Flood Watch: Outlaw Innovation

Posted: September 23rd, 2009 | Author: Chris Jirau | Filed under: Arts | Tags: Frankie Flood, George Sugarman Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, innovative, metalsmithing, nonconformist, University of Illinois | 3 Comments »

Driven by individuality and thriving on non-conventionality, artist and professor of jewelry & metalsmithing Frankie Flood  breaks away from what he perceives as traditional industrialism. Through his masterful creations, wether it’s a tricked-out VW Beetle or a chopper-inspired pizza cutter, his rebellious perspective echoes nonconformity. ”The outlaw biker image is a break from the conformity that has taken over America since industrialization… The outlaw as defiant nonconformist, as well as social outcast, parallels being an artist who makes functional objects and being an individual who takes pride in the power of invention and skill.” 

Flood, who received his Masters degree of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing from the University of Illinois, has received grants from the George Sugarman Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council for his creative and innovative interpretations of mechanical reproduction. 

Scribe Culture recently had the privilege of chatting it up with the busy artist where we discussed his early influences, the lack of art programs in schools and focusing your artistic energy!

 

SC: So how did art find you as a child? Any early inspirations or influences?

FF: I have always been driven to create period. The ability to envision something in my mind and turn around and create that without compromising a single detail gives me great satisfaction. To be able to share that work with other people and gauge their reaction is also a big part of making.

I’m inspired by people who have skills, and the knowledge that comes with that skill (be it a musician or metalsmith).  I’m inspired by people working to create something from nothing. People who are doing something they are passionate about, doing it well, and doing something that is interesting, innovative, and informative also inspires me.

As far as influences go, my biggest has been my father.  My father has played a pivotal role in my development as a maker. During my childhood he worked in a printing factory and in his spare time worked on cars, carpentry, and knife making. He taught me to try and understand how “things” work and the workings of all things mechanical.  To make things, it was important to have the proper tool, but we did not have extra money to spend on tools, so we would build the tools we needed. The act of building the tool was a chance to understand how things worked. My father always had a “can do” attitude to making. He would see a picture of a tool and was always confident that he could make something that would work just as well as a commercially built tool. Through knife making and the many other hobbies my father had, I was taught the importance of craftsmanship and function. It was important for the objects that we made to function well, and that was a result of good craftsmanship and attention to detail. At the time I didn’t realize all of the practical knowledge that he was teaching me. I value the many days spent in his shop just watching him work. It was like growing up as an apprentice. 

I am also influenced deeply by all of the skilled craftsmen who did apprenticeships in the old style factories to learn a skill that would become a way of life. My metals professors (David Griffin and Billie Jean Theide) have helped to foster my development in metalsmithing and have become influences that have shaped me personally and professionally. All of these people have given me a desire to work harder and to try and be a better craftsman.

My interests are varied; some of them are as follows: mechanical objects, motorcycles, classic cars, blacksmithing, woodworking, knife making, art, Bauhaus design, everyday functional objects, craft processes, and old machines. 

SC: Upon graduating from college, was it difficult to find artistic employment or did you already have a plan?

FF: Upon completing my education, I had planned to get a job teaching Jewelry & Metalsmithing at a University, but it “wasn’t in the cards” straight out of college. I had a few interviews but just didn’t have the experience required by several of the teaching positions. I ended up getting a job working for a Design/Fabrication studio called Taylor Studios in Rantoul, IL. They design, create and install natural history museum exhibits all over the country. I was hired as a lead metal fabricator to build interactive learning exhibits. This job taught me a lot about large-scale metal fabrication and I value the real world experience it provided. I worked there for one year, but left for the teaching position at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee in Foundations and Jewelry & Metalsmithing. 

SC: Take us through the actual process of materializing an object. How does it transfer from your imagination to your workshop? Do you have a team?

FF: I do not have team that works for me. I often sketch ideas for new work and develop ideas from either creating a “problem” that needs solved or by attempting to create something that will challenge my technical abilities or serve as an inquiry into a topic of interest. I create a few three dimensional prototypes by hand that often help me visualize forms and details of the piece. This allows me to also practice my process to perfect it before making the actual piece. From this I create plans or drawings that I then transfer to metal and cut out or machine manually using my old machine tools. These tools serve as inspiration due to the fact that they were most likely once operated by someone far more skilled than myself to create something far more important the the one of a kind pieces I make (a humbling thought for sure….). But I love the aura surrounding those machines. Finishes for the piece are often decided while the piece is in progress and the details gradually get refined as components are added together to create the whole object.

