Foundations
Of Style

PAt Fisher
A five-part series which serves as a roadmap for
​the cultivation of new riding style in BMX.

FOUNDATIONS OF STYLE #1:
​ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Author: Pat Fisher
Date Published: November 17, 2016
​Synopsis: This is the short, yet dense, introductory piece of Pat Fisher’s series: Foundations of Style. In less than three pages, Pat asserts that the commonly heard complaint about “lack of originality” in BMX riding is symptomatic of bigger issues about how we understand BMX and its relationships with itself, its participants, and its materials. According to him, underlying the “stagnation” seen in modern BMX, is a failed attempt to “think outside the box about ‘thinking outside the box.’” By the conclusion, he lays the groundwork for his upcoming written roadmap for a more open and creative BMX world.  

​FOUNDATIONS OF STYLE #2:
​OUR COMPETITIONS

Author: Pat Fisher
Date Published: November 25, 2016
​Synopsis: In the second installment of Pat Fisher’s series Foundations of Style, it is argued that the BMX industry and the community at-large should embrace new styles of BMX in order for creativity to thrive. This piece focuses on the intersection of competitions (and those orchestrating them) and creative bike riding. According to the author, that relationship plays a strong role in the development of, and often stifling of, creativity in BMX. This piece addresses various notable contentions such as the oft-lamented issue of how to organize and judge various riding styles in formal competition as well as what defines a discipline in BMX. In addition, it integrates a historical perspective on why BMX competitions exist as they do today. ​

​FOUNDATIONS OF STYLE #3:
​OUR BODIES

Author: Pat Fisher
Date Published: December 4, 2016
​Synopsis: For the third installment of Pat Fisher’s Foundations of Style, we dive into the issue of the body and its connection to creativity, or the stagnation of creativity, in BMX. Though ideas regarding gender are evolving in the world at-large as well as in BMX, there is much to be unpacked and discussed when it comes to this important and dominant way of categorizing and organizing society and its cultural subsets, i.e. BMX. In this well-cited and very direct piece, Pat argues that creativity can thrive only if we recognize that we have narrowed the definition of BMX unnecessarily by unofficially mandating the youthful male body as the only tool by which BMX should be practiced. This piece concludes with a series of tips for evolving BMX and our interpersonal relations in hopes of cultivating a more inclusive, open, and creative community.

FOUNDATIONS OF STYLE #4:
​OUR MACHINES

Author: Pat Fisher
Date Published: December 4, 2016
​Synopsis: The fourth installment of Pat Fisher’s Foundations of Style begins with a discussion of the relationship between one of the most obvious parts of BMX—our bikes— and originality and creativity in modern BMX culture. It then analyzes a very relevant and illuminating example of modern bicycle creativity and its unique lessons. From the micro-perspective regarding technological innovations riders have helped generate, to the macro-perspective concerning global economic inequalities, this piece makes a clear connection between style/originality and some very real and recognizable BMX and global issues.

FOUNDATIONS OF STYLE #5:
OUR TERRAINS

Author: Pat Fisher
Date Published: December 4, 2016
​Synopsis: The final installment of Pat Fisher’s Foundations of Style approaches the intersection of the terrains we ride and the issue of originality in BMX. The article begins with an argument that—though the terrain we ride does affect how we ride—our concepts of what constitutes accepted “riding styles” affect how we interpret and utilize the spots we find in the world. Pat continues to say that our natural human habit of organizing and utilizing the massive and complex world around us can infringe upon creative thinking and thus creativity in BMX itself. Finally, to round out the piece and the series as a whole, Pat concludes with a summary of the whole series and a restatement of its major themes.