a brief glance skateboardmag 19 by a brief glance skateboardmag

issue _19

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DCSHOES.COM

California Sports

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tel: 011-927-7943

www.californiasport.info

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COVER: Dominik Dietrich, bs kickflip. Photography_Davide Biondani.

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ÂŠ 2013 Vans, Inc. Photo: Anthony Acosta

ISSUE _19

CONTENTS FRAGMENTS_ Marchio dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Infamia_an Antiz journey to southern Italy_ .

INTERSECT_Michael Mackrodt_ ART NOW!_ The Jaunt_ The CONKSTER_the rawest skatepark on Earth_ Places_BOLIVIA_ Dusted Off_a crash for a day_ BOOK_15 years of Lookwood Antwerp_ PUSHED_four skaters inspired by a wooden toy_

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EDITOR and CONCEPT Davide Biondani.

(davide@abriefglance.com) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Guido Bendotti.

ASSISTANT EDITOR Andrew Zolin. PHOTOGRAPHERS

Leo Sharp, Kévin Mètallier, Nils Svensson,

DVL, Friedjof Fèje, Garric Ray, Bear Bridges, Fabio Montagner, Marcello Guardigli,

Eric Antoine, Alan Maag, Sergio Minnici,

Kazuhiro Terauchi, Davide Biondani, Bertrand Trichet. CONTRIBUTORS

Jonathan Levin, Jeroen Smeets, Francesco Paolo Chielli, Mauro Caruso, Jerome Campbell, Alvin Francescato, Samu Karvonen, Lorenzo Formenti, Ale Martoriati,

Peterr Molec, Holger von Krosigk, Simone Bertozzi, Niall Neeson. DESIGN

Fake Donkey Lab. www.abriefglance.com

GET ALL THE INFOS at: info@abriefglance.com

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Gianni Zattoni_Fs melon_ Photo_Davide Biondani_

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www.abriefglance.com a brief glance

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EDITORIAL_19

“The rainbow fades right after the sun sets behind the clouds. Facts don’t.”db_

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FRAG MENTS

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FRAGMENTS

Elliot Murphy, Ollie. Photo_Bear Bridges. Santa Monica_LA.

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FRAG MENTS Milo, Kickflip to downhill. Photo_Davide Biondani. Ancona.

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Kevin Lowry, Ollie up, ollie over. Photo_Sam Ashley. London.

FRAGMENTS a brief glance

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FRAGMENTS

Brodie Sellars, Fs hurricane. Photo_Marcello Guardigli. Melbourne.

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Distribuito in Italia da:

www.playwood-distribution.it info@playwood-distribution.it

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Marchio d’ Infamia.

tour 2013

_an Antiz journey to southern Italy.

Around 2009 I got invited to my first ever Antiz trip to Italy. When I left home I didn’t know any of the participating skaters or any Italians whatsoever. When I returned I had a whole new family, a lot of new friends and some unforgettable memories. Four years later I got a chance to do it all over again and believe me… it was as golden as it was back then. The crew consisted Juju, Dominik, Hirschi, Peter, Teemu, myself and Mario Torre who hosted us trough Colosseum and Gomorrah. _Samu.

Photography_Davide Biondani_ Words_Samu Karvonen_

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SAMU KARVONEN_OLLIE UP TO 5-0.

We drove past this bridge around 10 times before deciding to skate it. And of course we picked the time of the heaviest wind agains and possible rain. Let’s say it could have been easier. “Never Leave that till tomorrow which you can do today”_Benjamin Franklin.

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Marchio dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Infamia.

tour 2013

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PETER MOLEC_SWITCH FS OLLIE OVER.

I’ve met Peter in many occasions before this trip, but now I can really say I know him. One thing I also learned is that he has some serious pop. Like you see.“Well done is better than well said”. _Benjamin Franklin.

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_an Antiz journey to southern Italy.

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JULIEN BACHELIER_FS NOSEBLUNT SLIDE.

This ditch was rough. With rough I mean really rough. But with bread, prosciutto and some fine mozzarella it turned into a half-a-day session. Sometimes all it takes is good food and for that Italy is the place to be. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.â&#x20AC;? _Virginia Woolf.

