Reflection: Sfumato's impact on The Wakeskate Industry
From a PBS article about Da Vinci and the impact of the Mona Lisa:
According to Louvre Curator Jean-Pierre Cuzin, "The entire history of portraiture afterwards depends on the Mona Lisa. If you look at all the other portraits – not only of the Italian Renaissance, but also of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries – if you look at Picasso, at everyone you want to name, all of them were inspired by this painting. Thus it is sort of the root, almost, of occidental portrait painting."
How do you measure the infinite value and impact of a film like Sfumato upon an entire subculture? You examine the progression of wakeskating over the past 20 years by going to the source: the leaders who were inspired by Cassette's Sfumato and continued to elevate and document the possibilities of wakeskating to uncharted levels. The following are insights from four influential leaders of respective wakeskate eras and mediums to better understand the influence Sfumato had on their creations and portrayal of wakeskating. Their shared experiences help us better understand the widespread impact Sfumato had over multiple eras of wakeskating and the documentation of it. And in the same breath, the wakeskate industry is beyond fortunate to have experienced the collective contributions from the following individuals.
Brandon Rau: Homeless crew member, worked on 2006's winch focused wakeskate film In Its Travels, co founder of La Sewer, wake's first and only winch-specific mag, The Wakeskate Mag, wakeskate OG.
"When I started wakeskating, I was literally riding with probably 4-5 wakeboarders. So seeing a whole video and squad of wakeskaters is really what pushed me to make the move to Orlando and be around more wakeskaters. But obviously the riding was something that got me into doing lip tricks and other stuff cause around that time the only wakeskating I had seen was Grubb parts in some wakeboard videos like Boombox and Running With Scissors. So basically before Sfumato all I’d seen was wake to wake stuff."
Tad Mathews: Filmer for Aquafrolics, Good Ratio and Human Rocket. Produced and directed More than Machines, which was the only other wakeskate specific film to win “Video of the year” from Wakeboarding Mag/Transworld Wakeboarding, in addition to Sfumato's win in 04. Co-creator of wakeskate specific media site WeSubsist. Legendary wakeskate media guru.
"Sfumato was the first full-length wakeskate video I watched. I had just finished up riding with Kyle McCutcheon and he threw it on the ole’ CRT TV. I immediately asked him if I could borrow the DVD and with it, he sent me home with Linear Perspective and Flatline for homework. Sfumato introduced me to a completely different side of wakeskating and stayed on repeat for a week. It was reminiscent of the skateboarding videos I grew up watching, offbeat from the mainstream wakeboard videos I had seen. I was drawn to the imagination and the stylistic innovation of the Cassette team, the ideas of pool gaps, winching, flip tricks, dock hits, all of it. I loved the way it was edited, the perfect curated soundtrack, and the artistic presentation of it all. Sfumato got me hooked!"
Silas Thurman: OG wakeskater, Founder of Remote wakeskates, Team manager for Nike 6.0/Nike wake programs, Co-directed and produced Aquafrolics, executive producer of Good Ratio, The Wakeskate Tour CEO, supported the careers of countless wakeskaters, collaborates with Champ Anderson.
"Sfumato was a pinnacle moment in time for the wake industry, very specifically one of the most pinnacle moments in wakeskating. Being from the Northwest the wake industry didn’t quite have the allure or edge that other action sports I grew up with (skateboarding and snowboarding) had. Thomas was obviously at the forefront of creating that in wake. He was always out in front of trends whether it be art, music, or wake. I feel very fortunate to have been involved at that time to see a lot of it first hand. Such Great Heights didn’t even hit the main stream until what felt like ten years later. Those were the years when you had to wait for a movie to come out before knowing all about it or getting to see anything. The buzz was palpable. This was likely a lot of people into to Danny Hampson and what an amazing intro it was! The days of movies and video parts like that are long gone, but man it was a pleasure to see it unfold. We all owe a lot of credit to Thomas for creating Sfumato and everything else he did and to the whole team for seeing it through. I know some of the stories but I’m sure it was even more of a wild ride than we’ll ever know."
