A Provocative Look into the Multifaceted World of Skateboarding
Words and Photos by Andy Barrett

What is skateboarding?
Some say it is an art form executed by brilliant and gifted artists. Some say it is a rapidly growing industry, in which millions of dollars are being exchanged.
It is a means through which an individual can express him or herself, utilizing a style as unique as their personality.
Or, is it a legitimate competitive sport in which teams of talented athletes compete against each other for championship? The question of how to correctly categorize skateboarding,
while simultaneously avoiding over-analyzing it, is by no means an easy task.
A swirling miasma of different, equally complex aspects come into play when considering the true nature of the act.
Do you think some kid skating around his neighborhood, getting his chill on with his friends gives a fuck about the value of the third quarter market shares of World Industries?
Let me break it down for you: Skateboarding is not an art form, or a business, or a creative venture, or even a sport. It is all of these things.
Likewise, do you think that a bank executive, who is deciding whether or not to invest his bank’s money in a new “extreme sports” company targeted at Gen Y knows what it feels like to get his/her board confiscated by the motherfuckin’ po-po because he/she was riding in a No Skating Area? The simple truth is that skateboarding encompasses everyone and everything around it.
The fact that skateboarding means different things to different people doesn’t mean that other facets of skateboarding do not exist. It simply means that a certain individual’s concept of skateboarding is different than that of another individual. The beautiful thing about skateboarding is that it allows different people to accomplish different things. It allows kids to be creative in coming up with new tricks, while at the same time they can have fun and hang out with their friends. It allows skateboarders to become businessmen and make money by making and/or selling skateboarding products. It gives a kid, whose parents can’t drive him to school everyday, a way to get to school, or a reason not to go in the first place. It affords competitors the opportunity to vent their aggression in a meritorious and stimulating venue.
It allows the kid who can’t make the best tackle or throw the fastest fastball to really shine brightly and prove to the world that he is a good athlete.
All I’m saying is, you can call skate boarding whatever you want to call it. Each individual’s perspective on skateboarding will remain their own personal interpretation.