Richard Holschuh :: Upside Down and Backwards: How to Start at the Beginning
Note from the hosts: Rich makes things of concrete, and he can be credited with a few other things. 15 — Please take ten minutes to read this, then take five minutes to think how it might apply to what you do. For part one of this essay, click here. Thank you.
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Once there is an awareness of the basic process of process, which is doublespeak for having a clue, any problem or situation can be tackled. It may be a simple task such as hanging a picture or a complex one such as siting a house on a lot. In my mind, it is akin to having a backward perspective: knowing where you want to end up and then stepping backward from there, ’til the beginning is found. Exactly what those steps may be doesn’t really matter at this point. They will fill in on their own, in a series of mini-analyses re-enacting the basic premise on a smaller scale. It is beginning properly which matters most.
I like to say, partly in jest, partly in self-deprecation, and partly in truth that I do all of my best work upside-down and backwards. Now, this is very true because I am a concrete artisan, creating countertops, sinks, and other architectural surfaces using forms into which fluid concrete is placed to reproduce the shapes and effects of the mold. The final finished side of the casting is the one which is face down in the form. So left is right and up is down, front is back and innies are outies…As a former carpenter, it reminds me of cutting and installing crown molding, which can be a very real challenge to a beginner. And you have to admit it is kinda funny to be able to make this claim with regard to one’s work – upside down and backwards: ….and you get paid for this? Yeah, ain’t that the coolest!
Concrete reproduces faithfully (perhaps I should say unforgivingly) the form into which it is placed. Quid pro quo. Garbage in, garbage out. It becomes a material witness to the care and respect invested in its birthplace. All of the concrete commissions we create in our studio are undertaken with this fact uppermost in mind. There is no machining of features and profiles after the fact – it is all planned, formed and cast from the outset – badda bing badda boom. No drilling, routing, or assembling. You get one try and that’s it. And so, having this mentality, this approach whereby one must envision the outcome, very clearly in the mind’s eye so as to arrive there successfully, you must know where to start. And as with all journeys, it begins with a single step.
What is that step? That step springs from the knowledge of getting your bearings. If you don’t know where you’re coming from, you can’t plan the trip, not one iota. Even Google will give you a blank stare. Experience helps a great deal here. Intuition (a form of internalized experience) does as well. Instruction or mentoring can be a kickstart. Again, the goal must be kept in mind – the primary tenets of that goal – not the actual bit of solid matter that is produced by the process, for which the client is paying and which steals all the glory – but the experience or dream, which is providing the incentive for the act of creation, and manifests as a cash transaction for tangible goods. I explain this (to my helpers or anyone within earshot) as: It’s not how you get there. It’s what it looks like when you’re done. If you end up with a pleasing result for all concerned, the means are excusable (within business-like reason, if you’re in this to prosper).
OK! – concrete example. Going back to the very beginning, the critical parameters and desired outcomes which should guide the creation of a countertop, for example, are not the cost, the smoothness, the type of cement used. These are superficial and not foundational; if attention is paid and care is invested in beginning properly, these things will follow. Many a beginner gets swept up in formulas, fancy materials, the latest gizmo or technological advances. They are nothing, if not distracting and certainly obscuring, the true essence of creating a countertop for a client (or anything else, for that matter). To my mind, this is what really matters (the rest is filler):
- The final result needs to belong in its environment. It should not look contrived, forced, overstep its presence, or bein your face. This is a gut reaction.
- It should demonstrate mastery of workmanship and attention to fundamentals, such as scale and form. This is technical and artistic prowess.
- It should deliver on the mission it is called to perform. This is common sense.
- It should enrich its owner/user’s life experience. This is the whole point of being in a creative business endeavor.
Exactly what some of these starting points or basic tenets may be will be the subject for another installment, it seems. The nuts and bolts, the rubber hitting the road, all that happy stuff. All of the trades have their unique aspects of process, but there is an awful lot of crossover between seemingly disparate undertakings: we can all learn from each other by listening, sharing and comparing. I enjoy speaking with people of all inclinations (except stupidheads – oh, did I say that out loud?) – I always come away with something new and useful. And that’s good – that’s what life as a human is all about. Join in.
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Another note from the hosts: First, if you live in NH, VT, MA and need a countertop, check out: http://www.concretedetail.com.
Second, I really like how and what Rich writes . . . please RT, comment; send him a personal email through his website. . . . Give him props — can you say “man crush?” — This dude’s got it going on — ok, a little over the top? — anyway. Thanks Rich, jb
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Mike,
Thanks for sharing your own travels into the strange foreign land of “knowing”, where the paths lead to endless undiscovered vistas – you never know what is around the corner, but it is always fascinating. And the more you wander around, the better you understand where you are and where you came from and gain a small inkling of what may lie ahead. There’s no excuse for boring. Ha!
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Richard/jb,
Another entertaining and thought provoking post. Thanks.
While reading the piece I flashed back some twenty years to the first time I held an engineering print in my hands…and still feel the brow muscle sensations resulting from the confused look my face most surely expressed. What was obvious to “them”…was foreign to me. “They” were designers and engineers (not the sort who drive trains)
Upside-down an backwards.
The subject drawing clearly illustrated tooling necessary to fabricate a three-dimensional part, a small but critical component in the larger system that I struggled to comprehend. Accustomed to glamorous product photos and end-use activities, at this stage in my career I understood finance, economics, some history and beer…not fabrication.
“Walking-the-process” of design and manufacturing was profound for me, unveiling a hidden, parallel world to the one I occupied. An “aha” transition where the creation of products shifted from “made by a machine somewhere far away” to “created by a dedicated team of really smart, creative and talented folks…where they live”. To this day I enjoy nothing more than seeing fabrication, whether artisan one-offs or robotic mass production. The embedded intellectual energy is staggering.
My appreciation for three-dimensional creativity has grown. I marvel at products like those envisioned and produced by @concretedetail (Richard Holschuh), knowing that the process started at the end, went full circle, and worked as planned.
Nice post!