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HIRCHI_HALF CAB HEELFLIP IN.

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TEEMU PIRINEN_FS NOSEBLUNT SLIDE.

Hot and steamy day. Teemu definitely chose the right outfit. Maybe not for the weather, but for the photo it couldn’t be any better. “When a man cannot chose, he ceases to be a man.” _Anthony Burgess.

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Marchio dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Infamia.

tour 2013

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HIRCHI_BS KICKFLIP.

This little plaza was actually a cop station of some sort. There was a little tension skating it not knowing when we would get kicked out. I chose the easy way out with a front blunt on a ankle high ledge when Hirchi took the opposite. Perfectly executed backside kickflip from a man sized stairs.

““If a thing like this is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing right.” - Hunter S. Thompson

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SAMU KARVONEN_FS BLUNT SLIDE.

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Napoli_ Galleria Umberto I. a brief glance

MY FIRST ANTIZ TRIP. “This trip was the first Vntiz trip for me. Everyone welcomed me really nicely and I felt like I belonged to Vntiz from the first second of the trip. I´ve been on many trips but this was one of my favorite ones. This is gonna sound cliché but I have to say it anyway and I mean it. Vntiz is a real family for me. I know lots of people say this about their team but there is nothing like Vntiz hobo style. Everyone is involved in the Vntiz. Everything we did was super good, no stressing just pure fun and heavy skateboarding. We were lucky with our tour sherpa and hotel in one person – Mario! He is a pure skateboarder. He helped us a lot. Without him it wouldn’t have been the same. Also, we had another Italian on board – Davide. Super good photographer and really cool and chill person. I loved to shoot with him. Polo our filmer was the chillest mate ever. Never stressing when he is filming. Juju took really good care of everyone in the van and kept everyone happy all the time. I have to say I just love hobo style tours. Sleeping on the floor, dumpster diving after skateboarding all day then cooking our free food. It’s hard to explain, its better to be on those tours. Lots of funny stuff happened, but there is one thing I was laughing about all the time. Poju was only talking Finnish to Samu which is normal because it’s their native language, but most of the time he forgot to switch to English when he was talking to someone else. It happened to me many times and he expected an answer from me. I told him every time, “I don’t understand your Viking language mate.” It was hilarious and even better when he was stoned though. We met lots of good people on our tour, ate best food, and skated amazing spots. It was just super good. Thanks to everyone in the whole crew. Dominik, Samu, Poju, Hirshi, Polo, Juju, Mario, and Davide.” Peter.

“This is gonna sound cliché but I have to say it anyway and I mean it. Vntiz is a real family for me.” a brief glance

PETER MOLEC_FS BLUNT SLIDE.

Naples best kept secret. Corners, banks with curbs, benches and a beautiful view.

So many lines to choose. Easy and not so easy ones. We tried them all. Some happened, some not. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.â&#x20AC;? _Benjamin Franklin.

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DOM DIETRICH_SWITCH KICKFLIP OVER.

Every skater has his own approach to a spot. Some take the obvious, some the special and others choose something in

between. As Austrians are strict and straight, so was Dominik’s choice for this spot. Fast and Furious. Over and out. A beast of a human being. Unfortunately this trick took Dominik’s Heel out for the rest of the tour. “Sometimes you have to lose to win” _Gregory David Roberts.

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JULIEN BACHELIER_WALLRIDE TO BS OUT.

You know the “heureka” feeling of figuring out how to make a spot more skateable? That little DIY also gives you some

extra satisfaction and push to make your tricks. On this bank the work itself wasn’t much. Just few broken tiles and some pieces of playwood. But I’m sure those little pieces made Jujus and Dominiks day. “If you wan a thing done well, do it yourself ” _Napoleon.

