Upcycle Aesthetic: Duane Flatmo’s Art

Upcycle Project Inspiration: Duane Flatmo from Eureka, CA

 

The inspiration for my upcycle idea came from an aesthetic that I experienced about 10 years ago, but have never forgotten about. From 2010 to 2014, I lived in Arcata, CA while studying at Cal Poly Humboldt (which at the time was Humboldt State University). Arcata is in northern California (figure 1). In relative driving terms, it takes 5 hours to drive from San Francisco to Arcata along the 101, which features an isolated drive through several groves of redwood trees.

 

Figure 1: Arcata circled on a map of California

 

During my time there, I saw several street murals and distinct logos that were interesting to me, but took me years to look further into. I think it is interesting how murals and artwork of an area define the place and give the buildings regional flavor. I saw this artwork in both Arcata and Eureka, CA. Eureka is a larger city about 8 south miles of Arcata. The artist is Duane Flatmo, who is a local artist in Eureka. One of the first pieces I saw done by Flatmo and leaning towards this aesthetic was a mural in Eureka on the side of a sporting goods store called Bucksport (figure 2). Flatmo painted this mural in 1996. There is a strong emphasis on particular facial features and emotion within the subjects. The contrast of light along parts of the faces give another dimension to them. All of their faces seem cartoonish, but still relatively normal.

 

Figure 2: Bucksport Mural by Duane Flatmo (1996) (2)

 

Flatmo painted this mural in 1996. There is a strong emphasis on particular facial features and emotion within the subjects. The contrast of light along parts of the faces give another dimension to them. All of their faces seem cartoonish, but still relatively normal. From then on, I started noticing more of his artwork and noticed how abstract it was.

After this street mural I noticed that several of the logos on the beers made by Lost Coast Brewery were done by Flatmo with an abstract aesthetic (figures 3,4,5). I like the facial and building distortions that appear in this style. They all seem inspired by cubism in the sense that each section of the image contains multiple perspectives.

Figure 4:  Downtown Brown Ale Label by Duane Flatmo

 

Figure 5: Alleycat Amber Ale Label by Duane Flatmo

 

Figure 6: Tangerine Wheat Beer Label by Duane Flatmo

 

My goal for the upcycle project is to create a three dimensional head that is inspired by Duane Flatmo’s style and cubism. I plan on using cardboard, foam, and tape as the structural materials.

Figure 7: Cardboard

Figure 8: Tape, Cutting Surface, and X-Acto Knife

The idea is to have the face contain multiple planes to show different perspectives of the head while looking at it in a certain way. There will be an emphasis on certain facial features over others. This will be shown by having certain parts of the face be larger and pop out from the head.

 

 

References

Jay Galvin, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaygalvin/52256730974

Interview with Duane Flatmo: https://www.bugpress.com/duane-flatmo

Lost Coast Brewery Beer Selection: https://lostcoast.com/beers