Results forthcoming…

On “D.I.Y. or DIE”…

I recently came across the documentary (2002) D.I.Y. or Die: Burn this DVD (aka. D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist). A film featuring interviews with independent artists, musicians and writers, including punks like Ian Mackaye of Fugazi and Ron Asheton of the Stooges – also, my personal fave, Lydia Lunch and more.

The documentation of the interviews was split up into sections. Chronicling each persons definition of DIY, motivations for doing their art independently, how they have survived financially, and any advice they might have for others out there seeking to make art while avoiding the mainstream framework.  It was more than evident that art was life work for people, more than a full time job and definitely their preference over having a “day job.” Semi-enlightening and Semi-inspiring, overall the film “celebrated the underdog.” It’s hard to be critical of such a project. However, I really didn’t care for the “DIY or Die” song at the end set to a punk tune. What was useful and the most inspiring was the way that operating in this independent capacity is really a lifestyle for most of these people, especially those that have been active for over 20 years. It did not fade out in the ’70s. The film didnt push many boundaries, but its always fun to watch people you like talk and to see the inside of their houses. Overall there was a DIY charm to it all.

Most importantly, this film is open source friendly. Which I think is key for this type of project in our current technological age. While DVDs are available for under $8 each, the website informs visitors that the entire film is available on youtube. And this is the most outstanding gesture of the film. DIY shouldnt have it any other way.

Notes from Search & Destroy #1-6 Introduction…more Biafra!

Vale interview w/Jello Biafra

(iii)

VV: “Music [top 40] seemed unconnected to our lives.” In the 70s…a flux period betw. social movements

JB:”There’s a whole generation of people like me who have never been acknowledged – people who are between ’baby boomers’ and ‘generation x-ers.’… ‘WE MISSED THE SIXTIES’…” 

VV: “I remember outbursts against passivity and watching TV.”

(iv)

JB: “I think the most important thing punk did was bring back the independent record and the coinciding birth of the independent homemade ‘fanzine.’ Many people put out records themselves in the ’70s, but nobody heard them because no one would distribute them.”

(v)

on a similar note it is mentioned that no one had any money, so many things never got recorded

JB: “San Francisco was more political than Los Angeles.”

Topic Development: Blast from the Past (from February)

Identifying a thesis topic, version 1.0

(Feb 7, 2008)

today’s topic: A working examination into the notion of rebellion in urban “counter” cultures.

How does the metropolitan experience inform/misinform/reform political and theoretical thoughts that spur rebellion through music, art, or certain economic trends – such as boycotting big business, or only buying second-hand clothes?

How does the special relations in city settings turn these “rebellious” acts into trends?

Does rebellion still exist? How do todays forms of rebellion compare to the rebellion of counter-cultures that existed in the mid-late sixties – for example the sex pistols and the punk rock music movement that occurred in America and the united kingdom?

How are the political situations similar or different?

Additionally, what does it mean that punk rock has been so commercialized? – and that genres of music still refer to themselves as punk – are they addressing similar issues/audiences?

How are these issues surrounding popular culture theoretically informed? What, if any, impact do such movements have on informing actual political movements?

The sex pistols aside, I am particularly interested in alternative press publications, Or generally, the underground language (term underground is debatable) of a city. The music, the art and the media. Alternative city papers, generally free, are a place for subjective political opinions (generally leftist). It is also where personal ads are found, as John miller covered in last Fridays lecture. the papers are most often picked up for there arts & Culture events listing – from art openings to bands to knitting classes. alternative press also serve special interest groups – this can include racial, religious or political demographics. for example left turn is a political news publication highlighting national and international issues that mostly center around the faults of the current American political regime. The other place, aside from the city, for this sort of expression is the internet.

I would be interested in examining alternative press publications. perhaps working at a record store and polling customers (as vinyl is an intricate part of any good city rebel). maybe even documenting the number of manifestations found inside of shopping malls in the city (for instance shirts sold with “graffiti” tags, or rolling stone shirts sold in the teen department at macy’s). This notion of “rock n Roll” – or music generally – seems bound in urban counter cultures.

I am interested in the social, political and cultural facets of the aforementioned notion. I am interested in the nostalgia and institutionalization of (what I would call) the punk rock of the 60’s that set the stage for whatever it is today that we consider “punk’ or “counter culture”.

