Confusion Magazine - issue #25

A few years back I ordered a pump from Harbor Freight. I called the customer service number and told them the pump that I ordered isn’t working. They told me to keep that one for parts and they’ll send me another one. Second one came. I called customer service and told them the replacement they sent me isn’t working. They asked if I wanted a full refund. Two pumps later and my money back, here we are, lurking around and scouting for foreclosed homes on the internet, like some little shits who just discovered porn for the first time.

East coast pools are hard to come by, with any find being a good find. We take what we can get and make it happen. Every pool is usually a shit pit that takes weeks to get going, but the work that gets put in is just as satisfying as cracking it.

Nothing beats drinking some beers with your friends in somebody’s back yard. It brings back the purity of what skateboarding is. Get out there with Timmy and Jimmy and do some shallow grinds. Don’t ask Johnny for the pin to that one pool, go fucking find ‘em.

- Jesse McEneaney

Jesse McEneaney. Corner FSA

Bobby Smith. Frontside grab grind Long Island, New York

Jesse McEneaney. Nose grind tail grab

Tyler Collins. Truck bash over the death box

Danny Weiss. Frontside grind

“Whether we’re driving around checking out new pools, putting in work, skating, or just having some beers and talking shit, it’s always a good time. I think what skateboarding is for these guys is really sick and I’m stoked to be part of it. It’s inspiring to be around people with pure intentions and D.I.Y mentality out there getting after it. Especially in an age of skateboarding in the olympics, energy drink sponsors, and all the other bullshit. The Dirtbag Crew assure me that the ethos of skateboarding is alive and well.” - Tyler Kufs

Jesse McEneaney. Rock n Roll

Skateboarding in Rome is pretty wild. There’s all the kind of spots you need: banks, curbs, gaps, rails, boats… ehmm boats? Yes boats! Gipsy is a badass skater and had just come back to town. He’s always hyped on searching out new spots and shredding them first.

A couple weekends ago we were filming for his new video part cruising the city and skating some of the sickest spots. Gipsy was talking about this abandoned boat he saw few years ago... sitting just next to the road that brings you to the airport.

Back in the days I skated a boat, it was super sketchy and rusty. We got some photos and then we got kicked out by the security. I was super curious to check this new one out so we planned a detour from the next spot to check it out. Once we arrived at the location I immediately saw the boat, but to me it was looking unskateable - the boat had

a roof and I couldn’t even see the inside. Gipsy was super excited and told me to follow him and have faith. We parked and headed to the right side of the boat and once I looked inside I immediately realized why he was so hyped. The inside of the boat was totally skateable!

In a minute we were inside with brooms and we started to clean everything out. It took a while to finish the work because we had to cut all the bushes that were growing everywhere and finally this beauty was ready to be shredded.

It was hard to skate because the roof is pretty low and you can hit your head every time you ollie up on the tranny and the coping sticks out about ten centimeters. We were there for the rest of the day skating, filming and shooting photos. That’s the kind of day I like! Thanks Gipsy.

Gipsy. Backside kickflip

SHIPWRECKED IN ITALY

PHOTOGRAPHY and ARTICLE by PIERO CAPANNINI

Gipsy. Boneless transfer

Ale Mazzara. Nose stall

straight to the water. This day was a good day! Sometimes success, sometimes not. The next day in Montenegro the guys approached three spots but all of them were not skateable. Of course, that didn’t stop Peter and Martin from being productive and documenting everything. In the evening the crew’s mood got better when experiencing the local cuisine: a “kacmacak” was by far the best: mashed potatoes with cheese. If you don’t finish it, you lose your girlfriend.

No girlfriends lost, the boys left Montenegro and through narrow and curvy roads in Albanian mountains, “a van driver’s dream” according to

Peter, entered Macedonia where they spent the night right by the monument in a town of Veles. Przemek then started the morning off right, climbed on a roof symbolizing a poppy flower and scored a couple of tricks with a beautiful view of the town behind him.

The next spot hid in the Bosnian forest was called a Grmec and wasn’t an easy one. On the photos of the monument, it seemed like a perfect transition with many possibilities for skating. In reality, the whole run-up was underwater. Igor tried to pitch all the water out but it was impossible. He quickly realized that and with his

Štepán Bareš. Frontside stand up grind to fakie at the Lepoglava Memorial Graveyard. Lepoglava, Croatia

signature “fuck it, let’s do it anyway” attitude, he dropped the wall and ended up having a bath. Not sure if he really enjoyed it but it certainly pleased the rest of the crew. The same went for the rest of the spots. Near to Grmec is a half ball-shaped monument, where Stepan did quick feet drop-in ollie drop-in. Bangin’! An aluminum sculpture with brick banks in the Lepoglava village then served perfectly as the last spot where the whole crew had a session.

