I remember asking Blake about a year or so ago if he was ever going to put together another video. I grew up watching Vroman videos and always yearned for more. Finally, Blake has finished a new video and also wrote about the process. Here’s “VRMN”:
VRMN from Blake Van Egeren on Vimeo.
“Over the last 4 years, this footage has haunted me. It was all filmed very sporadically between June 2013 and Sept 2014; during this time I was creating distance between skateboarding and myself. I needed a change in my life. I felt burnt out from being surrounded by skateboarding all the time. I managed a skate shop so it was my job, my community, my creative outlet and so on. Don’t get me wrong, between 21 – 26, I loved experiencing skateboarding in this way. This had been a dream of mine since I was younger, but I was becoming lost in it all. I have been skateboarding since I was 13 and it has given me some of the most amazing moments and friendships in my life. It has always provided me with a community of supportive individuals that have always allowed me to explore my creativity and vision. Yet I was feeling stagnant and depressed in where I was at in life and needed to make a change. I wanted to explore different creative outlets and understand myself outside of the skateboarding world. I got sober as well and found myself finding a lot of pain, resentment, and sadness beneath it all. I needed time away and I had to trust myself and jump into the unknown of that.
A lot of that energy went into becoming an Art Therapist, and one of the principles I hold is that creative energy is essentially healing energy. That trusting the creative process will bring you to where you need to go. With that in mind, I knew someday I would have to edit this video. I would have to look at this time period and make amends with these friendships, skateboarding and myself. Like I said above, this footage has haunted me for 4 years. I didn’t want to look at it for a long time. I was focusing a lot on creating this new life and this footage just reminded me of this past self that I didn’t want to think about. Over the last year, I realized that this resistance was now becoming the stagnant energy holding me back in life. I needed to start doing the work of bridging the past and present back together in my life.
I have always considered the skateboarding secondary in the skate videos I make. I have always tried to capture and express the uniqueness of the time period in which everything happened in and the relationships during that time. I felt a pull to edit this video again a couple weeks ago and allowed myself to fully embrace the process. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day editing it. I love editing and haven’t gotten lost in the process like that for awhile. I have felt a shift over the last couple months and especially after making this video. I would like to keep putting energy into bridging this gap and reconnecting.
So without further ado, here is my latest offering to the Skate Gods. May they bless all these individuals, where ever they are in their lives with radness and the Gnar.
Thank you All and Happy New Years!!
-Blake Van Egeren
PS: I would also like to express and give thanks to all the Milwaukee Artist and Musicians who allowed me to use their music and videos in this film. Support Milwaukee Music and Art.
Cast: Matt Nordness, Drew Rickaby, Gabe Chan, Chase Hopper, Fred Gall, Joel Meinholz
Vince Stranc, Jordan Kratochvil, Max Murphy, Nick Mistele, Sean Hanley, Eric Risser, Tim Olsen
Daewon Song, Camden Cimorelli, Chris Eicher, Harald Reynolds, Jevon Deede, Blake Van Egeren
Danny Stemper, Sam, Freddie Lewis, Drew Gricar, TJ Bohach, Mike Bahr, Reese Slobodianuk
John Rockafellow.
Music:
DJTheJenius:ATM (#blowsmokeverse)
Spaidez :Rock Of Ages (FREESTYLE)
Plantinum Boys: Cruisin USA
Raiannah Zazulia & Blake Van Egeren: Death Valley
Roger Waters: Deja VU