Jordan Lassig blew my mind. It was a simple card trick. He asked me to remember the card I drew. I drew a seven of diamonds. Lucky number seven. He did some shuffling. I studied his hands closely, trying hard to poke holes in the illusion. I intended to kill the magic. He asked me to put my hand on a table over a different card that he showed me then lift up my hand. I turned over the card that lay beneath it. Seven of diamonds. I jumped up and down like a five-year-old who just got an ice cream cone. Despite my best efforts, the magic was alive and well.
And that’s the charm of Joe and Jordan Lassig, two brothers who have managed to build a fulfilling life that revolves around longboarding and art. Their art varies from surrealism to pop, with a gorgeous, three-dimensional textured installation of a coral reef hanging on the wall in their Dana Point home studio. Creativity runs in the family as their great, great grandfather, Oswald Joseph Lassig, made sculptures at Rice University in the ‘1930s.
“It was in our blood,” says Joe Lassig. “[Our great, great grandfather] did it. Let’s see if we can try to do that and carry on that tradition in our family as artists, and it’s really rewarding. When someone really appreciates something that you made from the ground up, you’re like, that’s it. That’s where the bliss comes from.”
And art has taken the JoJo bros, as they call themselves, interesting places. They’ve rubbed elbows with Hollywood elite, done a piece commissioned by Mel Gibson, and had their work featured on the sets of major motion pictures.
When they’re not in their Dana Point studio, they’re frequently parked with a quiver of logs at Old Man’s. While Jordan defers to Joe as the stronger surfer, both are undeniably accomplished and stylish longboarders.
Their surf and artistic pursuits harken a vision not unlike the one SURFER Magazine founder John Severson built a legacy around. In fact, at nine years old, Joe attended one of Severson’s book signings where he received some sage advice.
“Joe, surf and paint, and you’ll have a good life,” Severson told him.
Clearly, those words had an impact. After all, surf and art are magic.
Video shot and edited by Ryan Trautwein.
Editor’s Note: This episode of LogDaze is supported by our friends at Hyperflex.
Follow the link in the image to enter for a chance to win a suit from Hyperflex.
