Airstream – ART AND ARTISTS OF THE SILVER KIND
Airstream trailers and fly fishing combine
“Mid-Century Modern” has become a catch-all art and design phrase that has been thrown around a lot in the last several years. If you want the ultimate rolling, and still rolling mid-century modern? Look no further than Airstream Trailers.
Airstream has the added cache in that they are still being made, much like the best of Herman Miller’s furniture collection. Today’s Airstream is unmistakeable, and the lineage is undeniable. There’s never been a revolution at Airstream – because there never needed to be one.
When you get it right the first time, all that’s needed is to, “Make only improvements, not simply changes.” It’s a mantra that people living inside these traveling art pieces take deadly serious. Just like any art, the beauty of their Airstream is in the eye of their key holders.
Many books have been done, many articles written, magazines launched, websites created — in behalf of the Airstream Cult. Mine, www.airstreamdiary.com has been up-and-down for several years. That diary was launched with a unique perspective of being the diary of the trailer, not the inhabitants.
Our Airstream has been the subject of much ribbing by family. It is the longest running of all our projects, and by far the most expensive, even valuing our time at zero. We were very close to the end of the project when the diagnosis came for me, and of course that was a huge setback. As valuable as I see this silver dream, I am fortunate to have a wife who also sees the dream (unlike this fly fishing addiction). I, of course, have weaved the Airstream into my future fly fishing dreams … and we will soon see what comes of that.
Along this silver road, I have gained a lot of experience working on these rolling art pieces. I even do it for income. From building websites like www.apvintagetrailerworks.com to actually building-rebuilding Airstreams from the ground up (just like ours). Airstreams were designed for a twenty-five year life span (far outliving those toy boxes running down the road with parts falling off), but little did the company realize they were making trailers that would be used forty, fifty years down the road. Yes they have a lot of the same problems after that many years, but so do we humans!
Of course the Airstream life also continues in real time at the factory website – Airstream.
So there’s my take on Tuesday’s Art Column – flying down the road at you in May! Look for more activity at that site – www.airstreamdiary.com – as this site blends Airstreams and Fly Fishing Culture on the Skids in new ways this year.
Category: Adventure, Body-Mind-Soul, Culture on the Skids, Fish Art
