From Poetry of Sex to SilkmasterSB: The Art of Skateboarding Woven by Japanese Printing Craftsmen

Skateboarding has transcended the boundaries of sport, intersecting with fields such as art, fashion, and interior design to create a new culture.
SilkmasterSB, created by Silkmaster Co., Ltd. , a print factory based in Shizuoka, is challenging itself to create a new culture based on skateboarding culture.

At silkmasterSB, we accept orders for original skateboards.
We have now started selling our own art decks.

The "DNA" that connects art and street culture: A story that began with "Poetry of Sex"

In the late 1980s, Japanese street culture was still being talked about as a "culture."
A new brand was quietly born in Shizuoka.
The title is "Poetry of Sex."

T-shirts, hoodies, and other cut-and-sew items are used as canvases.
The brand expresses society and emotions with a poetic and street-like sensibility.
The brand attracted attention for its designs that freely combine art, music, and fashion.

"Poetry" and "Sex"
The name is a combination of contrasting words,
"Reason and impulse," "stillness and movement," "completion and incompletion,"
It was meant to express the dual nature of human beings and the reality of life.

All graphics are silkscreen printed in-house.
The style of the collage-like layout on the T-shirt is
It is no exaggeration to say that it was a pioneer of the "craft culture" of today.

The aesthetic sense left behind by Poetry of Sex

For a time, Poetry of Sex resonated with the Tokyo street scene.
It was something that was secretly talked about in fashion magazines and among buyers.
However, what Akira Totsuka placed importance on was not "trends" but "expression itself."
It was ultimately an "art testing ground" where we could freely express our sensibilities.

"Poetry of Sex was my brand for printing T-shirts like I was writing poetry.
The current Silkmaster SB is an extension of that.
——Akira Totsuka, CEO of Silk Master Co., Ltd.

The brand closed down after a few years,
The two spirits of "the mind of an artist" and "the pride of a printing craftsman" remain at the heart of Silk Master's manufacturing.

Turning skateboards into art - the challenge of printing technology

The "sensitivity to see print as expression" honed through Poetry of Sex
In 2021, it transformed into a new canvas: skateboarding .

Unlike a t-shirt, a skateboard is made of curved, hard wood.
Furthermore, to faithfully reproduce colorful art,
The material, pressure, ink adhesion, and gloss - everything was a new challenge.

The craftsmen spent two and a half years trying and failing
We have established a system that "achieves perfect prints even from a single sheet."

Fluorescent, foil, matte, glow in the dark, pearl...
"Printing expression" that brings out the unique styles of each artist to the fullest.
It's all in one deck.

Beautiful whether you display it or ride it. ——The new value of "ridable art"

The silkmasterSB deck is
It was created with the theme of " combining the fun of skating with the beauty of decoration ."

If you hang it on the wall, it will look like a gallery.
Place it at your feet and it will become a symbol of skate culture.

The seven-layer Canadian maple and epoxy resin construction
It boasts strength that can withstand serious competition use.
We strive to create not only beautiful designs, but also perfect works of art that you can actually skate on.

Co-creation with artists: skateboards become canvases

Currently, silkmasterSB has over 60 artists, including illustrators, photographers, and animators.

We use printing technology to maximize the reproduction of each artist's worldview,
It elevates the "deck as art" to a new form of expression.

In 2021, at "THE PLUG" in Shibuya
"INDECKS PHOTO EXHIBITION" held.
The sight of skateboards lined up in the gallery
It was exactly the "fusion of art and street" that Poetry of Sex described.

Bringing the spirit of Poetry of Sex to the world. A new challenge made in Japan

Poetry of Sex taught me,
There are no rules to expression.
That free spirit is now carried on by the silkmasterSB.

"The decks made by Japanese printing craftsmen,
I want it to be displayed in rooms and galleries all over the world."
—Akira Totsuka

A single deck printed at a factory in Shizuoka,
After passing through Tokyo, it reaches the global cultural scene.
It is a continuation of the poem left by Poetry of Sex,
It's a project to rewrite it for the modern era.

silkmasterSB | The joy of skating, the beauty of decoration

• Official website: https://www.silkmaster-sb-45.com

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silkmaster_sb/

• Management: Silk Master Co., Ltd. (Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City)

• Representative: Akira Totsuka

summary

• Poetry of Sex is the starting point for the idea of ​​"printing in order to express."

• This mindset gave birth to a new culture called silkmasterSB.

• Made in Japan printing technology transforms skateboards into art.

Skateboarding is poetry, craft, and freedom.
That is the story of silkmasterSB, continuing from Poetry of Sex.