City skaters ollie onto art scene with flash decks

An art exhibition, showcasing the rough and rebellious styles of Beijing's street and skate culture, rolled into the city this weekend as a collection of skateboard decks designed by local artists were put to show.

The event, titled Skate Deck Art (SDA) 2010, exhibits a collection of 34 skateboard decks designed by 20 local tattoo artists, graphic designers and graffiti artists on display at The Warehouse, one of Beijing's only independently-owned skate parks.

Event co-organizer and well-known skate blogger, Andrew Guan, said the exhibition was the first of its kind in Beijing and was organized as a way for those who don't know how to skateboard to get involved with the scene.

"We always thought that the only way for people to get involved in the skate scene is with skating contests, but it's more than a 'scene' - it's a culture," he said, "we thought the art exhibition was a way to include more than just the skaters."

Prices for the decked out decks ranged from affordable 300 yuan to the more absurd 320,000 yuan.

Graffiti artist and graphic designer Dai Cameron, whose 8,000-yuan piece consisted of three skateboards bearing the logo of his blog BKCT, said the event wasn't about making money.

"When I entered into this I didn't even know they were going to be sold," he said, noting the cost of materials to build the board was around 1,000 yuan. "I just kind of made up the price up on the spot."

Sponsored by Challenge Skateboards, a Chinese skateboard company, the opening attracted a crowd of more than 50 Chinese and expats.

"We hope this is just the start of something big," said Miriam Deller, another of the event's co-organizers.

Beijing is just the first stop of the exhibition, which will be held at The Warehouse from Aug 6 to 26 before moving on to Shanghai and Hangzhou.

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