Fred Stodder
Laguna Beach CA USA
Fred grew up in southern California. Part of a large family, he spent many of his formative years at the beach with his siblings and friends. From a young age Fred showed an interest in the arts, most notably ceramics. Fred also made films from a young age, stop motion animations, surf films, short art-umentaries, and most notably his epic religious satire "0" or "zero" depending on who you talk to. Above is TV BABY#2 from Fred's ceramic TV series.
Fred lived in San Francisco for almost 10 years, from the mid 80s to the early 90s. Upon returning to Laguna he opened his studio in the Canyon next to the TKO design studio where he has been working ever since. Above is an image of Fred working in his canyon studio, and below is the google street view of the studio's beautiful location.
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Most recently Fred, and his wife Nao, had a daughter - Celina. Celina's arrival has clearly changed many things for Fred. Art, although it is still his profession, does not hold the center stage position it once held.
Fred explained how his free time projects have shifted from art ideas to the equally as creative project of his family. It seems the "project" of his family is largely an on going effort to create a tangible sense of stability and happiness for his daughter.
Below are some video clips of Fred at home, a space he and Nao have spent years working on.
Fred is not a vegetarian.
You can checkout more information about Fred's work at his site www.fredstodder.com/
Below is an old video I made of Fred back in January of 2001. This was well before Celina was around, Fred and Nao had just recently gotten (or were about to get) married. I was a junior in high school and in many ways this video marks the later part of what was an eight or ten year period where I spent a lot of time with Fred because of my Father's neighboring design studio. Over those years Fred and I spent countless afternoons talking about art, surfing, film-making, politics, women, money, war, religion, and god or lack thereof. I will always be grateful to the informal mentoring he provided.