Mollusk Surf - Art and Animation from John Mollusk
photos courtesy of John McCambridge
by Alexander Kopps
posted 2004-09-15

Talking with the artist

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This was culled from a long distance discussion between two people who obviously know each other very well. John McCambridge is Mollusk Surf and his friend and writing confidante is Christopher Ruess a.k.a. Alexander Kopps a.k.a. Big Gay Al (check out the March 2004 issue of allaboutsurf). There really is nothing these two don't put up on the plate to discuss, no wave they aren't at least thinking of surfing, and absolutely no concept that doesn't start the gears turning in their heads on how to interpret.

John is a quiet type driven to check his home surf hourly for any sign of swell or wind direction. He loves that nipple-rendering freeze they call Ocean Beach next to San Francisco, with it's 48 degree water, river like currents, and lonely isolationism. It is more like he thrives on it, use it for inspiration, then takes it to his studio where he tricks into becoming his mental fantasy and turns it into art. When he is done he turns tail for Central America or the South Pacific to surf, sketch, design and animate. Then comes home to OB for more.

We asked John to share some thoughts on his art and surf life, so he ended up conning Kopps into this dueling dialogue. It must have been flat when they did this but we thank them just the same.

Alex - What's it like surfing ocean beach? I heard that place chucks puppies...

JM - It does chuck puppies here but the rides are pretty short and the paddles are long. I think the waves are better in Santa Cruz. That being said, one thing I love about OB is that the surf culture is just a small part of the Outer Sunset vibe. It's definitely more Chinese family then Surf City. Most people out here are just completely oblivious to surfing... That's not to say it doesn't get crowded though! But the cool thing about the crowds at OB is that because of the currents you never end up surfing with the same guys for very long.

Alex - Who's your mama?

JM - A really nice social activist who likes the beach. We were always either at a protest or the beach.

Alex - How did you get into making things?

JM - One time when I was a kid I got too radical over the camel-hump jump at the BMX track and ended up at the hospital. While I was laid up there I just started drawing a bunch of cars with really big back wheels and huge engines popping out of the hoods.

Alex - Who have been your influences artistically? Aesthetics or ideas.

JM - Surf art wise, I'm definitely a big Griffin fan, and Bill Ogden too. Those guys are trippy! Oh and that guy who did the art for Innermost limits of Pure Fun. OP art is cool too; I've been looking at Vasarely and Bridget Reilly lately. Idealistically, I'm into scale and repetition and with waves it's so easy to tap into that. Benoit Mandelbrot and Ernst Haekel are two people who have opened my eyes up to the underlying structure of nature and systems.

Alex - How did you get into animation?

JM - It was part of a high school summer art program and I just got obsessed with it for like ten years. The idea of being able to manipulate reality at 24 frames per second was pretty intoxicating plus I really liked old Warner Brothers cartoons. The down side is the shear volume of work... yikes!

Alex - I remember seeing one of your finished animations and thinking, "oh shit".

JM - Yeah animation is such an arduous process. It took me 2 and one half years to make a six-minute cartoon. That's one of the reasons I got into making T-shirts, I can get a shirt design done in a few days and feel like I accomplished something.

Alex - If you could, would you lower or lift your car?

JM - No question about it, Jack it up! Then I'd go to the Lost Coast. I don't know how well a jacked up Eurovan would perform though.

Alex - Do you know the tide or do you check it?

JM - I check it... the dog needs to be walked anyways.

Alex - Curren or Occy?

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