The Mystery of Flying Kicks

The Mystery of Flying Kicks

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Our existence as humans have been an continuous fight for expression, meaning, identity, and always a fight within our self conscious. We as human beings search meaning and that is why we leave our mark. One of which, is one of the most common cultural art seen around the world, but has never been identified to what it really means. 

Shoes hanging on telephone wires really means more than we think. Each country, each person has their own stories about shoes on a wire. Director Matthew Bate, asked the global public to donate photographs, videos, and leave voices message stories on their story regarding shoes on telephone wires. The inspiration came in 2006 when he was on tour in the United States. He went around asking locals the meaning behind the sneakers and every one of them had their stories to tell. 

Shoe tossing has been in urban myths for a very long time. In Sydney, Australia, a caller mentioned throwing your shoes up was a celebration that you had lost your virginity. In another man's mind, throwing shoes was something a bully would do. In Madrid, Spain, the Mafia used shoes on a telephone wire to signal the police to stay out of those streets. It was an apparent "gentleman's agreement to stay out of that neighborhood". Shoes hanging above our heads has always connoted as something negative. Many know shoes hangings meant there was a crack house somewhere or drug dealing was happening somewhere in the area. Like in Brooklyn, New York, you saw purple and gold sneakers these were Decepticon gang members' territory. In LA, some members threw their deceased gang members' shoes, even some soaked in blood, as a way to remember them. 

In Vancouver, Canada, a caller naked Todd Sieling says shoes on wires has been mostly associated with urban decay, urban desolation and not right in some way. As shoes are meant to be on the ground, how can a well kept city allow shoes to be hanging there. But, hearing stories of each shoe has a significant remembrance for each person. In Melbourne, Australia, an ally has a bunch of shoes just hanging on wires and it was from the past workers who used to work in the nearby restaurants who have moved on to do something else. It was like leaving their legacy, and their mark. Some past gang members say he left his shoes on the wire in 1991 and whenever he comes back and sees those sneakers (2009 is when they shot footage of this guy) says they're memories. It's a boost of confidence to see where you were back when you were doing gang related activities as of now he's doing something else with his life. Those shoes were like a time capsule to look back and have all these memories come to him. 

But throwing shoes has been represented in many ways. Throwing shoes has been somewhat an equivalent to graffiti. How can you compare art with just throwing shoes in the air? It's like graffiti. Some think it's vandalism, some think it's a way to express yourself and leave a mark in the world. An artist Ad Skewville made his mark with "shoe tossing" by making wooden looking forms of sneakers. The shoes marked a kind of pinpoint showing that he's been here. He's tossed up around 5,000 pairs all around the world. It was a performance art kind of thing to do and people would clap because it was fun seeing shoes being tossed up into the air.

Shoe thorwing is mysterious, but has more meaning and story with each shoe lace. We as humans use these objects to leave a mark in the world to test our existence and to live on through memory. It's a feature of humanity we cannot ignore. The last quote struck with me, when they said "if you throw your own shoes, maybe then you'll know why you did it". Next time I see shoes on telephone wires, I won't think to ignore it, but to question the story behind them.