MOMA's Got A Woody: Yes, But Is It Art?
What do Hobie Alter and Pablo Picasso have in common? Both have their work exhibited in New York's Museum of Modern Art.
The 1958 vintage Hobie balsa gun will be on display until the end of the year, said Paola Antonelli, Associate Curator of MOMA's Department of Architecture and Design. "I think it's amazing how surfboards are advanced for their times," Ms. Antonelli said. "Advanced materials are tested by the military and surfers. It's also one of the best applications of the materials available."
"Yea, I shaped it," said Hobie Alter from his winter home in Idaho. "I shaped one for Buzzy Trent over in Hawaii just before then. If I had an influence then I guess that would be it. But this was a one of a kind. It's close to 10'6" long, had a few redwood stringers off each side -- it's a big-wave board."
Mr. Alter explained that the board had been created for a Sports Illustrated magazine article on design and sports. It was donated to the museum in 1962. The board was stored in the museum's archives before being put on display again in 1997.
For now, the gleaming 7-stringer balsa and redwood masterpiece occupies a corner of the design department, alongside Frank Lloyd Wright chairs, a red Ferrari Formula 1 and a green, dragonfly shaped 1945 Bell helicopter (which was a prototype for the medevac choppers used in the Korean War). Finally, it seems that the surfboard has been recognized as art, or at least an outstanding example of haute twentieth century design.
University of Oklahoma architecture student Clifton Donaghue stood for a moment contemplating the Hobie's classic lines. "I was expecting to find fine-arts crud like paintings," he said, "but I wasn't really expecting to find a surfboard here. I like it."
-- Rob Cummings