'Summer is Dead ... and I Killed It': The Sean Bernhardt Interview
on art and dump trucks down the shore
dump truck depth charge // nick kiefer
As a washed art critic let me tell you about one of my favorite tricks. It came about naturally, born in a black garbage bag-festooned womb on the northest side of Chicago, an amazing and claustrophobic installation that made for a claustrophobic review. (I’m not sure if it was amazing — it’s been too long — but let’s assume so.) There’s a term of art for this: ekphrasis.
It’s patently ridiculous to try and translate visual creativity into writing, I think?, although that is not a dig; it’s what I love about it, the most attractive part. An ekphrastic attempt embraces and lives in the distance between the two, I think?, the idea being to push language in a vain attempt to channel the same spirit as the work — serious Fox sisters shit, Julia included.
Anyway, it occurred to me that this interview is ekphrastic to a comical degree.
See, Sean Bernhardt’s practice is a season unto itself — he killed one to make room — where black lines and boardwalk hues are shot through with delicious doom and language bristles and waves break beneath a fang-framed sky set in a cobra’s mouth while surfers score like hazy blades across hand-cut sprays for summer’s casket, all saturated with that heavy light like a veil lays across the sun — but also everyone under that hood wants to fucking rip. It’s an Evil Paradise just down the shore, where Creature, Globe, Billabong and others can be found on the finely ground bone-white sands.
Oh, that wasn’t the ekphrastic part; I don’t have it in me.
No, the ekphrastic part is that some of my favorite work of Sean’s are his collages — and this interview is a collage too. Taken from email responses, Insta DMs, his own archives and experiences, and Thrasher [#520, Nov ‘23], because Mark Jasper nailed it so I wanted to lift a bit from him: that Bernhardts’ work, in any of its forms, are “surreal fantasies” and nightmares both, but in a good way. Like a sesh where slams are welcome. All of this was collated, arranged, edited for length and clarity, and is now a new thing for you, sluts.
Summer is dead, you’ll see ... but the gnar never ends.
don’t leave us hanging … dish, bb! // sean
4ts: First off, you're recently engaged, right? How does it feel?
Sean: Yeah man, it feels great and everything worked out smoothly for me. I had planned to sneak it in on a trip to VA to see some family and I couldn't have asked for a better place/time to do it. It was very memorable for us and on Friday the 13th of December!
Take me through the dump truck into the dish. As you know, I'm D.T.E. (dump truck everything) all day, and I was hyped on that one! Did you do any warmup tricks first? Was it kind of wonky coming in more at an angle than straight on? Was it a war?
That dish was always sitting around my nearest abandoned/DIY type spot and I decided to skate it a few times. I posted the clip of a fs 5050 ollie into it a while back, and I remember that day I was thinking to myself how cool it would be to line it up to the loading dock next to where I was skating and pop off into it another day. It sat in the back of my head for some time and the days went by and I finally decided to go back and film the dump truck.
I wanted to get it for Filthy Ditch Crew's last edit they put out, I think i told them about it and they seemed really stoked to see the clip. I just went right for it that day and after a few attempts and realizing my wheels weren't fully hitting all four down I decided to duct tape a small sign I had just to help out with landing/ride out. I moved the dish around a few different angles and after a few slams I then rode away, it came a lot quicker than I expected and I got the four down. Trying to figure out the angle to have it resting on was the hardest part and a war in itself, it was a lot more flimsy than it seemed and the backside had jagged metal parts sticking out of it facing directly at me when looking down into it. Just super sketchy and one of those ‘make or get fucked tricks’ sort of haha.
Why are dump trucks always sick as hell?
I've always liked the way dump trucks look. They are gnarly to watch off of big stuff and will never go out of style in my opinion. It's a good trick to have in your bag as well, they feel good at all spots.
CYBERTRUCKIN', original pencil drawing/sharpie on paper, 2024
You know I had to ask: Jersey skate heroes?
The one and only Freddy Gall, he's the King of Spots here.
John Gardner told me once Gall calls dump trucks ‘Arab money.’ He didn’t say why, but that always pops in my head.
Hahaha, I’ve heard that! Also Gall is a beast at dumps. Charlie Gush does some good ones. Same with [Jake] Snelling and Zane [Timpson].
Gush does ‘em switch, too.
He does that shit on those big-ass boards too. It seems easier at times but can be so sketchy with no nose!
Isn’t Gush a Brit? Dump lorrie?
Yup.
One thing I love about your skating is you're one of those guys always taking a different approach, whether a curb, a bank, a curb-to-bank, whatever. Where does that come from?
