Review by Effraim.

I feel kinda weird reviewing this what like a week and a half after I reviewed Issue 5, but whatever…. Issue 6 is out now. And I have to say right off, there is a lot more flatland content than Issue 5.

So whats in this issue?

-Up and coming Pro, Joris Bretagnolle has a really cool double page spread about his Khe A damn bike, which also kills two birds with one stone with a mini interview also, they discuss new tricks, the french scene, his opinion about the street/ flat phase to which Joris comments “personally I’m not a big fan, but having said that, It might just revamp flatland……I can’t see flat runs being made up of just street tricks. And let’s be realistic here, we haven’t done half the tricks you can do in flat yet…”….

– Chase Gouin has another editorial type piece, this issue is not flatland related, its about “vowels”, A E I O U and sometimes Y, I’m going to need a lil’ more time to digest this one…

– Viki Gomez in Egypt – Viki takes flatland to the pyramids, a place I thought I would never see flatland, great double page spread with story by Viki himself.

– George Manos has a “face” double page spread, I personally was expecting more pages for one of the most original riders in the game right now, but nevertheless its a great article by Luis Elias, that discusses his riding roots, his motivations, riding pegless, his thoughts on originality, “Let’s be reasonable, it’s always been the same, so it’s not a matter of nowadays and I’m afraid it will never change because this has deeper roots in the human behaviour and consciousness. But concerning our particular type of living, I’ve seen lately more examples of character than I could imagine, and I’m happy for it. Everybody has their place in this thing and one should accept the other as he accepts himself. There should be respect and reward for one’s good qualities and skills, no need to say and point out the negative things (it gets worse) because everybody knows that “action speaks louder than words”. Great words from George, the interview continues to discuss his influences, the flat scene in greece, his experience at the rebel jam “I would like to consider myself more as a craftsman. I see the contest as another opportunity to present my work. Presentation and reactions are my concern/factors. The first is about my critic on my work, the second is about others critic on my work. “Rebel jam” was my second pro contest and concerning the two above factors I have both mixed feelings”… Sadly the interview finishes two questions after, just as the discussion was warming up. Still sometimes less is more, this certainly left me wanting more!

– Lee Musselwhite show company “Inspire promotions has a great three page feature, with some cracking photographs of Lee by Jonathan Williams, with words by Lee, he tells his story in riding from inertia bikes to sales rep for skate show brand, and how he ended up making his living as a show rider, how he branched out further than flatland, and added MTB, free running…Very few can say they are a making a living off flatland in the UK, Lee made it happen!

– Cartoonist Niko Del Real has a two page interview, if you are on Facebook, you may often see his drawings of the likes Chad Johnston, yours truly, Lea Dobrowski, Chase Gouin, Pete Brandt, and many more. Great to see this guy get some coverage.

– The next article with flatland is a three page story on the “Reunion show”, Reunion island is the south east of Africa, they sent pro flatlanders Chris Bohm, Raphael Chiquet, Adam Kun, Takahiro Ikeda and Alain to promote the Fise event, along with a whole host of ramp riders, the article has some great shots of Ikeda, Adam and Chris, looks like fun in the sun, really appealing in this cold month of February.

– Jeremy Pavia has a six page photography portfolio, with some great shots of Ryan Russell at Malibu, and Tono…

– This week we featured Blake Hicks and the Electron Bike, the chaps at Flat Web TV put together a small interview for ART, which is interesting, as I don’t know anything about him, it was news to me that Blake earns his living off flatland, supporting himself by doing circus shows, or any type of event that wants to draw a crowd, the interview also discusses his Electron video and of course the latest video, nice short piece, good to see Blake get some coverage.

– The next article surprised me, that is a good thing! Chad Johnston and his table designs gets a double page spread along with interview, his tables for example are made out of bike parts, you can two pairs of bars and forks with a wheel between as the main structure with wheel on top for table top, really creative, its Chad through and through, one of the best articles from this issue, different form the norm.

– Dominik Nekolny has the stand out article in this issue, a dope 6 page interview, Dom is rarely interviewed, and I was curious what he would have to say, Matti Rose and Thomas take care of the interview and do a great job, as this really opens up and is a fascinating read. I admired Dom’s honesty/outlook on riding in this interview, they discuss his motivations to ride. to which Dom replies “I take flatland as a sport and only as sport and in sports it’s about crossing your line to be better and better! So this is my motivation, to reach my limits!”.. They discuss his similarities with Justin Miller which relates to the last quote, who is one of Dom’s favourite riders, “I think he took it like really sporty and not like “fashion awesome cool guy”! He wanted to show everybody that he could do the hardest shit with his bike, and he did not care about super originality and style or silly fashion shit…”..
The interview goes on to discuss his riding focus, throwing bikes, riding backwheel, riding brakeless, his job, cad drawings for a big company which builds powerplants, the interview gets more interesting again when they discuss Dom being straight edge and into PMA “Positive mental attitude” and so on, his plans for future etc, the interview went way past my expectations, I was waiting for this issue for the George Manos interview if I am entirely honest, but it was the Dominik Nekolny interview that really grabbed me, it is brutally honest, you can’t ask for more than that!

– The last page of flatland is a small repo on the Flatlive contest in Argentina, across the page is a dope full page of Pete Brandt for Quamen Bikes, check the photo.

There’s so much more than flatland to this issue, but I will be writing forever if I comment about all of ART magazine, whilst I was disappointed with only a double page spread for the George Manos interview, the Dominik Nekolny interview is a must read! One of the best interviews i’ve read in a long time! ART continues to get better and better, great depth in articles, dope adverts, Matthias Dandois has full page G shock ad on the back page for example, and as I already mentioned Pete B’s quamen ad, is so sick! This is issue 6, and ART continues to grow, exciting times ahead for this magazine. Try and get hold of this if you can.