Surfers say, that board is so sick!' The French artist redesigning the surfboard like you've never seen before

"A surfboard split in the middle to create crab pincers. Another that looks like an exaggerated take on a stingray. A surfboard with a webbed bottom contour, like a duck's foot. And a fire-engine red skateboard shaped like a cartoon-like flame on wheels. All of Lucas Lecacheur's surfboards and skateboards push the boundaries of accepted norms and incredibly, they are all also functional."

"Lecacheur is a French designer and has surfed since he was a child. He spent years as a rock musician, touring and travelling with his underground band Bad Pelicans. His experiments in surfboard design grew out of a lifelong desire to do things differently; to synthesise his two greatest passions performance and surfing and reinterpret it. In rock'n'roll, I was always looking for a new sound, a new energy, he says. I thought, how can I bring that to surfing? What if I made a cowboy boot surfboard? A guillotine surfboard? A brutalist one? A crab?"

"Beachgoers on the French holiday island Ile de Re, where Lecacheur grew up, have become accustomed to seeing his black leather-clad figure on the sand, holding the Brutalist an enormous and sharply contoured board under his arm. Lecacheur is in Australia as part of Melbourne Design Week, living and working out of At The Above gallery on Fitzroy's Gertrude Street. When I go there to meet him, I ascend into a cavernous, light-filled space."

"He is dressed entirely in black: leather jacket, cowboy boots, sunglasses. He is strumming a guitar, seated by the windows. With a jolt, I realise he has created this tableau in anticipation of my arrival. It's like a scene from a movie; I can't help but appreciate the dedication. Lecacheur is spending his six-week residency ensconced in the gallery, sleeping on a double mattress on the floor."

Lucas Lecacheur designs surfboards and skateboards with exaggerated, sculptural shapes that challenge accepted norms while staying usable. His surfboards include a split board with crab-like pincers, a stingray-like form, and a webbed bottom contour resembling a duck’s foot. He also makes a fire-engine red skateboard shaped like a cartoon flame on wheels. Lecacheur grew up on Ile de Re, has surfed since childhood, and previously toured as a rock musician with his underground band Bad Pelicans. His design experiments come from a lifelong desire to do things differently and to reinterpret the energy of performance through surfing. He lives and works during a residency at a gallery in Melbourne Design Week.

Read at www.theguardian.com