Lori Damiano has been skateboarding and making stuff for so long that I can’t even remember when or where I was first introduced to her work. Somewhere among her involvement in the zine Villa Villa Cola, her animation (she did the menus for the Spike Jones DVD, for one example), and skateboarding like a madwoman, she recently earned a master’s degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts and helped VVC get the Getting Nowhere Faster DVD out. Continue reading “Lori Damiano: Getting Nowhere Faster”
Tod Swank: Foundation’s Edge
Tod Swank started Foundation Skateboard Company (the name comes from the Isaac Asimov sci-fi series of the same name) fifteen years ago. That’s no small feat in the cutthroat skateboard industry. Skateboard brands come and go as often as the tides of the Pacific lap the shores of San Diego. He’s since built a small empire, launching such brands as Pig, Toy Machine, Zero, Dekline, and Deathbox, among many others. Continue reading “Tod Swank: Foundation’s Edge”
Duane Pitre: Skateboarding’s Butterfly Effect
Even in the midst of today’s mega-media all-at-onceness (to quote Marshall McLuhan), Skateboarding culture remains as dynamic and engaging as it ever has been. For anyone who’s ever stepped on a skateboard — and stayed on it for that first run — the culture surrounding that act leaves a dent in you. It’s often a butterfly effect the results of which aren’t recognized until years later. Continue reading “Duane Pitre: Skateboarding’s Butterfly Effect”