Misunderstood: at-times-maligned skaters weigh in on their culture
By Liz Barry on Oct. 15, 2008
Monday is a holy day for Sean Davis, 16, and his group of skater friends.
On Monday, they head to Scene 3 Boardshop in Forest to skate the mini-ramp inside and hangout.
“It’s like our Sabbath,” Davis says.
Davis, who started skating two years ago, sees the world through different eyes now.
“We see architecture completely differently. Where people would see three stairs, we’d see somewhere to heel flip down,” says Davis, referring to a skating trick.
His language has changed, too. Now he uses words like “gnarly,” “sic,” “skeezy” and his personal favorite: “buttery ass” - a term he and his friends invented that means something along the lines of “cheap but good.”
Skateboarding culture is hard to pin down. It is infused with a mix of styles and influences, and as Davis puts it, “There isn’t just one stereotypical skater.”
Unlike team sports like football and baseball, skateboarding is about the individual. Skaters express themselves by their clothes, their music, and, most importantly, how they skate. For some, like Davis, skating is an art.
To highlight the artistic side of skating, Amazement Square partnered up with Riverviews Artspace to put on the exhibition “Concrete Canvas,” which is on display at Riverviews until Nov. 30. It includes graffiti art, collage, board art and furniture made from found objects associated with skate culture.
The exhibit aims to draw skaters into the art gallery, and to show the public the artistic side of skateboarding, says Tabitha Abbott, director of Rotary Centennial Riverfront Skatepark in Lynchburg.
Part of the exhibit is a montage of torn up decks - the wooden boards that skaters stand on - that were discarded at the skatepark and collected by Abbot.
Some of the decks are covered with graphic designs by famous artists. Others are decorated by hand with stencil art, spray paint, words and stickers.
One board reads, “Skating saved my life.” Another reads, “I love Scene 3,” referring to the board shop, which is a hang out place for local skaters.
Jeff Gray, 35, owns Scene 3 Boardshop and has been skating for more than 20 years. For Gray, who has been into art all of his life, skating is just another creative outlet.
“The type of person who gets into skating, they’re left-siders, more creative.”
As skateboarding has become more mainstream, thanks to the growing popularity of the X Games and skateboarding video games, skate culture has been watered down, Gray says.
“Back then, I was one of five, maybe, in high school. We were the only kids wearing pink and weird stuff,” he says of the once-small skater community.
“Now it’s so mainstream. Half the kids are wearing skateboard brand shoes and T-shirts.”
An afternoon at the Riverfront Skatepark brings out a eclectic crowd of skaters. Their tastes are diverse. Some are into punk music, some are into metal or hip hop. Some wear skintight jeans, others sport camo pants. The common denominator is they all love to skate.
Brian Bell, 22, a senior at Liberty, started skating seven years ago after borrowing his cousin’s board. He loves the freedom of skating.
“You can just do whatever you want. There are no rules to it.”
Bell’s arms are covered with tattoos, each one with a story behind it. The one on his left forearm is a blue heart with red flames - the logo of Black Label, the brand of his first deck.
As for style, trends come and go, Bell says. He prefers to dress “chill, low-profile.” Comfortable jeans and a T-shirts are his staples.
“A lot of kids around here wear tighter pants, girl pants even, which I don’t really understand.”
Like his style, Bell prefers to keep his decks plain: raw wood, no decorations.
“My board is never going to last more than three weeks anyway, so why decorate it?”
Jackson Rogers, 13, started skateboarding about four years ago. To Rogers, a homeschooler in the eighth grade, skateboarding defines his lifestyle.
“My four wheels are like your two legs,” he says.
Rogers thinks skateboarders are too often defined by negative stereotypes.
“A lot of people think you’re grime if you skate.”
Being misunderstood can occur within skate culture, too, Roger says. For example, he takes issue with the word “poser.”
“The No. 1 thing that I hate about everyone who skates today is they call people posers, but they don’t really know what they’re saying.”
Poser is derogatory slang that skaters use to describe lesser skaters or wannabe skaters. To Rogers, the “true” meaning of poser is “someone who wears the clothes but doesn’t skate at all.” Anyone who dares to get on a board and stick with it is not a poser in his view.
Donald Wilson, 14, is a ninth grader at E.C. Glass High School. He started skating about three years ago.
“Skating is about freedom. I can do what I want.”
Skating inspires his art: cartoon drawing. When he’s bored in class, Wilson draws cartoon characters on skateboards. Some are realistic; others are absurd or humorous, like a skateboarding Chihuahua.
Isaiah Lewis, 14, has been skating for three years. The Amherst County High School freshman says skating changed his life. Through skating, he built up his self-esteem and met his best friend.
Wilson is all about style on the board and in the clothing he wears. Today he wears a purple leopard print belt, skinny jeans and purple Fallen shoes. His helmet is covered with stickers of his favorite brands.
“I don’t know what it is, but when skaters get a hold of stickers, they slap them on their helmets.”
Lewis, who takes art in school, creates surreal drawings inspired by skate culture. Like Wilson, Lewis says skateboarders are misunderstood.
“They think we’re just vandals, we won’t become anything in life, that we’re just riding around, terrorizing the streets.
“That’s not us. We just love to skate.”
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