Architecture Essay Bartlett UCL - Scenes From Stockwell Skatepark

2020/21

SCENES FROM STOCKWELL SKATEPARK

Thomas Kar Bo Leung ‘Scenes from Stockwell Skatepark’ Architecture MArch / MArch History & Theory Year 4, Assessed Component 2020-21 HT4: Edwina Attlee / Feminist Approaches to Space and Text

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FOREWORD

This article is 4608 words long.

– Special thanks to Edwina Attlee for her guidance and seminars, they really lifted the gloom.

Shout outs as well to Neevy, Seb, Rashmi, Penny, Gigi and Ruben, skate soon.

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

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CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION

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STOCKWELL

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UNSPOKEN CODES AND GESTURES

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GENDERED SPACE

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STOCKWELL 2021

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GLOSSARY

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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FIGURES BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

FIGURE 1: JEREMY DONALDSON. NOSE PICK ON THE WALL OF STOCKWELL SKATEPARK, LONDON. 2006.

PHOTO: JONATHAN HAY

In rejecting hierarchical and underlying power structures that underpin much of wider society, skateboarding’s ethos has often been defined by ‘resistance to authority and by bodily autonomy.’1 With worldwide participation, a shortening gender gap, and the inclusion of skateboarding for the first time in the Olympic Games in Tokyo2, skating is in a period of transition towards global audiences. Through this transformation, the homogeneity of skating catered towards white masculinity must be critically reassessed. In challenging default perceptions of the ‘skater body’ and surrounding language that exist in skate culture, there is an opportunity to begin questioning how skating environments can be re-appropriated and rebalanced to reflect more inclusive, fragmented and diverse conversations.

Doreen Massey was an eminent feminist geographer whose work ‘Space, Place and Gender’ forms an intersectional analysis of space organised through social relations. Imprinted in my mind is her recounting of a childhood memory,

Cowan, Jill. “How Skateboarding Can Help Fight Racism.” The New York Times. The New York Times, June 18, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/us/usc-skateboarding-study.html.

1

Ellis, Neil. “The Unlikely Boom of Skateboarding during a Pandemic.” Skateboard GB. Skateboard GB, September 2, 2020. https://www.skateboard-england.org/news/2020/9/2/the-unlikely-boom-of-skateboarding-during-a-pandemic.

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‘I remember all this very sharply…even then as a puzzled, slightly thoughtful little girl - that all this huge stretch of the Mersey flood plain had been entirely given over to boys.’ 3 I was one of the unquestioning boys she describes, running around football pitches, unaware of my automatic access to male dominated space. These assumptions were challenged the moment I set foot in a skatepark. I distinctly remember those first nervous movements, standing stranded on my deck overwhelmed by a sense that I did not belong. In the following two years, my gradual understanding of skate etiquette, incorporation of skate lingo and adoption of unspoken codes and gestures have allowed me to interact and participate in skate environments. In its transgressive nature, skating has also redefined my approach to public space, gaining a heightened awareness of exclusionary architecture that creates boundaries and barriers.

Contemporary skate research in this article challenges the ‘conventional subordination’4 of outsiders in skate environments. Åsa Bäckström & Karen Nairn, academics from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, critically examine the production of gender-segregated skate space. Their work ‘Skateboarding beyond the limits of Gender’5 suggests practical strategies for addressing this imbalance in Sweden. Similarly, sociologist John N. Carr’s study of ‘Skateboarding in Dude Space’6 uses ethnographic observation of skaters’ interactions to highlight the problematic male gaze, intimidatory actions and patriarchal structures that exclude groups in skate space.

Borrowing Carr’s methodology of a composited timeline, this article is anchored by my experience of Stockwell, one of London’s legendary skateparks. Its unique spatial arrangement and ingrained significance to the local community positions me as an outsider, without the high levels of subcultural and social capital to automatically decode its deeper meanings. Utilising what Massey’s describes as the ‘consciousness of being a space-invader’7, this study attempts to identify the socio-historical contexts that skaters navigate and infer a more equitable skate space for all.

– The following ethnographic observations are taken over the course of single skate session. All identifiers have been changed to code names.

Underlined terms are defined in the glossary at the end of the article.

Massey, Doreen B. Space, Place, and Gender. Minneapolis (Minessota, Estados Unidos): University of Minnesota Press, 1994. p.185 3

4

ibid.

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. “Skateboarding beyond the Limits of Gender? Strategic Interventions in Sweden.”

Leisure Studies 37, no. 4 (2018): 424–39.

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Carr, John N. “Skateboarding in Dude Space: The Roles of Space and Sport in Constructing Gender Among Adult Skateboarders.” Sociology of Sport Journal 34, no. 1 (2017): 25–34.

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Massey, Doreen B. 1994. p.185 5

tower

plaza jersey barrier bench quarter pipe

sugar bowl

bowled corner

ledge

sausage

egg snakerun

bump mound

10:30 AM

SCENES FROM STOCKWELL SKATEPARK

I get off at Stockwell train station and skate South towards the park. I am meeting my friend Sean, 24 and Peggy, 22, but it is Saturday and I know they will be late. I pop into one of the Portuguese cafés on the way there to get some breakfast. While I am buying coffee, four skaters roll past, each white, male, ranging from mid-twenties to thirties with a carefree style and clean-cut clothes.