Again, Balkans is a crazy place to go to. So many countries with different cultures but the same goes for all of them. Friendly

people, tons of fun and beautiful nature. In the middle of all that you can find these spectacular spomenikhs each with its own absolutely unique atmosphere. The overall idea of project www.skatemonuments.eu is to point out places, which are nowadays hidden from tourists, and connect new-aged modern culture with history and art. It also tries to honor and to remind us of these places of forgotten glory and bring it a little closer to the eye of the public in this non-traditional way.

Štepán Bareš. Nose manual at the Seagull Wings Monument in Podgora, Croatia

TACOING DIY’S

ARTICLE by JORDAN DANIELS & FISHTACO PHOTOS by ANDREW MAPSTONE & TRAVIS ADAMS

Don’t rely on your local council to fork out half a million on some shittily-designed skatepark that you and your mates will forget about in a month. Forgo your Friday night’s obligatory twelve beers, get some mates together, cement and materials. Cruise to the spot with some dollar coffees and you can have a new spot built in your town by Saturday arvo.

From our humble beginnings of creating uncomfortably steep Jersey barriers and building quarters without sand in our concrete mixes, we’ve now had spots that have gone viral and been shared by pages like Transworld Skateboarding.

If you make it, they will build One of our most ambitious projects - RadPadz in inner-Eastern Melbourne - featured classic

DIY obstacles like a spine ramp, rainbow rail, pole-jam (named ‘the vasectomisor’) and an ejaculating dick Euro-gap. One afternoon I was leaving with my mate and we were approached by your classic Australian tradesman dad. Due to the pompous, entitled and antagonistic nature of the neighbourhood’s residents, we thought we were heading for a cop call and the eventual jack-hammerring of our hard work. To our surprise, Tradie Dad was a massive fan of the spot, and had his kids skate there most nights. Weeks after leaving Tradie Dad with some encouraging words and high fives, we rolled up to RadPadz to find a massive wooden quarter with PVC pipe coping sitting there. There’s no doubt in my mind that a local Tradie Dad was stoked on the DIY ethic and felt inspired to contribute.

Ricky Glaser. Wallride.

Photo: Travis Adams

Jordan Daniels. Frontside flip between two quarters

Photo: Travis Adams

Billy Fortier. Frontside grinding over the lip Sheepside. Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: Nicola Debernardi

Cameron Markin. On the other side of the lens with a frontside thruster in an Adelaidean full pipe in South Australia. Photo: Nello

Matt Wilcox. Method air at Chicken’s one of the first built-to-skate backyard pools Huntington Beach, CA. Photo: Chris Dangaard

Guillaume Guénée. Layback crailslide at La Caverne DIY in Marseille Probably the oldest DIY in France.

Photo: Clement Chouleur

Stepan Soroka. Wallride at Leeside. Vancouver, Canada. Photo: Jose Cueva

Andrew Cruz. Kickflip in the bank El Sereno, East LA. Photo: Kasper Tobias

Josh KJ blunt to fakie at Fergside R.I.P. Spots come and go, get some while they are there Portland, Oregon.

Photo: Stas Yamnitskiy

Paulie Woodring. Gymnast plant FDR. Philadelphia, PA

Photo: Brandon Monahan

Where did your art name Space Bat Killer originate?

The name Space Bat Killer painting I made on one of my old surfboards. I’ve always liked which has a bat on the cover. Over the years I’ve actually drawn a few different pieces inspired by that album art (they’re one of my favorite bands too by the way.)

Age, real name, where did you grow up?

29 years old, Sean Bernhardt, Brielle, NJ.

How did you get into collage art? Do you use a computer or is it totally analog?

Collage art came about when I first saw some wheat pastes/graffiti up in NYC. I was always drawn to that style of art and the bold imagery being used. I started making handmade stickers, mixed media paintings, krink marker on beer bottles... I make all analog collages.

Who are your favorite collage artists and what elements separate the style of different collage artists? Not even sure where to start with favorites!

Lately I am into John Vochatzer, Mr. Babies

@xyz_k_. Each have a very psychedelic style, brain melting and have that creepiness incorporated into their work. I like to see how different collage artists use shape, space, colors and textures.

How long does it take you to make a collage, after you have the concept in mind and the materials to make it - obviously those could take weeks or months to gather?

Once I have the materials cut up and my glue, exacto blade or scissors handy, usually a detailed

one takes me a few hours. If I really get wild on something a day or two for sure. I like to usually

great stuff lately: JJ Villard, Hirotton, Anthony Kei... always been a huge fan of Neckface as well.