Serious Art

Last May, I went out and bought an H2N zoom recorder with hopes of recapturing the spark I had as a journalist in my college years. My initial plan was to talk to skateboarders in the Midwest. However, the predominating podcasts such as The Nine Club and The Bunt caused some hesitation. How was I gonna do something truly different? For one, Milwaukee harbors an impressive history of skateboarding that has evolved into much more. The answer to my question unfolded as I started looking at what skateboarders were doing outside of skateboarding and decided to start there.

I sat with my friends Alek Lockhart and Paul Carlson about a thesis they wrote about policing at public skateparks and dives into topics such as race, violence, and community. Alek was able to present the thesis at Pushing Boarders last summer and continues to write about the role of skateboarding and our everyday life.

This is the first episode of Playing in Traffic.

Last video I made was ‘Delirium Tremens’ and I never thought I would make another one until I got a new camera, the Panasonic AG-AC30 about a year ago. It reminded me of a VX but way lighter, HD, a built in light, and memory cards instead of tapes. The stoke and inspiration came back and I made a few Cream City clips. When the weather was looking up I started documenting along with Max Murphy (who quickly picked up the filming bug) some of our skate sessions with the homies. Was originally intended to make a quick vid (10-15 min, no premiere) and finish by Halloween but Josh decided to make ‘Wazpz.’ We agreed that if he premiered his video I would also. Harald Reynolds was also in the process of making a video and we all agreed to have a triple feature at Sky High in December. The premiere was a success! A lot of homies and new viewers showed up and everyone had a joyous time! Well, here it is ‘Bolsa Video’

Bolsa Video (may I help you?) from Gabe Chan on Vimeo.

What turned out to be a simple edit of Cream City footage that I didn’t use and/or “alternate” angles from ‘Betrayed in the Octagon’ turned out to be an extended edit because of old man winter’s wrath upon Milwaukee during February/Early March. Even an attempted sesh in the Lower Level/Room could not beat the elements of rain, snow, and sleet. But we are the “resistance fighters.” Fortunately, the greatest place on Earth provides us with a place to chill, session, have fun, and/or combat mother nature’s frigid anger. We are forever grateful Bill.

Doublecrossed Inside an 8 sided Polygon from Gabe Chan on Vimeo.

*Triva/goofs: Hank filmed a lot with the new Panasonic because of my dumb ass taking forever to land a trick and according to him “skating is easier than filming.” Either way, Hank has filming and skating wired. Josh did his first back heel and his thoughts were “it felt weird.” And for some reason Josh wanted to go to this new Japanese Mega Arcade at Southridge during the day….during the DAY?! In my opinion you gotta skate during the day and hit the arcade at night. Speaking of arcades, during the Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat days my cousin and I would rarely go during the day…night time is where the “action” is, day time is when you practice finishing moves, babalities, and combos. But this is 2019, not 1993…we’re old. Ok, I’m rambling…laters.