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STOCKWELL

FIGURE 2: STOCKWELL SKATEPARK IN THE EARLY MORNING. 2020. PHOTO: MIKE URBAN

I was alone the first time I skated Stockwell skatepark. My girlfriend was living in a nearby estate and we would wake up early so she could catch the first train to work. It was daybreak on a chilly November morning that I ventured out, board clasped, ready to skate while the city was still asleep.

That individual session took on a quiet intimacy, I remember feeling the grain of the concrete under my wheels, avoiding rough patches as I cruised around uninhibited. Every morning I returned I felt a trancelike peace; I learned where to turn, when to bend and how to fall. I know with clockwork certainty that there are six steps to the top of the mound and it takes seven seconds to roll down to the bowled corner. Even as an architecture student, I rarely develop such an intimate relationship to my surroundings. When I started skating on the weekends at more sociable hours, my body remained imprinted by those foggy mornings, the graffiti torched by dawn-light, a familiar place.

–

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FIGURE 3: DIY VIBE OF STOCKWELL SKATEPARK IN THE MID-NINETIES. PHOTO: MIKE URBAN

Stockwell is one of the oldest and most distinct skateparks in London. Its strong ties to the local community are rooted by the diverse skaters, musicians and characters that have populated this corner of Lambeth since 1978. Known by aliases Brixton Beach, Brixton Bowls and Stockwell Sands8, the park was built on a site previously occupied by the Brixton Tabernacle Baptist Church9 on the junction of Stockwell Park Walk and Stockwell Road. The original layout by Lorne Edwards consisted of the sugar bowl, big bowl and snake run which remained untouched until the midnineties. In 1995, the worn concrete surface was relaid in a red skin by Matt McMullan and Gnarly Tom who added the sausage ramp and mound with stairs. Cracks in 2005 led to the council hiring a substandard contractor to repair the surface whose poor handiwork led to a joint community campaign effort for a further resurfacing in 2007. Led by Jeremy Donaldson, a local architect, with a coalition of local skaters, BMXers and experts, the redevelopment added new features such as the bowled corner, Jersey Barrier, quarterpipes and the ledge to seamlessly fit with the existing fabric.

Caines, Jason. “Stockwell Skatepark Is a Utopia for All in the Heart of an Unequal City.” Huck Magazine, May 14, 2015. https://www.huckmag.com/outdoor/skate/stockwell-skatepark/.

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Community, WikiVisually. “WikiVisually.com.” WikiVisually, January 19, 2019. https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Stockwell_Skatepark.

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FIGURE 4: UNDULATING LAYOUT OF HIPS AND BUMPS. 2015. PHOTO: JONO COOTE

What results is an accommodating sprawl of undulations and obstacles, a park that feels neverending. The open layout allows for constant motion; local skaters and BMXers often bomb round harmoniously with an effortless style maintaining flow. Faults in the concrete are adjusted for during runs and every inch is covered in graffiti, often containing messages of remembrance or social commentary. Therefore, the park feels a lot more vibrant than sanitised modern skateparks and connected to a wider community.

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FIGURE 5: INDEPENDENT SKATE SHOP ‘BRIXTON’S BADDEST’. 2019. PHOTO: PARADE

As an ‘Asset of Community Value’, the park has a cooperative relationship with local stores. It has been supported since 2002 by Brixton Cycles, a bike and skate shop and Brixton’s Baddest, a locally owned skate shop. Skaters can also regularly be spotted in local Portuguese cafés or in the Marquis of Lorne pub. With its ACV status, the park is overseen by the Friends of Stockwell Skatepark group who lobby Lambeth Borough Council for repair works and protection.

Released in 2015, the documentary ‘Long Live Stockwell’10 features many familiar faces who skate today. The film comments on the inter-generational community where ‘old-school Dogtown influenced dudes’11 freely share advice with the next generation. The park is a melting pot of random characters, I have encountered people from all walks of life that I never would anywhere else, all abiding by a code of shared respect. This lively atmosphere is punctuated by music, with Stockwell Jams offering an opportunity to gather for a good time, blasting music off the park platform. It is within this colourful, inclusive backdrop that Stockwell remains a sanctuary, a ‘utopia for all in the heart of an unequal city.’12 –

10

Ochagavia, Ekaterina. “Long Live Stockwell.” Vimeo, January 16, 2021.

11

Caines, Jason. 2015.

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ibid.

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FIGURE 6: 'DEMOLITION DERBY' STOCKWELL JAM. 2016. PHOTO: LOGAN HILL

FIGURE 7: ‘WHO WANTS TO BE THE BADDEST’ 2K19 JAM. 2019. PHOTO: BRIXTON’S BADDEST

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OG bowled corner

ledge

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ME OG

OG

11:00 AM

I enter the skatepark, briefly nodding to nearby skaters as I drop my stuff. The sky is a rare shade of blue and several skaters have arrived early to demarcate their zones. I eat my sandwich and scan around. There is a mix of ages, predominantly white. The skaters I spotted earlier are warming up, flowing around the hips and bumps. A group of street skaters are set up on the ledge and two younger scooters in the Sugar Bowl. There is a woman slightly off the centre of the skatepark trying to land a kickflip who we shall call KF. I wish I could do a kickflip. A group of older guys who seem to know each other are taking turns on the bowled corner and I join in. An orderly queue is efficiently formed without speaking as we watch each other’s runs.

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UNSPOKEN CODES AND GESTURES

Understanding the ‘flow’ of skateparks and dominant skate routes is an essential architectural reading that is made when entering a skatepark. Learning ‘skate etiquette’ and developing spatial awareness are necessary steps any beginner takes towards negotiating access. Beal’s emphasis on, ‘the absence of authority as an important aspect of the sport’13 underlines the selforganisational nature of skating. This forces participants to notice physical communication, be attuned to signals and be collectively responsible for ensuring democratic use of space in practice.

