More From the South

The Southern American continent of course, Reverb once again and once again the boards are finished beautifully and look utterly functional and essential. Lovely work.

Surf Craft At The Mingei Pt. 2

Some photos of the exhibit, courtesy of the lovely & efficient Michelle Bossuot. Definitely worth checking this out....

Surf Craft At The Mingei Museum San Diego

And in the absolutely essential category- Richard Kenvin has curated a new show for the Mingei Museum in San Diego which is currently open. It features a selection of aquatic planing craft that you just will not find anywhere else. It's far more than just a historic collection, there's a very definite and carefully thought out design thread followed here, and you really owe it to yourself to go see it if you are anywhere within reach. Make a day of it, look at the boards then get in the water all inspired. 

Here's the official museum blurb:

 

On View Through January 11, 2015People have made surfboards for centuries. Standing alone, these boards are often striking examples of functional design. Together, they tell a compelling story about the evolution of an important American art form. Traditional craft, cutting-edge engineering and minimalist art converge in the Museum’s new exhibition devoted to surfboards built from the late 1940s to the present day.
SURF CRAFT – Design and the Culture of Board Riding opens on the first day of summer, June 21, 2014. SURF CRAFT will be a unique surfboard exhibition exploring board design from a previously unexamined perspective: in the context of Soetsu Yanagi’s mingei philosophy of the importance of craft. Through this lens, the exhibition will capture the influences behind American design in board riding, from the alaia boards of ancient Hawaii, to obscure surf bathing boards of England, Japan and Africa, to post-war hydrodynamic planing hulls of Southern California. Innovative board-shapers and surfers of the past and present will be highlighted, including legendary surfer Bob Simmons, who died at Windansea in La Jolla in 1954, and renowned San Diegan Carl Ekstrom.
Guest curator and surf historian Richard Kenvin will author the 176-page hardcover book of the same title – which will be co-published by Marquand Books and MIT Press and will include 150 historic and contemporary photographs.

More on the book soon too, and the Mingei is at 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 and open Tuesday through Sunday. As much as I enjoyed my recent jaunt to foreign soil, it meant I missed a few excellent cultural events involving dance, music and art, including the opening of this which was disappointing. Don't miss out yourself....

Wheels & Waves 4

It'll be back to surfboard pictures with a vengeance soon I promise, meanwhile it's still all about Pays Basque.....

Wheels & Waves 3

This is fun....

Wheels & Waves 2

We made it to Biarittz, Stevie Gee made it to Biarittz, we have an exhibit set up and tomorrow we get in the water hopefully....

Wheels & Waves 1

London. Sunshine, history, diversity, action, Tate Modern soviet poster collection & great coffee. The board is a teaser- shaped by Kidman it turned up at my place hours before I left. Something to look forward too when I get back....

Away I go...

Off to Wheels & Waves, updates as internet access allows....

And Finally, Still Better Thanks To Cronulla

Awesome. We now carry the Neal Purchase Jnr.  Wolfhound fins! Crafted to NPJ's exacting standards in Australia by The Salty Merchant, these are the real deal. No stunts, but plenty of base and nicely thick which in simple terms equals drive. There's the 7.5" in the beer tint and the 8.5" in the bottle tint, both coming in a nice canvas and cord pouch. Very excited to have these, email info @ foamandfunction if you want in on the action. Better yet, this isn't really the final batch of new and good stuff coming. Post Wheels & Waves adventures there will be more- new Parmenters are on the way and there's a potential retail space in the very near future. Thanks for your interest and stay tuned....

And better still, thanks to Newquay this time

Asymmetrical spoon by Cornwall's Squire Surf. Amazing! This is coming to Biarritz with us...

Better yet thanks to Huntington Beach

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we will be working with/retailing/order channeling/doing something with Jeff Beck and Ninelights Surfboards. This here is the first batch finished- a 5'2" balsa mini Bob, and a 6' balsa double bump quad with a redwood tail block. The big guy is a used board which looks brand new thanks to the compsand construction- 7'11 semi gun with fins and a bag. These boards are for sale and are totally custom, hand built in Huntington Beach and of quality rarely seen nowadays. You want something specific let us know and we will set you up with Jeff. There's some really interesting projects in the pipeline too- finless, wood tails- very stoked to be a part of this. As always, inquiries to info @ foamandfunction.com

It gets better, thanks to Uki....

Single - Studies of Movement - featuring Stephanie Gilmore from the Spirit of Akasha sessions by Andrew Kidman from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.

The postman did his job beautifully and a box of goodness has arrived from Andrew Kidman's rural hideaway. Music and literature, what more could you want. Here's the goods: New Windy Hills album- best they've done without a doubt, slightly psyched out and very much it's own thing that's getting a lot of turntable time here. There's vinyl for $37 and CDs for $30. Soundtrack for 'Searching For Michael Peterson' by Tim Gaze and the Brown Birds From Windy Hill- CD $20. 'Spirit Of Akasha' soundtrack CDs- double disc in a slipcase arrangement, featuring  the likes of The Windy Hills, Atoms For Peace, 'Bonnie' Prince Billy, Dirty Three, Tom & Lee-Ann Curren and more- $37. 'Morning Of The Earth- Reimagined' - Awesome. 1 copy only and it's on vinyl, the original film soundtrack rerecorded by Mick Turner, 'Bonnie' Prince Billy Tom Curren, Goons Of Doom, Pond, Machine Translations, Windy Hills and more. $45. And finally, copies of the 'Single' book. Stephanie Gilmore rides Dave Parmenter's channeled single and advances surfing's aesthetics enormously. Limited to 1000 copies, $55. All the above goods are signed by Andrew and if you order before June 1st, shipping inside the US of A is free. Can't do better than that. We'll ship elsewhere but international postal rates being what they are you foreign friends pay a bit. You can order by simply emailing info @ foamandfunction.com and away we go. Much of this will be coming up to Europe with me for the Wheels & Waves event too....

The Windy Hills - Cars from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.