In the U.S. we don’t seem to get our fair share of skateable art installations like they do in the U.K. with The Side Effects of Urethane or with Drum and Basin. Well we got another one finally, but it’s still European at it’s roots. Team Pain sent in this shot of the installation they built for an event called Art Basel Miami. Art Basel Miami is the U.S. leg of what amounts to a massive art fair of sorts for the serious art buying world, and not the arts & crafts you might normally associate with U.S. outdoor arts festivals. The main event originated and still takes place in in Basel Switzerland. Miami’s satellite this year includes the “Concrete Waves: Homage to Skate Culture” installation. According to the Miami Sun Post:
There was a time in the late ’70s and early ’80s with all the skaters and artists doing graffiti, and we wanted to do this again in Miami Beach,” Art Basel spokesman Peter Vetsch said. “At the beginning, graffiti and skate culture weren’t art, but the art scene adopted them.
Sure, it’s a bit odd that an installation titled Concrete Waves (No relation) is made out of wood, but it looks nice anyway. You have to assume the benches on the flat are just there to keep the local skaters off when the demo isn’t going. Of course the event ended on December 7th, so don’t bother trying to sneak in a session. I wonder what lucky party will get to keep the ramp.
UPDATE: Added video of the event after the jump.
Video of Tony Alva by Gus Moore at Miami 411
10 comments
skategeezer
They should have called it Skate and Annoy…
Miami Skater
I must say, I skated in the demo and the ramp is pretty fun. The problem was when the ‘Tony Alva Show’ happened. Tony ripped the ramp as usual, but then two gay (literally gay) rollerbladers did a ‘show’ on the ramp in cut up poodle skirts and dodged dancing cross dressers. This was all under the headline of Tony Alva. I was so embarrassed. At least we were treated like rockstars for the week and got to go to rich parties with free drinks.
enemy combatant
“I was so embarrassed.”
Why? Were you wearing a poodle skirt too?
corncobcock
more fartsy..less artsy
also miami
FYI: Tony Alva was part of the the whole event that was curated by NY based art collective assume vivid astro focus. So it would be correct to say that Tony Alva falls under their headline and not the other way around. If any of the skaters (and after getting to know Tony Alva I doubt he has) seem to have a problem with the sexual orientation of any of the people on the ramp during those 5 days they might not belong there in the first place!
enemy combatant
So does that mean you were wearing a poodle skirt?
also miami
hahhaa. No I was not.
Gus Moore
Tony put on a great show. I shot a video of his entire session:
http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/index.php?/news/comments/alva-video/
What I found odd about the art exhibition titled “An Homage to Skateboarding” was there was no skateboard art on display.
The “Homage” part became clear to me when Tony started skating.
Kilwag
Bump. Embedded the Alva Art Basel video. Thanks Gus!
Ryan Heckler
i hope he skated better than this “back in the day”