Review: Effraim
I am a bit late reviewing issue 7 of ART Magazine, but anyway here it is. I am sat here with a cuppa, and lets get on with it…
So What’s inside flatland related?
– The first flatland related coverage is Chase’s two page editorial this issue is “Hybrid Fleeting (The trend of flat/streeting), an interesting and timely subject we all talk about. There is a lot of text, the parts that stuck out to me were…
“Let me remind us all that combining street and flat is not a new concept. The only difference is that now it may be brakeless and done in a different way. It used to be a odd flatlander or a general BMX rider or two doing something unique by combining different disciplines. And don’t get me wrong here, nobody needs to be labeled as a member of one single discipline of BMX, or confine himself to certain styles.”
“Personally, I always considered my speciality to be Flatland and I set up my bike in a way to maximise any foreseen Flatland possibilities. I would look at my bike and ask myself if any specific feature might hinder certain types of flatland tricks and always tried my best for this not to happen….”
“flatland never assimilated into the mainstream, have flatlanders changed the look of their bikes and styles of their tricks in order to seem closer to what is popular..street? If (and I stress IF)this IS what’s happening, would it be a form of selling out? If this is indeed happeningand it still doesn’t work, would that be considered a failed sell out attempt? We’ve even got announcer’s at contest’s saying “this is what flatland is supposed to look like”…further convincing themselves and others at the same time. Whether the announcer means the flow of a rider or the actual street/flat look, he is still being dogmatic in TELLING people what an individual form of creative expression is supposed to look like.
Chase goes on to discuss, following the leader, and how flatland could progress much faster if people were open to the vast amount of tricks and styles available to them, he goes back to mention Bill Nitschke first doing the whopper in 1990, and riders such as Jay Miron and Joe Johnston riding with high seats, and not getting tangled up.
The topic of lightweight bikes comes up, and Chase argues.. “I think it’s partly up to the pros and companies to work together and assess the trends for what they are and come up with a wise and a reasonable compromised solution that creates the type and strength and functionality. Chase believes it is possible to accommodate the current flat/street style without changing flatland components.
The editorial is thought provoking, and worth buying the magazine for, on its own! If your open to what Chase is saying, if not….
– Fat Tony has a six page interview, featuring some of his photography work. The interview discusses his worldwide travels, his previous job at Transworld as Online editor, the flatland calendar. There are some great photographs of Bo Wade, Pete Brandt and Terry Adams, amongst others, including Fat sending it down a massive drop at Woodward West. Art always covers all sides of BMX. Not only the riding side, but the media side as well, which is a good thing!
– You all know the name Pete Olsen, infamous for his killer groundtactics entries a few years back. Pete is now on S&M (great news, and hugely deserved, the mean is ` beast!), and is definitely not slowing down anytime soon.
Trevor Oleniuk and Luis Elias interview Pete, the interview discusses his latest “The last ten” part, what tricks haunt him… “It’s the one that’s not in the video actually. The video didn’t come out exactly how I wanted to and I was definitely missing some things I was hoping for, but I’d say the backwards cross foot in general has been a real pain for the last six or seven years. I remember back in 2006 doing backwards backpacker jugglers, wanting to do that cross footed and really straggling with it. I had a mental block up until this year. It’s a territory that hasn’t really been tapped into by many guys so I just wanted to start trying to do some original things with it.
The interview goes on to discuss groundtactics, his creative motivations ” to which he sights Ross Smith, Steve Mulder, Garrett Reeves and Ruben Alcantara”, quite a broad list that kind of shows where he is coming from in general, Pete is open to lots of styles reflected in his riding. They discuss his hook up with S&M via Chad Johnston, which is great to hear.
I must confess I’m always disappointed when riders such as Pete only get 3 pages! This happened with George Manos. Perhaps a magazine policy with the face interviews, in turn I would argue these type of riders that are changing the game deserve more!
– Fise Costa Rica has a three page article, Viki Gomez and Raul each get a small photo.
– Manu Massabova writes about Caen indoor event, with photos of Romain Georges, Yannick Chauvel. Matti Hemmings has a sweet full page advert from Flat Squirrel…
– French up and comer, Melvyn Masson has a three page face/interview.
– Viki Gomez reports from the Voces contest in madrid, Spain.
– Chris Bohm gets a five page interview, with one of the most honest intros I have read in a long time! Alain Massabova writes ” Chris is spectacular, Chris is handsome. Chris the strongest of them all! This amazing rider is a total phenomena. Those who are lucky enough to meet him shall remember the encounter their whole life. This pretentious individual is the type of guy you might hate at first but who you’ll end up loving. His motivation, his ambition is so strong that nothing can stop him. Chris give so much of himself, sure, he’s loveable. Sometimes a bit too much, but he doesn’t cheat. He’s generous to a fault but loves the glory, which is a good thing for us, for bmx. By putting himself under the limelight, BMX has everything to win.”
– Tostivant Malo has a 4 page interview about his bmx brand, PIR Malo.And that finishes anotehr good issue of ART!
ART continues to go from strength to strength, as always theres so much more than flatland in the magazine. But it is great that ART continues to source a wide scope of writing styles and subject matter, the magazine is growing, and seems sustainable. Try get hold of this if you can. Definitely one for the collectors out there.
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