ART ON THE STREETS
At the heart of every movement exists its
most basic iconography. The average
skater infuses his transportation/perfor-
mance mechanism with personal sym-
bolism. Designs are created in private,
applied to the bottom of skates and
exhibited only in the confines of the
hardcore clique to which the skater
belongs. The personalized non-commer-
cial artwork of skaters are an almost
sacred form of underground communica-
tion. In any region you can name, a
distinctive form of skater generated art
exists, peculiar to that region. As an
illustration, we grabbed up a couple of
examples here of board art from the much
dreaded Santa Monica D.T. area. Keep in
mind these are personal boards created
for personal reasons.
Humpston and Ancell with DT art.
B
40
DOG
OR NOT
Across the planet's surface men with no
names are creating havoc. Some of these
personages will comprise the future elite of
the skate art, while others will remain
largely unknown.
The man on the street doesn't require
recognition from others since his identity is
already set, for it is an I.D. rooted in action.
On these pages we include a photo of
some guy named Craig Cottle. We don't
know anything about him except that he's
going for it, make it or not.
Rocco selling out.
THE ANSWER
Ever wonder who is the highest paid pro
in skateboarding? Ever care? Steve Rocco
is skating on a bank located in the middle
of South Bay's most famous used car lot.
What makes this act remarkable is that
Steve also works there selling previously
owned automobiles. What's even stranger
is that Rocco was actually at work when
this photo was taken. Steve regularly turns
down interview requests and confounds
potential sponsors with his full bore
attitude. "F-k them, I ride where I want,
when I want, on what I want; I don't need
those people, I've already made three
grand this month selling cars." Rocco
continues to prosper and to skate on the
job. Demos have been abandoned in favor
of test rides, and he usually wears shorts to
work.