FIGURE 8: DOMINANT SKATE ROUTES. 2021. DIAGRAM: THOMAS LEUNG

Rinehart, Robert E., Synthia Sydnor, Becky Beal, and Lisa Weidman. “Authenticity in the Skateboarding World.” Essay.

In To the Extreme: Alternative Sports, inside and Out, 337–52. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2003. p.

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Through my initial observation, the dominant paths at Stockwell were set at the quarter pipe, the ledge and the bowled corner which allowed different groups of skaters to move in discrete, linear loops on these obstacles. An outsider could therefore either join one of these groups or participate in areas that did not overlap these dominant paths. However, the expansive form of the skatepark also allowed more confident skaters to weave through these lines in their runs, maintaining ‘flow’, often looking for a break in a sequence. Without being able to decode these spatial cues, my early visits to the park left me unsure if I was obstructing other skaters and I lacked the competency to quickly manoeuvre out of such a situation. This intimidation pushed me to the boundary of the skatepark or towards skating when the park was empty. Paradoxically, it is only through experience that one begins to interpret different obstacles, the tricks that can be performed on them and how a skater might choose to approach them.

Therefore, the development of universal rules, ‘skate etiquette’, is designed to accommodate varying ranges in ability towards ensuring equal participation. An example of this is how a group of skaters integrates other members into the skating of one obstacle. Examining the bowl typology (a curved sunken basin used for transition tricks) Carr observes, ‘the skaters tacitly negotiate the order in which each of them will take their turn for a run in the bowl that will last anywhere from ten seconds, to three minutes, ending when the skater soars up onto the deck or falls down.’14 When approaching a singular obstacle, each skater has full access for the duration of their run. With a bowl, it is customary to check which other skaters are using it and physically acknowledge their presence. Turns are often signified through eye contact and by placing the deck over the coping in a position to drop in. It is through this ‘communicative code of silence’15 that an order is determined where each skater has an opportunity to perform. As Carr states, this creates, ‘an environment in which learning, improvisation, and frequent failure are uncritically taken as the norm.’16 At Stockwell this is often heard in positive vocal encouragement from peers, often more so when a novice skater completes a new trick.

Aside from learning to decode and navigate skate space, gestures are also useful in becoming included within the skate community and developing individual style as a skater. These could be simple tips such as how to carry your board to avoid scratching clothes or offering a skate tool when someone’s board needs a quick fix. Other gestures carry deeper subcultural meaning. In praising fellow skaters, tapping your board is seen as a sign of respect and encouragement. The sound of clacking boards and the visual motion of tapping the ground carries an almost ritualistic significance, commemorating a shared moment of respect.

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Carr, John N. 2017. p.25

15

ibid. p.31

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ibid.

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FIGURE 9: DROPPING INTO A BOWL. 2020. PHOTO: THOMAS LEUNG

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12:00 PM

A group of ten or so ‘core’ skaters arrive from various directions, greeting each other and setting up base near the Jersey Barrier. I recognise them from previous visits as locals. Their crew is mostly youngish white males with one woman. Sean, who is a good skater, arrives as the older men take a break. Unseen lines begin to develop across the park. We and a few others take turns skating the bowl while in parallel, a group skates the quarter pipe. Members of the local crew periodically weave through the groups slaloming around the snake run, over the sausage and round the bowl.

There is lots of encouragement for KF, many skaters offering advice but I am not close enough to hear if she asked for it.

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13:00 PM

Skill level in the park has drastically increased as another all male crew show up and the park becomes busier. A crowd of tourists, families and general onlookers have now assembled to lean against the walls and watch the chaos. It is now that Peggy shows up, a beginner skater. She looks petrified. I dig a helmet out of my bag and with Sean, try to put her at ease. The demarcated lines from before have become blurred as more accomplished skaters take longer runs, shooting around the whole park. We watch a steezy BS tailslide and tap our boards in appreciation. Several of the better skaters have commandeered the quarter pipe and are trying varying technical tricks, egging each other on with periodic swearing when the trick is not landed. Peggy quietly rolls to the corner of the park and stays there. In the commotion I realise that KF has left.

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GENDERED SPACE

Described in the previous chapter are the codes and gestures that a skater requires to achieve practical skate competency. Yet the lack of female and transgender representation typically seen in UK skateparks suggest further barriers preventing equal access. In the report ‘Beyond the Board: Findings from the Field’17, a key finding states wider societal forces still negatively affect, ‘skaters from minoritized backgrounds and skaters who identify as female.’18 As Massey argues, ‘spaces and places, and our senses of them…are gendered through and through.’19 Unpacking how the gendering of skate space is both reflective of skate culture and affects the gender perception of the skating body can help us reimagine exclusionary practices that exist in skate space.

There is a famous wall at Stockwell that borders the road. Etched into its surface are the names of historic skaters who have done a trick while jumping over it into oncoming traffic. One memorable figure is Bam Margera, an active skater that rose to prominence in the early 2000s through MTV shows Jackass20 and Viva La Bam21 . Predicating on extreme behaviour, the shows are key in explaining how the western skate stereotype became synonymous with white, male, adolescence.

