This year we decided to celebrate Arthur Longo's gift to our snowboard community over the years by offering him to express himself as our 25/26 Method apparel associated artist. We got to catch up with him here and there and had some time to chat a little. This is part of a conversation we had over the summer, bits that were not printed in his issue 26.1 feature interview, but that we still think are worth sharing.

INTERVIEW: JUSTIN DUTILH

PHOTOS: JULIEN PERLY / JUSTIN DUTILH

So, Arthur, you seem like a pretty free man. How important is freedom to you?
Freedom can be seen in so many ways, and it's not mandatory, either. You don't have to have freedom. When I was a kid, I was really free, I think. Growing up in Les Deux Alpes, I could go out solo as much as I wanted. I would also stay inside if I wanted, but I was always building cabins and stuff. When you're a kid, you have that feeling without really knowing what it means or hearing about it and understanding it. You embrace freedom all the time when you're a kid.

Then one day, someone explains to you the concept of freedom, and suddenly, you aren’t free anymore. *laughs* My opinion is that to be truly free, you shouldn't even be conscious of the concept of freedom. If you've imagined what freedom is, it means that at some point you were missing it, and therefore you weren't free at that moment.
Yes, and then there’s total freedom, but it’s very theoretical and too complex. It’s probably something like letting things go mentally, I suppose. You know that ability to free yourself from constraints or things that stress you out, like mental pollution. I imagine we all have that. But you can still feel freedom, I mean, physically, when you're snowboarding in powder, for example. When you're completely present and you don't think about anything other than what you’re doing, you're free in a way. You're still not free to leave the group and jump straight off the cliff, though.

Or maybe you are. *laughs* I think it's not a question of whether you’re free or not free, but rather what feels more free or less free in life. When you're truly in the moment, that's the closest you can get to a state of freedom, I guess. And you can have that with other things than snowboarding, too. If we talk about freeride, for example, I even think you can freeride anywhere you want as long as you’re free to choose wherever you want to go. Even in the street, for what I care.
Yeah, like skateboarding or even parkour has so much freedom. It’s just more raw. Believe me, those guys are free when they do that. It’s like finding a flow, maybe, in any practice.

Yeah, when you get into your zone. Whether it’s athletic activities, music, or even painting. Do you experience that when you paint?
Yeah, sometimes. Painting can get a bit obsessive. You want to go back to it all the time.

When you paint, are you looking for some meaning? Is that important to you?
Today, I'm still working with the initial concepts I had at the beginning. I'm still kind of riding that wave. And that will always be my theme anyway, I feel. I'm focused on animal creatures, nature, and sort of taking that side. Man is often kind of pointed at, as I always feel closer to animals and nature. The first time I had an art studio, I was listening to the radio while painting. It was a summer series about the wildfires in the world, and they talked about the Aboriginal people in Australia and the forest fires in Brazil. It made me travel a bit in my mind and explore it in my paintings. It was exposing how humans are so good at destroying nature. So that has always been my latent theme. But it doesn’t always have to be so obvious to put meanings on every creation. For example, we were getting tattoos, just for fun and all that, and then people ask: “Why did you get this tattoo?” I find it annoying because there's not necessarily a meaning to everything. There can be a thousand reasons why you did it, or maybe none. It's not always important.

Yeah, and it's okay to say that there’s no meaning. It's also okay to be curious. But it seems that you want to express certain things about the world through your art, so even if you don’t always manifest an obvious intention, it will show in some way, I’m sure. Do you feel curious, these days, Arthur?
It depends on what. I am a curious person, I think. I'd rather listen to someone than talk about myself, except for this interview, because it's kind of the concept. But I'd like to be more curious. You almost have to force curiosity when you don't have it naturally.

Are you still tattooing?
No, but I got tattooed last night, so yes, I guess. *laughs*. But it's been a very long time since that. I tattooed myself, actually. You do your legs, you know. My girlfriend Agathe jumped in and did the writing freehand, too, so we did that one together. It was her first tattoo.

[Arthur is showing me the tattoo] That’s cool! It’s creatures, again. So tell me, what did you want to express with this tattoo? *laughs*
*laughs* Go to hell! It's just beautiful, I love it. But yeah, all the tattoos I have are creatures. I don't know why.

