For less than $5 a month you can have space on a web server. For a few bucks a year you can have your own domain name. With a computer at the public library and a plain text editor you can then publish a website that can be seen more or less all over the world. THAT IS PUNK ROCK. It just requires a tiny bit of knowledge and effort to do your own thing. You should do it.
One of the things I love about being a skateboarder, besides skating, is the tradition of doing things for ourselves. Making our own scenes, creating our own publications, etc. But I really really love the art created by skateboarders. From my friends Jeremy Elder (elderhousearts.com), and Mike Moore (http://www.mikemoorestudios.com), to widely known artists who came from skateboarding like Shepard Fairey and Michael Sieben, skateboarding fosters a lot of creativity. The list is long. Anyway, here are a few things I’ve got on my walls…
Owl, by Jeremy Elder.Alternative Tentacles Jello Biafra board – graphics by Shepard Fairey, board manufactured by Powell.Fist, but Jeremy Michael Elder.Sun and bird, by Jeremy Michael Elder.Skateboards. Photo by Tony Gale.Various stickers, by Jeremy Michael Elder.Cockfight skateboard deck, graphics by Michael Sieben.Fickle Skateboards Austin Motel/Stupidfest 2018 graphic, and Sphinx cat graphic. Both will be on the wall after I finish riding them. Not only is the art cool, but the decks themselves are works of art — totally hand built. Laminate layed up in Lew’s workshop, glued, pressed, cut, finished. Only thing he didn’t do was produce the veneers.
We went to see an exhibit of Ron Mueck‘s work this last weekend at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. I’ve seen a couple of is smaller pieces before, and they are incredible and disturbing. This time I got to see the giant baby and some others. Blown away. You just expect them to start breathing.
First, the sculptures, even if made from aluminum, fibreglass, or whatever, really looked like giant plastic toys. The texture was amazing. So when I saw the giant wood sculptures, I didn’t just assume they were, in fact, of wood. They were.
The paintings: clearly I’m not a painter, because I was amazed at the line quality of the black outlines in these often big paintings. The lines were perfect. Finally, even with the obvious influence of American cartoons, the paintings often have a somewhat grotesque quality, like a body that has been cut open.
My friend Marshall Thompson tells me that he usually looks at mastery of the medium when looking at art, which is what I tried to do at this show. I thought it was impressive in that respect.
Yet another artist with a skateboarding background.
Kitbashes manipulates sounds in a most pleasing way.
The event hosted several musical acts, all doing super creative electronic/noise/ambient/minimalist kind of stuff. My friends Micah and Shelby, as Kitbashes, were there. It was my first time to hear them live, and I could have used more. It’s hard to describe what they do. Just see them, close your eyes, and let the sound wash over you.
The crowd drew people from various different spheres of influence – the “art” scene, the real art scene, hippies, weirdos, librarians, skaters, literati, etc, etc.
Getting so many creative people together is fantastic. It’s great to see what other people are doing and share ideas.
Can’t wait until next year’s event!
Oh, I should note that my favorite zine is Big Hands. It is uncommon in that it is composed of very well-written autobiographical stories — very engaging. I discovered it on Microcosm Publishing’s website, but the seem to be out, so email the writer, Aaron, and ask if you can buy them.
Last night I was lucky to see the documentary film Who isĀ Bozo Texino at the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson. I was extra lucky by the the filmmaker, Bill Daniel, was there to show some of his other short films dealing with Texas Punk Rock and to answer questions. A really interesting guy – I’d love to spend some time talking to Bill for the Concrete Lunch Podcast. Maybe someday.