Emily Chivers Yochim’s research into the media portrayal of skate culture, specifically the Dickhouse oeuvre showcased on MTV, suggests that, ‘skate media use the whiteness of skate culture to both valorize male skateboarders and challenge dominant ideas about masculinity.’22 Although skate culture portrays itself as a ‘a space for alternative masculinities’23 , Yochim’s research suggests this often results in modifying rather than eradicating the patriarchy while stereotyping women and people of colour through ‘boys will be boys’24 humour. Focusing on Viva La Bam, Yochim observes that ‘the show's mockery seems to rest on skateboarders’ irreverent sensibility, suspicion of adult modes of masculinity, and alignment with a culture of cool that takes “irreverence as worldview.”’25 This often results in a reconstructed hyper-masculinity where characters prove they are, ‘“man enough” to ridicule dominant norms of manhood.’26 The cast are, ‘capable of negotiating various masculinities and mocking, reimagining, and remolding masculine rituals’27 while simultaneously re-performing dominant societal hierarchies through crude pranks.

Corwin, Zoë B., Tattiya Maruco, Neftalie Williams, Robert Reichardt, Maria Romero-Morales, Christine Rocha, and Constanza Astiazaran. Beyond the Board: Findings from the Field, 2019, 1–33.

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18

ibid. p.16

19

Massey, Doreen B. 1994. p.186

20

Productions, Dickhouse. Whole. Jackass 1-3, no. 1-25. MTV, 2000.

21

Margera, Bam. Whole. Viva La Bam 1-5, no. 1-40. MTV, 2003.

Yochim, Emily Chivers. “Never-Ending Adolescence and the (De)Stabilization of White Masculine Power on MTV.” Essay. In Skate Life: Re-Imagining White Masculinity, 111–38. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2010. p.115 22

23

ibid. p.179

24

ibid. p.116

25

ibid.

26

ibid.

27

ibid.

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In the episode ‘Bam’s World Domination’28 , the superiority of ringleader Bam (the most proficient skater) over his companions through mockery or violence immediately stands out. Yochim surmises that Bam’s ability to fulfil the role of ultimate alpha male and ‘dominate other white males is his athleticism’29 , a clear departure ‘from the values espoused by many skaters’30 by retaining the hierarchal norms of patriarchy.

Skating’s contradictory critique of mainstream society is further explored in David J. Leonard’s analysis of the original Tony Hawk video games. These would often take place in ‘urban “ghettos”’ which were ‘absent of people of color’31. By appropriating these graffitied spaces as cool and dangerous while removing the people who are from those areas, the game commits a form of virtual whitewashing. Read intertextually with MTV’s media texts, a mythology is created of ‘skateboarding’s construction as a white practice’32, an authenticity defined by a dominant group who seem to acknowledge the ‘constructed nature of gender identity’33 but cherrypick aspects of society to rebel against while ignoring the voices of other repressed groups. Its impact on skate perceptions leads Yochim to identify the Dickhouse Productions oeuvre as, ‘Not so much an appropriation as a series of documents in correspondence with and corresponding to the values of skateboarding’34 A key part of the intimidation of ‘being one of the only girls at a skate-park’35 is the negative impact the male gaze has on discouraging and objectifying women in skate space. This is evidenced by my own and other skaters’ overt awareness of KF’s behaviour. The problematic nature of the heterosexual male gaze is evidenced in sociologist Tyler Dupont’s ethnographic study of skate groups in America36. His research found women occupied the lowest rung of informal skate hierarchies as ‘invisible girls and the ramp tramps’37, By defining women in either supportive roles ‘who accepted their role on the sidelines’38 or purely at skateparks for ‘sexual affiliation’39 , there is a subcultural acceptance that women skaters should be looked at differently. The marginalisation or objectification of women therefore does not treat them as skaters. This is so deeply ingrained that Shauna Pomerantz’s research of Canadian girl skaters found they were critical of ‘giggly, selfconscious ‘bun girl femininity’ which they dismissed as ‘detrimental to girlhood itself’’40 . The male categorisation of women’s roles in skate space forces skateboarding women to construct ‘an ‘other’ 28

Margera, Bam. Broadcast. Bam's World Domination 1, no. 1. Spike TV, October 13, 2010.

29

Yochim, Emily Chivers. 2010. p.128

30

ibid.

Leonard, David J. “To the White Extreme in the Mainstream: Manhood and White Youth Culture in a Virtual Sports World,” in Youth Culture and Sport: Identity, Power and Politics, edited by Michael D. Giardina and Michele K. Donnelly.

New York: Routledge, 2008. p.99 31

32

Yochim, Emily Chivers. 2010. p.115

33

ibid. p.135

34

ibid. p.136

Smith, Alice. “Brum Girl Skate: Breaking Down Misogyny in Skate Culture: Redbrick Culture.” Redbrick, September 2, 2020. https://www.redbrick.me/brum-girl-skate-breaking-down-misogyny-in-skate-culture/.

35

Dupont, Tyler. “From Core to Consumer: The Informal Hierarchy of the Skateboard Scene.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 43, no. 5 (2014): 556–81.