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Marchio dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Infamia.

tour 2013

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INTERSECT_

michael mackrodt

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Photography KĂŠv MĂ¨tallier_ Interview Davide Biondani_Guido Bendotti_

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G’day Michael, where are you? Berlin or around the world skating some new spots? Hey hey. I’m in Berlin, Kévin Mètallier is here and we’re going to Detroit together tomorrow to check some new spots. I have seen photos and footage of you from South America to Central Asia. Can you tell me the 10 most amazing places you have been? I can’t tell you 10 places, there are many places that are nice, each in its own way. Paris, NY, many cities in China, many cities in Russia etc… actually I was mostly surprised by the spots in Siberia. Personally I think traveling is the best thing about skateboarding: landing a trick, meeting new friends, building a skatepark are great things about skateboarding, but traveling and searching for new places to skateboard and getting in touch with different cultures is the best part. I think Patrik Wallner’s “Meet The Stans” documentary is an amazing job and without any doubt an amazing experience to have been part of… I have nothing to add to this, you’ve said it all. I’m really happy to have met Patrik before he became “famous”. We’ve already done quite a few nice projects together, starting with Vietnam and NYC many years ago. We always got along

really well and I really like the way he films and edits his footage. So it’s been a pleasure traveling and skating with him and the Visual Traveling crew. How did you get involved with this mission? How did the whole thing start? We met in Spain, filmed some stuff, then I went to NYC where he was living, we filmed more clips there and then I went to Asia for a couple of months and he joined. They were very funny but also very productive times so we decided to travel more and more together. Can you do a little summary of the whole trip? Oh, we just started with the visas for the countries we wanted to travel through. Then, we took whatever came along to travel: buses, taxis, trains, motorbikes... on those “intense” trips we traveled with Kirill Korobkov from Moscow who made the last decisions and organized a lot of things while we were skating, also trying to collect footage for the documentary. He’s great. We started off from Moscow to Hong Kong (“10000 km” documentary) by train and decided that we had to return from Asia to Europe only by land. So we had to cross all the countries that came along! Afghanistan was not really planned, but as we got denied access to Turkmenistan, we had to change our route.

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switch ollie_

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What was your feeling when you were skating in Afghanistan? Is the place so scary as it is supposed to be? I have read you had security guards with you the whole time… Yes, it was scary because anything can happen at any time, but if you don’t think about it, then it’s fine. I was scared even though we had security guards with us most of the time! I heard Uzbekistan was not an easy place too…. Is it true? Not easy money wise and visa wise, but once you have sorted everything out it’s really nice. Being a big group didn’t help in getting problems solved quickly. In Meet The Stans there is a clip where you are skating some jersey in the middle of nowhere… We found them because we were driving at night and stopped because we wanted to see the mountains and the whole scenery, so luckily we stopped. Next morning they were just there next to a beautiful lake in the middle of the mountains: breakfast, swim, skate... it was perfect. Another amazing trip you have been on was the one with Skateboarder Magazine in Vietnam. How was that trip? You crossed the whole country with motorbikes…. and I read you were not so lucky with yours…. Yes, it was part of our mission. We crossed Vietnam on shitty roads by motorbike. It was one of the best adventures of my life. The only bad thing was that my motorbike sucked: it was a Honda but had all pieces replaced and they

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were made in China so everything fell apart day by day. But thanks to the troubles I had with my motorbike I met a lot of people and learned a lot. What motivates you to skateboard when you are at home? I motivate myself. Have you ever considered the idea of moving to California to live and skateboard? I’m not good enough for California and I’m happy in Europe. What do you think is missing in Europe that prevents skateboarders from making a living out of Skateboarding? Money. Have you fully recovered from your injury last year? What are your plans for the summer? Next skate trip? Fully recovered, finally, so Detroit next week, then MIC contest in Norway, then Munich. These are my “duties”. Then I wanna go to Paris and film a “Fishing Line” on the spots where I learned to skate!

INTERSECT_

michael mackrodt a brief glance

ART NOW!

Stepping out of your comfort zone and experiencing new surroundings is often quoted as the main source of inspiration for artists. We aim to provide these inspirations to artists by organizing jaunts. Short and pleasurable excursions or journeys. For each jaunt we will send an artist to a new destination. Once arrived, the artist will soak up all of the local impressions and inspirations. From freshly brewed local coffee to small boutiques, neoclassical architecture, overcrowded tourist sights and whatever else falls in their way. The artist will work all of these new impressions into a limited edition screen print, thereby creating a unique travel document. The limited edition screen prints are exclusively offered at sight unseen. You know which artist is going to which location, but the outcome is yet to be determined. This way you are part of the inspiration while experiencing the creative process.

