Why Skate Culture is Important...

psmith frontside at the "dept of skateboarding" bowl in PDX, during Platform Animation Festival. Around the time competition screenings were being shown.

The doc "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is a key film to understand why skateboarding is important. Skating has had a major impact on the contemporary world. Overstated? I think I can hear laughter. Culture and skating have been fused since the Z Boys(a group of skaters in the 70's) chose not to follow conventions of a typical sport. They added a rebellious punk aspect that just wasn't there. To them it was a lifestyle, like art or surfing, or rock and roll. Rollerskating didn't have a group like the Z Boys, and look where that ended up.

Every time I go to an animation festival i think about this, i mean, what a bunch of dorks! (gen. speaking of course), talking about pitching, and sponge bob. Why don't animators talk about Sargent, Stravinsky, Keaton or Kubrick, or the stones? This is why I dig animators like Hisko Hulsing and Danny Antonucci, these guys are real artists. Fully engaged in a culture while working incredibly hard to impact art history. These guys, like the Z boys, know whats up, they're just naturally just cool.