I grew up mostly doing the same ol’ tricks and skating a lot of gaps, ledges and just straight up flat ground in the suburbs. I got older and in my late teens/early 20's I wasn't skating much at all, just drinking/partying a lot back then. Being away from skating at that time then getting back into it and looking for new spots or revisiting spots over the years, I've learned ways to look at things differently for sure.
Sometimes it means cleaning out the spot a bit, changing the route of a run-up or just waxing the shit out of something to get your trucks to move. It inspires me to keep trying new things out there. I used to skate parks more frequently but I pretty much cut them out of my life completely — I just get bored of being in them and skating the same obstacles as everyone else.
a collage collage // sean
In your interview with Confusion, you mentioned being deep into skating since you were a kid. How did that shape your artwork?
Skating as a kid was always inspiring to me because we would always be making ramps, swapping decks/trucks/wheels when we broke stuff, and linking up at the local park for sessions regularly. As time went by I was definitely more influenced by the skate culture around me and being part of it sparked a lot of creativity in my mind which led me to pursue the arts more. Everyone wore different brands and the graphics were always changing, so I think that got me hooked on art.
Same interview, you said you got into surfing more in high school after quitting sports; I was a sports guy in high school too! What did you play? Did they impact your art at all?
I was really into soccer and baseball. I just got to a point where the coaches were really rough on me and it was a lot more work to be involved with than I thought at the time. I would say neither really impacted my artwork much, but baseball might have sparked a little bit of inspiration that ties into my work — I really like all the old school aspects and history behind it all.
When did snowboarding come into the picture?
During high school I was snowboarding more frequently and we would set up jibs in our backyards whenever it snowed. The winters back then ruled, we actually had a lot of blizzards and it stayed cold from like October-March in NJ. My dad took me to Camelback in PA for the first time and I was hooked after that. I just remember riding the bunny hill they had for like a full day and then getting stoked to keep going back up.
fs 5050 to bs shifty, taking flight with less daylight // sean
Have surfing and snowboarding helped shape your work too, in ways outside of skating?
Surfing and snowboarding mean just as much to me as skating, even though I decided to get more into skating and snowboarding over the last few years. Traveling in the past for surfing helped me come up with some of the dark beach styles that people enjoy from me with my illustrations, and hitting the mountains in VT is always a nice break from the daily grind and always inspires me.
All three are different but they feel the same to me, you know. Just things that I can't let go of and enjoy way too much. Go have FUN … you'll often see nature, ocean, waves, mountains, animals + more in my art because of my experiences and hobbies I enjoy the most still.
The perceptions are changing, I think, but did coming up in the surf and on the slope in more of like an 'underdog' kind of scene, compared to out West or New England or wherever, inform your art at all?
I think it made my work a bit more punk in a way. I kind of go against everything else and obviously nature plays a huge role with things over this way more and how my work has been cultivated. We really work with what we got here.
fs slash & spray; the lip is a prism // nick kiefer
You work in a variety of mediums, but most notably in illustration and collage. Do you see yourself as 'more' of an artist in one medium or another, or is it more so one big practice?
I've always felt that I am a jack-of-all-trades in a sense with the way I create. I've done so many different art forms and am always up to try new things with my work or if someone has a suggestion. I think over time I just dove into the illustration side more because I was getting such a huge response back from them, both in the US and internationally.
People told me in the past as an artist you will always seem to change it up and that's been very accurate all these years. I support all the other artists out there that like to do it all, I think it's the most fun way to go about things and more rewarding as a human. People can see me as an illustrator/collage maker but I also have so much more to offer with my work. The list goes on.
Let's talk collage, b/c collages are dope. Thanks for consulting on the Campos one, btw, as a newbie I extra appreciate it. Why do you think collage is so heavy in skateboarding? Especially when it comes to adverts; crack any mag, and you'll see some collage campaigns.
I think the cut and paste style just never goes out of style and everyone can relate to it in some way. As kids we all liked to write on things, cut things up, stick stickers, etc. Without some form of madness (collages) thrown into the skate scene things would just be plain old boring for anyone to look at.
CITY BY THE SEA, original analog collage, 2024
When I started making them, I knew I wanted to limit my medium, so I went with vintage skate mags. When I got the shrink wrapped, never-cracked 2008 run of Transworld, part of me hesitated to cut that shit up, but then I remembered: skating is about making art through destruction. You eat up ledges and curbs; you bondo cracks; it's all an interplay between taking and making. Do you see/feel that connection between collage and skating?
Oh 100%. A lot of people in the past have been like ‘how could you do that, why do you cut those mags up?’ Chop some stuff up and make some mistakes, go through them again and keep going. I save a lot of the magazines that I have gone through over time even if they are really ripped up and have a lot of things cut out. Skating is really relatable with collage making, you're doing just as much pushing around just in a different way (tracking down the mags you want to use, getting the supplies, changing out blades, chopping and glueing, etc.)
