Thoughts on Perfection in Skateboarding

Thoughts on Perfection in Skateboarding

For anyone who considers themselves a skateboarder, performative perfection may seem to be the ultimate objective, yet it is an objective that we are aware that we will never achieve. The idea of striving for perfection is deeply ingrained into the underlying philosophy of skateboarding, and even those who skate without awareness of this philosophy engage with these ideas.

Each moment in skateboarding is fleeting. It is a physical medium that demands reiteration from those that choose to engage with it. Photos, clips, and fully produced skate videos only exist as representations of a moment that can never be truly reproduced. In skateboarding people will often have a trick “on lock”, which can be interpreted as an indicator of perfection, yet this only suggests that the producer is capable of creating a consistent stream of reiterations of that trick. The idea of perfection in skateboarding implies that a trick, or a moment, can be reproduced repeatedly in uniformity. No moment, or action, can ever be exactly the same, and this is what classifies skateboarding as a medium of progress. The existence of objective perfection in skateboarding would confine the medium to a set of standards with an end result.

The underlying philosophical implications of the submitted photo remind me of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus’ essay perfectly exemplifies the impossibility of the task and subsequent contentment found in the pursuit of perfection in skateboarding. In skateboarding we choose to emulate Sisyphus’ task, to push the boulder up the hill knowing that we will never reach the peak. We choose throw our bodies and flick a piece of wood under our feet not in pursuit of perfection, but in pursuit of self improvement through the process. We do not expect to ever push the boulder to the top of the hill, but find that there is more satisfaction and enjoyment to be found in the pursuit of progress rather than the arrival at the ultimate goal of perfection. A task with an objective ultimate goal is limiting because reaching objective perfection implies that there is a limit to what you can achieve through skateboarding.

Zeus and Hades considered the impossibility of the task to be a source of torment for Sisyphus, yet he gains purpose in the futility of his actions. Sisyphus has gained an occupation that drives him to infinite improvement and gives him the opportunity to explore variation through repetition. I believe skateboarding encourages its participants to do the same: to experience each moment in reference to the moment that came before it, to simply strive to be better than the last time. For this reason the medium of skateboarding is infinite in possibilities for creative expression. Camus concludes The Myth of Sisyphus by speculating on Sisyphus’ contentment in his task, and I think the same can be said of skateboarders. In the pursuit of an impossible goal we find happiness and opportunities for infinite improvement and variation, and that process delivers us to happiness.

References

Camus, Albert. 1965. The myth of Sisyphus, and other essays. London:

H. Hamilton.