Innehållsförteckning för #356 Culture från Surfing Life

This issue we unveil our sixth pillar, an invisible force that non-surfers peering in immediately recognise. Yet, many surfers are oblivious or choose to ignore it. As decades roll past, certain beliefs and mannerisms have been cultivated. Culture, from the Latin word colere: to tend or cultivate, has evolved from the early 16th century to include other areas of cultivation1. For example, the mind grows to accepts new ideas, modifies perspectives and personal development occurs. The collective achievements of human intellect, art, customs and social behaviour is culture. Does surf culture exist? Or is it another way for mainstream couch spuds to spruik off in their nasal Aussie twang, so they can justify jamming us into a surf-labelled box, stacked in uniform rows as a part of their methodically controlled…

There’s a cancer in our midst. A silent one. A cultural disease that’s gone through chemo, surgery, and after years of remission, it resurfaces—scaring us with another ugly cluster. Cancer is nothing to make light of … nor is discrimination. It shuts down real change, bullies minority groups so they don’t feel like they belong, and tears away hope of a worthwhile future. For decades, surfing in Australia has been a male-dominated sport. Has the surfing boys’ club been completely dismantled, or does it remain in partial remission, subliminally attacking surfing’s immune system? The Girls Can’t Surf documentary1 exposes surfing’s history during the ’80s and early ’90s. It shares the untold, courageous story of renegade female pro surfers including Wendy Botha, Jodie Cooper, Pauline Menczer, Layne Beachley, Rochelle Ballard, and…

When contemplating how far surfing has come in the 50 years since the shortboard revolution, one’s head begins to resemble a tube from George Greenough’s psychedelic seventies surf classic, Crystal Voyager. That is, it begins to spin wildly. What began with surfers dropping out of mainstream society to shape their own shortboards, live sustainably, grow their own food, and surf for no other reason than to revel in the infinite new sensations surfing provided them, has today become a multi-billion dollar industry. From those humble beginnings, captured so vividly in films such as Morning of the Earth and Crystal Voyager, this cottage subculture has made millionaires out of its top practitioners, funded the lavish lifestyles of countless company CEOs and shareholders, and generated an exponential growth curve in terms of…

MAINSTREAM INFLUENCE • faster and smaller personal computers are introduced in the late ’90s• digital SLR cameras are marketed (late ’90s, early 2000s)• Google founded (’98)• DVDs release in Oz (’99)• world didn’t end with Y2K• 9/11 means airport security increases and War on Terror begins (’01)• mobile phones have cameras (’02)• urgent warnings of climate change via movie An Inconvenient Truth (’06)• social media launches: Facebook (’04), Twitter (’06), and Instagram (’10)• globalisation (interaction of people, brands, governments, production of goods, etc.)• iPhone is accessible to public (’07) SURF INFLUENCE • WSL Men’s World Junior Championship starts: winner Andy Irons (’98)• WSL Women’s World Longboard Tour starts: winner Daize Shayne (’99)• WSL Women’s World Junior Championship starts: winner Jessi Miley-Dyer (’05)• Indigenous surf movie Us Deadly Mob movie is…

Surf-art culture has been an evolving mystical medium shaped by generational change that’s influenced by societal shifts in fashion, music, movies, photography, events, surfboards, skate, dream-like locations, spirituality, events, and marketing concepts offering a surreal perspective and vibrancy all of its own. The culture of surf art can be traced back to the early civilisations of Hawai’i, Peru, and China. The discovery of ancient surf art depicting the Peruvian reed board inscribed on pottery found in caves at Trujillo provided overwhelming evidence that the Peruvians were wave-riding on the Caballito de Totora some 3,000 years ago, pre-Inca by the local Chimu Indigenous race. As technology evolved from inscribed pottery, so did the sharing of surf culture. Surf magazines presented the perfect platform for establishing illustrative graphics, surf brands, logos, and…

ACTION SPORTS TELEVISION EVERY SUBSCRIBER WILL RECEIVE A FREE THREE-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION TO FUELTV+. SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET THE MAG DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR. EVERY ISSUE. IT’S A NO-BRAINER. WHY SUBSCRIBE? $59 1 YEAR 6 ISSUES FREE POSTAGE • You never miss an issue• Your copy gets delivered to your door before it’s on the store shelves• You are automatically entered into every prize draw• It’s easier and cheaper• It makes a perfect gift• Each issue contains essential content created to inform and enhance your surfing life FREE POSTAGE• Free Postage in Australia TO SUBSCRIBE: www.surfinglife.com.au/subscribe DIGITAL EDITIONS | BACK ISSUES: www.surfinglife.com.au/shop TRAVEL | CULTURE | WAVES | TECHNIQUE | BOARDS | SURFERS…

You’ve seen a lot of changes in the culture of surfing. Do you expect to see more changes, and what will they look like? I suppose the big question really is … what is surf culture? Is it really a thing anymore? From back in the ’60s, where it seemed to be a counterculture movement (to be free, to roam, to be an individual, a rebel if you will … a real anti-establishment notion),to the early ’70s, where freedom of expression and experimentation was still a big part of the whole surfing lifestyle. To then, when pro surfing arrived with the idea that this could possibly become a mainstream sport. Over this short period of time, the commercialisation of surfing has changed the perception of what surfing is quite a…

With so many cancelled competitions during COVID, it was great to see a Gold Coast company, the Usher Group, launch the Usher Cup. But what was so different about the Usher Cup, which was held on the Gold Coast? Well, straight off the lip, the entire event was supported by non-endemic companies. Is this a good thing? How can it not be? The surf industry has been doing it tough, since the exponential growth of the nineties and noughties apparel bubble suddenly burst. Getting outside help seemed crucial, and when all the sponsorship opportunities to the tune of $150K was seized within three hours of it going to market, it was damned astonishing. Non-endemics have been frowned on for years, accused of trying to hijack surfing for their gain, but…

