11 years after the release of Alien Workshop’s Mind Field, Jake Johnson’s section has matured to be one of the defining parts of its era. Johnathan Mehring and Farran Golding revisit Jake’s renaissance during that period in photo and editorial form via Slam City’s latest Lightbox feature. Mehring does a nice job of summing up what made that part at that point in time absolutely magical.
I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say there are few video parts from this century which get the amount of praise Jake’s in Mind Field does. Why do you think it became so revered?
It was groundbreaking. Almost every trick in there had never been done or thought of. He was so far ahead of his time but not so much that people didn’t realise his talent. He raised the bar and brought an East Coast sensibility to skating with these wallie and wallride tricks but in a way that hadn’t been thought of and, definitely, never been done. That East Coast sensibility coupled with a skill level and gnarliness; put together that was such a refreshing and unique thing that resonated with everyone. It was creative skating at its best.
Read the rest of the interview here, revisit the part below.