You Need to Read This Big Fat Punk Art Book
Following up on the post devoted to "Enjoy the Experience," a book that celebrated offbeat musicians you've never, ever heard of, here's another big fat hardcover devoted to offbeat musicians that you just might have heard of.
Like the title suggests, "Punk: An Aesthetic" is devoted to the artwork, the advertising, the design, the decor and the overall look that epitomized punk rock, ranging from the pre-punk scene of the early 1970s (and even earlier) to the post-post-post punk decades of the 21st century, when Jamie Reid's once combustible ransom-note Sex Pistols logo can be found on, of all things, a baby's onesie. Talk about cash from chaos.
Still, that's sort of the point of the whole book. Ever since the beginning -- since way before the beginning, in fact, punk was a commodity, a look or attitude being used to sell something. Usually records or concert tickets, of course, but even before then it was being used to sell trashy magazines (there's a spread from a 1956 issue of a Canton, Ohio, mag called The Tabloid that hypes "PUNK STREET IN NEW YORK CITY that I'd love to get my hands on), sleazy paperbacks (a 1957 cash-in titled "The Young Punks") and incomprehensible art movements (our old friends the Situationists get plenty of space here).
What's great about "Punk: An Aesthetic" (and, let me be clear, this is a pretty damn great book) is that in its effort to cover the entire spectrum of punk-related art and culture, it includes some wonderfully odd and obscure artifacts. Sure, the classics are all here, from the aforementioned Mr. Reid's postcards, record covers and safety-pinned queens to the stark black-and-white photos of NYC pioneers like The Ramones, Television and punk's pin-up princess herself, Debbie Harry. But you also get pages from forgotten regional zines, covers of sleazy punksploitation mags and, in one of my favorite spreads, the complete original art from the 1978 spoof, "Mad's Punk Rock Group of the Year." It's a great strip, full of confusion from the older generation and gritty, grimy Harry North art that somehow -- accidentally, no doubt -- captures the gritty, grimy magic of the era.
Your love of "Punk: An Aesthetic" will, of course, depend on your love of punk itself -- not to mention your love of crude design, snotty humor and irrational bursts of anger and violence. Naturally, I love all of that stuff, so I'm a sucker for this book. There's smart, sophisticated commentary on the whole era by guys like Jon Savage and William Gibson, but for me, the pictures are why this one is worth picking up. Whether it's the British tabloids wailing and gnashing their teeth over the Sex Pistols' foul-mouthed TV appearance or a piece of Publishers Clearing House junk mail sent to none other than Mr. Kurt Cobain, this is some choice stuff. Grab your copy, put on a record (might I suggest The Ramones' "Leave Home"?) and relive those grand, glorious, gob-encrusted days of yesterday. Gabba gabba hey indeed.
Like the title suggests, "Punk: An Aesthetic" is devoted to the artwork, the advertising, the design, the decor and the overall look that epitomized punk rock, ranging from the pre-punk scene of the early 1970s (and even earlier) to the post-post-post punk decades of the 21st century, when Jamie Reid's once combustible ransom-note Sex Pistols logo can be found on, of all things, a baby's onesie. Talk about cash from chaos.
Still, that's sort of the point of the whole book. Ever since the beginning -- since way before the beginning, in fact, punk was a commodity, a look or attitude being used to sell something. Usually records or concert tickets, of course, but even before then it was being used to sell trashy magazines (there's a spread from a 1956 issue of a Canton, Ohio, mag called The Tabloid that hypes "PUNK STREET IN NEW YORK CITY that I'd love to get my hands on), sleazy paperbacks (a 1957 cash-in titled "The Young Punks") and incomprehensible art movements (our old friends the Situationists get plenty of space here).
What's great about "Punk: An Aesthetic" (and, let me be clear, this is a pretty damn great book) is that in its effort to cover the entire spectrum of punk-related art and culture, it includes some wonderfully odd and obscure artifacts. Sure, the classics are all here, from the aforementioned Mr. Reid's postcards, record covers and safety-pinned queens to the stark black-and-white photos of NYC pioneers like The Ramones, Television and punk's pin-up princess herself, Debbie Harry. But you also get pages from forgotten regional zines, covers of sleazy punksploitation mags and, in one of my favorite spreads, the complete original art from the 1978 spoof, "Mad's Punk Rock Group of the Year." It's a great strip, full of confusion from the older generation and gritty, grimy Harry North art that somehow -- accidentally, no doubt -- captures the gritty, grimy magic of the era.
Your love of "Punk: An Aesthetic" will, of course, depend on your love of punk itself -- not to mention your love of crude design, snotty humor and irrational bursts of anger and violence. Naturally, I love all of that stuff, so I'm a sucker for this book. There's smart, sophisticated commentary on the whole era by guys like Jon Savage and William Gibson, but for me, the pictures are why this one is worth picking up. Whether it's the British tabloids wailing and gnashing their teeth over the Sex Pistols' foul-mouthed TV appearance or a piece of Publishers Clearing House junk mail sent to none other than Mr. Kurt Cobain, this is some choice stuff. Grab your copy, put on a record (might I suggest The Ramones' "Leave Home"?) and relive those grand, glorious, gob-encrusted days of yesterday. Gabba gabba hey indeed.
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