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37

Dupont, Tyler. 2014. p.564

38

ibid. p.574

39

ibid. p.575

40

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. 2018. p.427 19

in relation to men, but also ‘other’ in relation to other women, especially those perceived as displaying stereotypical heterosexual hyper-femininity.’41

FIGURE 10: GIRLS SKATE NIGHT ORGANISED BY BRUM GIRL SKATE. 2020. POSTER: BRUM GIRL SKATE

Girl skate groups such as Brum Girl Skate work towards ‘sustaining and promoting female skate visibility within a larger gender imbalanced scene.’42 This is deemed necessary by various members’ experience of misogyny within skate space and the gendering of skate terms such as Poser. Originating from the French ‘Poseur’ (to pose), a poser is generally defined as someone who takes on ‘surface-level meanings’43 of skate culture (fashion, carrying a board etc.) but does

41

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. 2018. p.427

42

Smith, Alice. 2020. [Article]

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Dupont, Tyler. 2014. p.571 20

not actually skate. They are delegitimised in the eyes of dominant ‘core’ skateboarders and made invisible through lack of ‘subcultural competence’44 . As Beal and Weidman posit, ‘authenticity is arguably the single most important factor determining admittance into the subculture.’45 However, one of BGS’ founders Alice Smith states the word has been repurposed by a male minority to discourage female participation.

‘This resonates in beginner girl skaters being labelled ‘poser,’ a term which, for me, has come to represent the attempted reassertion of power over girls.’ 46 As skating, ‘does not rely on competition’47, skill on a board does not define legitimacy as a skater.

Rather, the use of the term here means to intimidate and devalue the contribution of women skaters. Labels of inauthenticity have been historically prevalent. Beal’s interviews of local skaters uncovered the term ‘skate Bettys’48 , explained as girls who skate ‘to meet cute guys’49. This assumes that girls are not serious skaters while positioning the male skater as the norm. By equating masculinity with legitimacy as a skater, gender expression of women skaters is often suppressed to maintain a ‘false sense of validity’50 .

Bäckström and Nairn’s research on the implementation of ‘strategic entitlement’ acts to ‘dismantle the significance of gender in the skateboarding context so that young women can take for granted their right to skate without questioning this entitlement based on their gender.’51 During their campaign No Limit, a tour promoting female skating in Sweden, they discovered more publicity did not appeal to all women skaters. Using Gillian Rose’s conceptualisation of the ‘insider/outsider dichotomy’52 , Bäckström and Nairn argue that greater visibility was beneficial in terms of sponsorship and availability of skate space but ‘always at the cost of being watched and judged.’53 Therefore paradoxically, some women skaters embraced invisibility by ‘skating in marginalised spaces at marginalised times.’54 To combat these limitations, ‘strategic entitlement’ tries to deemphasise gender through the use of androgynous images in promotional materials and deliberately reversing gender norms. This is done through documentaries (Crossing Boarders) and print media (Giftorm, Skateboarding – not just for tjejer) that suggest women are the default group in skating, challenging male dominance. The strategy is successful in that it ‘intentionally positions women first and foremost as skateboarders, rather than as women’55 but by self-admittance, ‘mixed messages are in play’56 as the decentralising of women in imagery is contrasted by their 44

Dupont, Tyler. 2014. p.571

45

Rinehart, Robert E., Synthia Sydnor, Becky Beal, and Lisa Weidman. 2003. p.351

46

Smith, Alice. 2020. [Article]

47

Rinehart, Robert E., Synthia Sydnor, Becky Beal, and Lisa Weidman. 2003. p.338

48

ibid. p.345

49

ibid.

50

Smith, Alice. 2020. [Article]

51

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. 2018. p.432

52

ibid. p.426

53

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. 2018. p.431

54

ibid.

55

ibid. p.435

56

ibid. p.434 21

gender's centralisation in written content. It also remains to be seen whether the act of gender blurring alienates women who do not conform to the androgynous image presented and whether this strategy is translatable to racially diverse and trans-women. The assertion that women-only skate sessions are purely a method of strategic visibility also fails to capture the nuances of making friendships and potential offshoot groups formed that will skate less visible spaces.

Although ‘strategic entitlement’ is important in theory, Tobias Coughlin-Bogue’s research into the Queering of Skateable space states, ‘when the park is predominantly populated by straight men, women and queers don’t skate there.’57 As evidenced by a crowded Stockwell skatepark, better skaters are able to navigate and claim more space. Typically these are ‘cisgender straight men, and few of them are willing to jeopardise their membership to help non-traditional skaters feel welcome.’58 Although certain behaviours such as asking for other skaters’ pronouns can aid social inclusion59 , Bogue argues that a series of ‘smaller, more approachable skate spots in the city’60 could be more welcoming places for LGBTQIA+ skaters to claim, taking advantage of the marginalised spaces Bäckström and Nairn identify are preferred by women skaters eager to avoid public scrutiny. By proposing a model of decentralising skate space, and de-gendering skate media and discourse, there is a combination of strategic invisibility and entitlement through which different skaters can challenge conceptions of who skaters should be. Oppressed skate groups are encouraged to ‘establish a sense of confidence and security.’61 Simultaneously, re-educating all skaters towards ‘(re)thinking the significance of gender’62 dismantles the presumption of a dominant gender, realising ‘strategic entitlement’ in practice.

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Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias. “Queering Skateable Space: How Dispersing Skatespots Defuses Toxic Masculinity.” Essay.

In Urban Pamphleteer #8 - Skateboardings 8, edited by Thom Callan-Riley, Sander Hölsgens, Ben Campkin, and Rebecca Ross, 8:18–20. Urban Pamphleteer. London, UK: UCL Urban Laboratory, 2020. p.18 57

58

ibid. p.20

Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias. “A Skateboarders Guide to Gender Identity with Xem Skaters.” Skateism, October 2, 2019. https://www.skateism.com/a-skateboarders-guide-to-gender-identity-with-xem-skaters/.

