On Skate Expression

I was just telling my boy that while I give these pro skaters mad props for their talent and ability with a board, I often wish to see some skaters who go beyond the kick flips and tricks you see in all the magazines and skate vids. Not that what these guys are doing isn't cool. I just think there's a tendency for a lot of them to get caught limiting their creative exploration by setting their sights only on copying cool tricks and not necessarily taking the tricks further or adding layers of creative movements. I'd expound on what I mean in detail, but my boy just showed me this video of Louie Barletta. The kind of creativity and added layers of movements in his skating and tricking are EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm talkin about!

As an artist, I appreciate what a lot of skaters in this exploding & expanding arena are doing for sure and think it's a beautiful sport/art. I also ESPECIALLY love the fact that through this art form, you're getting a group of passionate heads together all joining in and helping to produce, not just the skate tricks, but the filming and editing, then the added layers of audio editing, and further performance aspects to create the inspiring and entertaining montages we get to enjoy. The camaraderie is great too, as well as the perpetuation of creative output that also gets our kids out of the house, away from the growth-stunting and diluting T.V. and off their butts and moving around... IT'S EXCELLENT!

And to those who hate on skateboarding across the board, of course ANYTHING can be (and just about EVERYTHING has been at one time or another) corrupted and turned into a reason or occasion for deviance. But, this isn't a reason to hate on skating any more than it is a reason to hate on garage bands, football, basketball, theater groups, dance teams, or any other group activity our kids can get involved in. It's up to the people in these groups, and especially the parents of the young ones, to make sure that they are bringing principles with them wherever they go. These activities can be saving distractions from much of the dissipation our kids are tempted with at earlier and earlier ages these days. As with all "drugs" (those things which take you to a different mind state), the character of the person is the variable. You can DANCE, SING, SKATE, PLAY, SWIM, PAINT or DRAW yourself into another state of mind. But, WHAT that state of mind that you get to IS is up to you!

I guess I had more to say about this skating thing than I thought when I hit the blog for a quick post today :P But, I think you get my drift. I'm excited to see the sport/art form develop and to see new artists like Barletta take it in more and more creative directions. I encourage them all to keep it sober, keep it pure, and remind them that the best way to do that is to keep it tied to their GREATER goals in the unseen realm. Staying focused in this way will make anything they get into, learn about and explore worthwhile.

Here here for SINCERE CREATIVE OUTPUT intended for ETERNAL GAIN!

- Want