What is it you like about tattoos in general?
I'm covered with these small tattoos. It’s a bit like a sticker format. I'm like a fridge full of stickers. But I managed to mix all genres a bit, so I'm quite happy about that. Tattooing is also an incredibly inspiring source that got me into drawing more. I was in the middle of that tattoo mania that hit our generation, you know. I was in Berlin, and everyone was tattooed. After a while, I got my tattoo like everyone else, and I got hooked. It's a gateway to growing a taste for the visual, creation, and many things. It doesn’t matter if we define it as an art, or anything, but you still put something on yourself as if you were a canvas. Then, of course, you have bad tattoos where the whole thing is a bit stressful, you don’t quite know what you want, or where you want it, and the tattoo artist might be stupid. But some tattoo artists are just so talented, they won’t hurt you, and you're happy to keep their work under your skin for life.

I like that comparison of stickers on a fridge, except that it’s a bit harder to remove a tattoo than a sticker. *laughs* There’s also a playful side to tattooing the way you do, right?
Oh yeah! There's this thing about simple lines and filling. It's quite accessible, you know.

Except when it’s done freehand like Agathe did. Without a guideline, the irreversible gesture of putting ink under the skin takes a higher dimension, since it's on a body and not a canvas.
Yes, that’s beautiful, absolutely. There are legs for that. Legs are less visible. *laughs*

Yeah, I guess. What’s up with all these creatures you draw, paint, and tattoo? What is a creature to you, actually?
For me, a creature always has a slightly naive or perhaps childish side to it. It’s something alive that comes from the imagination. I think it often has attributes that humans don't have, like being able to fly, run faster, or things like that. A creature is not necessarily a creation, however.

It seems like both words have the same origin, though.
Yes, but a creation is the object. Perhaps the difference might be life. What do you think? A creation is not necessarily living, I think.

A creation is not necessarily alive, but it exists.
Yes, it exists. For example, Man, the creation of God.

*laughs* Yeah, that’s it, we’re all dead. How about you? What kind of creature are you?
I am Homo sapiens.

*laughs* That's not very original.
*laughs* No, it's lame. What I found fascinating about being human, or just being alive, is that there are 8 billion of us on Earth, and not two of us are alike. That's quite spectacular, I think. We have billions of human creatures, plus many animal species. Well, we've screwed over 60 percent of animal species, so less and less, but here's still 40 percent left. Can you imagine how many different creatures nature has created? I think it's mind-blowing!

And every creature has its own little reality, too. Speaking of different realities. You recently went on a filming trip to Uzbekistan. When you go film in a country like that, doesn’t it really strike you how people’s day-to-day reality can be different from yours? It must be a bit strange to be there, focused on filming snowboarding while people are also doing their own thing.
Yes, a little bit, but you realize that just being interested in their environment and what they do makes them so happy. Over there, you're welcomed in an incredible way. You don’t feel like you're stealing a little something from them. They're there and they're ready to show you everything they know. *laughs*. They grab you in the street to talk to you because they love having foreigners. It's so easy over there, actually. It's pretty cool!

I guess you were there on a mission, though. It seems like you have a certain work ethic when you film. When you go, you go. Do you still feel a certain pressure to produce something when it’s on?
Yeah, but the idea was also to visit the country, which we did. And there was no snow. I think it was their worst winter in 20 years or something. Of course, after every session, we would always convince ourselves that we succeeded despite the crappy conditions. But yeah, I got my moments when I'm in the flow, you know, and things happen when I film. In snowboarding, I have a kind of drive, I don't know why. I'm a big slacker in life, but on the board, I give all the energy I have. I always want something to happen if we dedicate a day to filming. I would find it hard to be the person who didn't find the spot, or something like that.

You seem to be pretty involved when it comes to collaborating with brands, too. You've done this quite a lot over the years, and very recently with us. What was your approach to creating these designs for Method?
It was kind of the first opportunity I had to really oversee and build a complete collection. I mean to think about something a bit as a whole. Something I do with Volcom, but with you guys, I had a lot more freedom. With brands, you're always guided, you know, by another designer and all that, and with Method, I could do a bit more of what I really wanted. You still try to make something that people will like, which can be limiting. Obviously, you're not going to do something completely personal, so you adapt. It's not total freedom, but I also think freedom exists thanks to rules. There's no freedom without rules. And for me, honestly, guys, it was truly an honor. Method Mag represents a pillar of snowboarding. I had the tapes and the DVD issues that came under plastic with the magazine, and that was incredible for me, back then! It was like reading a magazine but in a video. Or like watching Instagram but on TV, you know. It was crazy! The only news we had about snowboarding, then.

I also discovered the mag with these DVD’s, and now I’m uploading a bunch of them online, it’s a trip… It was also quite wild back then, in a good and a bad way.
That's awesome! I'm going to watch them. I didn’t have tons of them, you know, maybe three, but I watched them on repeat! And yeah, you’re right, it was getting cringe already at some point. Society was changing, but snowboarding wasn’t, at least not at the same speed.

