Trestles Board Confiscation

 “Lowers California” (Trestles Series #5 - ‘Board Confiscation’)

Size: 11 x 14 inches

Year: 2025

Mixed media shadowbox with vintage photograph, wood blocks, rusted train spike taken from trestle surf Beach during railroad repair, and resin

 Description:

“Lowers California” evokes a golden era of rebellion and style—capturing the grit and glamour of 1960s Southern California surf culture. The photo is of a marine who confiscated a surfers board that washed assure illegally when the military had control over the beach. This is a famous photograph.The preserved spike, once embedded in the infrastructure that skirted the Trestles break, now stands as a relic of protection and conflict. The title “Board Confiscation” alludes to tensions between surfers and authority in that era, elevating the image from casual nostalgia to cultural narrative.

This hand-crafted box is layered with wit, attitude, and subtle irony—built for lovers of surf, Americana, and outsider history. Signed and dated by Nathan Gibbs. It includes portions of of the song, ‘Pleas’ by Widespread Panic on the reverse. 

This assemblage incorporates a 1969 photograph by legendary surf photographer Ron Stoner, used under the doctrine of fair use for the purpose of artistic transformation and cultural commentary.

Stoner’s image of a U.S. Marine heading to the waves at Lower Trestles — surfboard in hand, boots in the sand — is recontextualized within a sculptural setting that blends nostalgia, military history, and surf mythology. The addition of a salvaged railroad spike and handcrafted type underscores themes of access, discipline, and place.

The photo is used in a limited, non-substitutive, and respectfully credited way, as part of a larger work that transforms its original intent.

All rights to the original photograph remain with the Ron Stoner estate or its current copyright holder.