Skate and Destroy...
From Mod Mania
Skate and Destroy...
Skateboarding culture has a wide variety of influences and consequently people who identify with a certain subculture in skateboarding relate with other skateboarders in different ways. There are many subcultures in skateboarding and this can be explained by a brief history of the influences and development of the skateboard. Skateboarders have many resources to communicate with other people in the culture, such as the internet (forums, blogs, professional websites, etc.) , skate parks, magazines, skateboarding films and through other related cultures (music, business, etc.). The cultural difference between professional and amateur skateboarders can be also be very large because of the reasons that these people skateboard, which can lead to angst amongst these individuals. The way that a skater uses their skateboard can change the context of the product. For example, myself, I used to skate for fun, socially with my friends, the challenge, however now the skateboard serves as a mode of transportation for getting around Melbourne's inner city, which demonstrates the changes of the use of this product to suit context.
The beginning of skateboarding evolved directly out of the surfing scene in America but as it spread across the country and the world, which led to a wide variety of people beginning to take up skateboarding who influenced it with other cultures. The general image for skateboarders during the 1980s and 1990s was that they were rebellious, non-conforming youths only, that image has faded however in recent years. The culture of skateboarding and surfing culture were intricately connected in the past, however this was changing with the spread of skaters. Punk and hip-hop music became connected to the rebellious image and soon were hugely influential on the culture of skateboarding.
The influence of music on the culture of skateboarding is probably the most definitive factor of the image and identity of subcultures. Punk rock music influenced the early stages of hip-hop culture and still is a very strong cultural influence in skateboarding. Punk rock in skateboarding is largely represented in the magazine Thrasher and other similar magazines. Thrasher was started in 1981 and during the 1980's punk musicians used the magazine for releasing music, promoting concerts and many skateboarders were exposed to skateboarding through punk music and vice versa. In the 2000 film 'Sorry' released by the skateboard company Flip, punk legend Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) of Sex Pistols and Public Image Limited appeared as the host. Individual skateboarders usually will have some musical influence on their style of skateboarding, clothing, attitude or speech and this can lead to target audiences for films and magazines perpetuating the influence on themselves. Hip-hop also largely influenced the history of skateboarding as it spread around the USA and this can be found in cultural hubs such as magazine, films and other media. Skateboarder, Terry Kennedy (below, right) was guest featured in the video clip of Snoop Dogg's number one single “Drop It Like It's Hot”, which demonstrates the far reaching influence of music on skateboarding and skateboarding on people who are skaters. The ways in which skateboarders can communicate are extremely varied, with skateboarders coming together in many areas where they come together to skate, communicating on the internet and through magazines and films. In Melbourne skateboarding is a popular hobby and there are many places to congregate such as Riverside Skate Park in Alexandra Gardens, Lincoln Square on Swanston Street, Carlton and Fitzroy Bowls in Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North. These places where skaters meet usually have a good place to ride and are in a central area. It can get fairly hostile at these places at times because of their location (for example, Ascot Vale Skate Park is located inside the Ascot Vale housing commission) and the people that go there (alcohol is a problem as well as drugs other illegal activities like vandalism and graffiti). The internet is where much of the sharing and presenting of ideas, tricks and spots takes place for skateboarders. Websites such as Transworld Skateboarding (which is also a large, popular skateboard magazine) have large forum sections in which skaters can upload images and video for other skateboarders to comment on. On forums such as these skaters can be seen engaging in heated debates over what exactly constitutes giving a certain trick a certain name, or whether it should be called something else entirely. Films and magazines have been the industry output for professional skateboarders for many years and in recent years these have been given bigger budgets and before the global financial crisis companies sponsoring professionals were extremely diverse. In 2007, skateboarding footwear company Lakai released their film Fully Flared, which featured high definition footage and took over 4 years to make. The industry of skateboarding is a very profitable business and there are many outlets from which to buy skateboarding equipment and accessories. Skateboarding is an expensive hobby so unless you are sponsored by a company or skate shop or your friend is, skateboarders need to buy this equipment. Skateboard stores make a lot of their money selling clothing and other related gear. In sponsoring skateboarders to wear their clothing, it creates a culture from which they can make money from merchandise. In skateboard culture there is some angst about the commercialisation of skateboarding, however there would not be the widespread popularity as there is today if it was not for this commercialisation. There are many components that make up a skateboard, the board, trucks, bearings, wheels, and all of these range in quality and price. The culture around a particular brand can influence the choice of the consumer and if a skater can relate to another professional skateboarder they will choose the product that sponsors their favourite skateboarder. The deck or board in particular is interesting because apart from small variables in the shape and size, they are all basically the exact same. This means that the graphics need to be very powerful in their communication to certain skateboarder's cultures.
Although it can be argued that skateboarding companies are exploiting skateboarders, but these companies are run and influenced by the skateboarding public are vital in the survival of skateboarding as a culture.
