I have been told that my personal aesthetic is the California skater aesthetic. This is actually funny because I am not a skater and not Californian. In fact, I am from Colorado and a big skier. Yet, I do like a lot of the art, mentality, clothing and music that someone might associate with a California skater. I think that The California skater aesthetic is inspired by the modernist or Bauhaus aesthetic. This aesthetic utilizes lots of clean edges, geometric shapes and bold color patterns. In architecture, the Bauhaus aesthetic utilizes lots of clear cut shapes, concrete, and metal edges to create a bold but modern style.

 [3]

[4]

As I was growing up in grade school, many of my friends moving into the Denver area were coming from California, Particularly Southern California and the Bay Area. While I do not skate, I have always been into various action sports that are similar to skateboarding. All my friends and I would go to bike parks or skiing as I grew up and we still continue to. These atmospheres, being relaxed and adrenaline ridden at the same time really inspired my personal aesthetic. On top of that, my parents introduced me to rock music growing up. Music has always been a large part of my life and all of my music tastes are seeded in rock music. However, as I grew up and got a spotify I was easily able to navigate music styles I wanted. Over the past couple years of my life my music taste has changed from classic rock, to alternative rock, and is now settling in reggae fusion or ska punk. Seeing that most of these music styles are massive in California and around people who have the same aesthetic as me it makes sense that I fit into liking these groups. Even Spotify agreed with me this year as it said that my music taste is most closely related with people residing in Long Beach California.

 [2]

[5]

At the moment, I have not fully decided what I want to do for my main project. I have three ideas of varying fabrication levels and I still need to make a full decision. My first 2 ideas are a shoe drawer and rack or a guitar stand. I could make the shoe rack this aesthetic by doing very geometric shapes, metal trim, and bright colors on the rack. However, I don’t know if that would go with the aesthetic of my house. As for the guitar stand I was thinking of materials for make that out of and metal piping would be a cool material. If I make the guitar stand I would probably do more of an industrial style since this might match well with the guitar I already have. My 3rd project idea is to do a full guitar build. I have been wanting to do this for a while and actually have the materials sourced to do this. Some of the fabrication on this might put me out of my comfort zone however and a lot of parts would need to be purchased and altered rather than created from scratch because of some of the cuts that would need to be made. I think making a guitar of the Bauhaus aesthetic or skater aesthetic would be really cool and the best project option for this aesthetic but probably too hard to do.

  [1] [1] “Neon Yellow, Green, Pink. These Bright Colors Look Nice against the Neutral Blond Wood. the Black Helps to Create Depth and Contra…: Steve Vai, Ibanez, Neon Yellow.” Pinterest, 15 Feb. 2012, www.pinterest.com/pin/neon-yellow-green-pink-these-bright-colors-look-nice-against-the-neutral-blond-wood-the-black-helps-to-create-depth-and-contras–23292123042669567/.

[2] “No Doubt (No Doubt Album).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Feb. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Doubt_%28No_Doubt_album%29.

[3] Richman-Abdou, Kelly. “Bauhaus: How the Avant-Garde Movement Transformed Modern Art.” My Modern Met, 16 Feb. 2023, mymodernmet.com/what-is-bauhaus-art-movement/.

[4] Simone.baur@globalinspirationsdesign.com. “Early 20th Century Interior Design – Gid.” Global Inspirations Design, 5 Sept. 2022, www.globalinspirationsdesign.com/early-20th-century-interior-design/#:~:text=20th%20century%20design%20is%20a,style%2C%20Secession%20and%20Liberty%20style.

[5] “Sublime.” Spotify, open.spotify.com/artist/0EdvGhlC1FkGItLOWQzG4J. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.