After an encounter between Dutchmann founder, Gavin Rooke, and master surfboard shaper, Spider Murphy, the original Pipeline Gun surfboard of 1975 became, quite literally, the blank canvas on which ten select artists and designers had some fun.
The (Dutchmann’s) “Delft” collection of designer surfboards consists of ten 7’10’ surfboards, designed by ten artists and designers, curated and approved by Murphy. The designers included:
- Richard Hart
- Jonathan Barnbrook
- Anton Kannemeyer
- Michael McGarry
- Frances Goodman
- Asha Zero
- Roelof Petrus van Wyk
- Givan Lötz
- Gustav Greffrath
- Olivier Schildt
“In an idiosyncratic twist, sparked in part by the pristine white form of the board itself and in part by a sly reference to Dutchmann's name, the artists were asked to work within the theme of Delftware, limiting their palettes to the cobalt hues which gave this 16th Century Dutch style of pottery its distinctive appearance,” Rooke explains.
The original Pipeline Gun led South African durfer Shaun Tomson to win the 1975 Hawaii Masters, and reshaped the future of surfing across the globe.
The artists and designers were tasked with creating designs for the ten boards using the colour palette of blues intermixing with the white of the board, to create a "Delft" effect. The Dutchmann name also had to be referenced, though only slightly, in the design.
Collectively fusing together basic craft practices with progressive ideas, the project highlights the power of creative collaborations and the ideas it sparks.
The result of the project reveals the power of a diverse collaboration and the ideas it sparks. All in all, “Delft” fuses together basic craft practices with progressive ideas.
