TRANSITIONS & EXITS by Ari Marcopoulos

Powerhouse Books, 2000
8.75 × 11.25 in
176 pages
Offset printing
Hardcover
First edition

Interview by Louise Neri

Transitions and Exits documents much of the time these young nomads spend travelling to the Nirvana of fresh powder and perfect jumps. And the waiting in Purgatory: riders kindle their boredom with hours, even days of contemplation. It’s the time when helicopters are grounded, low pressures are laying new carpets of snow, and the weather channel is only hinting at what’s to come. In snowboarding there are many prodigies. They are young, come from California and Scandinavia, earn serious dough for play, and speak a unified language around boarding and the latest electronic gadgets. But after hearing the crack of a compound fracture sounding off the walls of a perfectly shaped halfpipe—the price paid for mastering a new trick—it’s hard to label this life glamorous.

With photos and digital video grabs of the world’s top snowboarders—all of whom are under the age of 25—Transitions and Exits showcases, in a hardcore artist’s book and DVD, a brilliant take on a surreal world, much like Larry Clark’s Tulsa.

This publication offers extensive documentation of the lives of snowboarders in the 1990s, with a particular emphasis on off-slope recreational activity. Its fall 2000 release date aligned with the sport’s growing cultural footprint, and presents an unfiltered internal perspective.