Most of you have seen this clip, Ron Wilkerson's 2-Hip King of Dirt, Mission Trails, CA, Spring of 1991. When riders from several different local scenes show up at the biggest BMX jump ever built (at that time), craziness and progression will definitely ensue. This is just one little example of creative scenes that have had lasting influence.
I was a serious geek before I became a BMXer. Within a couple years of getting into riding, I started to notice the different BMX freestyle scenes across the country. Little groups of guys who found each other, bonded over the idea of doing tricks on little bikes, and pushed each other to improve. I've been fascinated with scenes ever since. Since I stumbled into the BMX industry, and then several other creative industries, I've been a part of about 20 different creative scenes over the past 30-some years.
Back to the geek part. I've always been fascinated by what human beings are capable of, and why people do the things they do. Basically, I'm kind of a sociology/big picture thinking geek. Because of that obscure interest, I've read dozens of books the most people don't want to read. As fate would have it, my fascination with bike and skate and music and art scenes has now come together with my big picture thinking. It turns out that in our post-Industrial Age world, creative scenes have become a huge driving force in the economy. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs worked together to make a user friendly personal computer in the late 70's and 80's. They founded Apple Computers in a garage, and now Apple is one of the most valuable companies on the planet. A couple of creative geeks built a whole series on industries, which now employ thousands of people, from a simple, creative idea.
Here's one a little closer to home. Bob Haro started riding his BMX bike in skateparks in the mid 70's. He had fun, and eventually invented flatland tricks. After a while, R.L. Osborn and a few others started doing the same thing. A BMX trick riding scene was born. They pushed each other and progressed. Now the bike stunts industry has many genre's and employs people all over the world. A little creative scene turned into something big over time.
A professor of urban studies and economic development named Richard Florida dug into this concept in the mid 90's, and published his findings in his 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class. In his view, creativity, not big factories, is the driving force of the economy these days. He talks about the value of creative scenes in his work, but never goes into the details of how art, music, bike, skate, and other scenes form. It finally dawned on me that I was the guy who needed to write this book. So I am. I just started a crowdfunding campaign on Go Fund Me to help me do the necessary work to write and self-publish this book. I've written a 36 page zine, called Let's Make a Scene, that gives a brief, overall view of the ideas I'm working on. Here are some excerpts from the zine:
Page 2- We heard a commotion in the kitchen. Lawan, a short and powerfully built black guy emerged into the living room, wearing his Cunningham football jersey, a pair of boxers, and shaking a spatula like a club. "Aw'ight, who ate my eggs and put the shells back together with peanut butter? he demanded.
Page 4- We all just wanted to live cheap and spend as much time riding our bikes as possible. That was our passion, what we all had in common, and what we loved to do. But in doing that, we created a BMX scene like no other before it.
Page 10- Pretty much any time two or more people get together and use a little imagination and actually do something, that's a creative scene.
Page 12- ... creative scenes are where many of today's good jobs come from.
Page 15- But the "crazy" action sports athletes, punk rockers, and artists created an atmosphere that made Huntington Beach a really creative, entrepreneurial, and fun place to live.
Page 17- In my experience, people who see themselves as creative ALWAYS have a list of future projects in their heads of what they want to do.
Page 20- Everyone thought I was a complete idiot for focusing so much time riding a "little kids bike." But it felt right to me.
Page 27- It's a town where these people get together and cuss and discuss ideas.
Page 28- When you have a healthy "creative ecosystem" sooner or later someone breaks out with a big success.
Page 30- So the musicians started doing it themselves. They learned all the skills necessary to play, record, and promote their music. That's where the "Do It Yourself," or DIY ethic began.
Page 33- He got to travel the world, his goal as a kid. He even traveled outside the world, becoming one of a small group of people to go into space as a tourist, and spend time on the International Space Station.
For $5, I'll send you the zine, and you'll help me work on publishing this idea as a real book in the next few months. Everyone who contributes to my crowdfunding campaign also goes in a drawing to win one of my original drawings. Your choice of the ones I have sitting around. Or the next drawing, which will be of Evel Knievel. Here's my Go Fund Me page. Many of you have read quite a bunch of my 700 blog posts about my Old School BMX freestyle days for free. Now is your chance to help me out a bit. Thanks.
Here's the zine:
I've merged my ideas and blogs into a new blog:
The White Bear's Making a Scene
You can find my new stuff there.
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