One minute, forty-three seconds marks the regular interval of a baby being born in Australia.1 A human metronome. Time is how we measure life: birthdays, graduations, weddings, and funerals. Although the hours in each day remain the same, time doesn’t feel constant. Years speed by. Five years turn into ten … then fifteen, which loosely categorises a group of people as a generation. These cut-off points aren’t an exact science. Many forget that this age bracket moves through the same decades at different stages. For instance, Generation X were born between 1965 and 1980. They were Gen X children, teenagers, young adults, and currently, may be either 41-year-old parents or 56-year-old grandparents. Regardless of age, surfers are known to influence each other, as does the world we exist in: technology,…

We sit down with a modern-day surfing icon, Dave “Rasta” Rastovich, dubbed a “global surf activist” who over a decade ago sailed with Sea Shepherd to stop the black market dolphin trade in Japan. Now he’s raising his three-year-old son, Minoa, with life-partner Lauren Hill, and Rasta’s focus has shifted to fighting for more local, yet equally as important, issues. Closely following his environmental activism with projects like, “Saving Martha”, “Fight for the Bight” over the last few years, and more recently, the work he has been doing with the help of Pure Scot on the “Great Reef Census project”, we feel privileged to yarn with a salt-gnarled guardian of our natural world. “I think it’s important that we acknowledge that we do give a crap.” Surfing Life: Do you…

The funny thing about surf culture is you don’t really appreciate your own until you see someone else’s. I saw this happening in France in the 1990s, when the Biarritz Surf Festival, founded by Robert Rabagny, turned its back on its own rich (albeit more recent) surf culture to totally embrace the Hawaiian/Polynesian creation myth. Poor old Robert was totally besotted with big, fat, and fun-loving kahunas like Buffalo Keaulana, Boogie Kalama, Reynolds Wright and flew them in and feted them in the typical Basque way (sometimes even taking them to his second favourite party of the year, the Running of the Bulls fiesta in Pamplona), while pretty much ignoring France’s own tontons surfeurs, legends like Jacky Rott, Jo Moraiz, Joel de Rosnay and Michel Barland, who had picked up…

I love pro surfing. It’s been my life for the best part of five decades intertwined with my other love of photography. Twin passions, in a career that was kicked off with the first surfing photo I’d ever published. It was an image of Narrabeen’s Col Smith racing across the face of a tenfoot Bells bowl wave at Bells Beach during the running of the 1973 Rip Curl Pro. That one photo put me on a career path that I’m still following today. I’ve been lucky enough to witness classic heats, like the Tom Curren and Occy heat at Bells, Andy Irons and Kelly Slater at Pipe, Jake Paterson’s second last ride at Pipe to seal a Pipeline Masters win, Shane Beschen’s incredible 30-point perfect score at Kirra, and Owen…

Female freesurfing. A fairy tale. An idyllic fable where happily ever after means sponsors, perfect barrels, and remote tropical locations. Where Prince Charming is a sticker on a board, and the breadcrumbs lead to perfect waves. It may be a mythical tale we tell ourselves, but for a few women, it’s as real as the sand in our ears. On the surface, female freesurfing culture seems non-existent, merely a shared experience of being sponsored to surf outside of competition. We chat to four surfers, who, without realising it, are establishing a culture of their own. For Imogen “Imo” Caldwell, Jaleesa Vincent, Anne Dos Santos, and Vittoria “Tori” Farmer, freesurfing is their jobs, careers, and lifestyle. These ladies hail from different parts of Australia: the Sunshine Coast, Sydney, and remote Western…

“We lived, ate, and breathed it. I always had someone with me. It was rare I’d be surfing on my own.” • also known as the Boomers• born between 1946 and 1964, ages ranging from 57 to 75 Baby Boomers were named after a spike in birth rates post-World War Two. It was when the economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the war were diminishing and peace and optimism were valued. People of this generation have a strong work ethic, are resourceful and goal-orientated. They learnt to fix things themselves. Baby Boomers value “developing a meaningful philosophy in life”.3 This can be seen in the hippie movement, when they thumbed their noses at accumulating material wealth like their parent’s generation. Boomers created a counterculture and focussed on giving their…

Clearwater specialise in shaping every style of board. In the new age of surfing when there is a new shaper turning up around every corner, it is good to know you can still find quality craftsmanship. Steve Del Rosso has been shaping for over 30 years and doesn’t use a ghostshaper. Steve started shaping in WA where you had to know how to shape a good step-up board and gun, or you’d be left behind. Over a decade ago, Steve made his way to the wave-rich area of the Gold Coast to fine-tune his high-performance shaping. Since then, he has been shaping premium quality surfboards that won’t disintegrate after a couple of surfs. If you want to save money, don’t buy ten cheap boards. Buy one good one that will…

Always was, always will be Connected to the sea Nations defined by language Respect: strong identity The ocean, lore and totem We protect, listen, and learn While culture vulture takes and takes Never giving in return In the ’60s, we were beach bums And the ’70s, jobless stoners By the nineties and the noughties They stole our brands to own us In the ’20s, we’re environmentalists Olympians in the making Culture vulture imitates No leggie tan: they’re faking Sponsored, weather-wise, athletes Laidback, tech-savvy, hipsters We burn their box ’n’ labels Their egos, bigger than Shipsterns “Surf culture,” they spruik on and on Vultures in suit ’n’ ties Dissecting and describing We must ignore their lies For we define ourselves Culture’s a mere expression Of who we are and what we…