Location: New York, NY
Date: 04.23.2023
Event: AS-1 at the Guggenheim
On April 24, 2023, the Guggenheim and Converse came together to host the AS-1 event, celebrating the launch of my first signature skateboard sneaker and my work as both a skateboarder and designer. The event was part exhibition, part premiere, part discussion, part party and brought more skateboarders inside the Guggenheim’s rotunda at one time than ever before.
During the event, Jeremy Elkin’s short documentary entitled “AS-1” was premiered. The piece is a reflection on style, space, process and design. It tells a story about the ongoing relationship between skateboarders and the space of New York City, celebrating skateboarding’s rich cultural history, as well as the changes it’s currently undergoing—without which, there would be no AS-1 project.
The AS-1 represents one of just a handful of signature sneakers named after female athletes. It reflects both how much skateboarding has changed in the last two decades, but also, how much further it has left to go.
The documentary splices process and archival footage with footage taken from inside the Guggenheim. Two months prior to the event, I was granted access to the museum space overnight and was able to experience the ramps and rotunda on a skateboard—probably living out the dream of every skateboarder who has ever spent time inside its iconic walls.
When I began skateboarding in the mid 1990’s, the non-skateboarding public viewed skateboarding as unsavory, disrepectful, even criminal. Skating down the Guggenheim spiral is a memory I will always cherish; but beyond that, it signifies with crystal clarity, the shifting attitudes and growing appreciation for an activity I’ve done since I was a child—something I have always viewed as an artform. It seems the world is finally beginning to agree.