Interview_Davide Biondani_

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The Jaunt_ one of the most brilliant art projects out there. Jeroen Smeets is the mind behind the thing, we had a little chat with him. Jeroen Smeets is a genius.

G’day Jeroen, when did you start getting interested in art? I guess it all sprung from a background in skateboarding. Just being out on the streets and seeing all the different skateboard designs opened up a lot of impressions. I started making stickers with some friend and then later started doing a bit of graffiti and painting with a friend of mine. I was always organizing stuff with friends, so that we would paint a big wall with 15 people and bring people together. Then at one point I realized that other people were a lot better than I was, so I started working with them on art projects instead of doing my own art. You are originally from Amsterdam, how has your city influenced your interest and your approach to art? Amsterdam is definitely alive and kicking. There is a big history both within art and design, and I think that the new generation picked that up and gave it its own spin. Besides that, Amsterdam is a place where the people are very forthcoming and straight up, so you have to put your money where your mouth is and get it done. I like that attitude. What is The Jaunt? The word ‘Jaunt’ means “a short and pleasurable trip or journey”. And that’s exactly what we want to offer to artists. Exciting trips to new destinations for the artists to find new inspiration. I believe that inspiration is to be found everywhere, but that you are just a little bit more receptive towards new impressions once you are out of your comfort zone.

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Personally I think The Jaunt is a great idea…. the concept behind the whole project is simply brilliant… how did you come up with The Jaunt? For the last three or four years I’ve been working on my own art agency called YOUR:OWN. With this agency I find the right artist for the right project. And the project can be anything, sometimes it’s working together with a client, sometimes it’s organizing an exhibition and sometimes I create my own projects like The Jaunt. Because of my work I’m always talking with artists, and whenever I was talking to artists, or reading interviews with artists, they all said that they wanted to go somewhere and travel to find new inspiration. I kept seeing and hearing this over and over, and this triggered me to start The Jaunt project. How long did it take from the original idea to the first trip to come about? I walked around with the idea for a long time, because I also had to find the right angle to make the project work. I think it took about half a year before the real plan was on paper, and that was somewhere in December of 2012 I think. Then it didn’t seem right to start the project in the winter time, because traveling is just much more fun in the summer. So the first trip took place in April.

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Hedof in Helsinki_

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How was the first trip to Helsinki? Why Helsinki and which artist was involved? The first trip really couldn’t have gone any better. The artist that went there is called Hedof (www.hedof.nl) and Helsinki was very high on his list of places he wanted to see but had never been there. Once he got back he told me that in the four days he spent in Helsinki he had taken more photos than during the two weeks he spent in New York. He loved it there. The reaction from the public was really great as well, and all the prints were sold out two weeks before the trip. It was a dream start! The second destination is Porto, Portugal, with Collin van der Sluijs. When is this trip planned for and what are your expectations from the second experience of The Jaunt? The trip will take place from the 17th to the 21st of June. So by the time everybody is reading this, Collin will be back home from his trip, and we’ll be working on creating the print to send out to everybody. To be honest, I don’t really know what to expect from this trip, I’ve never been to Porto myself, and don’t know too much about it to be honest. But I believe that Collin is preparing himself right now, and trying to find some walls to paint there as well, and really dive into the city. He’s been reading a lot about the history of the city as well, in order to incorporate that into the final artwork that he’s going to be making.

How do you decide where to go and which artist to involve? The artists that are on my short list for possible trips in the future are all artists that I know personally and that I can also consider my friends. I think this project comes with a certain amount of trust, and therefore I like to know the artist personally, so that I can also help them the best way possible in order for them to find new inspiration. The places that we choose to go to are all places that aren’t too common. We won’t be going to Berlin, Paris or London. I want there to be an element of surprise, and I want to go all over the place. East, west, north and south. Do you already have the third destination in mind? What is your “dream” destination? Yes, the third artist and third trip are booked. But we’re going to keep it as a surprise for now, although I can tell you that we’ll be going more into East Europe. The announcement of the new trip will be somewhere in the first week of July, so keep an eye out on our website: www.thejaunt.net

