Book: Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 (Simon Reynolds)

Simon Reynolds

No Wave (new york, pre-kill rockstars) 

Marion Leonard: “Paper Planes: Travelling The New Grrrl Geographies”

(in Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures, Routledge, 1998. pp 101-11

 

Leonard challenges the notions of youth (typically male) sub-cultural activities existing primarily on the street (place) by focusing specifically on the production and distribution of Riot Grrrl zines as a networked operation that exists inside the home - thus the private space of the bedroom “becomes a site of activity”(107). The production of these zines usually involves just “pen+paper+photocopier” and can contain a variety of topics. Typically the distribution for these zines operated in a sort of mailing list fashion - or were distributed at punk shows (106) - and were produced in small editions. In this way the movement attempted to stay underground, not wanting popular media to represent them or their views. By not being sold publicly these distribution methods encouraged forms of engagement with the zine and their writers [also meants national/international participation: ie not bound by ones location...and this reminds me of online social networks...]. (10 Leonard mentions this regarding e-zines: “Whilst the e-zine has the potential to reach a very wide audience, it does so at the loss of individuality, lacking the personal qualities of paper zines.” (103) Leonards analysis involves examining zines’ as an alternative space for interaction and expression qualities and quotes many of the zines themselves revealing the way the zines were used to insert female, individual voice into history, the scene and contemporary displays of fashion and beauty. “By writing themselves into the text, through relating personal experiences and concerns, riot grrrls have expanded the discursive parameters of the fanzine.” (107) These differences existing in each zine is celebrated by Leonard as it complicates traditional notions of youth subcultures, especially via the lack of a central location and a “unified progression.” (111) The existence of the many pages about riot grrrl on the internet is, in Leonards explanation, a further complication of any “notions of a unified community” [this is tres obvious if one just googles "riot grrrl"] and in contrast to physical zines, the WWW is a space where a certain amount of anonymity is present and thus allows for an open space for women to discuss/express themselves.  (113)

“Using riot grrrl as a case study it will consider how a sub-culture can maintain a sense of ‘community’ when its participants do not meet in the collective space of a club or music venue, but are broadcast over a wide geographical area. This chapter will argue that sub-cultures should not be considered unified groups tied to a locality, creed or style but as dynamic, diverse, geographically mobile networks.” (101)

things she mentioned & i learned about riot grrrl:

1. most members decided to be straight edge (102)
2. many older women did identify with the movement (102)
3. “Riot grrrl is a feminist network which developed in the underground music communities of Olympia, Washington, and Washington, D.C.”
4. “..Kathleen Hanna, singer for Bikini Kill, states that the name ‘riot grrrl’ was inspired in 1991 by the Mount Pleasant riots in Washington, D.C.” (102)
5. “During that time, Jean Smith, a woman we know who’s a writer and musician, said something like, ‘We need a girl riot, too”….At the same time, Allison and Molly from Bratmobile were also in DC, and they heard this and said, “We’re going to start a fanzine called Riot Grrrl”. (Hanna, quoted in Juno, 1996:97-98)” (103)
6. “Zine” is a shortened form of “Fanzine” (earlier: science fiction enthusiasts, later: punk fanatics) (103)
7. “Sara, writer of Out of the Vortex, comments: ‘Only by controlling the medium do we control the message….for this reason zines are extraordinarily unique and powerful political tools’ (quoted in Vale, 1996: 168)” (105)
8. 1992 - National Press creates a disruption in the underground nature of riot grrrl (109)
9. “Those involved in riot grrrl stress that no one viewpoint or cultural product (be it a zine or record) can be taken as representative or indicative of the whole.” (110) Here Leonard offers the description of riot grrrl as “multiplicitous” and continues from this notion of multiplicity into the comparison of Deleuze and Guattari’s “notion of a rhizome”. She concluded by examining the nature of riot grrrl on the internet and relates the many many offshoots of using the term riot grrrl (or just grrrl) back to the rhizome.
10. riot grrrl mostly consisted of middle-class white women

