Hues of Independence - Revision history

Diogooutra: /* DIY? */

2020-07-11T14:02:07Z

‎DIY?

Diogooutra: /* DIY? */

2020-07-11T13:40:00Z

‎DIY?

Diogooutra: /* Third Circulation */

2020-07-11T13:07:08Z

‎Third Circulation

Diogooutra: /* Third Circulation */

2020-07-11T13:06:09Z

‎Third Circulation

Diogooutra: /* Assaulting Culture */

2020-06-30T19:15:39Z

‎Assaulting Culture

Diogooutra at 17:12, 26 May 2020

2020-05-26T17:12:52Z

Diogooutra at 21:42, 25 May 2020

2020-05-25T21:42:21Z

Diogooutra: /* Places and Structures */

2020-04-06T10:38:59Z

‎Places and Structures

Diogo at 15:41, 5 June 2019

2019-06-05T15:41:34Z

Diogo: Text replacement - "Russian Contributions" to "Russian Content"

2019-04-04T15:32:05Z

Text replacement - "Russian Contributions" to "Russian Content"

@@ Line 118: / Line 118: @@
 [[File:HOI - (16).png|thumb|right|16. Andy Warhol holding the sleeve Sergey Kuryokhin’s LP ‘Ways of Freedom’, 1985. Courtesy of Joanna Stingray]]
-There was no information on the cover about the circumstances of the original recording, but there was a disclaimer – ‘The musicians do not bear any responsibility for publishing these tapes’ – which suggested that the record was in fact a bootleg. In this context, it is worth examining another example of East-West music smuggling. [[Joanna Stingray]] came to Leningrad in 1984, During this trip she managed to meet numerous artists and scene members associated with the New Artists group, the Assa Gallery and the Leningrad Rock Club. Two years later, she published, on the Australian label Big Time, the compilation <em>Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands From the USSR</em>, with recordings by [[Akvarium]], [[Kino]], [[Alisa]] and [[Strange Games]]. At the same time, she made a documentary film featuring music videos by each of the bands and a presentation of the context in which they worked, including footage of [[Timur Novikov]] playing on the utiugon, a self-made instrument. On the cover, Stingray put the following note: ‘I have brought their music to the West, in hope of creating better understanding between people. MUSIC HAS NO BORDERS! (figure 17)’ '''[32]''' But the Soviet authorities thought otherwise and Stingray was punished for illegally exporting state property. As she recounted,
+There was no information on the cover about the circumstances of the original recording, but there was a disclaimer – ‘The musicians do not bear any responsibility for publishing these tapes’ – which suggested that the record was in fact a bootleg. In this context, it is worth examining another example of East-West music smuggling. [[Joanna Stingray]] came to Leningrad in 1984, During this trip she managed to meet numerous artists and scene members associated with the New Artists group, the Assa Gallery and the Leningrad Rock Club. Two years later, she published, on the Australian label Big Time, the compilation <em>Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands From the USSR</em>, with recordings by [[Aquarium|Akvarium]], [[Kino]], [[Alisa]] and [[Strange Games]]. At the same time, she made a documentary film featuring music videos by each of the bands and a presentation of the context in which they worked, including footage of [[Timur Novikov]] playing on the utiugon, a self-made instrument. On the cover, Stingray put the following note: ‘I have brought their music to the West, in hope of creating better understanding between people. MUSIC HAS NO BORDERS! (figure 17)’ '''[32]''' But the Soviet authorities thought otherwise and Stingray was punished for illegally exporting state property. As she recounted,
 ''"The tracks were recorded on reel-to-reel tapes that were outdated, large and unwieldy. I hid the paper with the lyrics under the lining of my boots and the tapes in a secret pocket of my jacket. I was smuggling the music out as if I were a drug courier. The safest route was from Leningrad to Finland because they didn't search people as thoroughly in the Leningrad airport as in Moscow. (…) When I returned to the Soviet Union, I first went to the VAAP (Soviet Copyright Agency). They gave me a long lecture and a paper to sign saying that I had smuggled the recordings out without the musicians' knowledge. I quickly agreed to sign it, gave VAAP the royalty fee and thought that the matter was settled. I returned to the States riding on a cloud and prepared for my wedding to Yury Kasparyan. But after that meeting they banned me from entering the Soviet Union for six months, with the result that I missed my own wedding."'' '''[33]'''

