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Disposable by Sean Cliver
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This slideshow was created using Sean Cliver's book, Disposable: The History of Skateboard Art.
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"This led to the Schiffer vs Schiffer board war. You can see Powell Peralta's version above."
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"George let me know 'gently' that I was being let go but I didn't leave without a bang."
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"My new boss, Rocco, at World Industries heard that I had been working on a Schiffer board that PP was going to release in January of 1992 so Rocco said, redraw the graphic and we'll do it first!"
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"In November of 1991 was when my fears were finally laid to rest."
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"While I was still new at Powell-Peralta they encouraged me to check out books on: Primitive cultures..."
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"German expressionists..."
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"MC Escher."
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"And Third Reich graphics..."
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"In the end all of my experiences and relationships with skaters with other artists ended up in my book, Disposable: The History of Skateboard Art."
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"When the dust settled this was a board that represented my time at Powell Peralta."
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"Two years in I was worried that my inspirations would dry up."
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"The Saiz graphic on the other hand, was much more difficult...any ground I gained with the Barbee design was lost as I adapted a style reminiscent of Court's."
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"My first real graphic came when I did Ray Barbee's design...Barbee proved to be the easiest to do with his rag doll concept."
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"I left the interview thinking I might get a free T-shirt but instead I got a job offer with an opening salary of $18,000."
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"I started at the company in January '89 after dropping out of school...I never ended up working with Court."
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"Little did I know that the company was full of soap-opera drama between the skaters."
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"I came to find out that his style was influenced by the black and white renderings of M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist whom I was unfamiliar with at the time."
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"The interview was not going well when a tall man wearing all white clothing rolled into George's office on a pair of skates and introduced himself as 'Court'."
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"This was in fact Vernon Courtland Johnson, aka, Court. The artist behind the designs of Powell Peralta's famous Bones Brigade and the skull and cross graphics."
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"In October I found myself seated across from George Powell (on the left) in his office."
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"Finally in August I got a call saying that they'd like to interview me in Santa Barbara California!"
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"In March of 1988 I saw an ad for 'Artist Wanted' at Powell Peralta in a Thrasher magazine. So, I sent in a few old sketches.
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"When I graduated from high school in 1987, I relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, and enrolled in MATC where each semester cost $500 bucks."
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"I came to learn and love the one brand that stood out amongst all the others, Powell Peralta's Bones Brigade."
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"The punk/skateboard culture slammed into Wisconsin in 1986."
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"That's when I bought my first board...a $30 deck with the absolute worst graphic, a cheap imported graphic of a dinosaur!"
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Disposable - A History of Skateboard Art by Sean Cliver
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"Don't overthink the art - create just for the hell of it, not because 'they' think it's funny or cool."
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"Don't strip the fun...
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and spontaneity from the art of skateboarding."
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"I grew up in one of a zillion faceless townships of the Midwest, Steven's Point, Wisconsin."
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"In the 80's I was the typical American nightmare in the making."