My boy Jacob from Think Tank Gallery in LA called me about their upcoming show "Dude, Monsters!" and said they needed an 'out of the ordinary' installation related to skating. We soon came up with the simple question to guide the design..."What if Savador Dalí and MC Escher decided to go skating together in a dream? What ramp would they use?" Here's what we came up with...
After making skate-able gallery ramps for the RIDE show last year I'm kinda getting a side rep as the "weird ramp dude". So I decided to get even weirder with this one: furniture grade ply, chrome closet rails for coping, and of course the upside down factor.
Apart from simply hanging it safely, I also had to figure out how to work around the many pipes and sprinklers on the ceiling. But limitations (and math problems) always produce great ideas, at least in my book;)
So I set up shop and got chopping. It was all basic ramp building I learned as a kid, just amped up a bit and flipped around.
From the looks I was getting, I could sense a slice of doubt and a little confusion. that is, until the skeleton went up! I thought it be smooth sailing from there, but every piece of skin ply put up a fight before it was bent into submission. Thanks to those who helped me tweak those things!
One of the guys working there was laughing at my use of 'pimp plywood' even more so when I sprayed it with a glossy coat;) Then came the dreaded clean up! Thanks for the help with that Sam!
In its pure and undefiled state I snapped some pics...
The rideable part;) Simple yet fun as proven by the following...
I don't recommend this, but is sure is a funny pic.
Big thanks to Jacob and all the patient people at Think Tank who let me disturb their sleeping patterns with my saw blades at 3am. The show opening was one of the funnest I've been to yet.
Search Think Tank Gallery on Instagram for some great pics of other works in the the show, especially Jacob's mind melting 40ft Michael Jackson American flag made from stenciled records!
Now I'm gonna go sleep for a week...
Catch ya on the flip side;)
©Monkwood™
Last pic by @chillaxstevie on Instagram