compact
skateboarding
history

An off-center, time-lined view, of a recent 'beyond-sport phenomena' that went global.

⋆⋆⋆ a 愤青 production ⋆⋆⋆

So you wanna know where it all came from... huh?

It had to be learnt and cannot be taught.

by rokma / @rokmatwit

heads up

It all started with nothing, and evolved very slowly, before it reached its present glory.
Lots of boring days with no motivations darkness you'd fill with imagination.

it was there, yet un-thought, un-makeable. Then eventually...
Somebody landed it and learnt it, showing his world.

Be there and live it, was the only way of getting it.

pioneers

The beginnings.

Sidewalk surfing.

A really underground subculture unbeknown to most.
From surfing to skateboarding!

pioneers?

what?

noum

A person or entity who is among the earliest in any field, enterprise, or progress. One who goes before, as into the wilderness, opening the way for others to follow.

verb

To go before and prepare or open new ways

synonyms

Push the envelope | Break new ground

Steve Alba. Skating a Backyard pool, Los Angeles suburbia

Upland Skatepark, Los Angeles

Max Bonassi, one of the founders of Bastard™, perhaps the most successful skate inspired clothing brand out of Italy. Rome.

Etnies™ founder, Pierre Andrè Senizergues, freestyling his way during some european championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia

Perhaps the first Italian Vert Contest in Viareggio. Fulvio Nelzi

early days

End of the ’80 and streetskating is born.
Taking over public spaces...

...and re-inventing them!

Soon after, the first prohibitions.
Skateboarders are getting busted!

Boards are still very wide and kinda noseless.
It’s backyard ramp time, for the lucky ones!

Lance Mountain. Carlsbad, California

Kid skating some banked wall in the outskirt of town. Genova, Italy

Jeremy Henderson. Harlem Banks, NYC

Early days of skateboarding videos. Young Mike Vallely wallriding a rusted car found in a ditch near Milano. Italy

Mark Gonzales, early days of the Munster contests organized by Titus™ in Germany

skate-everything

From NY to Amsterdam, from Los Angeles to Milano, Prague to Paris.
Skaters start to really kick asses.

Jumping past long staircases, riding walls and handrails...
...ollies, non stop and full speed!

Skaters attaching the sunlight clock monument in central Paris.

Street Skating on some parked car in Rimini, Italy

Carlo Lalumera. Vespa™ Ollie at Borromeo. Milano, Italy

Anything transitioned will be attacked! French skater in Paris outskirts

wild in the street

Cities are seen as huge skateparks.
It’s streets invasion time...

Skateboarding videos are getting popular.
Don’t leave your car unattended or it can be destroyed!

Skateboarding explodes even in minor countries.

Cooper Union Square attack. Manhattan, NYC

Andrea Paulicelli. Wallride at Muretto. Milano

Alessandro Melle. Torino, Italy.

Alex Esposito, right in front of Duomo cathedral in Milano

ramp and parks

Ramps appearing everywhere...

Many skateparks are getting built.
It's hard to stop skaters from taking over public facilities!

The attitude is Punk and Irreverent.

Cut, form Ancona, is cool enough to look into the camera, instead to where he’s gonna land. This ramp, built with stolen wood inside a squat, is open and free. Bologna, Italy.

Girls are starting to skate too. Glasgow, Scotland

Giorgio Zattoni, here 13 y.o., skates some miniramp in Italy

Bruno Ferrari skating the freshly built free public skatepark at Gratosolio, Milano

visiting pros

International demo tours bring american pros example.
It’s show time!

Lots of kids get infected for life.

Young Danny Way skating before abundant media in France

Mark Gonzales during Bercy demo. Paris

Steve Caballero. Demo in Riccione, Italy.

Tony Hawk. Demo at the Eiffel Tower, Paris

hit mainstream

Big company billboard ads with skaters appear. Huge increase in media attention.
Play Tony Hawk videogame!

Skateboarding phenomena is serving big brands youth-targeting campaigns
Skateboarding is going mainstream...

A classic Bodè puppet, a cult icon from the early days of spray can art, today appears riding a skateboard.

Nike™ billboard is using a skateboarder for the first time. Christian Hosoi. Los Angeles.

Tony Hawk, now sponsored by Diesel™, interviewed by national TV after a demo in Treviso, Italy

contemporary

Free cement skateparks age.
...yeah, keep skaters away from destroying public property!

Skater’s attitude is now loose and careless. Still, competition to be the best is real.
It’s about the latest trick and the coolest look...

Chad Muska skating the new free park in Huntington Beach.

Daniel Cardone. Ancona, Italy

Matteo Dinisio. Milano Centrale

video days

Skateboarding get globalized thru Video. Kids learn from video and skate to make video.
Try 'til you film it cleanly landed!

To pull it off consistenly, to body learn it, it’s not the focus anymore.
No need to enter competitions to be top...

American pros come to Milano just to film video on massive marble.

Mike York filming for the Chocolate™ video in Milano Centrale

Eric Koston. Demo in Rome.

who's skateboarding here

Yo, thanks everybody...

Steve Alba, L.A.suburbia • Upland Skatepark, L.A. • Max Bonassi at Nomentana Ramp, Rome • Pierre Andre Senizergues, Prague • Fulvio Nelzi at Viareggio, Italy • Lance Mountain at Danny Way's ramp, Carlsbad • Bruno Besta, Genova, Italy • Jeremy Henderson at Harlem banks, N.Y. • Mike Vallely at Rho, Milano • Mark Gonzales, Munster • You?, Paris • You?, Milano Marittima, Italy • Carlo Lalumera at Miniduomo, Milano • You? Paris • You?, Cooper Union Square, N.Y. • Andrea Paulicelli at Muretto, Milano • Alex Melle, Torino • Alex Esposito at Duomo Milano • Cut skating a squat ramp during "Isola nel Cantiere", Bologna, Italy • she so aggro!, Glasgow • Giorgio Zattoni, Rimini, Italy • Danny Way in Paris • Mark Gonzales in Paris • Steve Caballero, Riccione, Italy • Tony Hawk in Paris • Bodé at Gratosolio, Milano • Christian Hosoi on a Nike™ billboard, L.A. • Tony Hawk at 55DSL™ demo, Treviso, Italy • Chad Muska at Huntington Beach • Daniel Cardone at Ancona, Italy • Matteo Dinisio at Milano Centrale • Mike Jork, Chocolate™ video in the making at Milano Centrale • filming Eric Koston at a demo, Rome

the end.

Oh.. New beginning now...

Now go walk like a pioneer, think what needs to be done next!

Really! That's all it takes.

Just Make it!

愤青 angry youth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenqing Fenqing (simplified Chinese: 愤青; traditional Chinese: 憤青; pinyin: Fènqīng), or "FQ" (abbreviation), which is itself an abbreviation for Fennu Qingnian (simplified Chinese: 愤怒青年; traditional Chinese: 憤怒青年; pinyin: Fènnù Qīngnián), means literally "angry youth". It mainly refers to leftist Chinese youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism.[1] This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not satisfied with Chinese society and sought reform.[2] It has now evolved into a term used predominantly in Internet slang. Whether fenqing is derogatory or not usually depends on the person. Chinese critics often refer to them using the homophone characters "粪青"[3] which are pronounced identically but translate to "shit-youth". This is often changed further to fènfèn (粪粪) as a derogatory nickname.