The Secret History of Punk Rock: Visual Vitriol

PUNK FOLK ART OPENING, DIVA, FRI. MARCH 7, 5:30-8:30
Through MARCH 30, 2008

University of Oregon Folklore graduate student David Ensminger, with the support of the Folklore Program, curated an extensive collection of punk poster and flyers (known as urban folk art, instant Xerox art, and street style vernacular expressions) in the large gallery space at DIVA, in downtown Eugene. The main room exhibition also featured potent photography and ephemera culled from punk archives and a looped, original documentary film. The content focused on Do-It-Yourself, often handmade posters that will survey over 30 years of subculture history. Featuring a broad range of work from North America, Europe, and Asia, the exhibition also focused on the often ignored contributions of women, gays and lesbians, and people of color in punk.

Similar exhibitions have been shown in Santa Fe, Portland, Salem, Houston, across Western Europe (both England and the continent) and Budapest and Bangkok. Please check out our temporary web page, dedicated to the collection, here:

Ensminger hopes to catalog these items in a permanent punk art and culture archive soon while currently writing a book on the subject and presenting the material at a folklore conference in April in Davis, California.

Contact Info:

David Ensminger, 514-346-7339
davidae43@hotmail.com

Past Special Events:

Punk Roundtable Discussion, March 8th, 7-9 PM. DIVA

"Punk and DIY Culture: Then and Now."

David Ensminger will be hosting a free roundtable discussion about punk as a historic DIY subculture, featuring a number of key national and local participants, incuding Roxy from the Epoxies (Portland), Tim Hinely from Dagger fanzine (Philadelphia and Portland), Bruce Hartnell from the Detonators (L.A. and Eugene), Colin Sears of Dag Nasty (Washington DC), and Karen McFarlane from the Funhouse Strippers (San Francisco and Salem) who will join University of Oregon folklore faculty members John Fenn and Daniel Wojcik. During the same session a short film, "Chronicles from the Zero Hour: The Punk Legacy," will be screened, which is an all-original film co-produced by David Ensminger and Ashley Gossman that highlights interviews with members of MDC, Chumbawamba, Strike Anywhere, Lifetime/Paint it Black, The Epoxies, Dag Nasty/Alloy, and contains live footage of TSOL and the Circle Jerks.

DIY WORKSHOP 2-5 PM March 8th DIVA

Celebrating DIY Culture, with Hands-On Activities

Kelsey Wallace will provide felt, fabric, scissors, and thread to illustrate how to make/modify clothes while also exploring other sorts of fun and empowering DIY fabric art.

David Gracon will discuss and present zines and materials (like a short film on zines and plenty of paper and markers) to help facilitate people's zine pages, which can be made on site.

Andre Sirois will highlight "turntablism/mixology" and talk with people about cut and mix DJ culture and the idea of reappropriating music through DJ-ing.

Nate Wallace and/or his roommate Eric Eiden will be there with some instruments from the Buy and Sell Center (where they are employed) to explore DIY music and production. Recording equipment will be provided on site too.

Others will explore video recording equipment and guide topics and hands-on advice on documentary films and filmmaking.