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Idahoan, former Oinkari and long-time California resident, Jon Sarriugarte (Boise, ID, 1963) is not a regular Basque. He is an artist, designer and creator. “I wanted to go to Jaialdi, but I don’t have time, I’m working on a spaceship,” he says, sharing information about his lifestyle as a blacksmith – or "metal magician" − who, following his dream of working with the “flexibility, durability, and simple beauty of iron,” made his trip to California and founded the company Form and Reform, in 1987. His field is original, totally free creatively that reaches fantasy with almost no limits.

A.E.B./Oakland, CA. Much water has flowed under the bridge since he stablished in California. He teamed up, also professionally, with wife Kyrsten Mate, a sound designer for major movies; got surrounded by a crew of experts called the Empire of Dirt; and had a “wonderful daughter” named Zolie Mae (9). All of them work hard to create surrealistic vehicles, like the Golden Mean, a snail-car that brought media attention for ferrying new Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf to her inaugural festivities. Sarriugarte talked to EuskalKultura.com about his origins in Boise, his achieved dream of making a living of his hobby, and his Basque heritage.

Glancing over Form and Reform’s website, one can find clocks, mirrors, shelves, tables, shade kits, chandeliers… and fantasy vehicles, like the aforementioned Golden Mean, the Trilobytes (ride-on mini-cars with the shape of insects), the Zeppelini, or the Serpent Twin: two majestic giant snakes, based in the Norse mythology, and propelled by kinetic energy. The smallest products are pretty affordable, “but those are the old ones and I’m trying to get rid of that stuff,” explains the artist. “These days I’m making more quality, higher end products that, unfortunately, a lot of people can’t afford. But that’s what I want to do now.”

The spectacular vehicles, of course, are not for sale. Those were designed to be shown at the Burning Man festival −a week-long annual event that has been described as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance− and have become his flagship.

Having a more thorough look at his catalogue, traces of his heritage can be found in the names of some of his creations. Like the San Sebastian lightning-lines he designed for Restoration Hardware. “You see a lot of Californian names in lightning design so I wanted to do somethings different and I started naming my pieces after Basque towns.” He gives a Basque name to many of his articles but, often, Restoration Hardware renames them. He even named one of his candles Zaldibar, for his family’s hometown, in Bizkaia, “but then they asked me, ‘what is that?!” recalls him, laughing.

Half Basque, half American

Jon Sarriugarte’s grandfather, Eustachio Sarriugarte − better known as Cecil− was a "real half Basque and half American" since, as our protagonist explains, he was “conceived in Spain and born in America.” Cecil’s father, Victor, moved to Boise in the first quarter of the 20^th century and, soon after, wife Maria Juana and their children followed. Cecil was born there, in the heart of a rapidly growing Basque-American community.

The Sarriugarte’s moved to Emmett, Idaho were Cecil graduated from the eighth grade and, at age 14, started herding sheep. Even if Basques had mostly been connected to that industry, Cecil was the first Sarriugarte working in that field, since his father was a sawmill worker. Cecil met his future wife, Virginia, during that time and, soon after their marriage, they moved to Washington State. In the words of Jon, Victor always “encouraged his son strongly to pursue an education, so he studied barbering. It was like a new thing at the time, and he got that college degree.”

Cecil quickly found a job, although at a shipyard. A job that saved him from being sent to WWII, since the embarkations they were making were very much needed in Europe. “Later in my life –recalls Jon− I went diving in Bali and saw a ship sank near the coast, that was made at that very same shipyard. It was a cool thing.” In the year the war ended, 1945, Tom Sarriugarte, Jon’s father, was born.

Looking for his place in the world

Jon was born in 1961 in Boise, and attended an alternative school −“it was a left-winged hippy-kind of place”−, while also being part of the Oinkari dancers, along with his sisters Amy, Jenny, and Mali −the first two live in Seattle, Washington, and the latter in the Czech Republic. Jon is the oldest of the four−.

He also remembers being part of the Basque community and attending the Catholic Church and, from what he says, he had a hard time finding his place there: “It was not easy for me to be creative there. I did metal in Junior High, I had a music band, studied at the theatre program at BSU, lighting and set design… I liked the artistic stuff but there was not a lot of work for me.”

So he decided to look for a place where he would feel comfortable and inspired and started visiting friends and family in different states. “I was not expecting to come to San Francisco; in the 80’s this was not as open minded and interesting as it is nowadays. That started in the early 90’s.”

Jon and people like him are who made that creative environment possible−as a matter of fact, Sarriugarte took over an old Kraft building in West Oakland, in 1996. A 44,000-square-foot empty space that nowadays headquarters all kinds of artists and artisans. It is there where he and the Empire of Dirt work together. Steam-punks, oil-punks… “Now we say we’re aero-space punks –he points out−. The latest trend might be steam, or oil, or whatever, but the underlying philosophy is punk. It’s tongue-in-cheek, though.”

Jon found his place. But that didn’t mean he detached from his origins, quite the contrary: “I am so pro my culture because my grandfather was very proud of his origins. He was always telling us stories and saying how special Basque people are. It became a big part of who I am.” Jon visited the Basque Country in the 80’s and is planning another visit next year or the year after. He is also part of a Facebook group that gathers people named Sarriugarte, many of whom are his relatives. “We are in touch.”

Boise memories

“One of my favorite places in Boise is the little house by the (Basque) museum,” says he, trying to remember the name. He’s talking about the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga boarding house. “Yes, that one! I used to live a block away from there, but they tore down the building.” Being keen on the 1930-1940’s attrezzo –he also owns a cabaret-like-stage called The Travelling Wonders of the Boiling Bar, “a mixture of mechanical wonders and acts of science,” with a past-times-flavor− it makes sense that Jon likes the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga house. It might may also be because it reminds him of his grandparents. Both of them, not just Cecil. Because Viriginia was also a great woman. “She taught Basque at BSU,” he says. “She was Irish and German but she learned Basque, with a book, in Boise. She wanted to be in touch with the community. People were surprised that she went from learning to teaching it.”

Jon doesn’t speak the language. “I know how to swear and how to ask for ice cream,” he says, laughing. “The year I went to college they started to introduce Basque studies, but I didn’t go. I have the book, though.” Zolie Mae, his 9-years-old daughter, doesn’t speak Euskara either, but knows her origins and, if things go as planned, she will be able to visit the land of her heritage with her parents, Jon and Kyrsten.

Jon Sarriugarte - Form and Reform
2601 Adeline Street, 133
Oakland, CA 94607
USA
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Restoration Hardware's article
San Francisco Chronicle's article