skateboarding. art. music. counter culture.
June 2013
Cover artwork by Kevin Li
WHAT’S INSIDE Letter from the Edior Kevin Li Bushwick Open Studios Old dude at the spot: Jorge H. Marban Karim Marquez BOTB IV Positive Hype
Welcome to the June issue of Positive Instincts! Now that June is here, summer is in full swing and New York City is buzzing with activity. Art shows, music festivals, epic skate sessions, and rooftop BBQ’s are some of the best of what this season has to offer, so get out there and take advantage of it! As a Florida transplant, I may miss the friends and Florida beaches back home, but there’s nothing like New York in the summer. This month we will check in with artists Kevin Li and Karim Marquez. We’ll also feature the works of their fellow artists from the Bushwick Open Studios 2013. Heading down to Florida we also talk with longtime skateboarder, surfer, and all around awesome guy: Jorge Marban. I hope you enjoy this installment of Positive Instincts, I’d like to thank you for checking out the magazine and seeing what it’s all about.
Name: Kevin Li Age: 19 Hometown: Born in Atlanta, and Raised in Holmdel, NJ.
I first met Kevin Li in Gunars Prande’s Silkscreening class at the School of Visual Arts. That’s where I saw firsthand the well drawn, funny little characters he was illustrating. When we started to talk about skating and art I quickly realized what a cool dude Kevin is, and the he is also the illustrator of the Brooklyn based magazine 1.21 Gigawatts. Look for a lot more to come from this local artist in the near future. -Chris Miller
Where you staying at: Hell’s Kitchen chillin with Dare Devil
I really like the work you’ve been doing with Babyface, what’s in store for the future of that? More shirts to come!!
What got you into art and when did it all start for you? I drew for as long as I can remember. Not very well, but since I was a kid because my Grandpa was a fine artist from Taiwan. I really got into it during Highschool. I was first into graphic design, and then I got into photography, then I got into video (production and editing), and now I’m into 3D animation and special effects, haha pretty crazy stuff, but all were important steps to my current style.
What’s the best part about being an artist living in NYC?
What art do you most identify with?
Any shout outs or thank you’s to anyone?
I love cartoons and making them. I like to make up a character or envirement from my mind and my own world instead of painting a photo realistic portrait or landscape, because with time anyone can do that.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? I try to draw inspiration from everywhere. I look at the old dudes, like Manet and Picasso. I look at classic films, like Citizen Kane and Kwaidan. Graffiti because its so free.
The people you meet, and the places to skate! In the city, you are exposed to so much more culture and life, and it’s really forced me to mature and grow as a person. I see my friends in frats going ham, and life’s just not about that. Maybe sometimes, but I live to create.
Thanks to my parents, and friends. The people around me make my life so positive and I feel so lucky to have that.
Bushwick Open Studios took place this year from May 31st - June 2nd throughout Bushwick as over 200 galleries, studios, and various venues opened their doors and invited the public in to view a wide variety of art being created here. This was my first experience with the event and I have to say I was very impressed. When I attended Art Basel in Miami, it was a little overwhelming. I witnessed young girls running around with their ipads screaming about the photo they just took with Bobby Flay. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate great cooking as much as the next person, but it wasn’t the atmosphere I was looking for. With BOS, it had the relaxed, fun atmosphere of a block party. As I made my way through, a few pieces caught my eye and I stopped and chatted up the artists for a bit. It was nice to be able to interact so casually with someone about their work. It helped me appreciate the work that much more. I think everyone should check out this event and participate at least once. “Open Studios went very well. Events like this are a great opportunity to get work out there for people to see, and to create a dialog with people you might not otherwise meet,” said Michael Marcelle I picked out a few of the artists I talked with who were kind enough to let me show some of their work in the magazine. I hope you enjoy their work as much as I did. -Chris Miller
“Recently, my work has been about abstracting my hometown and immediate family, and making photographs that abstract all that into a weird, alternate reality. “ Name - Michael Marcelle Age - 30 Hometown - Jersey Shore
“Brooklyn has a great network of artists and like-minded people, looking to work together and make things happen. And all my friends live here!“ Michael Marcelle
Michael Marcelle
Yellow door project - Aliens from Venus making a mess: Chizuco Sophia Yw
Precarious: Chizuco Sophia Yw
Precarious 2: Chizuco Sophia Yw
Regnerative Power: Chizuco Sophia Yw
KingYanFinaYeung One Cold Day
KingYanFinaYeung Celebration
As I stepped into Karim’s studio, I saw the all too familiar image of broken skateboards. In my 13 years of skating I’ve gone through my fair share of boards. In that time I always find it interesting to see how people create new uses for these forgetten 7-ply’s. Karim has taken to creating geometric shaped sculptures that adorn the walls of his Bushwick studio. After talking with Karim for over an hour in his studio I quickly gained a great amount of respect for his work and as a person as well. I found out that Karim would buy new boards and “trade” them with kids for the old boards they were riding. Karim gets to add to the language he is creating with his artwork, the kids get brand new boards. It’s a win/win. Each mark on a board is like a unique brushstroke. The scratched up graphics each telling their own history. So much is going on in each piece, which make them a lot of fun to examine. I caught myself standing there forgetful of time passing as I remembered a certain graphic, picking apart the noselide and tailslide marks, imaging who may have skated these boards. Each piece was the sum of many voices coming together through Karim’s vision, now united and frozen in time. Karim also creates paintings and board graphics of his own that have unique voices as well. In this two-issue spotlight on the Artist you will get to know him and his art. Look for the full interview and more work by Karim in the July issue. -Chris Miller
These are some of the boards inside Karim’s studio. You can see the diversity of skateboarding by the amount of different brands and graphics in this group. In Karim’s interview we will talk about how he got into art and using skateboards the way that he does. You can see more of his work in the next issue as well. In the meantime you can visit the artist’s website at: www.karimmarquezstudio.com
Jorge H. Marban Age: 37 Years Skating: 33 So let me catch up with you for a minute. What’s new in the life of Jorge Marban?
as balanced and happy as you have for so long? Family and good friends…Don’t sweat the small stuff and marijuana…treat others like you want to be treated. Sounds like a solid plan.
