Portland designer Maple (not affiliated with Maple skateboards) makes earrings, bracelets, rings and purses from used skateboards. Sure, that’s been done before, but this is a slightly different take. It’s mostly geared towards gals, but I could see the bracelets going over well in some circles of skateboarding, like the Ipath crowd. The hexgaon shaped one looks cool. Is there a macho word for “bracelet?” Maple is at the mercy of finding used decks with dyed plies to make her craft more interesting. Extra bonus, part of the proceeds from some sales go to a skateboarding charity to be determined. Both owners of the SPS acronym ( 1 and 2 ) were being considered. Maybe Maple can fill in the blank. Check it out.

I’m not sure what the barometer is for art and skateboarding, but the difference between eccentricity and just plain crazy is often a matter of how rich the person in question is. Likewise, you can bet that if Dan Gesmer had put on this performance instead of Mark Gonzales, it wouldn’t have been as well received in the skateboarding world. Jason Schwartzman (the lead in the excellent movie “Rushmore”) has a solo record out and a video for the song West Coast which is made entirely from footage of Cheryl Dunn’s film documenting the Gonz’ 1999 art installation at the Abteiberg Museum in Germany. You can watch the video and read Paper Magazine’s original 1999 article covering the event after the jump.

Dave Tobin sent this photo of Jay Meer painting a sign for Glenhaven. Jay is the artist responsible for the mural work at Burnside over the years. Five more days and the sucker is open!

Nick writes:
The checkered grip–amazingly–has held up almost perfectly. I lost one or two of the half-squares on the edge, but otherwise, it’s all there! I am actually known for some ridiculously intricate grip tape art. Since I only weigh like 140 and don’t really skate street anyways, I tend to have boards forever, so I figure it’s worth it. I’ll attach a photo of my last board which had my favorite grip job to date.

As a follow up to the Underground Skate Plaza post it’s time to investigate another project from The Side Effects of Urethane. This one is an installation called A Surface In Between. A Surface In Between was a group art show. The The Side Effects of Urethane (TSEOU) collective organized the show and built out the space, which included the skateable installation you see above. I like the way these guys think. You will too if you keep reading after the jump.

Strange sights at Glenhaven.

This guy is a type designer as well as a skater. Looks nice but what happens if you use it? Do the little squares come off? Our friend Chuck Ellis does equally intricate but less regular pattern with his grip tape – I’ll try to find a photo.

Rich Burton mounted lights to a helmet and we took it for a spin the other night at Pier Park. It was an amazing experience. Here’s a shot I took of Shawn Reinert. FujiColor 800 film, 30 second exposure.

Rich has more photos here.

A group called The Side Effects of Urethane working in conjunction with the U.K. skate rag Kingpin have designed and mostly built a skateplaza in some unused tunnels in London. These guys are the Dreamland of street parks, I’m declaring it. Make it so. They even followed the D.I.Y. ethic of funding and making it themselves on unused public property. Unlike London’s tradition of squatting however, they managed to get permission first. More London Skateplaza action after the jump. [Source: Sleestak]

Andy Jenkins of Mel Bend fame among other things has a vinyl figure of Wrench Pilot character Lettus Bee taking faceplant. Limited to 500 pieces and costing $100 (!??), I suppose people would be upset if you called it a “plastic toy.” It’s pretty cool actually, but not a hundred bucks cool. Too rich for my blood. MOre pics after the jump. [Source: Sublimited]