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60

Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias. 2020. p.20

61

Smith, Alice. 2020. [Article]

62

Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. 2018. p.436 22

FIGURE 11: GIFTORM COVER PORTRAYING SKATING AS A FEMALE PRACTICE, WHILE MALE SKATING ‘KILLSKATE’ IS SEEN AS THE EXCEPTION. 2016. PHOTO: GIFTORM

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Rewatching Bam skate Stockwell63, I feel complex contradictions in the uncomfortable association of imagery, the ‘dickhead’ and the ‘skater’. In between public urination, vandalising property and ridiculing gay people, what is most jarring is the gracefulness of Bam’s skating. Not focused on performing for the camera the footage feels personal, stripping away the noise. You see his intense focus, the precision as he accelerates to the top of the bowl. His front foot balletically scrapes up as he ollies, sailing over the wall. His weightlessness is seductive, a moment so pure it seems wrong that he should land. It reminds us what skating is at its core; a form of self-expression, of facing personal challenges and conquering fear. The performance of skating and the confines of Stockwell belong to all skaters, a place to connect with others and see the world through different eyes.

FIGURE 12: BAM MARGERA OLLIEING OVER THE STOCKWELL WALL. 2010. PHOTOS: SPIKE TV

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Margera, Bam. 2010. [TV] 24

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14:00 PM

At 14:00PM, Sean and I decide to take Peggy out of the park to the plaza behind. The plaza sits between the park and a tower, aggressively built right over the skatepark. She begins to look more at ease tic-tac-ing on the pavement. Residents of the tower give us wary looks as they leave the building. Peggy tries a shuvit and it spins, bouncing off the concierge’s glass window.

At 14:30PM, we head off to get some beers and food. I suggest we check out Brixton’s Baddest, enroute to the offy. As we walk inside, the walls are plastered with decks and KF is crashed out on a sofa chatting to the shop owner. Peggy buys a metallic used deck for a tenner, joking that the scratches make her look better.

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15:00 PM

We return to the park, beers in my bag. The sky has turned a lovely shade of amber and the local crew are chilling out on the side, someone is playing a guitar. It is quieter now, so Sean and I settle into a routine trying backside grabs over a hip. An older skater joins us, and we take turns encouraging each other, dissecting the best line to attempt the trick. A pro skater joins our run too, we watch in awe as he glides around. As the session winds down, apart from Peggy, there are only men skating in the skatepark.

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STOCKWELL 2021

It is 2021 and Stockwell remains but its surroundings have changed. Most notably, the encroachment of the SO BRX luxury tower block now looms over, an omen of divisive gentrification64 . The collaborative action of Brixton’s Baddest and Friends of Stockwell Skatepark have prolonged the park’s survival but the tower’s proximity, separated by the thin no-man’s land of the plaza forms an uneasy truce.

In describing its diverse, consistent users, democratic distribution of space and its self-governance through the use of unspoken codes and gestures, Stockwell serves as an architecture of resistance, the closest example to truly public space I have experienced. As a bastion of the local community that houses skaters of different races, ages, backgrounds and gender, Stockwell represents the progressive, inclusive ideals of skating that can shape its future.

Although skate academic research recognises that western skate culture still struggles to disband perceptions of white male dominance in skating, the decentralisation of skate media from traditionally male-oriented streams such as Thrasher (skating’s equivalent to Vogue) and MTV have produced new discourses eager to portray skating in a new light. Brum Girl Skate, Nefarious Crew and BaySixty6 Girls Nights all use social media to raise awareness of gender imbalances, such as equal prize money for female competitions, and provide spaces for women of all abilities to feel comfortable skating. Platforms such as Skateism tell the stories of diverse skateboarders, promoting articles, events and activism. This combines with Bäckström and Nairn’s pioneering implementation of ‘strategic entitlement’ to de-gender the discourse surrounding skating as male practice. Without the pre-existing subcultural context of ‘alternative masculinity’, charity Skateistan’s educational work in Afghanistan shows that female participation can be equal. Over 40% of the Afghan skating population are girls.65 To avoid the toxic masculinity of conventional skateparks, Bogue and Smith argue that itinerant skate infrastructure could provide strategic invisibility to remove the male gaze while providing skate spaces for marginalised groups. Interventions such as City Mill Skate’s proposal for a set of architectural obstacles, or ‘skate dots’66 to be part of UCL East Campus, decentralises skate space to form grassroots skate communities. In the participatory creation of these skateable structures, the dots act to reappropriate London’s fabric as sites of public engagement. Forming a trail through the city, they recreate the itinerant and transitory freedom of street skating.

In describing my personal relationship to Stockwell, I echo Massey’s sentiment that ‘the identities of place are always unfixed, contested and multiple.’67 My interpretation of skating and motivations will be very different to yours. Yet in seeking equal expression, it is the collection of these individual truths, this heterogeneous array of accents, dialects and interpretations that define skate language and by extension its value system. Skating is whatever you want it to be, make it so.

Coote, Jono. “Brixton's Baddest Interview.” Grey Skate Mag, July 18, 2019. https://www.greyskatemag.com/post/brixtons-baddest-interview/.

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Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. “For Kabul Schoolgirls, Learning to Ride a Skateboard Is Pathway to Liberation.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, April 19, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/19/kabul-girls-liberation-skateboard-skateistan.

