Tenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

The typographic contours of concrete are home to the residue of skateboarders. The marks they leave behind are the traces of adaption, the unobservable aesthetics lost within the fragments of disused pools, parking lots, canyons, storm dams, blocks, rails, and stairs. The stains of blood and sweat become the undetectable illustration of skateboarding’s legacy, where architecture becomes a playground and where cultural diversity thrives. Constructing these encounters are the documentary photographers and videographers who reshape the environment to include pleasure and pain. Who’s values and ethics challenge the habitat to be seen as more than just the reality of the space. Reflecting on the participatory practises, visual heritage, and the ethnography of space, this paper is written in part for my doctoral thesis adding to current debates within cultural and visual ethnography. Critiquing a number of interviews with leading skateboard photographers and videographers, the paper hypothesises how the constructed image of skateboarding provides insightful knowledge when examining the ethnography of space and heritage. Focusing on the collaborative human experience of the skateboarder, photographer and videographer, the paper discusses the construction of this media from the visible to the unseen, highlighting how it moves beyond the physical into hypermedia spaces. The paper then concludes with a question examining the possibility of combining media ethnography and design practice with a focus on designing for the idea of possibility rather than for a solution.