Skate ramp is their canvass

Joel Gailer and Michael Meneghetti take skating to new heights of creativity. Picture: Joe Mastroianni

Performance artists Michael Meneghetti and Joel Gailer, known as Performprint, will host a free workshop at Laverton this month on printmaking by skateboard.

Meneghetti said skaters would ride over ink to create their own artworks.

“We have a circle of ink on a canvas or a piece of paper and we skate our skateboards through that ink,” he said.

“It picks up the ink onto the wheels and spreads the ink around.

“The wheels have been carved with motifs or phrases, so you get this really interesting abstract linework happening, but then, if you look closer, you can see a few texts in the work,” Meneghetti said.

“It’s also a performance because everyone’s moving around the space and skating. So there’s a lot happening at the same time.

“This is a workshop, so I’m expecting people to come along and get into it.”

Performprint has been invited to the ninth international print conference at the China Art Academy in Hangzhou next month.

The pair has started a pozible campaign dubbed Performprint Fly to China, to help raise the money needed to travel and exhibit overseas.

The free workshop, for ages 14-20, is at the Woods Street Arts Space, Laverton, on August 22 from 1-4pm.

Help the pozible campaign at pozible.com/project/197575