Los Angeles Times - 08.09.2019

F2 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

In an age of ever-emerging digital art forms,
woodworking is still seen largely as a tradi-
tional, tactile and especially analog process —
hardly the first place to push technological
boundaries.
But L.A. artist Douglas Tausik Ryder has
spent about seven years perfecting his process,
using 3D modeling and an industrial CNC
(Computer Numerical Control) machine tool in
his studio to create large-scale wood sculptures
that reference the female body and other orga-
nic forms. Five of them constitute a new solo
exhibition, “Body Language,” that opened this
weekend at Jason Vass gallery in the downtown
L.A. Arts District.
“Part of the reason I chose wood — it’s really
associated with a practice of thousands of years
that’s very hand-tool-oriented,” Tausik Ryder
said on a recent visit to his studio. “And I
wanted to connect the conversation about the
digital workflow with a traditional form, rele-
vant contemporary technologies with the old-
est traditions.”
Tausik Ryder creates 3D computer models
of the enormous works, which stand up to 9 feet
tall — making a digital map breaking down the
sculptures into parts he can assemble. He then
crafts wooden maquettes and refines them by

independently with one, without an outside

fabricator, he said. The digital cutting tool

carves the individual sections that ultimately

make up the work. As such, each finished sculp-

ture — one is headed to the Venice Architecture

Biennale in 2020 — has a patchwork-like quality,

the faint lines of the individual puzzle-like

pieces and the different grains of wood pur-

posefully noticeable. The slick forms walk the

line between abstract and figurative, at once

solid and airy, with prominent negative space

that Tausik Ryder invites visitors to explore.

“Go in, sit inside,” he said of a hollowed-out

sphere, a womb-like work called “Venus” that

was inspired by Paleolithic fertility figures and

his wife’s pregnancy four years ago. Another,

“Reclining Nude,” is made of three discon-

nected, torus-shaped modules that together

form the outline of a woman laying on her side.

A third, “Field Study,” is a cluster of curva-

ceous, ribbon-like swirls that suggest an ex-

panding rib cage. “All my work is a conflict

between the geometric and the biological,”

Tausik Ryder said. “So: the ideal versus the

body, the actual messy, biological living thing —

it’s a struggle. I thought: ‘I’ll explore that con-

flict and do both.’ ”

His process is as much an exploration in

contradictions, he said.

“I get my fingernails dirty and my head in

the code.”

hand, carving, sanding, shaping each with

molding putty, until it suits his vision — all while

adjusting the related computer code on the

digital model as he goes.

Then, he heads into the machine room. In

2005, Tausik Ryder bought an industrial mach-

ine that once manufactured aluminum aircraft

parts. He rebuilt it, upgrading the electronics,

and he’s the only artist he knows who works

Estée Ochoa

From Douglas Tausik Ryder

DOUGLAS

TAUSIK RYDER

with one of his

technology-assisted

wooden sculptures.

Woodworking coded

By Deborah Vankin

IN “RECLINING NUDE,”three discon-

nected figures conjure a single woman. It’s

part of an exhibition at Jason Vass gallery.

From Douglas Tausik Ryder

ON VIEW

Cooper Saver

“Pacifico”

(Biologic)

The producer who makes

the magnetic minimal house

music under the Cooper

Saver moniker has been busy

with multiple releases this

year, and L.A.’s the better for

it. Hardly known for its

house and techno innova-

tions, the region has been

more affiliated with touchy-

feely, optimistic EDM and

G-funk-driven beats than for

the spacially vast, me-

lodically driven mechanical

stuff born in Detroit, Chicago

and Berlin.

Cooper Saver’s techno-

forward aesthetic is on full

display in his recent mix for

Berlin-based dance music

tip-sheet Resident Advisor.

A set that jumps from classic

synth works and remixes

from Chris & Cosey, the

Human League and prog-

ressive trance producer

Human Blue to contempo-

rary experimental beats by

Los Angeles producer Eddie

Ruscha (under his Secret

Circuit moniker), Norwegian

artist Prins Thomas and

Ivory Coast rhythm expert

Mr. Raoul K, the hourlong

dance mix showcases a DJ

with good taste and style.

Need more proof? His

Dublab show, “Far Away,”

which doubles as a club

night and mixtape series, is

an indispensable part of L.A.

beat culture.

“Pacifico,” the artist’s EP

from early summer, opens

with a set of interlocking

rhythms connecting a four-

on-the-floor bass drum,

vibraphone-suggestive

mid-range loops, a conga in

the background and some

crazy high-hat action. With a

graceful, gradual build that

extends across the track’s

first two minutes, Cooper

Saver harnesses analog-

synth tones in service of a

dynamic instrumental feat

whose very title seems to

celebrate the region. (Or

maybe the song’s about the

beer?)

Grand Canyon

“November Rain”

(Bodan Kuma)

The half-dozen well-

practiced rock musicians

who perform as Grand Can-

yon don’t futz around. A

band that taps the rich vein

of electrified American

music as purveyed by artists

including Bruce Springsteen

and Tom Petty, Grand Can-

yon delivers its cover of Guns

N’ Roses’ “November Rain”

on its recent EP “Yesterday’s

News” with a reverence

usually reserved for iconic

works by Woody Guthrie or

Muddy Waters. Singer-

guitarist Casey Shea delivers

Axl Rose’s song with way less

yowling than the original,

and co-founder Amy Wilcox

adds delicate backing vocals

to further distinguish their

take.

CALIFORNIA

SOUNDS

Amanda Rowan

GRANDCanyon’s Casey

Shea and Amy Wilcox.

Welcome

mix of

techno

beats

By Randall Roberts

ARTS & BOOKS

THREE

TITLES

THAT

EVOKE A

CITY’S PAST

L.A. STORIES, F9

UBER’S

BUMPY

JOURNEY

BOOK REVIEW, F8