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Sayers, Esther and Griffin, Sam. 2020. City Mill Skate: Skateboarding Architecture and Community. Urban Pamphleteer(8), pp. 6-8. ISSN 2052-8647 [Article] 66

67

Massey, Doreen B. 1994. p.5 27

FIGURE 13: GIRLS SKATE NIGHT AT BAYSIXTY6 SKATEPARK, LONDON. 2018. PHOTO: BAYSIXTY6

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It is now dark; Sean and I are sat on the wall chatting. Next to us is the local crew. KF and the shop owner have wandered back to join them. Peggy left half an hour ago and promised she would skate again next week.

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– End of Article

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GLOSSARY BOWL:

BOWLS ARE TYPICALLY SUNKEN INTO THE GROUND AND THEIR WALLS ARE SLOPED FOR TRANSITION TRICKS

BOWLED CORNER:

A CONCAVE CORNER THAT ALLOWS FOR TRANSITION TRICKS

BS (BACKSIDE):

TRICK OR TURN EXECUTED WITH THE SKATER'S BACK FACING THE RAMP COPING OR THE OBSTACLE

COPING:

THE METAL PIPE OR EDGING FITTED TO THE LIP OF A RAMP OR BOWL

DECK:

FLAT PART OF THE SKATEBOARD THAT A RIDER STANDS ON

DROP IN:

A WAY OF ENTERING A BOWL OR HALFPIPE FROM THE TOP

FLOW:

CONTINUOUS STREAM OF MOTION

GRAB:

USING YOUR HAND TO HOLD THE BOARD DURING A TRICK

HIP:

SPOT WHERE A RAMP OR OBSTACLE COMES TO A POINT. TRICKS ARE DONE WHILE FLYING OVER OR OFF OF IT

KICKFLIP:

TRICK WHERE THE SKATER FLIPS THE BOARD AROUND ITS LENGTHWISE AXIS USING THEIR FRONT FOOT

LEDGE:

ALSO KNOWN AS A CURB, IT IS AN ELONGATED BLOCK WITH EDGES TO DO SLIDES OR GRIND TRICKS ON

MOUND:

A RAISED MASS, OFTEN USED TO START A SKATE RUN

OLLIE:

TRICK IN WHICH THE SKATER USES THEIR FEET TO PULL THE SKATEBOARD UP INTO THE AIR

QUARTERPIPE:

SMOOTH-SURFACED WALL WITH A CURVED BASE USED TO PERFORM TRICKS

RUN:

A PERIOD OF SKATING UNTIL YOU FALL/STEP OFF THE BOARD

SAUSAGE:

RAMP THAT LOOKS LIKE A SAUSAGE AT STOCKWELL SKATEPARK

SHUVIT:

TRICK WHERE THE BOARD ROTATES ALONG VERTICAL AXIS

SNAKE RUN:

PART OF STOCKWELL SKATEPARK THAT HAS HIPS AND BUMPS ON EITHER SIDE, TO SKATE IT REQUIRES A ‘SNAKING’ MOTION

STEEZY:

COMBINATION OF THE WORDS "STYLE" AND "EASE" MEANT TO PRAISE STYLE AND PERFECT EXECUTION

STREET SKATING:

A SKATING STYLE THAT USES STREET FURNITURE, SUCH AS CURBS, BENCHES, AND STEPS, TO PERFORM TRICKS

SUGAR BOWL:

NICKNAME FOR A SHALLOW BOWL AT STOCKWELL SKATEPARK

TAILSLIDE:

TRICK SLIDING THE TAIL (BACK) OF THE BOARD ALONG AN EDGE

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TIC-TAC-ING:

QUICK SERIES OF MINI KICK TURNS TO GAIN MOMENTUM WHEN SKATING A FLAT AREA

TRANSITION:

TRICKS THAT ARE PERFORMED ON RAMPS, HALF-PIPES, VERT ETC.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bäckström, Åsa, and Karen Nairn. “Skateboarding beyond the Limits of Gender? Strategic Interventions in Sweden.” Leisure Studies 37, no. 4 (2018): 424–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2018.1462397.

Caines, Jason. “Stockwell Skatepark Is a Utopia for All in the Heart of an Unequal City.” Huck Magazine, May 14, 2015. https://www.huckmag.com/outdoor/skate/stockwell-skatepark/.

Carr, John N. “Skateboarding in Dude Space: The Roles of Space and Sport in Constructing Gender Among Adult Skateboarders.” Sociology of Sport Journal 34, no. 1 (2017): 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2016-0044.

Community, WikiVisually. “WikiVisually.com.” WikiVisually, January 19, 2019. https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Stockwell_Skatepark.

Coote, Jono. “Brixton's Baddest Interview.” Grey Skate Mag, July 18, 2019. https://www.greyskatemag.com/post/brixtons-baddest-interview/.

Corwin, Zoë B., Tattiya Maruco, Neftalie Williams, Robert Reichardt, Maria Romero-Morales, Christine Rocha, and Constanza Astiazaran. Beyond the Board: Findings from the Field, 2019, 1– 33. https://pullias.usc.edu/download/beyond-the-board-findings-from-the-field/.

Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias. “A Skateboarders Guide to Gender Identity with Xem Skaters.” Skateism, October 2, 2019. https://www.skateism.com/a-skateboarders-guide-to-gender-identity-with-xem-skaters/.

Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias. “Queering Skateable Space: How Dispersing Skatespots Defuses Toxic Masculinity.” Essay. In Urban Pamphleteer #8 - Skateboardings 8, edited by Thom Callan-Riley, Sander Hölsgens, Ben Campkin, and Rebecca Ross, 8:18–20. Urban Pamphleteer. London, UK: UCL Urban Laboratory, 2020.