How sick is it to be able to place stuff down and get a good look at it before you glue it in place? As a newb, it's my favorite thing about the form, ha.
It's definitely nice to be able to just sit back and look at them and move stuff around if needed or swap things out. It's very playful and gives you a chance to think a bit and let your eyes figure out what will come next on the piece. Practice and patience with them always.
What's the relationship between you and Leftover Skates?
I've followed Mike since the beginning of Instagram. I have always liked his skate style and the stuff he prints. After some time I decided to reach out to him knowing that he's a western PA guy and I am from NJ to order a tee/board and ever since that day I have decided to support him and keep buying his stuff. I just like how natural everything is and looks with his product, it's more organic and relatable then the mass produced bullshit you see out. Not to mention he always drops some really nice football shaped decks and the 89 shape now, huge fan.
What's your workspace/workflow like? I think people don't really understand there's a lot of effort that goes into art.
I have an art studio in Manasquan, NJ right by town, and I've been working out of here for the last 6 years. My space is really narrow but I have it set up nicely, more of a small shop vibe when you walk through. I worked out of a larger space upstairs but moved down into the basement because it's a bit cheaper, less room (I don't need much to work off) … I am usually over here at least 5 days a week (mon-fri) 8 hours a day working on various freelance projects and my own work always.
Having a studio has really helped me stay on track and keep motivated cause I know I need to get art done and there's people out there waiting for me to make them graphics. I have treated what I do as a regular job for so long because it's just as hard work as anything else. Some people definitely don't get it, but the ones that have been deep into it for so long do. More time goes into just communicating with clients, figuring out the path that they want to take on certain graphics, drawing/editing/inking stuff, etc. I could go on for days. As artists we should be getting paid a lot more, without a doubt.
Let's talk about weapons: What tools do you find yourself using most often in your illustration and collage work?
I have been using Copic Multiliners [pens] a lot lately and continue to use just regular Sharpie markers (fine point and ultra) for all my drawings. I like how they bleed along the edges at times, especially when I do hand drawn fonts more often. Strathmore tracing/regular paper is a must as well. When I collage its plain old scissors, Exacto, Elmer’s glue stick and some tape.
Do you remember the first time graphics made an impact on choosing a board?
I feel like as a kid i would just grab whatever had the more cartoony/bubbly graphic I could find that I could relate to — I always backed World Industries, Toy Machine, Habitat, DGK, Alien Workshop, etc. styles. Those guys were putting out cool stuff and it stood out to me especially in my area … when I looked through magazines I would instantly just be diving into the board section and deciding on what to get next.
Did you used to get those CCS mailers? Did you spend a lot of time looking at all the various board graphics? I def did.
I’d be constantly looking at CCS and just would go right to the board graphics, same with any other mag. My brain just instantly wants to what’s new or what’s coming out, always. It’s funny man, I always have this one stuck in my head [editor’s note: it’s the Flip Cheech and Chong deck, a classic of the form].
All-time favorite graphic or skate deck artist?
That's a tricky one for me since I like so many different styles. I don't even know where to begin!
Obviously there's always a place for more 'metal' kind of informed art, which I feel like your illustration style can fall into, especially your font work. But it seems like we're in a real renaissance right now, when you look at like Limosine or There and other companies and bands and rappers and such finding inspiration in the spiky stuff. Why do you think that is? What makes it so appealing? And do you dig the general trend?
If I knew the answer to that I would tell you! haha I just don't pay too much attention to what's out there these days. I feel like there's been so many trends the last few years and you know it's just getting stagnant really. I'll be over here sticking to the doomy shit
It's maybe a weird thing to fixate on considering how wild and detailed your stuff is, but I really gravitate towards your font work. Can you tell me a bit about what inspires that?
The metal/doom vibe is what I go after. Even if it's a more basic looking font I like to add some fine details or stippling or tweak out the ends. I think listening to a lot of bands out that fall into that realm have rubbed off big time on my choice for font type … all hail Electric Wizard.
How do you balance legibility with aesthetics [in your fonts]?
I try not to go too overboard with my wording, I feel like there comes a point when I'm working on it and I know when to decide to cut out detail or just leave it out completely until I have the outline done and piece scanned in. I feel like still to this day I am growing and learning what font types work together, sometimes I can be super off but I am slowly getting better. I like the blockier/punk styles because you can sort of split it half and half in terms of detail, and they read clean and legible more.
So, who or what killed summer, and how can I thank them?
