So I’ve spent the past couple days hanging out with a friend of mine I met while I was adventuring in Turkey back in November. This friend is a professional skateboarder and being around him has seriously made me reconsider my career path. I’m pretty sure these guys are essentially living like low-brow rock stars: constantly traveling, partying, and having new consumer goods be named after them.  But, even while the lifestyle of these professional athletes is quite lavish, I feel like skateboarding itself can often come with negative connotations. I think this is because it has basically evolved out of two different sub-cultures--while skateboarding was born out of surfing, it was heavily adopted by the punk movement and today I think that it is a good representation of both. Because of its stigma though, I think a lot of times people can overlook the sport as a true art form. Not only do skaters have a tremendous amount of physical ability and talent, it takes a LOT of creativity to come up with tricks and series’ of maneuvers to remain fresh and interesting.

With all that being said, it’s no surprise that the art world is every day embraced by the skate world. Some of the most creative individuals are involved in the industry and it’s been a happy marriage. Entire art shows have been based solely around skateboarding, with the skateboard serving as the subject matter and/or the medium. Many skaters are artists as well, producing beautiful work at the upper and lower levels of the art world. Also, many talented photographers, videographers, and designers make up a HUGE part of the industry. I remember watching the 2009 Alien Workshop video “Mind Field” for the first time and being blown away by the art direction and soundtrack. All these artistic elements being coupled with a physical sport was a feast for the eyes (and ears). I was watching this video, forgetting that it was a skateboarding flick, and focusing on all the amazing creativity that was dumping out of the television. I was reminded of all this when I saw my buddy, Matt Haring’s, recent composition for Birdhouse. It’s a beautifully edited short vid of the boys in Europe this past year and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!  

Support your local skateboarder!

  x Carissa

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