Dark Arts Surf Does More Than You Think

By now, we’re all familiar with the signature carbon wrap technology from Darks Arts Surf. We locked eyes while it was underneath the toes of John Florence, it pulled us closer during Stab In The Dark with Taj Burrow, and it stole our hearts around the same time Jack Robbo stole Stace’s Galbraiths Sharpeye at Snapper.

What you probably didn’t know is that Justin Tiernes, a surf industry veteran and the mastermind behind Dark Arts, sells shapes of his own. Alongside all the indestructible contract glassing he does for Pyzel, Sharpeye, SMTH shapes, JT puts a personal touch on chunks of foam, which you can sift through here.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Justin’s resume with surfboards including everything from resin work alongside Chris Christenson to the title of production manager at FireWire.  Also, ever hear of Channel Islands or Rusty Surfboards? He has collected paychecks in both of those shops as well.

The first Dark Arts I encountered was the JT Coffin. Standing well under 5 ft, the squared-off boards stood out from the rest of Coco and Mason’s Electric Acid quiver. I asked our Chief Board Dork Ashton Goggans “Who shaped the parallelograms?”

“Dark Arts,” he said.

“No, doofus. I asked who shaped it, not who cloaked it in carbon fiber.”

 “Dark Arts,” he repeated, “they shape boards too.”

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On that day, I learned that Dark Arts, the company responsible for tech that proved to be more than just a marketing gimmick (just ask Filipe, Taj, John, Robbo, Kanoa), also sliced EPS beads with the same attention to detail.

And last Thursday, after watching Episode 2 of the E.A.S.T. starring Mason and Coco Ho, I learned that those boards work damn well.