In the Studio With Mike Rathbun

Massive wooden sculptures that end in flames are the artist's signature.

When Front of House gallery calls artist Mike Rathbun to take down his monumental wood installation I Have Love in My Heart As a Thief Has Riche (on display through March 31) he'll probably offer his usual solution: "Just burn it."

Thief, which took three months to construct, is a towering vertical ring made from strips of raw poplar tethered to the floors, walls and ceiling by carved wooden guy wires. It fills the entire gallery with graceful arcs and crisscrossing lines, a powerful testament to Rathbun's massive-scale craftsmanship.

In an art world where marketability of the final product is key, Rathbun is a thoughtful anomaly. He sees each sculpture as a way of asking and answering questions. "They help me figure something out," he says. "And then I don't have to ask the question again." For Rathbun, a sculpture's value is consumed in the process of making it. The final object lacks preciousness because it has already served its purpose.

"Building the thing is most important to me," he says from his Scappoose studio, which is filled with electric saws, a wall of clamps, and drawers full of rasps and drills that he's collected in the past 28 years. "It's about the experience—proof that I existed at that moment in time. I don't care what happens to the pieces afterward."

It is not uncommon for Rathbun to hold a burn at his studio to clear out remnants from past projects. "If you keep a lot of old work around, it's hard to make new work," he says. "If I'm an artist worth my salt, I should be able to start from zero and be just as good as I was before."

Now that Thief is done, Rathbun is ready to start again from scratch. He's building a wooden, two-hulled catamaran that he and his brother will sail to the Sea of Cortez for two months, following the course that John Steinbeck wrote about in The Log From the Sea of Cortez. "I see this as a new beginning," Rathbun says. "Whatever I get out of this will inform what I do next."

Rathbun built his first boat, a 12-footer, while getting his Master of Fine Arts. Having never sailed before, he attempted to take it 80 miles across Lake Michigan in the middle of the night. On that trip, he had an epiphany that explains why he can now watch finished works like Thief burn. "When I was halfway across," he says, "I realized it was just as easy to go on than it was to go back."

SEE IT: I Have Love in My Heart As a Thief Has Riches is at Front of House, 112 SW 1st Ave., 548-4984, frontofhousegallery.com. Through March 31.

Mark Rathbun in his Scapoose studio Mike Rathbun in his Scapoose studio
One of Rathbun’s burns, that he made into its own piece (Icarus) One of Rathbun’s burns, that he made into its own piece (Icarus)
I Have Love In My Heart Like A Thief Has Riches. “Circles have always been fascinating to me as a form. All of its strength comes from the fact that it’s bound together. It has a natural desire to spring out so if you put the ends together its desire to spring out becomes a source of structural strength.” I Have Love In My Heart Like A Thief Has Riches. “Circles have always been fascinating to me as a form. All of its strength comes from the fact that it’s bound together. It has a natural desire to spring out so if you put the ends together its desire to spring out becomes a source of structural strength.”
Rathbun with the first boat he ever built, Mary Anne, which he sailed 80 miles across Lake Michigan in the middle of the night. “It was so amazing and I was so scared the whole way. When I was halfway across, I realized it was just as easy to go on than it was to go back.” Rathbun with the first boat he ever built, Mary Anne, which he sailed 80 miles across Lake Michigan in the middle of the night. “It was so amazing and I was so scared the whole way. When I was halfway across, I realized it was just as easy to go on than it was to go back.”
The framework of one of the hulls of the catamaran that Rathbun is building to sail the Sea of Cortez with his brother. They will follow the exact course that John Steinbeck wrote about in The Log of the Sea of Cortez. The framework of one of the hulls of the catamaran that Rathbun is building to sail the Sea of Cortez with his brother. They will follow the exact course that John Steinbeck wrote about in The Log of the Sea of Cortez.
The Situation He Found Himself In. Installation at the Boise Art Museum that appears to break through the walls of the gallery and continues into the outside courtyard. It took ten people two-and-a-half weeks to build and is constructed from 17,000 linear feet of 1” x 1”s. “I thought that one was going to kill me.” The Situation He Found Himself In. Installation at the Boise Art Museum that appears to break through the walls of the gallery and continues into the outside courtyard. It took ten people two-and-a-half weeks to build and is constructed from 17,000 linear feet of 1” x 1”s. “I thought that one was going to kill me.”
When asked what he’s going to do with this leftover wave floor from one of his installations, Rathbun shrugs and says, “probably burn it.” When asked what he’s going to do with this leftover wave floor from one of his installations, Rathbun shrugs and says, “probably burn it.”
More leftovers from past projects, which Rathbun plans to burn. More leftovers from past projects, which Rathbun plans to burn.
A previous installation, pieces of which wait in Rathbun’s studio. A previous installation, pieces of which wait in Rathbun’s studio.
“Wood is a living thing,” says Rathbun. “And the tools you use, you have to husband them, take care of them.” “Wood is a living thing,” says Rathbun. “And the tools you use, you have to husband them, take care of them.”
Image from Mike Rathbun Image from Mike Rathbun

Rathbun, who teaches sculpture at PSU, says, "I always try to get my students to fail spectacularly. They think I'm trying to trick them. But the point is not to make a precious object. The point is to learn something and move on to the next thing."

Sometimes he uses parts of his brother's sermons (his brother is a Baptist minister) in his art classes. One of his favorite codes for artists is The Rule of Saint Benedict:

Live this life, and do whatever is done, in a spirit of thanksgiving.

Abandon attempts to achieve security, they are futile.

Give up the search for wealth, it is demeaning.

Quit the search for salvation, It is selfish.

And come to comfortable rest, in the certainty that those who participate in this life, with an attitude of thanksgiving will receive its full promise.

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