@@ Line 118: / Line 118: @@
 [[File:HOI - (16).png|thumb|right|16. Andy Warhol holding the sleeve Sergey Kuryokhin’s LP ‘Ways of Freedom’, 1985. Courtesy of Joanna Stingray]]
-There was no information on the cover about the circumstances of the original recording, but there was a disclaimer – ‘The musicians do not bear any responsibility for publishing these tapes’ – which suggested that the record was in fact a bootleg. In this context, it is worth examining another example of East-West music smuggling. Joanna Stingray came to Leningrad in 1984, During this trip she managed to meet numerous artists and scene members associated with the New Artists group, the Assa Gallery and the Leningrad Rock Club. Two years later, she published, on the Australian label Big Time, the compilation <em>Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands From the USSR</em>, with recordings by Akvarium, Kino, Alisa and Strange Games. At the same time, she made a documentary film featuring music videos by each of the bands and a presentation of the context in which they worked, including footage of Timur Novikov playing on the utiugon, a self-made instrument. On the cover, Stingray put the following note: ‘I have brought their music to the West, in hope of creating better understanding between people. MUSIC HAS NO BORDERS! (figure 17)’ '''[32]''' But the Soviet authorities thought otherwise and Stingray was punished for illegally exporting state property. As she recounted,
+There was no information on the cover about the circumstances of the original recording, but there was a disclaimer – ‘The musicians do not bear any responsibility for publishing these tapes’ – which suggested that the record was in fact a bootleg. In this context, it is worth examining another example of East-West music smuggling. [[Joanna Stingray]] came to Leningrad in 1984, During this trip she managed to meet numerous artists and scene members associated with the New Artists group, the Assa Gallery and the Leningrad Rock Club. Two years later, she published, on the Australian label Big Time, the compilation <em>Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands From the USSR</em>, with recordings by [[Akvarium]], [[Kino]], [[Alisa]] and [[Strange Games]]. At the same time, she made a documentary film featuring music videos by each of the bands and a presentation of the context in which they worked, including footage of [[Timur Novikov]] playing on the utiugon, a self-made instrument. On the cover, Stingray put the following note: ‘I have brought their music to the West, in hope of creating better understanding between people. MUSIC HAS NO BORDERS! (figure 17)’ '''[32]''' But the Soviet authorities thought otherwise and Stingray was punished for illegally exporting state property. As she recounted,
 ''"The tracks were recorded on reel-to-reel tapes that were outdated, large and unwieldy. I hid the paper with the lyrics under the lining of my boots and the tapes in a secret pocket of my jacket. I was smuggling the music out as if I were a drug courier. The safest route was from Leningrad to Finland because they didn't search people as thoroughly in the Leningrad airport as in Moscow. (…) When I returned to the Soviet Union, I first went to the VAAP (Soviet Copyright Agency). They gave me a long lecture and a paper to sign saying that I had smuggled the recordings out without the musicians' knowledge. I quickly agreed to sign it, gave VAAP the royalty fee and thought that the matter was settled. I returned to the States riding on a cloud and prepared for my wedding to Yury Kasparyan. But after that meeting they banned me from entering the Soviet Union for six months, with the result that I missed my own wedding."'' '''[33]'''
@@ Line 130: / Line 130: @@
 [[File:HOI - (18).png|thumb|right|18. Brygada Kryzys, Live, LP, Fresh Records, 1982. Courtesy of Robert Brylewski]]
-This means that within two years Brylewski had his music published by a major Western record company, an independent Western label and an official domestic publisher. Another special case, and not only because their albums were released by the official Soviet record company, Melodiya, were the Ganelin Trio. They were among those avant-garde jazz musicians who were allowed to perform abroad. Their first album was issued in Poland following their appearance at the Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw in 1976, and here again the artists didn’t have much say about the publication (the song titles, for example, were invented by the Polish publisher). Ganelin, Chekasin and Tarasov started performing behind the Iron Curtain, and their concerts featured more and more multimedia elements. They were also aware of the work of Fluxus and John Cage, and it was these influences that inspired the group’s perhaps most radical performance, <em>Household Music-Making in Nine Rooms</em>, presented first at the Vilnius Philharmonic in 1979 and later also in Moscow, among other places (figure 19). The show proceeded in a surprising fashion. A live album released by Leo Records credits only Chekasin and Ganelin, ignoring Tarasov who was present throughout the performance – but sleeping. Tarasov himself described the event:
+This means that within two years Brylewski had his music published by a major Western record company, an independent Western label and an official domestic publisher. Another special case, and not only because their albums were released by the official Soviet record company, Melodiya, were the [[Ganelin Trio]]. They were among those avant-garde jazz musicians who were allowed to perform abroad. Their first album was issued in Poland following their appearance at the Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw in 1976, and here again the artists didn’t have much say about the publication (the song titles, for example, were invented by the Polish publisher). Ganelin, Chekasin and Tarasov started performing behind the Iron Curtain, and their concerts featured more and more multimedia elements. They were also aware of the work of Fluxus and John Cage, and it was these influences that inspired the group’s perhaps most radical performance, <em>Household Music-Making in Nine Rooms</em>, presented first at the Vilnius Philharmonic in 1979 and later also in Moscow, among other places (figure 19). The show proceeded in a surprising fashion. A live album released by Leo Records credits only Chekasin and Ganelin, ignoring Tarasov who was present throughout the performance – but sleeping. Tarasov himself described the event:
