#GeoSkatesTrue
I created a series of skateboards in memory of a friend who passed away far too soon. Georgie was a significant part to the community and as a result the skate park in Ames, Iowa has been reconstructed and dedicated in Geo's name. There are so many projects we didn't get to, but the way Georgie saw the good in the world is an inspiration that keeps me motivated.
Artist Statement:
The beginning of this project started over two years ago when I met Georgie Tsushima through a mutual friend at an art exhibit. This introduction was lined with ideas of collaborations as we shared many of the same ambitions behind art and community. I quickly found out the expanse of Geo’s reach in the skateboarding community as he once before owned as skate shop in Ames, IA. Because his job as a videographer for Vox shoes, he kept busy traveling around the country visiting various skateparks and making connections with the people. An unfortunate skating accident left him in a coma and fighting to recover motor skills. Upon recovery, which the doctors said should have taken three times longer, he was focused on the community of Ames and opened the Flat Land Crew skate shop on Lincoln Way. Georgie Tsushima passed away in his sleep the evening following his shop’s grand opening. Weeks of memorial tributes outside the shop, a community gathering in his name with over 500 attendants, and the banding of his friends and family to keep the shop open are tributes the level of impact this young 26 year old had on others. I was talking with Geo days before he passed and he told me to make the art, he would show it in the shop. This project is a tribute to Georgie and what he has meant to people. Since the beginning this project has taken the form of community engagement in order to keep the ideas of Geo alive. In painting skateboards with Georgie’s image, the idea of projection mapping on the boards kept the design simple. This project will continue to develop; a string quartet performing the Tsushima Cantata, composed by Robert Hagen, in the middle of the new skatepark that is being built in Georgie’s name this spring. Projection mapping will be on the various ramps and the ultimate goal, a documentary type capture of the impact Geo has had in the community of Ames Iowa as well as the skate community across the country.
