my pal asked:
"What impresses me more and more as I get older
as a designer, is the symbiosis of form and function,
not some form of simplistic reductionism for it's own
sake. I have been guilty of swinging more to the form
side of the equation at times, but I think in terms of a
lugged frame especially, the engineering side of the
equation is so set in stone, so, well, moot to a large degree,
that fook it - if you have the build process down, then you're
doing yourself a disservice if you don't embellish, flourish,
or whatever."


i replied:
imo, you have to look under the skin. each frame is the "first time",
no matter how many 58cm frames you've made. the material tells
you what it wants to be. your job is to tame it. to coerce it. it's alchemy.
("production" is about doing this in a larger, profitable way.). i'm so
sick of hearing myself say this, but - the deal to "embellish, flourish, or
whatever" is about the exterior. the "art" if you will, for me, is the refinements
made to constructing a frame perfectly well. until which time that i can do
this frame in and frame out, i'll refrain from calling myself an artist!
iow, the lugs, ornate or not, and the paint, and the bad'ass graphics,
are all just icing on the cake!
e-RICHIE