I recently have been experimenting with computer design, rendering, scanning, and methods of rapid prototyping, but my true passion lies within the hand made skilled labor related to old craftsman ideals. I just can’t shake my upbringing and never grow tired of making with my hands and perfecting my skill.

SC: Being a professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, I’m sure you encourage creativity amongst your Jewelry & Metalsmithing students.  How does one manage and focus their artistic energy?

FF: The creative interaction that I am fortunate to be a part of with my students is something that I would miss dearly if I were not teaching. These interactions drive me and inform what I do in my own studio. There is an endless stream of ideas I think about making, just from the conversations that are provoked by my students and colleagues. I enjoy the discussion of the creative process and planning how to help my students achieve their goals. The fact that I am shaping my students experiences of making is sometimes a daunting thought, but at the same time the process is stimulating and exciting. 

I do try to make sure and I have days that I can spend in my own studio so that I can focus my time and energy toward the ideas I have. I see teaching and my own studio practice as things that help inform each other.

SC: I love the pizza cutters but would have never thought of a revamped motorcycle version. Where do you get your inspiration? How do you choose the object and what direction to go?

FF: The pizza cutter came out of a response to the craft world’s use of the teapot as artistic vehicle. I thought about a utensil or tool that had significance to me and was also overlooked by many. I felt that the ideas that I was interested in exploring (machinists skills that were taken for granted and mechanical objects that we use everyday such as a car or motorcycle) when combined with an object such as pizza cutter could become something that most people could relate to. The innate act of cutting food or using a tool used to perform a certain task is central to humanity and to metalsmithing history.

Motorcycles are a big influence and a source of inspiration and education for me. I look at what motorcycles have to offer in terms of their complexity of form, mechanics, and materials.  They are simple in their function yet they are complex in the organization of their parts, not to mention their complex social influence.  Choppers, cafe racers, dirt trackers, motocrossers, and trials bikes have served as forms of inspiration in what I make, but also in how I think and solve problems. Previous learned knowledge of what it takes to troubleshoot a process or to fix a machine is what goes into solving future problems and the creation of new designs. Our minds solve problems through experience and motorcycles have always provided wonderful learning opportunities. My design process starts with identifying a problem or issue that I would like to communicate or solve through the creation of an object. I then try to figure out the best way to go about solving the issue or discussing the topic.

SC: Which project(s) was the most gratifying and the most time consuming? Any pieces you’re particular to?

FF: The time it takes to make something isn’t an issue with me. The experience of making is central to what I do and it doesn’t seem like work since I own the means of my own production. I always feel great satisfaction from finishing all of my pieces, but my favorite piece is always the one that’s still in my head, that I get to plan and figure out how to make. The most gratifying projects are those of which I feel I have learned something or furthered my skill since the making of the piece before it.

SC: Across the US, many art programs have been cut due to budget conflicts. In your opinion, what’s the importance of art studies in school?

FF: This is true, and it’s not just art that is being cut, but also the manual trades. It makes me sad that people aren’t being taught how to use their hands and their minds in creative ways. The purpose and importance of the study of art is to produce creative thinkers who can solve problems in creative ways. I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who saw the importance of labor, creativity, and skill and this allowed me to experience hands on skills at a young age. My childhood building block set was made of mismatched chunks of wood that were left over from a real building project. The parameters were not already decided by the standardization of the individual blocks and therefore my mind and hands were free to wander through the many possibilities of what the finished form might take. Craft, design, and art allow ones mind to solve problems in an open and often unprescribed fashion.

The world needs as many creative thinkers and makers as possible; and fewer orators.

SC: Any projects in the works as we speak? What’s the next project?

FF: I’m currently interested in creating a series of crafted machines that perform specific tool based tasks. These will be manually powered tools that gallery goers can sit at and work. But I don’t want to say too much more about these until they are made; …then I’ll let the pieces speak for themselves. I also am currently working on a new series of pizza cutters that are a bit more radical in their construction and materials.

I also have a VW beetle that I have severely chopped and a Honda motorcycle that I have altered as well. These will become functional objects that represent the need of individuality mass-produced objects. I’m currently viewing these as giant prosthetics that you get to strap yourself to and these tools extend your will as you blast down the road; maybe it’s performance.

 

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