“In spatial terms, Deleuze and Guattari ally the rhizomatic network with a map: ‘the rhizome pertains to a map that must be produced, constructed, a map that is always detachable, connectable, reversible, modifiable, and has multiple entryways and exits and its own lines of flight’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1998:21)” (116)

Resources to Consider:

M. Brake The Sociology of Youth Culture and Youth Subcultures: Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll?

L. Code Rhetorical Spaces: Essays on Gendered Locations

Deleuze & Guattari A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

A. Juno Angry Women in Rock, Volume One

V. Vale Zines! Volume One

P. Willis Profane Culture

 

Talking with T. Cohn

Film about  Bruce Conner and Mabuhay Gardens - SF Punk Scene***

Film by Henry Rosenthal - email him!!!!!

Current exhibition @ Berkeley Art Museum

 

Meeting With Robin

Many different topics formulating at once. Should narrow asap.

What is my project and why is it important? What am I contributing?

As far as my proposal goes: it definitely needs to be revised, add an intro and dont worry about annotating if I have extensive notes on each text.

*remind to email a review she wrote on Ales Krims book

My approach also needs to be taken into accout: interviews, participant observation, archival/web research, mapping

Interviews: come up with a list of interviewees, and questions - questions should be open-ended and more controversial questions should be inserted at the end.

Interview Formats:

• Structured - same Q’s to all
• Semi- Structured - have some questions but go w/flow
• Open Ended - no questions prepared

 

Look up counterpulse.org (robin’s podcast on alternative space!)

Chris Carlson is contact for counterpulse

TO READ/REVIEW/CONSIDER:

1. Pierre Bourdieu: Cultural Capital/Social Accumulation
2. Ranciere: Politics of Aesthetics
3. Stuart Hall: Deconstructing the Popular
4. Deleuze & Guattari: “Rhizome” Chapter (post-Marxist, networking, fragmentation)
5. Hart/Negre - Empire
6. Saskia Sassen: (new book) - locality (as produced as a form of knowledge) and network
7. Gramsci/Raymond Williams - Hegemony

 

 

Book: Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture

read asap. link.

also look into Verso publishers (esp. as opposed to Routledge)

 

Books: Cultural Studies Readers

Either by Lawrence Grossberg or Simon During.

 

Especially, their introductions in order to frame my work within the rise of cultural studies as a field.

 

advice: ”I think, though, that you might want to contextualise your methodology within the field of ‘Cultural Studies’. There is an important historical connection between the rise of punk and alternative subcultures and the rise of Cultural Studies as an interdisciplinary field. In this regard, it might be useful for you to read the introduction to one of the major readers on Cultural Studies (either the one by Lawrence Grossberg or the one by Simon During) to contextualise some of the questions you pose. I think the turn to Dada is interesting, but a bit tenuous (since many of these groups were not explicitly referencing art historical forms of non-sense, although perhaps some were). You might bracket this as a question in your historical context, and focus more fully on cultural studies methodologies in your Methodology section.”

Thesis Workshopping with Dori

New Questions:

Is there a difference between ethic, aesthetic, and strategy (as it relates to DIY culture)?

How do I effectively incorporate gender discussions into my historical analysis and contemporary case studies?

How do I effectively connect my historical example period? 

How might I determine the levels access certain subcultures had to technologies when assessing their use of “grassroots” assemblage and knowledge dissemination?

Is the alternative necessary to culture?

Is the function of art to effect change? (yes or no question…ha)

What cities will I look at specifically?

Which issues of social justice are important to me? And why am I mentioning that?

Are institutional DIY exhibitions legitimizing DIY, or addressing my interest in cycle of appropriation of popular culture?

Is communication my focus? Perhaps gendered communication?

 

Is looking at zine distribution extinction telling of technology power?

 

 

 

New Langton Zine Panel Discussion: Freehand Responses

Location: New Langton Arts

Title: Book-it - Panel Discussion and exhibition of independently published zines (and other publications)

Date: May 3rd.

