There’s a certain kind of patience required to shape a surfboard by hand. A tolerance for dust. For silence. For getting it wrong three times before getting it right.
Based in South Florida, Collin Brown—known to many as BTOWN—builds boards the long way. No machines. No replication. Just foam, instinct, and a shaping bay that doubles as a laboratory. What began as frustration with a bad purchase turned into a practice rooted in experimentation, feel, and fun.
Below, Brown speaks on process, doubt, Florida waves, and why a board should have a soul.
A Walk in England
Exhibition card
1974
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Exhibition card
John Weber Gallery, New York
1987
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Exhibition card
Serpentine Gallery, London
1991
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Exhibition card
Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf
1974
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Exhibition card
Annely Juda Fine Art, London
1993
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Exhibition card
Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf
1978
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Exhibition card
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
1985
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Exhibition card
Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf
1972
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In porta ex a porta blandit. Suspendisse feugiat justo at mauris molestie molestie. Ut mattis urna sed sem pulvinar, vitae rutrum nulla ultrices. Curabitur laoreet erat et sapien venenatis luctus.
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Collin Brown:
I actually started shaping after buying my first surfboard from a shop. It was a machine-shaped custom board that was barely used with someone else's name written on the bottom. When I bought it and finally rode it, it was crap. I thought to myself I could've made two boards for the price of this.
I wanted to try out different shapes without having to pay too much. I was also curious to see how close I could get my hand shapes to really expensive machine made boards. I wanted to see what the differences were between the board I made and a $1k board that was out of reach for me.
After a quick search online I found a place a couple hours north of me that sold foam blocks. I made the drive and scored three foam blocks for under the price of one new surfboard at a surf shop. I figured I had three opportunities to make a board that I’d be happy with.
Those first three boards were really tough because I had cheap equipment and no real system in place for how to go about sculpting shapes from those blocks. Looking back now I recognize how golden that period was for me. I didn't have a clue what was right and what was wrong and there wasn't anybody around to share best practices. I had no choice but to experiment and go with my gut through the process.
Those first three boards were built completely from the ground up. Nobody could tell me what was wrong so I kept going with what I had. The features that came through the strongest on those first handshapes became my signature once I put more time in and learned from more experienced shapers.