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In a world where there are thousands of self-proclaimed “artists” (or photographers..or stylists…) what’s the meaning of the word “artist” in your opinion? It’s not enough to have a nice tattoo, a long beard, a cool name, and do cool exhibitions in NY, London or Tokyo….. What makes the real difference nowadays? That’s a good one. I think an artist should contribute his or her own unique vision and style to the world. This is what separates the artists from the hipsters. Artists do whatever they want for the reasons that are closest to their heart, and aren’t influenced by the latest trends or fads. And hopefully doesn’t take his or her own art too seriously. If you had to point out some artists or projects that really deserve to be followed who would it be? That’s a tough one, cause there are so many to list. I’ve tried making a list of it a couple times by now, but every time I get split between mentioning everybody and selecting a few. Both didn’t seem right. I’d say that people should just keep checking out the Facebook pages of my projects. You’ll see a lot of nice stuff coming by.

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Collin works_

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_The rawest skatepark on Earth.

The CONKSTER_

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Conkster is the rawest skatepark I have ever been to. Rough flatground, tight transitions and rock ‘n’

roll music played as loud as possible on nothing but vinyls. It is a place where you feel at home among friends, and if you ever start to dislike skateboarding... come and skate the park and I guarantee you’ll

begin to love it and feel its true essence again, even if the ledge doesn’t grind properly, the ground is too rough and the bank is messed up... Friendship and true love for skateboarding. This is Conkster.

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The CONKSTER_

“Conkster is a place to free your mind, an “eternal youth potion” that

cements our friendships. You walk into the warehouse, place the turntable

needle on the vinyl at full blast and bust out for 3 hours non-stop, blocking out whatever is on your mind. My dream is to build a cement bowl and a vert ramp one day. We will succeed sooner or later!”

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RICCARDO “LUNA” LONARDI_ bs 5-0.

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“We live in a place where people spend their lives watching TV and trying to show off. We have our small space where we feel good. We built this place with lots of hard work and the little money we had, but it is our little hiding place from the all the crap out there. We are not polite, clean, or easy to put up with, but we have heart and passion. Our

only goal is that of friends that want to have good times and be happy with a skateboard, a BBQ, and a pack of beers.

Respect is one of the most important things to us. If you show up at Conkster and act like an idiot you’ll regret doing it ‘cause you will never come back. Skateboarding to skateboarders. Rock ‘n’ roll to rockers.” Mattia “Ross” Rossetti.

ANDREA MUNARI_ pivot to fakie over the channel. “The atmosphere you find at Conkster is unique... Forever oldschool!

Skateboarding, beer, Vespa scooters, and vinyl records are never missing! Animals... at the park as well as at the bar! What do you want me to say about the pivot to fakie? Wanna go for a beer?”

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The CONKSTER_

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LEO BELARIN_ rock and roll.

“The Conkster crew is truly a family whose main activities are skateboarding, rock ‘n’ roll, booze, and lots of gnarliness. For us it isn’t that important to know how to do tre flips, what we are all about is more like raw power and speed. One of Conkster’s

main features is the loud music during night sessions... volume to the max, obviously. Our guests often ask us to turn down the music a little, but we never listen to them. Ah ah ah! The most important thing is that once you set foot in the warehouse you immediately leave behind the shitty day you’ve had and your worries, and just focus on skating and having a good time with

your friends. Every time someone comes to visit us and is stoked by the tight transitions it makes me happy. My dream would be to build a real cement pool one day. Thanks to Luna for having given us this place!”

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“For me, Conkster is an addiction, a drug, if I don’t show up for some time I feel sick. It’s a place with no rules where you can do

anything you want. When I was a kid I had a dream, and now that dream has become true. It would be cool to build a vert ramp and maybe organize a concert with bands playing among the ramps.” Michele Passarin.

The CONKSTER_ ALE FERRERI_ handrecht. “The first time I went to Conkster, I walked in and saw Luna on the tractor, Cris Passarin doing a fs air on the quarterpipe, and Leo and

Michele with a pack of beers, playing some hardcore punk records...

My jaws dropped open and thought: “I’m at home here”. A handplant

seemed to me like the perfect trick to do in a perfect place since you can experience a very old-school atmosphere at Conkster!”

