Thomas Campbell’s Ye Olde Destruction opens with two vintage station wagons (a Cadillac and a Ford) driving parallel to one another on a lonely desert road. They collide and playfully careen off one another, the impact registered only in the cymbal crashes of No Age’s soundtrack, the only sound that emanates from the film. There is no diegetic sound; instead of the familiar noises of skateboards, there is only No Age, who composed a freewheeling, gloriously nostalgic, and entirely engrossing soundtrack.Ye Olde Destruction is the culmination of seven years of a self-funded labor of love, all of it captured in beautiful, grainy 16mm film. While it has some incredible skate footage, the film leans more arthouse than it does traditional skate video. It feels like a film Wim Wenders might have made after seeing Pontus Alv’s I like it here inside my mind. Don’t wake me this time.
Review by: Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Campbell’s film revels in explorations of nowhere, of abandoned areas and blank slates. The vintage cars travel desolate desert roads, leading the wagonloads of skaters to equally barren spots, where they create something out of nothing. Over and over we watch these skaters create and sculpt concrete ramps and banks, repair derelict skate parks, and reclaim the forgotten to create new memories captured on film.
Layered over this portrait of creation and reclamation are the themes of travel, movement, discovery. Almost as important as salvage and salvation is the journey into the unknown, the empty landscape, the numerous neglected spaces that make up the fabric of Ye Olde Destruction. And lacquered over that creative drive and wanderlust is yet another leitmotif—that of time: passing time, time spent creating, time spent with friends, spent skating, building, experiencing and being present in the moments as they pass. Campbell transports us through emptiness to places to be reclaimed, and more often than not we spend the entire day in these spots, shadows lengthening as lines are captured later and later in the day, eventually overcome by twilight and darkness.
Ironically, this is where Ye Olde Destruction deviates the most from most skate videos—it finds or creates a spot, and then celebrates it as long as possible, literally until the sun goes down and the beers are gone and there’s nothing left to do but go home. We don’t jump from ledge to rail, city to city, skater to skater, but remain in one place, watching incredible skaters make the most of everything a spot has to offer, including the cars they drove to get there.
In its final moments, this film about the possibilities of the open road, about enjoying the moments and people we have available to us, and about creation and reclamation ends in a demolition derby, fittingly in the middle of nowhere. The two cars that have taken us everywhere in the film—that have served as transport, medium, muse, and obstacle—are finally destroyed. Perhaps these final moments are about burning out and not fading away; perhaps it’s merely cathartic fun at the end of a long, beautiful journey. In any case, after this joyous carnage there’s a fade to white, and then credits scrawled out in Sergej Vutuc’s lovely handwriting, and a strange desire to throw your board in the back of your car and drive an hour out into the middle of nowhere with a few friends, heading home (or a nearby roadhouse) only when dusk and darkness make it impossible to go on.
Featuring: Evan Smith, Jon Dickson, Jason Adams, Rick Mccrank, Max Schaaf, Caswell Berry, Brent Atchley, Ellisa Steamer, Ray Barbee, Al Partanen, Omar Salazar, Jackson Pilz, Robbie Russo, Ben Raemers, Chris Russell, Willis Kimble, Cody Chapman, Rayne Beres, John Worthington, Emmanuel Guzman, Cole Wilson, Roger Mihalko, Tony Miorana, Aron Suski, Mark Suciu, Andy Roy, Eli Williams, Israel Forbes, Nick Garcia, Oski Rozenberg ,Barker Barrett, Dennis Buzenitz, Tony Trujillo, Sid Melvin, Zarosh Eggleston, Zach Wallin, Ishod wair, Chico Brennes, Louie Barletta, Collin Provost, Stefan Janoski, Raven Tershy, T Funk,
Taylor bingaman. Jeremy Leabres, Ben Raemers and Grant Taylor.
Ye Olde Destruction can be found at your preferred high-street or online skate store.
