When Sport Becomes Art

The advent of Bicycle Motocross (BMX) in the 1970's is a unique thing in and of itself. Kids basically started the sport, venturing onto motorcycle dirt tracks when no one else was around. Some key figures became involved and eventually, BMX racing associations were formed, complete with state and national championships. By the mid-1980's, some of the riders discovered that racing BMX wasn't enough; they were in it for the pleasure of riding wherever and however they wanted, using their bikes to create a different thing altogether—Freestyle BMX. This is a development unique to the Postmodern period. At no other point in time has a sport become art in such an obvious, transformative, and definitive way as BMX has. 

Duchamp was entirely correct when he showed that anything can be art. Understanding the transformation that occurred with BMX is important here. The bicycle, a form of transportation, became an object for sport. Its usage as a competitive device then morphed into an activity seen as free from the competition of racing. Sure, there are some who compete in freestyle competitions such as the X Games, but in its non-competitive state, Freestyle BMX is a form of art.

Video has served as the medium for the art of riding and all of its nuances to be elicited, staged, and exhibited through. Those who ride will often go to great lengths to shoot video, carefully editing the clips, then selecting just the right music as a background soundtrack. Their careers, complete with sponsorship by rider-owned BMX companies, often thrive due to critically acclaimed video parts that are mentioned in the riding magazines and websites. The in-print forms of Ride and Dig equate to Artforum while Vinyl BMX and BMXFU are the BMX world's cyber equivalents of Hyperallergic and The Brooklyn Rail.

In assessing BMX and Art, it's not only the similarity of their media that compel me to view them as parallel universes. Remember one key term: sponsorship. Young, up and coming artists are on the look-out for gallery representation and freestyle BMXers are out there hoping to be tied-in to their industry by becoming part of a stable of riders for small, rider-owned bike companies that offer high quality products. Additionally, in certain circles it would be seen as selling-out for a freestyler to ride for a large bicycle conglomerate with inferior product versus a smaller rider-owned company that only offers premium goods. So in the same sense, as an artist, who would want to be represented by someone who really doesn't know what they're doing?

An interesting development in this sport that's become art is the idea of "rider-owned". With a drop in activity in the 1990's, BMX took a severe hit. Those who rode wanted to keep on riding and make their contribution, so they took matters into their own hands, starting their own companies and keeping those companies within the realm of quality, both in concept and in day-to-day operation. It seems that the art world and its institutions could glean many insights here.

Thanks to Vinyl BMX for use of the video and to rider Kevin Porter for being the artist that he is.