Natas Kaupas "Pig" skateboard deck

5 colour transfer screen print on fully dipped Canadian maple
9.5 inches x 31.5 inches
14.75 inch wheelbase
Manufactured by NHS
Limited to 300

In 2011, legendary 80's pro skateboarder Natas Kaupas came to Berlin to skate my concrete sculpture "Papa und Ich". After skating together, he asked me if I would like to make a graphic for his "Designarium" project. The obvious answer was "YES!"

This board finally hit the streets in May 2015, and NHS are already sold out!

About this graphic:

While trying to solve the problem of the cat on the "1991" graphic I got thoroughly pissed off and thought "This is bullshit! This is not what I do!" So I had to ask myself, what DO I do?! The answer was - I fuck things up! And that's how the "Pig" board was born.
I really like the first board Natas had in 1985. This fat shape with no nose reminds me of the first "real" skateboard I ever saw, reminds me of the Beastie Boys, Back To The Future… it just feels right. And there is something really pure about the first Natas graphic. So I decided I wanted to make a modern version of this original.
Now to the "fucking things up" part. The first thing I did was flip the classic triangle upside down, and replaced the panther with Jesus! Jesus was allegedly a carpenter, so I always imagined that he would be building ramps if he was a skater. I drew Jesus banging in a big nail, as I like the idea he could be building something useful like a ramp, or banging nails through the wrists of people being crucified. This "Create/Destroy" theme repeats in the top graphic.
The inverted triangle reminded me of a martini glass, which gave me the option to use the middle "T" of Natas as the stem of the glass. But of course, it also had to be inverted, and if we're going to do that we HAVE to make it a cross! Natas used to get a lot of shit from Christians back in the day, as his name backwards is "satan". Putting the T upside-down meant the whole name had to be flipped, which kind of makes it read "satan" - the perfect compliment to an image of Jesus!
The type on the tail references the "Santa Monica Airlines" on the original, as does the fully dipped yellow paint job, and the deck is completed with a huge top graphic. Job done! And I'm as proud as hell that this is the board The Gonz chose to ride!

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IMPORTANT SHIPPING INFORMATION. PLEASE READ!
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Orders in the European Union, please select "United Kingdom" as your shipping destination (Big Cartel has no setting for "EU")
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All purchases sent with DHL, with a tracking number
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