And today, do you read the magazine?
No, I don't read much, except for certain things. But it's cool because I think you now give a relatively good amount of space to girls. I appreciate that, since I don’t know much about women's snowboarding, I’m very interested in it. If there's a beautiful photo of a girl going high on a hip or whatever, I really want to check it out. Then I would also read the interviews with friends, you know. But I don't get too deep into the editorial and stuff like that, you know.

Yeah, we try to stay curious and give space to anyone who’s keeping it rad. For a while, I stepped away from it, too. When I came back to reading and watching snowboarding again a few years back, I realized Method was still around, and I was hyped. They had some really good editors who really resonated with me at that point, guys like TAG, Mike (Goodwin), and Theo (Acworth). They really embraced the rawness of things with more of a "zine" vibe to it, too. That's when I got hooked on the magazine again. So we're trying to continue with that.
Honestly, from what I see, and I see just a little of it. I really love it, so it was an honor, a bit of a pride even to do this collection. So I wanted to do well, and I did what I could at the time. What comes out is the best you can do at the moment you do it, you know. You can't do much better than that.

I think you guys did great! Did you have a bit less pressure than doing it with a major brand like Volcom, Vans, Union or Capita? 
Yeah, especially when it concerns technical clothing, you see. They design something like two and a half years before anyone can buy it in a shop. Right now, we're designing the 2027 Volcom line, so it's a bit weird. It gives you a different reality with timing, you know. But honestly, Volcom would have let me do absolutely anything I wanted, especially with pro models. If they offer them to someone, it's for that person to express themselves. Some times, it's not that much of a commercial success because that person can go too strong on the self-expression. *laughs* There have been some sketchy pro models, but I try to stay a bit classic. I didn't take too many risks. It works well and everything, so it's cool.

How do you feel about the fact that almost all brands (including us) that associate with you want to use your name to sell more? It's a peculiar mechanism, don’t you think?
*laughs* I take it as an opportunity, you know. We create collections, we sell them. We're in this system. I can't go against this world, you know. We're still in a world that sells stuff, and I'm quite proud that it can be of interest. I don't put myself in the position where I say, "Oh, they're using me," I simply think that I'm very lucky.

Do you miss riding pipe?
Not really, that era is over. I'll go in and do a nice air and all, but I think it's hard to go back to something you've done at a really high level. I gave it everything to become good, and when I stopped, I was the best I could be. I don't want to go back and do something that I used to do so well. If you miss playing guitar, and you can't even play a single chord anymore, it's horrible.

I get it, but you don’t have to be as good as before to enjoy it. I kind of put my guitar down a while ago, and when I pick it up now, it is frustrating, but I don't mind. I'm not gonna chuck any double corks with it again, and that's okay.
Yeah, but there are no risks with the guitar.

Yes, that is very true. You’re a big influencer now, bigger than Method Mag, on Instagram, actually. *laughs* How do you handle it?
Well, actually, I never wanted to be one, you know. But I guess, sometimes you get to be something you don’t really want to. So you still have to think a little bit about what you convey. I made the simple choice to talk almost exclusively about snowboarding, you know. I would still talk a tiny bit of politics when it's obvious to me, and we're talking about things so fundamental that there's no debate. If I'm behind a cause that is completely legitimate, I don't mind expressing myself on that.

It’s like you soak in things and then manifest them through your art, interviews, projects, and sometimes on social media, too. I think it can be very significant. If 10 percent of 160,000 people read or see one of your posts, you may have touched 16,000 people.
Well, yeah, absolutely, and that's what reassured me to continue snowboarding with all this traveling, and potentially wasting all this fossil or physical energy, for ‘nothing’. Realizing that I make a lot of cool people very happy was enough for me to continue. It’s the same for me with skateboarding, you know. I watch skaters, and they make me happy! I enjoy it, and I want more. I'm glad to be able to offer this to a wider audience, doing the thing that I master.

Yeah, and I think we shouldn't underestimate the power of that. Earlier, you were talking about the fact that it’s easy to be depressed about all the bad things happening in the world. Seeing a clip of a skater, or a clip of you, or something that might bring you away from those tough feelings and even better is so good. It might even make you want to get out and do something, like riding, or whatever. It's lalso, ike when you go to a concert, and you let go, turn off your brain for a moment. It's very similar, and quite vital if we don’t want to all go crazy. Offering an escape to reality to people is an artistic process, too, by the way, so it’s a great way to contribute, and we thank you for that!
Thank you, Justin, and Method Mag too. I just want peace and love for everyone in the end.

Check out Arthur's full Method Apparel collection HERE and read the rest of the 'The slippery rocket' interview in our issue 26.1 print mag!