The term Rust Belt refers to a sector of the United States that was once immensely prosperous for many types of manufacturing and gave its people the promise of a better life. It was a supply vein within the country from The Great Lakes region stretching from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to the man made canals through New York State turning down on to the Hudson River, past New Jersey and out to sea at the harbor of New York City. Throughout this region lie endless small villages, medium sized towns, and even a few metro centers that have been largely abandoned and left to fall into dereliction. Rust Belt Trap is a documentation of how we interpret the Region’s sociological realities through skateboarding. The imagery and music throughout this video suggest how the Rust Belt’s history of mining, manufacturing, and transportation correlate directly to the environment around us.
The title of the video pertains to trap doors, people being trapped in time, trapped in their ways, and trapped in a place. Growing up in the Rust Belt many have a sense of being trapped. Some fall into drug habits. Addiction has become ubiquitous. Skateboarding gave us the reason to keep moving and explore so we don’t stay stuck. The car is the key to getting out to scour the urban landscapes.
We spend countless hours researching the history and archetypes of these Rust Belt towns both onsite and online, canvasing every nook and cranny for small architectural anomalies. The neighborhoods of the Rust Belt tend to reflect the way of life and integrity of the old tinkerers who worked with their worn hands to hone the parts that fueled the economy.
We all reside in New York City, However much of our time filming for this project was spent in painfully quiet towns throughout the northeast. After arriving to town late at night and impacting into steel bulkheads sounding off like sharp thunder, we would worriedly listen for alarm cries. The people inside are either deaf or dead, and if not they’re popping out like hornets mad as hell.
Historically many skaters have flocked to larger metropolitan areas. The city squares and Corporate plazas created the plaza skater. Advancements in municipal improvement projects like public skateparks created the park skaters. For us it has always been more about the spot and it’s aesthetic rather than the focusing on the trick. We’ve spent a lifetime snooping behind buildings. We are constantly being mistaken for cat burglars casing a joint. We’ve spent plentiful hours searching, frequently going so far as to investigate the history of the location and how it looked in the splendor of its heyday. Clues are noted on how and why certain towns always seem to have at least one of the gems we’re looking for. By and by patterns begin to form. The obsession starts to morph into a sixth sense that one can usually trust to lead us to the objects sought.
The making of any skate video could fill up a book. This one is no different in that regard.
The skate clips obtained on gritty cuts in this zone are largely falling apart and will be gone to decay much too soon if they do not get razed first. Many of the clips within that we are most proud of do not exist anymore. Looking back every clip logged seemed a small miracle.
We could not and would not take anything away from the hucksters, the plaza technicians, and the park sharks. It takes all kinds to make skateboarding the rad thing that it is. Some environments dictate ones path more than others.. this is ours.
Copies of the video are available here.