 ''"I sleep on a bed for the entire first act, and then I leap out of bed and grab the newspaper „Pravda” upside down. It was all very blatant, but we were not afraid. … Household Music-Making was absolutely a demonstration. If I remember, I sleep, then I jump up and we play all kinds of reworked songs, we eat sandwiches. I'll never forget, after the concert at the Vilnius Philharmonic people kept repeating, ‘You fellows will have problems, you will have problems’. They were afraid. They were afraid of us of course. But they were also pleased. Maybe they were jealous, that we let ourselves do these things. The same was true at the ‘Neringa’'' '''[36]''' ''where you sat at a table telling jokes, constantly glancing back, afraid, that someone might hear you. Of course, they heard everything.''" '''[37]'''
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 E. Bizottság was also very lucky in getting their two records released in communist Hungary. The band was formed by a group of artists associated with the Vajda Lajos Stúdió in Szentendre, an artistic community dating back to the late 1960s that was geared towards non-professional and amateur art. From the very beginning the group’s output was a particular mix of youth subcultures with Dadaist and Surrealist inspirations. The following account of the community’s beginnings in early 70s captures its institutional complexity and ideological specificity:
-When László feLugossy had finally avoided conscription (but was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment instead), István Ef Zámbó organised a happening on the occasion at the Szentendre market square. He read out his text (he had already started writing books and manifestoes at the time) and handed out various useless objects, provided by Lászlo Terebessy, to members of the audience. The event was called <em>Nalaja Happening</em>, referring to the group’s dadaistic-surrealistic language, called the <em>nalaja</em>. The happening was interrupted by the police, and several participants, including Ef Zámbó himself, were arrested and prosecuted. At this point begins the counterculture myth of Szentendre, although it was mainly a series of naive actions that helped the town’s young residents to ‘bypass’ the system. Since the authorities feared the young artists, they decided to legalise their activities in order to better control them.
+When [[László feLugossy]] had finally avoided conscription (but was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment instead), István Ef Zámbó organised a happening on the occasion at the Szentendre market square. He read out his text (he had already started writing books and manifestoes at the time) and handed out various useless objects, provided by Lászlo Terebessy, to members of the audience. The event was called <em>Nalaja Happening</em>, referring to the group’s dadaistic-surrealistic language, called the <em>nalaja</em>. The happening was interrupted by the police, and several participants, including Ef Zámbó himself, were arrested and prosecuted. At this point begins the counterculture myth of Szentendre, although it was mainly a series of naive actions that helped the town’s young residents to ‘bypass’ the system. Since the authorities feared the young artists, they decided to legalise their activities in order to better control them.
 The group founded a discussion club, according to the Aczél principles described earlier, and adopted the name of Lajos Vajda, a pre-WWII artist active in the town, thus emphasising the significance of the classic avant-garde in Szentendre. Exhibitions as well as works by amateur artists were qualified by the Népművelési Intézet [Culture Institute], responsible for community and cultural centres, amateur groups and the promotion of art, again according to the ‘three T’ formula. Since the qualifying committee members, who enjoyed respect in the community as expert figures, usually supported the Vajda Lajos Stúdió, the town authorities gave the artists a postindustrial space as a permanent exhibition venue where the Stúdió continues to function to this day. '''[41]'''
-In 1980, continuing the countercultural-amateur traditions of the Szentendre artistic community, a group of artists who were eventually to form A. E. Bizottság decided – just for fun – to take part in a talent show. Their unexpected success drew the attention of the public and of other new wave bands, but also of filmmakers. In 1982, at the Balázs Béla Studio (BBS), the idea was conceived of making a documentary film about the new music scene, including bands such as Trabant, Balaton or VHK. Soon it was decided to focus on A. E. Bizottság alone, and since the band members were artists, the filmmakers thought to conduct an unusual experiment: the band was asked to make a film about itself, with funding provided by the studio. [[András Wahorn]], as the group’s leading member and someone with filmmaking experience, became the project leader and the original script was co-written by [[László feLugossy]]. But the resulting footage was unusable and BBS decided to cancel the project. Help came from one of their filmmakers, Gábor Bódy, who liked the experiment enough to lend Wahorn his own video camera, a crew, and some money to finish the film.
+In 1980, continuing the countercultural-amateur traditions of the Szentendre artistic community, a group of artists who were eventually to form [[A. E. Bizottság]] decided – just for fun – to take part in a talent show. Their unexpected success drew the attention of the public and of other new wave bands, but also of filmmakers. In 1982, at the Balázs Béla Studio (BBS), the idea was conceived of making a documentary film about the new music scene, including bands such as [[Trabant]], [[Balaton]] or [[VHK]]. Soon it was decided to focus on A. E. Bizottság alone, and since the band members were artists, the filmmakers thought to conduct an unusual experiment: the band was asked to make a film about itself, with funding provided by the studio. [[András Wahorn]], as the group’s leading member and someone with filmmaking experience, became the project leader and the original script was co-written by [[László feLugossy]]. But the resulting footage was unusable and BBS decided to cancel the project. Help came from one of their filmmakers, Gábor Bódy, who liked the experiment enough to lend Wahorn his own video camera, a crew, and some money to finish the film.
 [[File:HOI - (21).png|thumb|right|21. A. E. Bizottsag, ‘Kalandra Fel!!’, LP, 1983, Start Records. Design by Andras Wahorn. Courtesy of Andras Wahorn]]

