The French Response to Burnside
October 8th, 2008 by Heath
“…It was rad as hell, kinked as f#@k, rough as an alcoholic tongue, but it was our spot!” - an anonymous creator of La Caverne
In Marseille, France there lies a dark, dingy abandoned warehouse beyond the view of the common people. The telltale graffiti and discarded trash of society’s undesirable class littered this area, and as a result the former site of productivity seemed more like a cave than a building. It is no surprise that skaters, who are often associated with the mantra “Skate and Destroy,” would create a place to express their styles without the regulations of a system that failed to understand them.
La Caverne’s beginnings operated in a similar fashion to the Grimm Brothers fairy tale “The Pied Piper of Hamelin;” the rat catcher enticed the rats. The abandoned warehouse attracted artists from all over France, and a tagger by the name of Nours, who also skated, told his friends about it and the work began.
Relying on the offerings of acquaintances, a crew of skaters began to invest their time and energy into the hard labor that accompanies the building of a concrete skatepark. “It takes a lot of energy for just one part of the process and we ruined our hands,” stated the anonymous builder who maintains the La Caverne myspace page where the above photo was located. During the construction, they dealt with opposition in the form of angry taggers, police, and others who deemed the spot undesirable.
Working without generators and proper tools, they persisted and created a haven for the rats of society. Enter La Caverne.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:04 am
“angry taggers”.. hahaha thats funny.
October 8th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
put some coping on that shit
October 9th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
sacre bleu!
October 10th, 2008 at 1:55 am
[...] coup tout le monde en parles, même aux US [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 10:42 am
pepe le pew!
October 12th, 2008 at 4:16 am
thiss is the french burnside , man this french spot is pretty sick , more then the caverne’s http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=c7GFr0OqL0c
October 13th, 2008 at 9:56 am
“put some coping on that shit”
Or, try skating faster.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I went there in 06, it looks like they have been busy since then. It’s cool that this place is still running. The people involved in building it are some of the nicest most hospitable skaters I ever met. If you ever get to Marseille make sure you check it out. Keep up the good work.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
dude… right on. Put those French skaters to work on something really big!!! They seem to be a diy bunch over there.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:51 am
There is a thriving skate scene in Marseille, France? Really makes you think…
Looks like a sick park and a good place to skate on a rainy day.