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Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Underground Clown Tee-shirt brand was established in 2009 in Coney Island, New York. America’s original playground. It was the brainchild of Coney Island native, Frank Kozlowsky, a collision shop owner in Coney Island who specializes in customizing cars. While customizing his car one day, he wanted to place an image on his car that represents the collision shop as well as depicting his personality. He thought of a sinister clown, similar to Pennywise fromStephen King’s IT or Captain Spaulding from Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses. In his research for an image, he wanted to implement the characteristics of his zodiac sign, Gemini. Like the clown, those born under the tropical zodiac (sun), are youthful, lively and at times they can be superficial, elusive, complex and dual natured. Like clowns, life is a game and they have to be full of fresh moves and continuous entertainment, free of labor & routine. The clown’s hat also outlines Frank’s persona. The purple side represents wealth & gratitude healing. The orange side represents his kinship.
Why a clown? Honestly, skulls are everywhere. Tigers and other dominant animals are everywhere. Clown’s are often portrayed as emotionally unstable or even psychotic. Many people in today’s society have a love/hate relationship with clowns. A majority of people find clowns a bit unsettling, scary enough to trigger anxiety and other phobic reactions. During medieval times, the clown was the King’s jester. He mocked authority and ridiculed the establishment. Anything accepted as a whole as common knowledge was material for the jester’s ridicule. The jester was the only one who dared talk back to the king. As a matter of fact, that was his purpose, to think outside of the box, abandon reason and for this, his ideas were often incorporated into official policy. However, such insolence had better be funny or the jester would be punished via execution. That of course is not the goal of The Underground Clown.
Recently Frank went through a tough time in his life. Losing loved ones as well as his own health problems. Frank visited numerous doctors, some of them were highly recommended. None of them could diagnose what was ailing Frank. Fed up with the mystery ailment, Frank decided he the best way to heal his pain was to seek spiritual help. After observing the beliefs of Buddhism (but not a practicing Buddhist), getting reacquainted with his own religion (catholic) attending mass every Sunday, numerous events sponsored by the local church (Our Lady Of Solace), his ailments slowly began to diminish. In Buddhism, nirvana is the supreme state free from suffering and individual existence. It is a state Buddhists refer to as "Enlightenment". It is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists. The attainment of nirvana breaks the otherwise endless rebirth cycle of reincarnation. Buddhists also consider nirvana as freedom from all worldly concerns such as greed, hate, and ignorance. Ironically, Nirvana is one of Frank’s favorite groups. He often speaks about how much of a genius Kurt Cobain was musically.
Frank’s resilience inspired him to launch and finance The Underground Clown®. With the help of long time friend Craig Mills (Coney Island Native), their ideas for tee shirt designs will help propel this brand to new horizons. This brand wants to and will grow, allowing our customers to provide input on future ideas for shirts and other apparel. Proceeds will be donated annually in the name of Mr. Cory “Face” Pelzer . A son, little brother, gentleman and a dear friend, to numerous charities, funds and causes world wide for a better world and to add a little bit of light to a world that is sometimes viewed as dark.
“Impossible is Possible®”.
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