I started surfing somewhere near Cornwall when I was about 13 years old. My parents and me were on holiday with our campervan. There was a small surf school near the campsite. I recall being a bit bored and feeling sick after eating pizzas which had undercooked chicken on it. I took a surfing-lesson with my father and it felt like an acceptable holiday activity.

I kind of grew into it. Surfing has a strong relation with pop-culture, art / design and skateboarding. At the time, it was just cool to be a surfer. Nowadays, I see myself as a designer or researcher. What I love most, is the feeling of driving on keel fins or trimming down the line on a finless. That feeling when board-design is in sync with an emerging wave and you can resonate with that wave and redirect energy. Daoists call this Wu Wei I think.

Toilet Point, Netherlands. Calle el Cid, Gran Canaria. No disrespect to subtropical places and goji-berry heavens, but I enjoy surfing most where the place feels like home. Keep your circle small and your asanas flexible.   

Hahaha omg. No cap? Wouter de Bock. He is the guy who knocked on the window of my parents’ campervan to wake me up to go surfing. In my fantasy at the time, he was a fucking Bodhi. He still is my local hero, although the last time I saw him was about 15 years ago. (I hope to become a local hero someday). And another favorite: Jordi Villa. Underground professional bullshitter from Gran Canaria. And Ryan Burch of course. Self-explanatory.

Glass Love – Andrew Kidman. It takes time to appreciate this movie. Beautiful music, slow mind surfing with ¼ part limoncello on a full glass of champagne with a cane-sugar rim after eating a splendid meal of Dutch-Indo food made by yours truly. 

@0101010snakez Here I document some of the shapes of Alex Schuit. (AKA @Hillbillysurfboards)

@Organiclab.zip --> Outdoor clothing porn

@Primitiveskills --> Best surf magazine

@Hydrodynamica --> Great documentation of surfboard design. Buy the book!

@Contemp.relics --> ART

I wake up somewhere between 7:30 – 12:00 on art-days, take a shower, stress about how to start my day and not forgetting stuff I need. I try to get ready to get outdoors ASAP to get a flat white and go to my atelier to work on some bullshits like writing, making music, making installations etc. Usually I forget something and have to go back home. In the evenings I study at the part-time program of the Rietveld Academy. I usually order food  (Indian / Thai / Chinese / Dutch-Indo) or eat outside or dine at the canteen. In between daily activities I skateboard at Westblaak Rotterdam or I surf when waves are clean. Lately I have been playing Warframe on the Nintendo Switch a lot and I have been watching all the episodes of the Big Bang Theory. But that’s Corona times. Or: I have a shift as a MD and work my ass off until it ends.

For being born as a dolphin or a Daoist monk. (Sorry, two things).

Some advice wise dolphin gave me:

- Try to give back to the scene. Share boards, suits, car-rides to the beach.

- Eat and sleep well (a personal reminder).

- Never steal from yourself.

- Buy (art)books that outlast IG-stories.

- Loose a competition / reshape a board / try a strange fin setup. Absence teaches you what it is to have.

- Surfing is like LARP-ing. Embrace this!