Struck by Lightning
First off, BMX is ripping, and the deeper you go into the sport, the better it gets. Nigel Sylvester, Mike Spinner, and Maxime Charveron (France) are in Beijing to take part in the Lightning Bolts Show and film for the upcoming Nike 6.0 video.
This August in China, BMX Racing will become the first action sport in the Olympics. To celebrate this historic moment in BMX, Nike brought together pioneers, current cultural icons, freestyle legends, and the next generation of the sport.
This meant Bob Haro, the Godfather of Freestyle, Bryan Blyther, Ron Wilkerson, and Eddie Fiola “The Flying Banana” all came to China with the Nike 6.0 team to celebrate everything and anything BMX. These are the guys that started the sport decades ago, helping to transition BMX from racing to freestyle. The guys that invented the basic tricks that layed the foundation for freestyle BMX today. Bringing them together, and listening to the stories was incredible. Old van tours, the GT versus the Haro Bike Team, how everyone wanted to emulate Blyther’s style, and how Wilkerson invented the “Nothing.”
The Lightning Bolts show was part art show and BMX demo. Hosted in an abandoned petroleum tank in the 798 Arts District of Beijing, Nike 6.0 built out a full BMX course, featuring ramps, ledges, and hips for the boys to session.
For the art show, Nike teamed up with BMX Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Haro, to recreate his original number plate as a canvas. It is one of the first examples of iconic graphic design in the sport of BMX, meshing performance with a platform for individual creativity.
A select group of contemporary artists, each sharing a cultural connection to BMX, were invited to take part in the Lightning Bolts Art Show to tell their message of youth, speed, and BMX. Unique works from artists such as Nick Philip, gOrk, and Norman Chuck were on display.
“BMX was my entry into a creative life, it provided a context for me to learn about design and to start a business. Most of my adult life has been influenced by the street culture that BMX initiated me into,” said Nick Philip in his artist statement.
“My bike was more than a cheap hunk of steel and rubber. It was a vehicle that took me across town to bomb the campus (exploration), across the state to race (accomplishment), and across the country to become a writer (creativity). It showed me how to find me (individualism). It opened my eyes to nuances in my environment (observation), and provoked me to react (risk). I met all my closest friends through BMX (belonging). I was never supposed to be here. How did I get here? I got here on my BMX bike.” Mark Lewman of Freestylin Magazine
“BMX opened my eyes to a world beyond my neighbor. It is pretty wild when you look back and you can pin point actions in your life that changed it. The first influence was when I bought a used shiny-ass Mongoose BMX bike. The second influence came when I was 16 and I discovered “Freestyln” which was the bible of my life at that time. The creative directors were Andy Jenkins and Jeff Tremaine and their approach to design had a huge influence on me, which set me on my path. I think about it all the time… if I hadn’t bought that BMX I would of never discovered design. These early influences made me who I am today.” Ronnie Bonner
The artist-interpretated plates threaded together individual stories of BMX: Childhood memories, homage to riders who have since passed away, and pure love of the sport. The energy was amazing as the crowd embraced BMX culture and shared our love for the sport.
At the end of the night Eddie Fiola and Bryn Blyther hopped on bikes and sessioned the course, while Hoffman and Haro looked on with amusement.
The evening was amazing, seeing the full circle of BMX and feeling the dots in history connected….. and going to the Great Wall of China with the innovators of Freestyle BMX ain’t that bad either.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am
[...] Read more about the event at hypebeast and 6.0s blog. [...]