Andrew Pastura: Owner and founder of Watermonsters, filmed 99% of his Human Rocket closing section behind the winch, and probably filmed the rest of your favorite modern video parts.
"When I started I had seen bits of wakeskating clips from my cousin showing me wake videos. I was already into it and would solely wakeskate when I had the chance to join his family on their boat. He eventually bought Sfumato and I remember it being such shift in what I knew about wakeskating. It was like the skate videos I would always watch. The artistic influence, the music, and a sense of team and brand made it mesmerizing. There was that feeling that you wanted to be a part of it. The riding was like nothing I'd seen. All of it being done on wood decks with griptape made it feel so dissimilar to the wakeskating I'd seen in wakeboard videos. Sfumato paved the path for so many and I think it really set wakeskating apart from wakeboarding in a unique way. It was a crafted piece of art that showed the raw progression Cassette wanted to portray. I'm grateful for what it gave to wakeskating and enjoy remembering how it deeply captured my attention at that time."
Two boards representing the beginning of 20 years of wakeskating and equipment evolution, based on the demands of the riders. From left, 2002 4 trac sample from the Performance Ski and Surf collection, donated by Aaron Reed; production 4 trac from 2003.
Cassette's Sfumato Effect
Continued reference from PBS article:
Cuzin: "In the same painting we move from soft places like the clouds to areas of extreme intricacy and fine detail. For example, around the neckline of the lady's dress we have delicate interlacing embroidery. The contrast of these different areas creates a cohesion that is very rare in painting." All this we now take for granted. The Mona Lisa looks so natural, and so familiar, that we forget how innovative the painting was at the beginning of the sixteenth century."
From Linear Perspective to Sfumato, the Cassette team progressed wakeskating through subtle contrasts which acted as stepping stones to the next boundary to explore. Dimension within the accepted wakeskate landscape was further shaped before our eyes, resulting in significant leaps in wakeskate progression that appeared polished, advanced and innovative. Lip tricks were trademark moves in wakeskating thanks to the creative mind of Horrell, leading to similar maneuvers on rails and even lock in moves. The standard of merely doing a kick flip was advanced and riders floated them across the wake and attempted them down gaps. Wakeskating was taken beyond the confines of wakes and traditional waterways to hitting massive gaps. And the notion of how and where one could wakeskate was challenged with the advent of the rewind winch.
To millions, the Mona Lisa is little more than a famous DaVinci painting of a woman with a curious smile. The effort, influence, mastery of techniques, and magic within is seemingly glossed over. Of course, Sfumato is not immune to this phenomena. To some, it's just a Cassette team video, if it's even recognized by a newer wakeskater. There's little understanding that it's only wakeskating's second full length video ever made and the first wakeskate video sold on DVD (in less than 10 years full lengths would go straight to the web). Also consider the effort in filming, angle variety and riding that was the first of its kind in many ways. But, that is the nature of life and everything special created within it. We often forget to slow down, ask questions, have wonder and feel appreciation for what we see before us.
A different Sfumato article written by Katherine Hildey described DaVinci's famous technique in the following way: "Sfumato eliminates the line as a way of distinguishing one thing from another. It means that everything is related to everything around it and the eye flows through the image and sees interrelatedness on the canvas as it does in real life...I would go so far as to call it a consciousness-raising technique." Isn't this how wakeskate progression evolved at the hands of the Cassette team? It's about blending, and the complementary nature through which our landscape and potential forever changed. This was accomplished all by one team and showcased in their penultimate video. These gradual transitions through progression created the modern blueprint for wakeskating's direction. And that is the Sfumato effect.
What a punished wakeskate looks like 20 years after the 4trac: Andrew Pastura's Watermonster wakeskate, complete with lock ins, used through the 2022/23 season. To see the best modern day winching video, check out Andrew and friends in Ces't Si Bon.
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