Dan Funderburgh designs wallpaper for a living, is 30 years of age, lives in Brooklyn, plays soccer with great regularity, rides a Bianchi even more, and creates art that makes you pay attention. He sent me a photo of himself with a bloody mouth (soccer) but the shot of his workspace says almost as much. His striking “New Hope Assembly of God” is made of bike part silhouettes. It’s green on white. It will soon be printed in a limited run and for sale and I’m first in line, but if you like bikes and or art and or bike art you should be second.

Funderburg’s patterns recall an earlier age. There are tools. Knives. Saws. The occasional neo-Victorian umbrella. It’s not quite Industrial Revolution, certainly not steampunk, but grounded in the tangy taste of iron and cold touch of steel. Carbon fiber doesn’t exist, mostly (but not exclusively) just things that can rust. It sounds heavy, but isn’t: Funderburgh’s art is lighthearted, clever, rewarding to the eye that lingers. But it’s rooted in the weightiness of function and use. Like a handmade steel bike or a vintage chainring.

Remember, click on the pix…bigger is better.

Well, let’s start with bikes. What’s the genesis of “New Hope Assembly of God”?
I was looking at a collection of rare and interesting chain rings online and I noticed how so many of them were basically gothic rose windows. The biking as religion motif is not supposed to be heretical.

Where did you get all the silhouettes for the parts you used?
I draw them on my computer.

Great title. Where did it come from?
There was a New Hope Assembly of God sign I rode by once in Jersey City, NJ.

What’s your relationship with bikes? No, wait, that’s going to lead to an answer like “we’re just friends”. Let’s try: You’re a cyclist. What kind of bike? How many? How often do you ride?
Like a lot of Brooklyn, I ride a Bianchi Pista -it’s good for bridges and easy to carry up two flights of  stairs. I’d love to have a garage full of bikes, but garages are kind of scarce out here. I ride pretty much every day that it’s not nasty with snow.

You’ve worked with Gravis and a number of skate companies. Ever work with any bike companies? Any desire?
In general, bikes have less surface area than skateboards and luggage. Actually I worked on a project with Brooks England this winter. Hopefully I’ll have some custom saddles coming out soon, but I don’t know how soon exactly.

You have a thing about tools. What is it about them that appeals to you? Do you have a mechanical, industrial, or workingman’s background?
A lot of my work is about the appreciation of functional man-made objects as art. If you go to the Metropolitan you can see all sorts of historical examples of instruments and tools crafted with beautiful decoration. I try not to idealize the past, just appreciate and contrast the the objects made in different eras.

Both of your parents are biologists, is that correct?
Correct.

Not a lot of critters in your work, save for the occasional crustacean, butterfly, or rat.
Science is everywhere!

I guess that wasn’t really a question, was it?

There are lots of influences in your work—Moorish, Turkish, Victorian, Western, Japanese. Were you exposed to any particular visual influences growing up?
I think reading TinTin as a child was definitely a big influence. Whenever he went to pyramids, opium dens, Himalayan and Aztec temples there was always detailed drawings of the architecture and design.

How about now—what catches your eye now?
Still TinTin. But I’m trying to get to some of these places in person one of these days.

See anything from the bike world that resonates?
I love how the Puerto Rican bike clubs of New York can transform a bike into a parade float. Stuff is amazing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bondidwhat/349946618/

I’ve always wondered about intricate patterns, fabrics, wallpaper—how do you actually make the pattern? Do you find things online? Scan books or magazines? And then what—do you tweak and repeat in Illustrator or some other program? What’s the process?
I do have a giant collection of books on pattern and ornament, and there is some scanning and tracing involved, though in general each pattern has its own approach and I try to vary any historical references so it doesn’t smell like a ripoff. I like drawing on graph paper and lot of patterns start there.

You’ve said that good patterns need a good concept. What are the concepts you feel you’ve most fully communicated with your work? And which are you working on now?
It doesn’t necessarily need a good concept to be a good wallpaper, some of my favorite ones the concept is just “flowers” – but for me to stay interested while I work on it, it does need a narrative of some sort, even if it’s abstract.

Right now, I’m working on a series of papers based on the sciences.

You’ve also said that your work falls between the decorative arts and the fine arts. What’s the difference? To be reductionist, don’t both go on walls? Or is it the artist intent that matters?
Definitions are entirely subjective, but my own definition posits that designers work to provide solutions to problems, and artists use their work to ask questions or challenge assumptions. Decorative art is often seen as a second class citizen, considered less cerebral and more a craft, but there’s nothing that would prevent you from making a wallpaper or tea tray that challenges assumptions or provides solutions.

I’ve mentioned that The Adventure Life is interested in the intersection of art, sports, and the outdoors, but if I’m being completely honest I’m not sure exactly what that means. What do you think—how do art, sports, and the outdoors best interact? What’s the role the outdoors in the digital era? How about the role of art in or of the outdoors?

I’m not entirely sure. For me it’s about balance. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer every day and feel a need to counteract this necessary inactivity with as much outdoor as I can manage. I play soccer with a group of photographers and artists and try to ride my bike as far and as often as I’m able. I’d love to avoid ‘charge the creative battery’ cliché, but I may not be able to in this case.

See more of Dan Funderbugh’s art, hire him to design stuff for your bike company, or encourage him to print “New Hope Assembly of God” so we both can buy one by going to www.danfunderburgh.com. And if it needs to be said, all artwork copyright and courtesy of Dan Funderburgh.

Tagged as: cycling