Monday, October 1, 2007

Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art

Skateboard Art Disposable
For many skateboard artists the pavement is their only audience. In 2004 renowned skater Sean Cliver attempted to change this with the launch of his book Disposable: The History of Skateboard Art, a 228-page full color text showcasing 1000 of the best skateboard artworks from the last three decades. While local skate stores picked up the text, Cliver found his message wasn't really getting out to the public. This year (thanks largely to a new distributor deal with Ginkgo Press) Cliver has re-launched the book in hopes of granting this art medium exposure.

Do you believe skateboard decoration is a true art form? What's that age old question, is it art? Yeah, sure. Why not?

"There's a lot of other stuff whipped out through the decades and centuries that is equally debatable, but has still wound up in collections, galleries, and museums throughout the world. The only downside is it'll probably all get lumped into the pop-culture waste paper basket, or worse that whole urban guerrilla thing. To tell you the truth, though, I could care less about trying to justify it as an art form. That whole art philosophy thing is for the birds. In fact that is one of the main reasons I did this book: I wanted to portray the art and history as it was and is, not as some random outsider went and theorized."

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