Last year came out new polish skateboard movie Grey Area. Everybody was super hyped. Dirty spots, DIY concrete and creativity on board. We interviewed Kuba Kaczmarczyk, the guy behind the whole thing, to ask some haunting questions.
The spot is located in the small village of Jaklovce in the east of Slovakia. The skateboard scene in this area is built on common efforts and these efforts are strong…
I have to disappoint you. Every year I lose interest in skateboarding. It’s all show everywhere. Show. Tradeshow. Car shows. Even car shows suck. It’s all costume design hot rotted “I like the old style but I also like the new 2014 power steering shit.”
Chris Russell’s part from Typical Culture’s “The Hype Train” video. Full length available now…
On arrival I don’t think anyone really knew what we were getting ourselves into for the following week back in early June in Hannover, Germany. The basic concept was that the 2er [tsvi-er] crew had the idea to invite D.I.Y skate crews from all corners of Europe to come to their spot and each team would be given three days to build something.
Windmill is a longtime skate crew from Finland. A crew of skaters most of whom are originally from somewhere in Häme, between Helsinki and Tampere. That means growing up and skating in small cities and countrysides where nothing happens if you don`t do it yourself. No industry, no money, just you and your skateboarding.
When we first entered the room, it was a full junkyard. But now, it is really a BEAUTY. Smooth to skate, a good couch, even a decent sound system. Over a year, we were working in small steps until we completed our indoor pool. We learned with every step new ways of building, so you’ll feel it in every corner, which are all different to skate, due to the learning process.
“…what was important for me was to work with used material as much as possible to use things that we left – to leave and make an installation which has a double function… and on skateboard sculpture, for me is everytime kind of self play with things that i know, saw, skate and visions… the important part for me of skateboarding is to give things new meaning to see and use something what is not made for it… exploring perception and body…. first i play with many things that we know about skateboarding and objects which are skateable in simple way… but to see the change of an object meaning that people hang clothing and things on “artpeace” was something like giving new meaning to work, new step interaction…breathing…” – sergej vutuc
Here is the history of a little 500 square meter skate park that we built last autumn in Girona, Spain out of mostly recycled materials.
This all began for me at the luxurious point at which £20,000 of funding had already been secured by a local skatepark development worker, however it became clear that the funders didn’t actually want to part with the money for various reasons and seemed pretty negative when they realised I had half a clue as to how to pull this off!