CANS Skateboard

Open Edition.
+ Sticker and 4-page information card in A5.
Graphics: CANS motif, plus top graphics.
Deck: Mellow Concave, 7 layers of Canadian maple.
Size: 8.625″ x 32.625″.

Weapons of Choice

In the 1980s, writers had to work with the materials that were available on the market. These were usually spray cans from the brands "Sparvar", "Ultra-Color" or "Marabu", which were intended for painting cars or radiators. They sometimes covered very poorly on concrete and masonry, and it was almost impossible to draw clean lines with the spray heads available. There were exceptions, however, such as the highly opaque shade "Heat Red" from the brand "Auto-K", which soon achieved cult status in the scene.

But necessity is the mother of invention - and so the writers found ways to optimize the materials they had. For example, they discovered that the spray heads on the "Ellen Betrix" brand of deodorants could be used to paint relatively cleanly - and they stole them from drugstores everywhere. If you wanted to spray very fine lines, you mounted the needle of a doctor's syringe on the front of the cap.

The situation was a little different with markers: Thick felt-tip pens like the "Edding 800" were perfectly usable tagging instruments that were available in every stationery store. And so the historical marker model - with a modified label - adorns the decks of this series as a top graphic. But even with markers, "homemade" was often even better. And so there were writers who tagged with the sponges in shoe polish tins.

From the mid-1990s, spray can manufacturers began to understand that there was a market to conquer - and began to develop cans, caps and markers specifically for the needs of writers. Today, around 30 years later, the graffiti industry makes millions in sales with highly specialized products. But with the constantly growing range, something may also be lost. It was precisely the shortage that awakened the inventive spirit of the writers of the 1980s. And so the spray cans and markers in this photo also represent a time when the world of children and young people was more characterized by improvisation than it is today.