Is there a connection between skating and creativity?

We Can Fly — Fed up with academia's dismissal of skateboarding, teacher Kelli Watson set out to document the unexplored side of the skate scene.

If there’s one stereotype that’s haunted skaters all over the world since the beginning of time, it’s the one that says they’re unmotivated dropouts, spending their days smoking weed in a variety of dingy basements.

Now – if you’ve ever actually paid attention to anything related to skateboarding, you probably know that that stereotype is very far from the truth. After all, some skaters spend years revitalising abandoned spaces and putting together completely DIY parks for the benefit of the community, while others continuously destroy numerous body parts challenging themselves to new tricks – all while managing to maintain a close-knit community riddled with almost exclusively positivity and good vibes.

Looking a bit closer, it’s also not hard to spot the deep-seated link between skating and photography. Amazing creators such as Ed Templeton and Jerry Hsu stemmed directly from the scene, delving into photographing via the skateboard. It was that unspoken connection between creativity and skateboarding that Kelli Watson decided to explore with her latest interactive documentary project, We Can Fly.

A media production teacher, Kelli came to the idea after becoming annoyed with the attitude of academia towards the work of her students who were interested in skateboarding. “A lot of my students who were really creative, but lacked motivation, were skaters,” she tells me over the phone. “I wanted to validate skateboarding as an activity, and to prove people wrong.”

With that motivation, Kelli went on to her Master’s degree, studying the skateboarding scene from a global perspective. An outsider herself, Kelli admires the subculture’s ability to remain consistent throughout different countries, as well as its ability to embrace creativity as one of its core values.

“As a teacher, skateboarding is a really important tool for enhancing resilience, and independence skills. Skateboarders do everything themselves,” she says. “They fall off the board, they get back on. I think that is very underappreciated – what these people are doing with very little.”

Based in England but looking to expand further, Kelli’s docu-series features four icons of the local skating scene who work with a variety of creative mediums: Illustrator Eloise Dorr, multi-media artist Ben Gore, poet Mat Loyd, and Barry Kay, a furniture designer who works with innovatively repurposing skateboards. Also interviewed are Deadbeat Club photographers Ed Templeton and Grant Hatfield.

We Can Fly will launch on August 22, at Doomed Gallery. You can accompany the project as it develops through the We Can Fly website.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

 


Ad

Latest on Huck

Red shop frontage with "Open Out" branding and appointment-only signage.
Activism

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims

Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Written by: Hannah Bentley

Cyclists racing past Palestinian flag, yellow barriers, and spectators.
Sport

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification

Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Crowded festival site with tents, stalls and an illuminated red double-decker bus. Groups of people, including children, milling about on the muddy ground.
© Alan Tash Lodge
Music

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture

Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Weathered wooden building with a tall spire, person on horseback in foreground.
Culture

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South

Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A collage depicting a giant flup for mankind, with an image of the Earth surrounded by planets and people in sci-fi costumes.
Culture

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind

Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.

Written by: Emma Garland

Three orange book covers with the title "Foreign Fruit" against a dark background.
Culture

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”

Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.

Written by: Katie Goh

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.