Summer is dead year round and I killed it. You can pay me in more blank stickers to draw on and get my point across in the streets.
It's a great turn of phrase, and I've always been interested in the use of words in art. How do you come up with these 'slogans' — for lack of a better word — like summer is dead or skate alone forever? Do they pop in your head first and you illustrate to them? Do they arrive after the art? Do you find them most applicable to your clothing or more product-oriented aspects of your practice?
‘Summer is dead’ has a few different meanings to me. It's sort of my hatred of the typical NJ beach scene — crowded, bennies, beach badges, lifeguards, stuck-up surfers, litter, and all around nuisance.
The second part is how winter can be really dark here, a lot of feeling down, depressed, and less daylight — empty, cold etc. I just always laughed to myself whenever I said it and I was like this sticks, people seem to get a kick out of it too sometimes.
‘Skate alone forever’ popped into my head after many solo skate sessions and my need to be alone at all times. It's tiring to be waiting on people for a skate sesh and then have them no show or just make excuses on why they can't come. Just get out and skate and shut up, that kind of thing. Both were ideas that just popped into my head first then I worked off them, whether it was some doodles or the full illustration. I think they translated well for my merch for sure, but both were just some visuals I made for fun. I never really plan too much what I will use or not use.
SKATE ALONE, original sharpie illustration on paper, 2024
When you go to Evil Paradise, you see all sorts of ways to experience your art. The clothing, the prints, the accessories, the decks. Do you enjoy using your art for a variety of mediums?
I think my work translates over well for anything. Obviously some graphics might be a bit too detailed or wild, but I have many designs that have a more simplistic vibe but are still a bit edgier that people dig. I find that the mouths still, slogan/font and the more skate stylized graphics get more attention these days.
Are there any particular ways your art gets out there that make you extra hyped? Like, I feel like creating skate decks has gotta feel pretty fucking dope — I feel like that's the dream for skaters/artists, right?
I think it's cool whenever I do some freelance work for some smaller company or business around the world, big or small. I just love to make stuff for people out there in the parts I know nothing about. I never thought my work would spread as far as it has, and I couldn't be more stoked on that part. Seeing my stuff on skate decks is huge to me because I never thought I'd see that day come, ever. It doesn't even matter who I am working with, just always cool to have someone want to put a graphic of mine out on a board.
You designed Skate Jawn issue #69 [editor’s note: nice] right? How did that happen? Were you hyped on how it turned out?
I hit up Skate Jawn to see if they wanted a tee design from me and after that I was like wait, why not do a little spread or something? I didn't even realize that they did features on artists too much until I was flipping through their site one day and saw the section. I had a blast using the art I did and altering it a bit for my spread. I tried to mix in some extra little graphics if you check it out, and it turned out really cool. I ended up doing a frog jawn graphic as well as getting that art in, it was a nice combo for me!
ENDLESS SID, original analog collage, 2024
How did the Thrasher feature come about? Was it surreal to be in the Bible, or nbd? Were you stressing on getting the pic that goes with it?
Around the same time my Creature Everslick decks dropped I hit up the art director to see if he'd be down to get me in for a canvas feature and it definitely took some time since they are usually backed up with submissions. I went through all my work, picked out some favorites along with the skate shots my buddy Nick snapped and blasted them out. I feel like I was waiting forever for that canvas feature but realistically only a few months went by, it was well worth the wait and still to this day I am happy about what came out of it. Definitely one of those features you can't replicate. I wasn't stressing on the pic too heavily but i definitely was hoping they chose a gnarly one for it. The photo that was used means a lot to me, spot/trick, all of that
MACHINE GUN ROUND
boneless or bean plant? boneless
fs or bs? fs
blunt or noseblunt? blunt
blunt, bong, bowl, or j? j when I did smoke
fingerflip kickflip-wise or heelflip-wise? kick
THPS or Skate? thps
which fictional skater shreds hardest? otto rocket
size of your ride? 9" egg
what's the wheels? my wheels are so shot out right now i don't even know [editor’s note: the way it should be]
skaters we should check out? jimmy larsen, matt houran, charlie gush
illustrators we should check out? ryan wade, frank consoli, embraced by death
collagists we should check out? adam medford, matt attack, dan lean
mags/casts/sites/musicians we should check out? elated magazine, reckless randy, haywire
all-time favorite skate clip/video? emerica, this is skateboarding
baker maker taker, or clean it up? put in some extra effort and clean it up!
END OF MGR
Last one: anyone you want to shout out or thank?
My fiancé Deb for dealing with my shit at all times, my family, all the homies that support me in Jersey.
CHARLIE, original analog collage on postal sticker, 2024