Topic Development: A newer general direction…

Research Questions:

How do urban subcultures shape a city and by what means? How do these groups of people identify themselves within a city (versus rural/suburbia)? Against what social odds are these groups operating? What historical precedence allows for the activities of these groups?  What is the affect of these groups in popular culture? And does the affect reflect in contemporary artistic/exhibition practices?

 

 

I am narrowing my focus to center on feminist movements where art, music and activism intersect in marginal communities and efforts to promote social justice through creative practices.  I will investigate how the rise of the do-it-yourself ethic, which was revered by 1970’s punk rock and social movements, is used as a tool for creatively communicating and networking messages – such as the production of zines. It is clear that urban spaces are very conducive for this sort of grassroots assemblage. As a result there exists a proliferation of networked cultures and interests that attempt to render issues visible. This presents an ever-changing urban canvas of trends and styles. Issues of identity and individuality arise. Also evident is the question of the effectiveness of blending creative efforts (art) and activism. The advent of technological advances and access incorporates more tools into the hands of these collectives. The access to networks and communities inside the urban built environment allows for collaboration for individuals to intersect their respective fields: such as art, music, poetry.  How does the sociopolitical climate influence these artists currently working in the United States?

Topic Development: Advice…

“Your project is a rich one and its good to see the larger picture but for a 30 page paper you want to really, really narrow it down.  You might want to follow one scene through one short period and still the material will be huge.  There is a woman named Dianne Jones who is a photographer but used to be into the music scene
in SF and knew folks in the bands, took photos for them, and was part of a community…she lives in berkeley now but her scene might work or Robin’s or Matt’s.  Have you already read Dick Hebdige’s punk books?  kinda old and the british scene but a good start and you might be able to see how things are different here.”

Topic Development 1.0: An Exercise

1. Defining my topic
   1. The intellectual stakes of my “project” will include issues of the representation of certain communities, or spaces. So I guess that means that I will articulate a set of theoretical concerns surrounding these issues.
   2. The aspect of the world that will help me answer this “question” (?) is location (which may also include a review of a certain historical era)
2. Identifying my field
   1. I am working to create a personal library of primary source materials.
      1. documentation of events and exhibitions
      2. literature contained in news sources and the like
      3. scholarship on the representation of communities and space/place
      4. fieldnotes and interviews, eventually
   2. Developing an approach
      1. (my theoretical sources will emerge from)
         1. my intellectual background: ie life? and Marx, Freire…
         2. the subject of your key thesis concerns: identity formation in spaces of community and the intellectual traditions in which i am well versed (street lingo?) (avant garde approaches?). Perhaps the subject of my undergraduate training….

Topic Development: A general reiteration of some thoughts…

Topic: Cultures of Rebellion: Art and Music in Urban Culture

Smith is interested in how subcultures matter politically, socially and culturally. She is interested in thinking about the relation between subcultures and cultures of rebellion in the 1960s and 70s and today, and exploring the possibilities that subcultures find a space of action and effectiveness in a space between art and political economy. She is working to narrow her focus, to think about Situationist actions, graffiti, music.

Participant Observation: An Exercise

When sites of construction are erected they generally communicate an area that is off limits to the common public. The most frequent indicator of a space of construction is the physical demarcations that usually involve plastic, orange barriers of various forms. These objects happen to be available to all online. One does not need to have any sort of official construction affiliation. Tangential questions arise such as: How did this color orange come into existence? If one orders some of these barricades and puts them on the sidewalk, is the same space created? However, relating back to perceived legitimate spaces of construction (meaning they have a sanctioned permit), especially inside urban arenas, one issue that arises is that of vandalism. The allure of these “off-limits” constructed environments opens up new spaces for artists, or anyone passing by, to leave their mark. This could involve pasting posters, tagging with spray paint, or defacing the property in some other way (drawing in cement, putting cones on top of cars). Is one form better than the others? More legal?

People etch stuff into wet cement all the time. These “people” – I have never seen “these people” I don’t know their ages, races, genders, much less, their intentions. Usually names are etched into sidewalks. I associate it with graffiti tagging. Yet I also somehow separate it because sidewalk etchings are not located on the sides of people’s houses or buildings, as many graffiti tags and throw-ups are. Sidewalks are under people’s feet. People can stomp on them and let their dogs use the restroom on them. Sidewalks are not at a standard eye level, and aren’t very noticeable to people driving by. There are not any chemicals, or color involved in mutilating wet cement – just a simple sharp object does the trick.

