Neckface on Why eBay ‘Is the Sickest Website in the World,’ Working With Nike and Wanting to Build Skateparks Worldwide
Not long after delivering one of the year’s boldest and most interesting collaborations with Nike SB, California-based artist Neckface teamed up with eBay with an auction that skateboarders would love.
Neckface and eBay held an auction from Nov. 11 that ended today with five pairs of his Nike SB Dunk, which dropped in October. The coveted look came with a custom, one-of-a-kind metal shoe box that was exclusive to the auction. Proceeds from the auction benefitted The Skatepark Project, a nonprofit organization founded by skateboarding icon Tony Hawk devoted to creating safe, quality places to skate.
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The artist confirmed on his Instagram account today that the auction raised $18,100.
Here, Neckface shares what a skatepark of his design with FN would look like and what made partnering with eBay desirable.
Why was eBay the ideal partner for you?
“Because eBay is the sickest website in the world. And I’m not even joking. I’m not getting a bonus or whatever we’re saying that. EBay is super sick. I use eBay for a lot of my inspiration for my artwork. I’m a flea market and thrift store guy, so anytime I look up any weird stuff, I write it down either in a sketchbook or on my phone and then later on when I have time, I’m like, ‘Let’s see what’s going on on eBay.’ I look and I do research. It’s like a library to me of all the cool stuff that I’m interested in. When this opportunity came up, I got a buddy over there who works at eBay and they had mentioned that they work with The Skatepark Project. I had already been talking to Tony Hawk about doing these skateable sculptures, and my [Nike Dunk SB] shoe was coming out at the same time and I was thinking about making these metal boxes anyway, so I was like, ‘Let’s just tie all this in together. Let’s do these boxes that I’m going to make no matter what and whatever money I make from these boxes will go to go into my personal own research of trying to get these skatepark built.’ The money is going to the skateparks officially.”
What makes this custom, one-of-a-kind metal shoe box in the eBay auction special?
“What makes it so special is I hand cut every single one of them and they’re pieces of art. I make all these metal masks, I do a lot of metal work and there’s a big heavy metal theme on the shoes. One of my main inspirations was seeing people do a special box when they drop cool shoes. I was like ‘OK, this is my take on a special box.'”
Courtesy of eBay
What was the inspiration behind your recent Nike SB Dunk release?
“The inspiration was a pair of sandals that I had that were really ugly looking. They were so ugly that I put patches all over them and made them look tough, just like everyone puts patches all over their vests, their metal jackets and stuff before they go to a concert. And I’ve been doing that type of stuff for years. I made these sandals looks super sick, and when I got approached to do these shoes I was like, ‘Hey, I want to do this, but I want to create the artwork for every single patch on these things.’ Nike was juiced on it. They let me go crazy and do everything that I wanted to do.”
Who are your favorite metal bands?
“My obvious answer is King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, but right now, I’m going to say Metallica because Kirk [Hammett] from Metallica, the lead , posted a photo [recently] with the OG Gibson guitar and he has my shoes on.”
Why did you choose to support The Skatepark Project with your eBay partnership?
“I’m a skateboarder, 100% skateboarder, and I always tell people that I will pick up the board before I pick up the brush. What I mean by that is there’s been many times when I’m on deadline for some artwork to be turned in, and somebody will hit me up like, ‘Hey, you want to go skate? Let’s go skate.’ I’m like, ‘Man I got to turn this in but I’m going to go skating.’ If I turned some work in late it’s because I was out skating. So first and foremost, I’m a skateboarder and skate parks tie the community together. That’s where a skateboarder goes and finds out that there’s some people that are the same as him or her or whoever. Everyone gets along and has fun at skate parks, and when I first went to a skatepark that was concrete, I looked at it and my mind was blown first that anyone even knew the stuff that we wanted to skate, and then also who built this? Who made these parts? My mind, just being an artist and a skateboarder has just been going crazy for years. I’ve been coming up with all these skate-able sculptures for the past 10 years. I have like a sketchbook full of these ideas. I had the shoe coming out, and my buddy started working at eBay. EBay has been working with The Skatepark Project forever, which is Tony Hawk’s foundation to build skate parks in underserved communities and I was going to make these boxes, so we just tied it all in together. We’re just trying to get these skate-able sculptures built for all these kids just to keep inspiring the youth and showing kids that skateboarding is a big creative thing.”
What what would your first skatepark look like? And where would it be?
“If you watch the Nike SB commercial for my shoe, there’s actually a skate-able object in there, and that’s the first time the world has ever seen one of these objects. So that’s what they would look like, and that’s why it would stand out. If you go and watch that, you’ll see how crazy that looks compared to a regular cookie cutter skatepark. Where it would be? I’m trying to get these things around the world, but I’d like to start in my backyard, which is California, and then hopefully take over the world.”
When do you anticipate you’ll have your first skatepark built?
“Man, it just depends on how many bids we get on those boxes.”
What did skating provide you growing up, and what does it continue to provide you today?
“That’s the same question, what it provided for me when I was younger and as an adult, because I wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for skateboarding and the attitude that comes with it. My style of artwork is a little bit different than everyone else’s and different from what people are used to, and there’s been a lot of people that are like, ‘Hey man, your artwork sucks, you should stop.’ Me being a skateboarder and having the skateboarder attitude is just like, ‘Man, I don’t care what you think. I’m having fun and I’m going to do this no matter what.’ Every skateboarder knows that they’re going to skate no matter what, you know what I mean? If you go to a skate park and somebody is like, ‘Hey, your tricks suck, you’re pushing the wrong way.’ If you’re a real down skateboarder, you’re like, ‘I don’t care what you think about my tricks or the way I skate. I’m still going to skate and have fun.’ That’s what my whole career has been like. I’m going to do whatever I want as long as I’m having fun.”
Do you have any other collaborations in the works?
“I’d like to do some more work with Nike. I’ll just say Nike because I don’t want to corner myself into one silhouette that’s on my wish list. So we’re going to go with a broad Nike. Everything Nike does, let’s do it.”
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