I could try to paraphrase this event but I fear I would miss something of value. Anyone who called themselves a punk knows full well what a fanzine is. I even penned one, 2 issues full of Weekly World News style slag journalism about my local scene and it wasnt pretty- but it was fun as hell.
Rather than hack it up Im going to cut and paste you the good stuff. This is a GREAT exhibit you should check out if youre in the area.
The Boo-Hooray exhibit space is happy to present an exhibition of fanzines and ephemera collected at Dial House, home to the English anarchist punk band Crass, active from 1977-1984. The public and private political stance of Crass was without peer or compromise. Their influence on the lives of misfits, belongers, winners, losers, straights and visionaries across the globe reverberates to this day.
Dial House has been running as a creative centre since the late 1960's and was instigated by the poet, philosopher and Crass drummer/lyricist, Penny Rimbaud. The Crass/Dial House fanzine archive, saved by Gee Vaucher, consists of approximately 3000 fanzines, broadsides, pamphlets and flyers, as well as posters, manuscript and original artwork. The materials were sent or given to the anarcho-punk group Crass during the years 1977 to 1984 from all over the world. The archive also includes later publications mailed to Dial House during the 1980's and 1990's. The show illustrates and demonstrates the immediacy and potency of these grassroots activist punk artworks from an era which was pre-computer and, in some cases, pre-xerox. In addition, related original artworks by Gee from her ground-breaking "nihilist newspaper for the living," International Anthem, are also included.
A short history of the Fanzines and their presence amongst us: Unlike Mr Penny Rimbaud, I dislike throwing anything away. Placed in a cupboard at Dial House where no one ever looked, the fanzines survived Guy Fawkes night for nearly 30 years, taking a short break in a friends attic when the cupboard was, for some reason, requisitioned for party hats, old suitcases and toys. Finally brought home again, they went back into the cupboard, away from the attention of Rimbaud and his persistent chanting of "let's just bung it all on the fire." Now, having finally left home for good, the collection parades itself brazenly and proudly before you and in very safe hands.
– Gee Vaucher
The show's curator, Johan Kugelberg, will be hosting a 4pm talk with Gee Vaucher on Saturday, October 1st. They will discuss International Anthem, her more recent publications and the ongoing activities of her newly-reformed Exitstencil Press. This will be followed by a screening of Semi Detached: the Films of Gee Vaucher 1978-1984. Semi-Detached will also be screened throughout the exhibition.
The exhibit will also include a new audio installation of Penny Rimbaud's work.
The exhibit opening will be held on Friday, September 30th, 6-9pm
Talk and film screening will be held on Saturday, October 1st, 4pm
The exhibit is then open daily 11 AM to 6 PM until its closing on October 20th.
Attendance for opening night and the talk/screening is very limited, an RSVP is required for admittance.
Please RSVP to attend at this link: http://boo-hooray.com/rsvp
Boo Hooray is located at:
265 Canal St. #601
New York, NY 10013