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Getting to the bottoms

Oakland ride

By Carl Fisher

October 30^th, 2019

rough start

There is no shortage of material that can inspire if one looks long and hard enough. I wasn't sure quite where I would end up, but I was in Oaktown and had some time to kill before heading off to a photo talk. I've got a penchant for graffiti so I was not worried that if I just started driving around in the right direction, I would eventually strike gold, or at least multi-hued spray paint on a hard surface

the bottoms

A quick scan of Google Maps in an area that I knew had some gritty scenery yielded The Bottoms. I am a big fan of bottoms, so was intrigued by the possibilities. Turns out, it contains a skate park adjacent to the highway, which, when I happened to visit, was deserted. I was initially disappointed that there would be no humans filling the frame, but the graphics on display turned out to be plenty of inspiration on their own.

tilin

The surface was quite smooth and quick, a necessity for a smooth ride. But I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped through the archway off to one side. I was not greeted by dirt as I expected. Instead I was treated to an elaborately tiled warren. The themes were not what I would have gone for and veered toward the dark side. Nonetheless, they were quite elaborate in their execution and weren't lacking in patriotism.

foundations

Undulating surfaces do not just happen. Well, they do out in the wild, but I'm referring to the man-made kind. Sometimes they are unintentional. But when it comes to a skate park, they are definitely there for a reason. How such surfaces maintain there almost pristine appearance would have remained a mystery had I not walked off to the side of the structure that I had been spending my time on. I was thankful that there were an abundance of concrete pillars that were supporting the weight above. I wondered if there are blueprints with engineers who specialize in such structures and would know precisely how many are needed for this purpose. Perhaps such information was gleaned from the experience of earlier collapses. Or maybe there is software that has been developed just for this purpose. Unfortunately, there was no one around to ask. All the more reason to pay another visit. I just might get lucky.