Artists collaborate on Friday-only “Beach Creeps” surf bar

From the inventive minds of Taylor Faulkner and Creighton Barrett comes “Beach Creeps,” a one-night-only immersive art experience at Hed Hi Studio.

From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 11, the King Street art space will be transformed into a psychedelic surf bar. Barrett, who is also the drummer for the rock band Band of Horses, makes assemblages using wood and bright colors. Meanwhile, Faulkner, a visual artist who works out of a studio at Redux, will show puppet sculptures full of personality, plus some drawings too.

There’s going to be music from local rock band Beer as well as the premiere of a short surf film by Moon Wave Film Co.

The concept for the show, Barrett said in an interview, was to subvert the typical depiction of surfing and present a more punk approach. The subtitle for the show, “Surf never prayed for me,” turns the phrase “praying for surf” on its head.

“Tim McManus (the owner of Hed Hi) reached out to both of us and wanted to do a surf show. But we wanted to do a kind of dirtier vibe, a counterculture vibe to it, which is where Taylor and I dwell,” Barrett said. “With anything I make, I try to take it out of its context.

“This show was asking, how can I present surfing in a comical way or a darker way? I’m playing with a lot of skulls and things like that, instead of this kind of clean-cut aesthetic that a lot of people associate with surfing.”

Faulkner said her work and Barrett’s complement each other, and not just for their shared love and constant referencing of surf and skate culture. “Our works and our colors really work well together. It was a kind of natural fit.”

She has been working in sculpture lately – especially with puppets, who in this show are called “beach creeps.” For the one-night-only installation at Hed Hi, viewers will get to step into the dive bar that these beach creeps frequent.

Barrett also made a dart board art object in his signature psychedelic style, as well as a woodcut collage that includes a neon light, just like a sign from a dive bar. His works include references to old Newport ads, motifs like skulls, praying hands, and text of surf sayings like “should have been here yesterday.”

“I tried to make things that would fit in this world that we’re building, (centered around) Taylor’s puppets and the kind of bar that they said they would hang out in,” Barrett said, adding that his goal was to make the work as interactive as possible.

“Like, we’re used to ‘you can’t touch the art.’ I was like, what if I wanted to touch the art? That’s the vibe of some of these pieces, with little doors and interactive stuff.”

The two artists hope that people will come out Friday night to immerse themselves in this punk surfer dive bar, and promise that there’s more surprises in store for the one-night-only event.