Welcome

Ahoy Matey, and Welcome to REPTIRE, an intermittent ‘ship’s blog’, chronicling the slow rise in the South Easterly skies of Reptire Designs; a studio that designs and crafts always artful, and sometimes useful THINGAMABOBS from old Indian Cucachou, aka ReTired Rubber.

Down Below, Ye shall find a permanent 'flagship post' marking the Maiden Voyage of Reptire Designs.

And below that, in the ‘hull’, can be found more recent posts chronicling the daring new adventures of Reptire Designs, dashed with small bits of whimsy, spotted pickerel, local color, and lizard lore..

In fact, on the right, in pale purple, ye shall find the Captain's Log’s Table of Previous Posts, which ye can peruse by year, month, and title to ye hearts content.

If ye haven't gotchyer sea legs yet, My Pretty, Ye can take a gander at our website at www.reptiredesigns.com, to get a proper Landlubber's Introduction.

Thanks for stopping in, I do hope you enjoy your visit aboard this ship! HARHARHARHAR.......

Sincerely, Travius Von Cohnifus

Captain, Founder, Indentured Servant, Rubber Alligator Wrestlor Extraordinaire a' this here ship.

enter the treadknot

Welcome
On September 26th, 2006, I launched my tire art/design business, Reptire Designs, with a solo exhibition of my artwork in The Green Gallery at The Scrap Exchange Center for Creative Reuse, in Durham, NC. For many reasons, it was a night that I will always remember, and I am grateful to Laxmi (my girlfriend at the time) and Edie (my mother, still) for dutifully documenting while I shmoozed, so that I may now shmare a taste of the evening with anyone who was not able to attend...



On a cool but lively autumn night-before-Center Fest, a stream of friends and curious strangers trickled (like pebbles through a rain stick) through the forest of odds and ends (that roost at night in The Scrap Exchange), out into the warm light of the back savanna, a scene utterly glopped with bizarre rubbery hybrids. Tentative and curious, the visitors craned their necks, nibbled, pecked, stood back, moved in closer. From the walls, glassy mirror eyes gazed back through black unblinking eyelids, while beneath the visitor's feet, in a steamy drainage cistern, a mortal drama unfolded. Primordial forms, with no eyes at all, sat puckered on stoops. A cascade of glittering steal droplets formed a curtain, to which clung a colony of tiny tire knotlettes.

Vito D., a long-time collabator down from the Asheville area, caressed the warming air with his Strange Little Folk music. I bobbed and I flit, and at an increasing clip-someone must have opened the faucet a bit....for soon I was swooning, I just about lost it! As the evening progressed, to my delight and amazement, 'family' from Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Hillsboro, Siler City, Asheville, and Fresno all made it! From the Cohn Clan to the Steudel Clan to the CFS Clan; from the WWC Clan to the Duke Ac Pub Clan to the SAF Clan; from the Bike Shop Clan to the Ninth St. Clan to the Scrap Clan... and every one in between, guys, they were all appearing before my stunned, blinking eyes. While I spun and I splayed, Vito now played-CHURNED- up a torrent of gritty ditties; while a staff volunteer (Brandon's a photographer, I swear) whipped up pitchers of Mango Lassies. And The 'Scrap Exchange girls' worked the door, the counter, and the floor, going "cha-CHING!", cha-CHING!","cha-CHING!".!.



By the end of the night, hundreds of friends, acquaintances and had-been-strangers had poured in, poured over the work, and partaken in, what was for me and my art, a monumental communal feast. And on top of it all, I got to place many of my preemies in hands that I love and trust, and in several instances, hands that fit them like gloves. What a privilage to be able to connect with people this way. Heading into the turbid seas of small business, I can confidently say that if I drown tomorrow, I am at least blessed today with the memory of (as Vito later put it) one authentically good Durham night.



Thanks to all of you who were there; in body and/or spirit.





Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange

Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange
I can't think of anything more rewarding for an artist than to see someone interacting with their artwork. Photo by Laxmi Haynes

Sammy and Dannette contemplate

Sammy and Dannette contemplate
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Cascade Colony of Knotlets

Cascade Colony of Knotlets
They would go with your jacket, would they not Claire?

Laxmi Resplendent

Laxmi Resplendent

Mavis In The Mist

Mavis In The Mist
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Tire Amazement

Tire Amazement
Photograph by Edie Cohn

Thursday, October 20, 2011

RECLAMATION: Tyrius

The Installation of Tyrius the Tire Worm
RECLAMATION INSTALLATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: Back of House, on roof.

Well, I have to say. Big Tyrius the tire worm, really kinda disappointed me on this one, showing himself to be the Big Baby that he is.

I mean this is a one of a kind oppurtunity, to get to hang out on the roof of a fancy museum. They even let him play on the tribuchets, menace the visitors, and even snack on a few palace gaurds.
And what did he do the whole time. Just sit up there and POUT!...




















....from both ends!


I guess maybe he was home sick.


















I even caught him trying to mooch some food off of this lovely bronze maiden. Pathetic!


However, we tried.

Before I go any further, please meet Stephan, who was instrumental in this thing.




Stephan is a fella who grew up getting into trouble at Hermitage. 
Now he has his own successful architectural restoration business, has helped replace many of the plaster cielings at in the museum, and even teaches ceramics there too.
Stephan was an excellent accomplice in installing this particular (among others) as he posseses a sculptor's rare combination of practical whit, with asthetic sense, making him quite indespensable. 
Additionaly, he is a good guy to be stuck up on roof with for hours at a time, as he has a bounty of good story's from his days working for a destructive rockstar ceramicist in New Jersey.
Good fella there.


So, our task up there, on the roof was two-fold.

1) Place the beast in such a way that it looked at least some what lively and maybe just maybe, menacing.

2) Keep it from falling down and crushing anyone important. (just kidding, we didn't really want to have to haul it back there again ;)

So spent along time, repositioning him (or, his various sections), trying to capture the illusion of vitality, life, movement. This was not easy.



I'm not sure if we succeeded. The part that I think we did succeed the most on, unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of. But I do remember getting it to a place, where it seemed to have some of that thriving animal energy, which was quite an accomplishment to coax out of Tyrius, who, as I mentioned, was behaving like a pile of rubber bands.

Here's a sampling of some of the many steps it took to get the guy up there, wether he likes it or not.


preparing new growth
Transporting Big Lug (in sections).
A new hood ornament design?

Workin' on that worm
A tragic viniette, no doubt. But so true, so true.


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