Crass punk band collection

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: 8506

Scope and content

6 items including material relating to Crass, most of it produced and published by Boo-Hooray gallery in New York City. Includes two copies of the catalog for the exhibition "In all our decadence people die: an exhibition of fanzines presented to Crass between 1976 and 1984," held at Boo-Hooray in 2011; "Oh magick kingdom," a special edition CD by Penny Rimbaud, released in conjunction with the exhibition; "Not us/not them," a sound recording combining poems by Penny Rimbaud, music performed by Louise Elliott, and (on the sleeve) artwork by Gee Vaucher, produced for the exhibition; "Much ado about something: a play of metaphors," written and illustrated by Gee Vaucher, with an accompanying CD (untitled), published by Exitstencil Press; and an untitled leaflet written by Penny Rimbaud in 1977, published by Boo-Hooray.

Dates

1977-2011.

Creator

no primary creator (Person)
Rimbaud, Penny, 1943- (Person)
Rimbaud, Penny, 1943- (Title of work: Oh magick kingdom..) (Person)
Rimbaud, Penny, 1943- (Title of work: Not us, not them..) (Person)
Vaucher, Gee. (Person)
Vaucher, Gee. (Title of work: Much ado about something..) (Person)
Elliott, Louise. (Person)
Boo-Hooray (Gallery) (Organization)
Exitstencil Press (Organization)

Language of Material

In English.

Biographical / Historical

Founded by Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant, Crass was an English punk rock band formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. The group advocated for direct action, animal rights and environmentalism. It also used and advocated a DIY (do it yourself) approach to its sound collages, leaflets, albums, and films. Band members spray-painted graffiti messages in the London Underground system and on advertising billboards, and organized political action. The band dressed in black, military-surplus-style clothing and used a stage backdrop combining icons of perceived authority such as the Christian cross, the swastika, the Union Jack, and the Ouroboros (the image of a serpent devouring its own tail). Crass's work is considered art punk in its use of tape collages, graphics spoken word releases, poetry, and improvisation. The group disbanded in 1984.