Who are Mekanism?

Fred MAECHLER, founder, director and team manager. Saviane AUZENDE, creative director and graphic designer. Cédric ALET, web designer and graphic designer.

When was Mekanism established?

Mekanism was founded in 2002.

Where are you based?

Paris, France.

I must confess that apart from Pierre Andre I'm not readliy familiar with the French skate scene. Rollerskating has always struck me as being more popular in France. How is skateboarding looked upon as a sport or past time (or way of life!)?

The French skate is scene is one of the most active in Europe, we have our own brands, magazines, videos and web sites. A new generation is coming at present and is meeting those who started in the 90’s, and with the knowledge of the older ones and the energy of the younger ones I don’t see skateboarding disappear from France in future. How is it looked upon? I guess it really depends from who is answering the question. I can just tell you that I don’t see skateboarding as a sport, as a past time or a way of life, it’s just something I love and that has always been with me since the day I put my feet on it. Without even realizing it, skateboarding decided the job I do today, most of the people I have met, most of the cities I have visited. It was a chance for me.

Is there a Mekanism skate team? Who is in it?

Mekanism is represented by 4 skaters, two pros: Franck BARATTIERO and Geoffroy LEBLANC and two ams: Bertrand SOUBRIER and Vassili RITTER.

I first heard of you guys through the collaboration with Invader. Tell us about that project? Was it important for you to have a French artist?

Mekanism has its own guideline in terms of image since 2002, we already did more than 25 designs of decks representing 7 series (you will see them in an archives section on www.mekanismskateboards.com soon). After having developed the image of Mekanism for the past three years we arrived at a stage where I was thinking about doing collaboration, it seemed to me as logical development. I was interested in Invader’s work for a while and I see correlations between his work and Mekanism, a sober and coherent image based on sign and logo. I had the opportunity to meet him so I proposed him this collaboration on a skateboard. I was not obsessed by doing something with a French artist, it was just the opportunity of meeting an artist whose work was corresponding to Mekanism’s image.

How do you think Parisians view Invader's mosaics? Have they gained much notice in the newspapers etc?

Invader is popular in France, he’s one of the leading figure in the Parisian urban culture. His audience is large because he gathers people from graffiti, skateboarding and contemporary art. His mosaics are well represented in Paris, it’s the most invaded city in the world. However, some people go past the same Invader’s mosaics every day without even noticing them, some other can find them at the first glance, it really depends on the degree of curiosity of the person. Invader had a lot of coverage in French media recently, he had a full page in Liberation, one of the biggest newspaper in France, a few months ago.

How did you meet up with John Maeda?

At first I was interested in his works, on an aesthetic point of view. But after reading his books, I was really sensitive to what he teaches us: instead of making our society more readable and more comprehensible, digital technology brings us nowadays in a wrong direction where everything is too complex and superfluous. Simplicity is a synonym of evolution, not of regression. I approached him very spontaneously, may be even naively, by proposing this collaboration but his response and commitment in this project proved me that being brilliant and famous doesn’t prevent from being open-minded and curious. It was a real lesson for us all at Mekanism.

Was this his first deck design?

I think so.

Tell us about his design and the idea behind it?

I gave him carte blanche and a few weeks later he came back to me with this concept of thrust, he made a collage of 2000 little arrows as a kind of representation of “thrust” as often seen in physics films. This collage is generated by programming, every arrow that appears and its placement have been settled by a program created by John Maeda on this occasion.

Do you see an expansion in Mekanism products or are you focussed on decks and Ts for now?

Besides Ts and decks, we do clothing and accessories, and in a near future we would like to expand our line with pants and technical jackets. But beyond this, from the moment we feel that a product or a project has to do something with Mekanism, I mean, if it’s legit, and, if it seems relevant to us, we are ready to do it. Whether it’s skateboarding affiliate or not.

With the love that goes into the Mekanism designs are the decks pieces of art that should be hung on the wall or should they be skated?

Primarily our decks are made to be skated. Whether they are normal series or collaboration decks, they are sold at the same price in skateshops. We want the people who skate to be able to
buy a deck made by an artist at the same price as a normal Mekanism deck. But I see nothing wrong, if someone wants to hang it on his wall.

OK - sell! sell! sell! Where can people find Mekanism decks?

Mekanism products can be found in any good skateshops and soon on-line atwww.jerevequejedors.com

Any info on any future plans for guest artists?

With the collaborations, we try to propose to young people the work of artists who have an approach of their discipline that stimulate curiosity by outstripping the obvious things. There are a lot of people out there who inspire us, so expect new collaborations from Mekanism.

Thank you for your time!

RTHQ.com July 2005