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FABIO BOTTELLI_ bs ollie over. “What I like about Conkster the most are the DIY trannies built by

the locals and the atmosphere: metal music blasting at deafening levels, smiling skateboarders, and Caccamo the goat walking in front of you

while you’re trying a trick. One evening Cris brought a ladder like those you find in swimming pools, and put it on the coping of the mini ramp with the intention of ollieing it. The best thing about Conkster is that

when you go there you party ‘till death and drink beers as if there were

no tomorrow, even if it’s a Tuesday and you have to wake up at 6:00 AM

the next morning to go to work. It always takes two hours to drive home because we always go by this town that has a fake Eiffel Tower! Conkster rules!”

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“The birthday of each member of our clique is celebrated rigorously on a Thursday, irrespective of the actual birthdate. Each member must bring his favorite vinyl record (we only listen to old-school hardcore, metal, and rock ‘n’

roll), a pack of beers, and meat for the BBQ. The rest is just skateboarding and partying! During one of these parties Luna’s goat whose name is Caccamo walked into the warehouse (by the way Luna is the owner of Conkster). We put some grass on the coping of the miniramp and Caccamo ran up trying to eat it but slipped backwards to fakie every time. We were laughing our asses off. In the end he managed to climb up and eat the grass, but didn’t

know how to drop in to get down, so he jumped 3 meters from the top of the ramp straight to the flat. It was one of the most epic moments ever at Conkster.”

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CRIS PASSARIN_ bs smith.

The CONKSTER_

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RICKY COMINI_ wallride.

“I love the rock ‘n’ roll style the guys have given this place, with music constantly playing full volume, but purely vinyls...

So stylish!! What’s also cool is the mix of old and new-school trannies that intersect creating a mix of skateboarding that stretches from the 90s all the way to the present day. The boys’ creativity in building this skatepark is just fantastic! The

wallride was almost an enlightenment: climbing up on the quarter pipe I turned around to get an overall view of the park, and saw the hump with this super colored graffiti on it, and just got inspired. The cool thing about skateboarding is that

regardless of differences between various ramps, technical level, and age, the most important and essential thing that unites

all skaters is the desire to skate and have fun together, evolving and learning new tricks, whether you are an overpaid pro or just a hard-working dude living in a small countryside town.”

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The CONKSTER_

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PLACES_

Bolivia a brief glance

Photography_Carmin Santos_

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Bolivia_

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PLACES_

Bolivia_

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PLACES_

Bolivia

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Dusted_Off

a crash for a day_2002

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Photography and words_Davide Biondani_

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This ditch is located not far from where I live and in many years I have never seen it empty. Only in the

winter of 2002 it was drained for maintenance. When we got the news that the ditch was skateable we went

there immediately. I remember it was a cold but sunny Saturday afternoon and that only once we were inside we realized how deep it was. It was frightening to

imagine how much water the canal could carry, and we imagined the arrival of a giant wave that would sweep away all of us in a second.

The walls of the ditch were new, but the concrete was rough and the flat was full of rocks and puddles. We

tried to skate the banks but it was almost impossible to do tricks because they were too steep and it was hard to get enough speed. None of us had soft wheels on, obviously. Climb the walls of the ditch was a feat in itself….

At one point Dami managed to get on the top of the

bank, put the tail of his board in the drop-in position,

looked at the bank under his feet and said: “This is suicide”. He had 51mm wheels on, low messed up trucks

and the flat was still full of stones… In a second he put his front foot on the grip tape and dropped in leaving all of us breathless…

He went down, getting to full speed quickly, passing the first kink and the flat, went up the bank for like

one and a half meters and hit his face against the wall. He made it, but the speed was too much and the bank too steep. It was like dropping in padless on a massive concrete jump ramp.

Dami broke his nose. But otherwise he was fine. This

is still the gnarliest thing I’ve witnessed in 25 years of skateboarding. Dami rules.

For the records the ditch has never been drained again since then.

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Damiano Simionato_killer drop in.

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Dusted_Off

a crash for a day_2002

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Book_ LWXV

15 years of _Lockwood Antwerp.