The debate about the actual artistic (and legal) quality of graffiti art is an ongoing discourse in communities. These seemingly political statements are often regarded as illegal in nature, as normally they are painted onto public or private properties. Additionally, these works are outside, where all can see, or are involuntarily forced to look at. These art forms are not housed inside walls that may in some way contextually alter the meaning of the piece There are open debates about what constitutes, or aesthetically defines, different types of graffiti. For instance, it may be more like a mural, or perhaps the artist obtained approval from the building owner – Do these characteristics change the overall reaction or attitude towards graffiti?
Graffiti artists are typically anonymous, unless one has the pleasure of being an insider in the tagging community in which identities are revealed. This anonymity allows for little interrogation of the perpetrator. No one can be held accountable for the works planted into our visual space. Further, there seems to be no consistent framework for determining who has the right disrupt ones visual space. If one hates looking at spray paint on a wall, whose problem is it?

These typically authorless acts that frequently center around sites of construction (but also relate to non-construction related anonymous urban art pieces) rupture the public/private divide. Someone’s private interests are shoved into view in public space and left there for all to do with what they wish. There seems to be an inherent desire to incriminate these artists. Make it illegal and hopefully they will go away. It seems troubling to try and determine how much harm they are causing (if any). Harm from whose perspective? Do these authors have rights? How illegal are these artistic, or arguably political, acts?

***

One night my roommate and I found ourselves outside on our street. Orange barricades surrounded the street corners of the curbs, on both ends of our block. These plastic barriers came up to our wastes and awkwardly enclosed the rounded street corners where cement had just been laid. The word “PAGE” had already been pressed perfectly into the left side of the corner.

The fluorescent orange, temporary walls were not as heavy as we thought, though there must have been some sand in the bottom them. My roommate found a large screw in a small pile of scrap under a near tree. She scooted inside the fortification and I closed her in. If she bent down far enough, people driving by wouldn’t even see her. I hung out on the outside and smoked a cigarette, keeping watch. It’s not that I smoke cigarettes it just seemed appropriate. I felt so juvenile. I couldn’t decide if we were actually breaking the law. At the same time I felt a small thrill, and a tinge of apathy.

In the last thirty days only three vandalism cases have been reported in a ¼ mile radius of our house.
In 2006 there were 5,168 cases of Malicious Mischief reported in San Francisco. There were 368 juvenile offenses reported and 9.861 “other miscellaneous” offenses reported.
Vandalism most likely falls under the category “malicious mischief.”
Washington State Legislature defines Malicious Mischief as “physical damage” that can range from tampering with someone’s computer files to “any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any real or personal property owned by any other person.”
Malicious Mischief can be constituted in varying degrees, depending on the financial amount of damage done to a property.

I lean over an orange barricade to check on my roommates’ progress. The loud scraping noises surely give her away, whether visible or not. A gentleman in a red sweater, walking a dog approached our area. I watch him approach and he stops on the opposite end of the encircled space.
“What are you doing?” he asks. Neither of us answer.
“Why are you doing that? We all have to look at it.” Neither of us speak.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
My roommate responds: “Yes, I am enjoying myself.”
“You’re not children. You look like grown women. What’s wrong with you? I have to look at that for the next 20 years. Stop it.”

I felt like we had just been exposed. Perhaps our father had caught us sneaking out, or perhaps we had been caught stealing a piece of candy from a store. But this was just a gentleman, a citizen, and likely our neighbor. I thought, while standing silently, about the notions of public versus private space. I thought about engaging him in a conversation about aesthetic and whose sidewalk it really was. Did the orange barricades transform the space into a space belonging to the construction site – to the city? Why did this guy care so much anyway? And why did I feel so guilty that I couldn’t even speak to him?

Clearly the gentleman who approached us had certain ideas of what he thought was appropriate or in-appropriate for this space. He also seems to have a pre-conceived notion of what types of people commit these acts (ie: not 25 year old white women).

When my roommate finished etching the name of the Greek goddess of justice we walked away from the gentleman and the barricades. We circled the block attempting to have a conversation about the recent events. We did not head directly home, worried he may try and track where we were going. We returned minutes later to check on our work only to find it stamped out. The gentlemen had entered the barricaded area and drug his foot repeatedly over the goddess’s name. Now it looked like a huge black smudge. We discussed the effort the feat must have taken. We found the nearest heavy metal object and rewrote the original etching. Days later, after the barricades had been removed and the sun had slowly dried the cement, there remain two foul markings on the corner. One is a large dark smear in the concrete and the other spells out the name of a mythological figure.