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 Exploring the Czechoslovak scene, we can clearly see key concepts and lines of division present in many countries of the bloc, but nowhere else did they achieve such density nor lead to such heated debates and a resulting crystallisation of positions. In Poland in the 1980s a brief moment of alliance between anti-communist activists and the underground can be noted, as mentioned by Piotr Rypson: ‘I have a photo where we are walking with Tomek [Lipiński] and two other friends in a Solidarity demonstration – happy, delighted, smiling. Tomek had just changed his image – he’d stopped spiking up his hair, stopped wearing metal jewellery, put on a V-neck sweater. I remember us concluding that it doesn’t make sense to antagonise the public visually at a time when society is changing – and changing the reality at hand.’ '''[16]'''
-In 1981, during the short-lived ‘Solidarity carnival’, a period of liberalisation that was ended abruptly by the introduction of martial law, Brygada Kryzys, a band run at the time by Lipiński and Robert Brylewski, was invited to perform at the Solidarity-organised ‘Przegląd Piosenki Prawdziwej’ (Festival of True Song) at the Olivia venue in Gdańsk. This moment was very brief however, and Lipiński’s words explain why: ‘In 1980, the situation changed. We, as anarchists, naturally saw the regime in a similar way as Solidarity did. From the beginning of 1981, however, we began viewing Solidarity as a new establishment, one which spelled no positive prospects. On the other hand, Solidarity in itself, as an anarchistic movement, was acceptable for us . . . As long as Solidarity was anarchistic, we were on the same side’. '''[17]'''
+In 1981, during the short-lived ‘Solidarity carnival’, a period of liberalisation that was ended abruptly by the introduction of martial law, [[Brygada Kryzys]], a band run at the time by Lipiński and Robert Brylewski, was invited to perform at the Solidarity-organised ‘Przegląd Piosenki Prawdziwej’ (Festival of True Song) at the Olivia venue in Gdańsk. This moment was very brief however, and Lipiński’s words explain why: ‘In 1980, the situation changed. We, as anarchists, naturally saw the regime in a similar way as Solidarity did. From the beginning of 1981, however, we began viewing Solidarity as a new establishment, one which spelled no positive prospects. On the other hand, Solidarity in itself, as an anarchistic movement, was acceptable for us . . . As long as Solidarity was anarchistic, we were on the same side’. '''[17]'''
 Punks become temporary fellow travellers on a trip that lasted only until Solidarity had crystallised as a formation with specific views about its intended position in society. Also the political police perceived members of the two groups differently. Solidarity and political dissidents enjoyed a kind of esteem while youth counterculture movements were disparaged as the expression of demoralisation. Paweł ‘Konjo’ Konnak notes that the security police, the SB, clearly saw a difference between the second and third circulations. He remembers the moment when the archives of confiscated samizdat were opened: ‘It’s interesting what happened to the confiscated Totart stage props and publications. A year later, following the elections of June 1989 and pursuant to a deal negotiated by Solidarity with the communists, opposition activists whose underground production had been confiscated were able to collect it back from the SB storerooms. When we too came to claim our meagre junk, the Solidarity gentlemen kindly told us that we had never been any kind of underground and showed us the door. And the Publishing and Advertising Section of the Pill of Progression Metaphysical-Entertainment Conglomerate has the right to nothing’. [18] Paradoxically, this policy meant that materials of lesser subversive potential were irrevocably destroyed while the political samizdat survived.