Lookwood skateshop from Antwerp / Belgium / celebrates its fifteenth anniversary by releasing a book covering the shopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 15-year history. New and old photos of the riders, images of all the products released over the years, memories from the opening, from the skate camps and tours organized; old advertisements, covers of the mags, stories about the making of the shopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s videos, everything brought together in a high-quality book. A good example of what a skate shop should be like. db_

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Photography _DVL_

Words_Davide Biondani_

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Svean Aets_founder and owner of Lockwood skateshop.

How did the idea of releasing a book for the 15th anniversary come up and how long did you work on it? For our 15th anniversary we wanted to do something special. So after some brainstorming our marketing manager Vincent Vos came up with the idea to make a book. The idea came about a year before the shop’s 15th birthday. Since day one almost everything that happened around Lockwood had been captured by photographers and filmers such as Jan Doggen and DVL. We had been making our own videos and shop magazines. Besides that we had great riders who always had a lot of coverage such as Sven Aerts, Phil Zwijsen and now Jarne Verbruggen. In our opinion it would have been really cool to make a compilation of everything that had happened throughout the years. It’s something we are really proud of and we wanted to show it and give respect to all the people that have been around the shop for all these years.

because I really liked skating there and the weather is always beautiful, I did struggle with this decision. In the end a good friend of mine, who I started the shop with, kind of made the decision for me. We had talked about opening a skateshop and one day he came by my house and told me he had been to Antwerp and found the perfect location. A month later we opened the shop. I definitely haven’t regretted it but sometimes I do wonder what it would have been like if I had made the other choice...

DVL told me that in 1996 you decided to open a skate shop in Antwerp instead of moving to the States and try to “live the dream”… what was behind your decision? As soon as I turned 18 some friends and I went to Cali to skate the spots we had seen in the videos and mags. Every year we saved up money to go back for a couple of weeks. I never really thought about going there to become a pro, but

What’s your very first memory of the first day you opened the shop? It was pretty hectic of course, everything wasn’t finished yet but we had to open. Kim, one of my best friends, came by every day while we were working so when we opened he was the first customer.

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Why did you choose the name Lockwood, and why Lockwood instead of, for example, EMB? For me at the time it was the hot-spot for skateboarding. It had everything; the banks, hips, picnic tables, the type of pros who skated there and it was a bit sketchy because of the gangs. So after we skated the spot a couple of times I fell in love with it.

Sven Aets_Ollie_2005. a brief glance

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Jarne Verbruggen_Fs nollie_2010. a brief glance

If you stop for a minute and you look at the shop nowadays, and you think back to the beginning of your adventure 15 years ago and how the shop was in 1996… what are your thoughts? I still have the same motivation and I am still very proud about how the shop was then and how it looks now. However I must say it feels like it was a lot easier back then. Of course there were problems but in the beginning it was just me so when I wanted to go skating I just closed and went. Now there is a lot more responsibility. In the book there are 2 pages with a double interview with you and Ivan Maas, from Push magazine. When I saw it I got excited, because I had a copy of this issue of the mag, and in 1996 it was not that easy to get a copy of a small mag from another country... I do remember I really liked this “fanzinestyle” mag because it was in English and covered a scene unknown to me at the time… What are your feelings about how skateboarding has changed since then compared to today, and how has the European scene changed over the years? I mean in 1996 getting a copy of a skate zine from Belgium and seeing photos of local skateboarders you never heard of was something rare. Nowadays even small companies have teams with riders from different countries... I’m stoked that you remember that. Back in those days the scene was small and it was difficult to get sponsors and travel,

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you had to do it yourself. But on the other hand back then there were a lot of skate spots that you could easily skate without getting kicked out. In those days the skate scene was really focused on the US and mainly Cali. Nowadays Europe is finally getting the attention it deserves and European skaters are able to get around and live from skateboarding. Over the years you have released boards and products with the shop logo. You’ve always had a team, and your shop has organized skate camps, demos, contests, done advertisements in the mags, filmed and released many skateboard videos... There is no doubt about the fact that Lockwood is 100% a “real” skateshop. In your opinion, how important is a proper skateshop for a local scene? And in a time when the economy is not so bright and many shops are closing their doors, how important is it to do the right things in order to keep the local scene alive, motivate the good guys, and push the kids to start skating and keep them going? When I started the shop I did it because I love skateboarding and all those things came naturally. I would like to do even more if I could find the time. I think all this is really important for skateboarding. Every time I hear about a local shop or skatepark that has to close, it hurts. So I hope kids think twice on where they buy their gear and keep supporting their local shop.