Cowan, Jill. “How Skateboarding Can Help Fight Racism.” The New York Times. The New York Times, June 18, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/us/usc-skateboarding-study.html.

Dupont, Tyler. “From Core to Consumer: The Informal Hierarchy of the Skateboard Scene.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 43, no. 5 (2014): 556–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241613513033.

Ellis, Neil. “The Unlikely Boom of Skateboarding during a Pandemic.” Skateboard GB. Skateboard GB, September 2, 2020. https://www.skateboard-england.org/news/2020/9/2/the-unlikely-boom-of-skateboarding-during-apandemic.

Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. “For Kabul Schoolgirls, Learning to Ride a Skateboard Is Pathway to Liberation.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, April 19, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/19/kabul-girls-liberation-skateboard-skateistan.

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Leonard, David J. “To the White Extreme in the Mainstream: Manhood and White Youth Culture in a Virtual Sports World,” in Youth Culture and Sport: Identity, Power and Politics, edited by Michael D. Giardina and Michele K. Donnelly. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Margera, Bam. Broadcast. Bam's World Domination 1, no. 1. Spike TV, October 13, 2010.

Margera, Bam. Whole. Viva La Bam 1-5, no. 1-40. MTV, 2003.

Massey, Doreen B. Space, Place, and Gender. Minneapolis (Minessota, Estados Unidos): University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Ochagavia, Ekaterina. “Long Live Stockwell.” Vimeo, January 16, 2021. https://vimeo.com/122013161.

Productions, Dickhouse. Whole. Jackass 1-3, no. 1-25. MTV, 2000.

Rinehart, Robert E., Synthia Sydnor, Becky Beal, and Lisa Weidman. “Authenticity in the Skateboarding World.” Essay. In To the Extreme: Alternative Sports, inside and Out, 337–52.

Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2003.

Sayers, Esther and Griffin, Sam. “City Mill Skate: Skateboarding Architecture and Community.”

Urban Pamphleteer(8), pp. 6-8. ISSN 2052-8647 [Article] 2020.

Smith, Alice. “Brum Girl Skate: Breaking Down Misogyny in Skate Culture: Redbrick Culture.”

Redbrick, September 2, 2020. https://www.redbrick.me/brum-girl-skate-breaking-down-misogyny-in-skate-culture/.

Yochim, Emily Chivers. “Never-Ending Adolescence and the (De)Stabilization of White Masculine Power on MTV.” Essay. In Skate Life: Re-Imagining White Masculinity, 111–38. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2010.

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FIGURES BIBLIOGRAPHY Series of ethnographic diagrams were produced by the author: Leung, Thomas. “Scenes from Stockwell Skatepark.” Diagrams. 2021.

Figure 1:

Hay, Jonathan. Jeremy Donaldson. “Nose Pick on the Wall of Stockwell Skatepark.”

Photograph. London, 2006. Stolen Space.

Figure 2:

Urban, Mike. Deserted Stockwell Skatepark. September 20, 2020. “In Photos: a Deserted Stockwell Skate Park and Its New Luxury Development Neighbour, Sept 2020.” https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2020/09/in-photos-a-deserted-stockwell-skate-parkand-its-new-luxury-development-neighbour-sept-2020/.

Figure 3:

Urban, Mike. Stockwell Skatepark in the Late 90s. August 22, 2018. “Brixton 15 Years Ago: A Lost Banksy, Top Cats at the Fridge, Stockwell Skatepark and More, August 2003.” https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2018/08/brixton-15-years-ago-a-lost-banksy-top-catsat-the-fridge-stockwell-skatepark-and-more-august-2003/.

Figure 4:

Coote, Jono. February 23, 2015. “Concrete Carcasses: Stockwell.” https://sidewalkmag.com/skateboarding-videos/stockwell-retrospective.html.

Figure 5:

Chester, Neil. February 20, 2019. “Introducing: Brixton’s Baddest to Parade.” https://www.paradeworld.com/uk/news/introducing-brixton-s-baddest-to-parade/.

Figure 6:

Hill, Logan. September 24, 2017. ‘"Demolition Derby' Stockwell Jam 2016.” https://brixtonsbaddest.co.uk/blogs/past-events/demolition-derby.

Figure 7:

Baddest, Brixton's. July 12, 2019. Who Wants To Be The Baddest 2k19 Jam (Supported by Adidas). https://brixtonsbaddest.co.uk/blogs/past-events/who-wants-to-be-the-baddest-2k19jam-supported-by-adidas-pt1.

Figure 8:

Leung, Thomas. “Dominant Skate Routes”. Diagram Collage. 2021.

Figure 9:

Leung, Thomas. “Dropping Into a Bowl.” Photo Collage. 2021.

Figure 10:

Brum Girl Skate. "Brum Girl Skate Night.” November 8, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkMprMA1OZ/.

Figure 11:

Giftorm Magazine, ed. “Sveriges Skateboardtidning.” 2016. Photograph.

Figure 12:

Margera, Bam. Broadcast. Bam's World Domination 1, no. 1. Spike TV, October 13, 2010.

Figure 13:

BaySixty6. 2018. “GIRLS NIGHT GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH AT BAYSIXTY6 SKATE PARK.” https://www.baysixty6.com/girls-night/girls-night-goes-from-strength-to-strength-firstfriday-every-month-at-baysixty6/.

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