 

Notes:

Varied manifestations, probably not all considered “zines”

Some were sort of art catalogue like. Including photographs or works of artists. 

Some were particularly academic.

I was reminded with a couple of the popular ’skateboard’, graphic aesthetic thats popular in predominantly male, but also female urban aesthetics. 

Among the ones that really interested me was the use of different sizes, colors and textures of paper (some more easily reproduced than others) (this also reminded me of my peripheral interest in brightly colored paper - for instance that of the music flyers adorning telephone poles near busstops, i mean has this always been?)

I noticed various things inside the above mentioned publications: 1) poetry or person prose 2) collaged “advertisement” like pieces that appropriated magazine ads with text or other such efforts (blacking out eyes, pasting heads over bodies) to dismantle the original meanings of the ads (usually being half naked men or women probably from some perfume, purse or other fashion ad) 3) DIY installments of everything from recipes to how to tie a rope knot

One alternative publication present on the panel was purely internet based.

I think one cohesive element (at risk of generalization) between the various publications represented is the opposition to the shiny all-color production methods of popular magazines and the way these magazines have power of representation, even artforum. While one panelist emphasized the useful of paper for archival and distribution methods, another clearly saw an immense benefit in being web based (are the audiences different for these?) It is about taking representation into individual hands - instead of corporate, anonymous ones.

 

The collection of zines from the 90’s was awesome b/c many of them were by or seemingly addressed to females and/or homosexual populations. I noticed a lot of them took on a sort of comic-book appeal in design and layout. This is interesting as comic books still seem to be a sort of hetero-normative male hobby/interest. I relate this to sci-fi and other such instances of “geek” culture. 

One contemporary group from (insert country) here, which is a group of females, kind of takes on (from my very limited observations and knowledge of science fiction) a sci-fi look. I believe they are exhibiting and Silverman gallery next month*

Back to 90’s zines. I looked through several done by Miranda July. These included comics, writings, and invited entries from others. I found one that included her video project. Reading her zines sort of made me feel like I was a part of something secret, or underground, even though I know it happened in the 90’s.

 

 

Comments/Responses to Proposal Presentation

What does the urban environment produce?

Why do movements emerge in certain places? (place, historical specificity) - And to what extent are these movements dependent on these environments? And what is lost?

Really have  different subprojects going on:

1) The influence of the urban environment and economy and class on the emergence of DIY culture (perhaps more than one here?)

2) Aesthetic form: modes of production and resistance (how does this create a new formal aesthetic? what are the material conditions? how do class and gender play a role?)

[above need to be fleshed out]

 

Cultural Movements: Dada & Riot Grrrl

What is interesting here is the sound component, which is technically “experimental” in the way that music shifts from being something melodic to a technology of style and opposition to the ‘norm’.

Dada: Kurt Schwitters did lots of interesting sound experimentations. Even if it was just recorded poetry. “African music and Jazz was common at Dada gatherings“

Riot Grrrl: The sound is punk, with a 1990’s feminist spin. Extrapolating punks roots in the late 60’s/70’s, I think Hebdige would say that a large part of forming the culture/sound that is/was punk is the rastafarianism and reggae movements that were a part of the working class (generalized demographic) Black London culture of the time. 

“The fundamental lack of fit between these two languages (dress, dance, speech, music, drugs, style, history) exposed in the emergence of black ethnicity in reggae, generates a peculiarly unstable dynamic within the punk subculture. This tension gave punk its curiously petrified quality, its paralysed look, its ‘dumbness’ which found a silent voice in the smooth moulded surfaces of rubber and plastic, in the bondage and robotics which signify ‘punk’ to the world. For, at the heart of the punk subculture, forever arrested, lies this frozen dialectic between black and white cultures - a dialectic which beyond a certain point (i.e. ethnicity) is incapable of renewal, trapped, as it is, within its own history, imprisoned within its own irreducible antinomies.” 

-Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, 69-70