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Wannes Sleats_Fs boardslide_2010.

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Yeelen Moens_Pivot to fakie_2008.

Yeelen Moens_Gap to bs smith_2009.

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Why do you think it has been possible to fulfill your dream in Antwerp? It hasn’t been easy but Antwerp has a lot to offer. It has always had a good skate scene and it is one of Belgium’s major shopping destinations. But then again because of that we’ve always had a lot more competition than other cities, which keeps you on point. Nike SB released 2 colorways in collaboration with Lockwood skate shop. How did that happen? In the book you talked about these guys from Japan and Germany who tried to buy whole size ranges from the shop but you kicked them out… When we started working with Nike SB we were the only shop in Belgium and there weren’t that many in Europe, so we got calls from all over to buy complete size ranges. Since the beginning we have had a good relationship with SB so one day Kaspar van Lierop asked me if I was interested in doing a colorway. I took the inspiration from the early Lockwood days and organized a big contest in Antwerp called Nike Air Attack. The people at Nike really liked the shoes, so they both came out in spring 2010. If you had to pick one, what is the best memory of these last 15 years? That’s a really tough one. There are so many good memories! In the 90’s when a new skate video came out and all the skaters came to the shop to watch it, and there was no room left for customers because the shop was so small, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to watch the movie. In 2002 when Kareem Campbell and the City Stars team came by

the shop to do a signing. That was pretty cool, having a young P-Rod and Mikey Taylor chilling in the shop. There are so many…. What was your impression the first time you had the book in your hands and looked at it? It was amazing, especially since it took quite a long time to make. At one point we almost decided not to go through with it. But I’m so happy that Vincent and I pushed through and finally got it done! Why are there so many good skateboarders from Belgium in your opinion? I think there are a lot of reasons but mainly because there has always been a good scene and because Belgium is so small and centrally located in Europe, so it’s easy to get around and skate with a lot of different people and get motivated by each other. What’s your favorite photo in the book? My favorite photo is the one with my daughter. It’s special in a lot of ways. The photo was shot by DVL and it came out really good. It was even on the cover of Freestyler mag. It’s actually a tribute to the Sheffey ollie, which was in one of my favorite movies, Questionable by Plan B and it’s with my oldest daughter who was only three back then. Will you send me a copy of the second edition in 15 years? Of course! If the next 15 years go as fast and as good as the last it will be very soon!

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Sven Aets_Fs crooks_2010.

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PUSHED_ four guys inspired by a wooden toy.

“I wanted to do something which wasn’t about the action itself as much as it was about the fascination behind it.”

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;PUSHEDâ&#x20AC;? is a documentary by Florian Schneider that deals with some of the things we love and hate about skateboarding. Four protagonists have been portrayed giving very personal views on the toy itself and its significant influence on their work, the Do-It- Yourself culture in skateboarding, the rules of the industry and the aging process. Skateboarding once pushed these guys to create things that people wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily link to this object, leading to the question whether this passion can be considered a subculture. The protagonists in this densely filmed full length documentary are: Bobby Puleo (skateboarde_NYC), Adam Sello (Photographer_Berlin), Stefan Marx (Designer_Hamburg) and Pontus Alv (skateboarder and filmaker_Malmo). They have been followed for several days and weeks, giving insights in their everyday life, their work, their motives, their successes and failures. Although skateboarding is always connected to the people and the shown issues it stays in the back most of the time and tries to be what it was once for the protagonists: A big motivation and inspiration to do things.

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“I started to write down names. Skaters that fascinated me and in who I could see a definitive link between skateboarding and their work, their creative output.”

“In the end, we had over 100 hours of footage. After adopting the ground rule not to take any common effect shots, we got rid of at least some 20 hours of footage.”

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now more than four years after putting the first thoughts down on paper, almost three years after we shot in NYC, over year since Pontus started getting upset at me because there was no dvd to sell, there is a dvd. It seems like the best possible end for this project.â&#x20AC;?

*PUSHED_supported and distributed by Carhartt_

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issue _19