A R T B L E N D E R // MICHAEL SIEBEN
D
EEP in the heart of Texas resides one of skateboarding’s most prolific and active artists – Michael Sieben. His sense of humour is as unmistakable as his drawing style and both can make one chuckle deep in the gut. Since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Michael has been very busy doing a variety of things from the comfort of his South Austin home. From 2004 to 2006 he was a founding member of Camp Fig Gallery, and since ’06 he’s been a founding member of the Okay Mountain Gallery [okaymountain.com] in Austin. Michael has been a staff writer and illustrator for Thrasher since 2004, and most times his semi-regularly published column takes a piss on all the silly stuff happening in
skateboarding. “But I only make fun of things that I secretly love,” he admits. “Skateboarding is awesome. All of it.” In 2008, after the unfortunate demise of Bueno Skateboards, Michael and Stacy Lowery started Roger. By handling the art direction and marketing, Sieben keeps the smart-ass humour going strong with his deck and tee graphics, the ads, a sticker team, and their website [rogerskateboards.com]. The brand has also been able to weather the great recession while constantly warning us that they might be out of business soon. Another sly joke. Sieben is a great collaborator with other artists and companies. For example, in 2005 he traded drawings with Travis Millard through the mail for a year, which turned into a Volcomsupported 40-page book and art show called
Hitten Switches. Adidas also tapped into Michael’s creativity in 2008 for Michael Sieben & Friends – a digital short that brought some of his characters to full-sized life. This year, Michael and Volcom’s Mike Aho are taking over the web with the Internet Shack [theinternetshack.blogspot.com]. In its second season, the show mixes art and skateboarding into one tripped-out world of random happenings. Considering all the great art, words and video he creates, Michael Sieben wears more hats than George W. Bush. Fortunately for us one of them isn’t a 10-gallon cowboy hat while we’re trying to watch a 3D movie at the megaplex. —Randy Laybourne msieben.com
clockwise from top left:
Adidas Sieben & Friends video Roger “Keeps On Lickin’” tee Roger “Me So Horny” tee Roger “Here For The Beer” tee Roger “Roger Sucks” tee Roger “Ghost With A Boner” tee Roger “Artist Series 1” deck Roger “Artist Series 2” deck Roger “Pink Freud” deck Roger “The Bueno Company” deck Roger “Focus Here” deck Volcom/Thrasher Internet Shack web show
visit concreteskateboarding.com to download art blender wallpapers for your computer and iphone.
“Michael Sieben is about as rad they come. He’s a consummate optimist and can twist almost anything into a joke. Mike’s artwork is a lot like himself; a bit rough, sometimes rather raw, often hilarious and endearingly memorable.” –Travis Millard // Artist-Illustrator-Designer
“Retaining Wonderment” by Michael Sieben, created exclusively for Concrete Skateboarding. 22
Concrete skateboarding