s San Francisco campus.
The first day we made introductions and looked at charts, maps, books and boat plans related to my proposed, semester-length project. In brief, the students and I will collaboratively design a water-borne expedition for the end of the semester, and design and build the craft most appropriate to the requirements of the chosen waterway, given the constraints of time, space and budget. We have just 14 weeks to make the boats, so I was pleased that the group quickly and unanimously chose a body of water (to remain a secret for now) and agreed to approach the boat-building as a kind of production crew, with small teams assigned tasks related to making all of the components.
We’ve begun to explore two major boat types, a sailboard and a folding dinghy, with the class split into two research teams relatedly. We have plans for an early ‘buckboard’, a 12′ sailing surfboat that evolved into the classic sunfish. One approach will be to modify the hull to function more like a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) and alter the sail for hands-free, downwind conditions. Another approach is to combine features from several ‘folding dinghy’ plans available for free online. I printed two of these that originally appeared in ‘Popular Mechanics’ in the 1960’s. I asked the students to develop their own ideas for these basic hull types over the week to present to the class. We will analyze these as a group and decide which features should be incorporated into the project, making all attempts to keep the craft as simple to build and safe to handle as possible.
After the first class I walked from CCA to see if it was possible to access the Bay by foot. I was surprised and delighted to find a boat launch off of 3rd street, less than a mile from the school. If time allows, we will use this to test a few boat types to get a feel for how they handle before beginning construction in earnest. As part our adventure, I’m requiring the students to document the process and keep an archive on these pages. I will be making running commentary throughout the semester, but each week will feature a different student author. Stay tuned!
public dock near CCA’s San Francisco campus
the southern stretch of Doran Beach, looking southeast towards Tomales Bluff
Whenever I go to the beach, at least a few times a week, I habitually count the number of birds flying in formation, usually pelicans, who often fly in sets of 9 through 15. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but am always pleased to find a prime number; somehow this seems to make them less vulnerable.
brown pelicans flying northwest over the breakers at Doran Beach
At low tides it’s an easy hike through a rocky crevasse to the southern stretch of coast, normally cut off by the tidal surge. This stretch is more exposed to the southwest and shows early signs of a shift in the direction of current. If the swell continues its shift south, as it appears, there should be a tiny break closer to the accessible beach further out the cape in a few weeks, a one or two foot wave perfect for a trial run of the experimental, solid wood longboard I’ve been slowly shaping in anticipation.
My trusty Sears Silvertone is shaped like an old school surfboard
Backwash
I’ve been winding down after a hard day’s work by trying out new riffs on old guitars. Thinking a lot about surf and surf music lately, I’ve swapped out my familiar, acoustic mini-Martin for a 1962 Sears Silvertone I’ve owned since 1981. I taught myself how to play on this guitar, which I bought from its original owner, who modified it by adding Humbucker pickups and Gretsch machine heads. I learned to play by transposing Appalachian banjo tunes I knew by heart, which sound great on the reedy, trebly pitch of the Silvertone, especially when tuned a step or two high.
I last played the Silvertone in the mid-1980’s with The Holidays