Some objects stay with us even when life becomes too busy to use them.
A tennis racquet may begin as sporting equipment, but over the years it can become connected to a particular period of life—to school, friendships, ambitions, and the person we were becoming at the time.
The beautiful laminated woods and traditional construction of a racquet like the Dunlop Maxply Fort also preserve something larger: the craftsmanship and visual character of an earlier era of the game.
That’s American Material Memory: an object doesn’t have to be used every day to become meaningful. Sometimes simply keeping it is enough for it to carry a chapter of our lives forward.
From the Artist:
I bought my Maxply when I was going to the SCCC in Port Huron, Michigan, but really didn't use it until I went to Art Center College of Design.
Even then, I really didn't get to use it because of how crazy school projects were. But I always loved the different types of wood that were used to make these racquets.
The combinations were beautiful. Because of how infrequently I got to use this thing, I ended up giving it to a friend's son when I lived on the beach in Marina del Rey.
Later on in life, I really wanted another - not to play, but just to have.
Some objects stay with us even when life becomes too busy to use them.
A tennis racquet may begin as sporting equipment, but over the years it can become connected to a particular period of life—to school, friendships, ambitions, and the person we were becoming at the time.
The beautiful laminated woods and traditional construction of a racquet like the Dunlop Maxply Fort also preserve something larger: the craftsmanship and visual character of an earlier era of the game.
That’s American Material Memory: an object doesn’t have to be used every day to become meaningful. Sometimes simply keeping it is enough for it to carry a chapter of our lives forward.
From the Artist:
I bought my Maxply when I was going to the SCCC in Port Huron, Michigan, but really didn't use it until I went to Art Center College of Design.
Even then, I really didn't get to use it because of how crazy school projects were. But I always loved the different types of wood that were used to make these racquets.
The combinations were beautiful. Because of how infrequently I got to use this thing, I ended up giving it to a friend's son when I lived on the beach in Marina del Rey.
Later on in life, I really wanted another - not to play, but just to have.
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