Just another day at the beach… I’ve seen a lot of your posts from the beach lately. Are you keeping a healthy balance of skating, surfing, and worklife then? Well 2 out of 3…skating, surfing, riding my bike. I started skimboarding, which is super fun, pretty much any water or board sports I enjoy…throw in some tennis and Frisbee as well. But yeah that job thing gets in the way sometimes… I hear ya, but man, as long as I have known you you have kept a pretty active and awesome sounding lifestyle. What’s the key to keeping life
Oh yeah beer too, its soo yummy…bacon, of course. Of course! So how did it all start man, what got you into skateboarding originally? My older brothers, Tony and Marcel got me into surfing and skating. They were about 6 and 7 years older than me. They would let me tag along with them. That’s cool, I think a lot of people start out that way. I remember seeing my friends down the block start skating and I got a hand me down Creature board from them and started skating everyday after school.
Nice a Creature, what a great 1st board. Mine was a Vision Psycho Stick Mini.
Oh yeah Harry’s Banana Farm and Igot’s Martiki Bar are classics.
So, how long was it before you knew you were a skater for life?
For sure. So what are some of the good and bad things you’ve seen change about the game (skateboarding) throughout your experiences?
I don’t know dude, I just love it and its such a great metaphor for life: Keep pushing… Very True. Have you been in South Florida for all 33 years of skating or have you travelled at all because of it/with it? No I moved out to Frisco, Colorado when I was 22 with two of my great friends to go snowboarding for the season and when I was 19 I went to college in St. Augustine, Florida for all three years and we would skate Kona at least once a week. St. Augustine is the bomb and that’s where I perfected the beach bum lifestyle. There are so many friendly people there. Oh yeah and being lucky enough to have great parenting that’s huge, going back to the earlier question. For sure, so then you are pretty well travelled. What is it abut South Florida that makes it home for you then? Oh yeah….San Francisco, New York. I’ve travelled over there and DC too. Atlanta, North Carolina…but I got a great group of friends and family here to support me when I’m down. Beautiful ladies, tropical weather and I can skate to the beach daily. Bikinis!!!! Those are all quality reasons…I guess that’s why no matter where I live I always return to the gritty 561 beaches and dive bars like Harry’s. I got love for that little piece of the sunshine state, kinda like that bastard child you can’t help but love even when you hate them haha.
Street League is sooo freaking stupid… points? When did you get points for skating? But at the same time I’m happy that pro skaters are getting some serious cash to do what they love. It’s not easy, they are sacrificing their bodies so they should get some recognition and coin. No clocks, no points, just skating. I agree with you, the consistency I see in the skaters involved is amazing though. I feel like we are in a phase that is eventually going to kill skateboarding again, this cycle can’t continue I don’t think. What’s you opinion on that? Well skating will never die, I’m seeing more skaters than ever and there is still a lot of progression. I mean those Brazilian dudes are sick! True. I hope you are right man. I love skateboarding too much haha. Well let’s wrap this up, do you have any shout outs/ thank you’s or words of advice for the skaters out there? Keep skating..Get off your ass and do something. Don’t complain..stop telling yourself you’re broke.. be friendly.. I thank my Mom for being awesome..my family in Panama and Miami..Joe, Paul, and Jordan at Shred Shed for being real skaters with no cool guy syndrome…Bagel, well because he’s Bagel and a Great father and hilarious. Actually anyone on Shred Shed they are sick and You Miller…Later Kewk.. jk.
Banco Tendencies. Homage Brooklyn Skateshop. Already Famous Battle at the Block IV
Nate Rojas_Front Blunt
The fourth annual BOTB was a huge success last weekend. A lot of great skating went down during the warm ups and best trick. As a member of the older generation some of the tricks I witnessed in the game of skate had me scratching my head. Great way to kick off the summer, with Nike’s Go Skateboarding Day coming to NYC this week I can’t wait to see what else the summer is going to hold in the coming months. If you missed this event, make sure you don’t miss any other great skate days while the weather holds up!
Keith Hardy_5-0
unknown_boardslide up
POSITIVE HYPE At http://www.homegrownshow.tv/blog2/ you will find a network of artists working in all types of media. Any artists can sign up and post work to the site, collaborate with other artists, and even create a classified ad if you need to. Home grown is run by Jayme Selman and puts on live shows as well in South Florida and is looking to expand in the near future.
Brooklyn based artist Lauren Howard has a kickstarter with about 8 days to go. Her aim is to raise the money so she can create an installation in Vermont on a sprecial project. For each level of pledge you make there is a different “prize” you can recieve from the artist herself. Drawings, sculptures, even framed work, or future commission. It’s a great cause to help this up and coming artist get more exposure. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1166406970/let-love-andloss-be-your-guides-a-creativeprojec