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 Another strategy of scene division was followed in East Germany. The authorities in the German Democratic Republic were always wary of the musical scene. Erich Honecker, for example, stated in the 1960s: ‘it was overlooked that the enemy exploits this type of music to drive young people to excesses through the use of exaggerated beat rhythms. The pernicious influences of such music upon the thoughts and actions of young people is being grossly underestimated’. '''[19]'''
-In 1976, Wolf Biermann went to perform in Cologne in West Germany; upon his return, he was refused re-entry to the DDR and stripped of his citizenship. The avowed Marxist and socialist bard was a <em>persona non grata</em> in East Germany, because his poetry was too realistic and reflected the absurdities of everyday life all too well. Thus ended a long process of growing separation between the nonconformist songwriter and the state. It was a significant moment also because the future landmarks of East German punk were already looming on the horizon. Bert Papenfuß-Gorek, a poet associated with the Prenzlauer Berg scene and the bands Rosa Extra and [[Ornament &amp; Verbrechen]], reminisced: ‘Biermann's era was completely finished. He was still hanging around, and some friends even had his albums and were still listening to that rubbish, but I would have nothing to do with that anymore. I was on the side of the MC5 and Ton Steine Scherben’. '''[20]'''
+In 1976, Wolf Biermann went to perform in Cologne in West Germany; upon his return, he was refused re-entry to the DDR and stripped of his citizenship. The avowed Marxist and socialist bard was a <em>persona non grata</em> in East Germany, because his poetry was too realistic and reflected the absurdities of everyday life all too well. Thus ended a long process of growing separation between the nonconformist songwriter and the state. It was a significant moment also because the future landmarks of East German punk were already looming on the horizon. Bert Papenfuß-Gorek, a poet associated with the Prenzlauer Berg scene and the bands [[Rosa Extra]] and [[Ornament &amp; Verbrechen]], reminisced: ‘Biermann's era was completely finished. He was still hanging around, and some friends even had his albums and were still listening to that rubbish, but I would have nothing to do with that anymore. I was on the side of the MC5 and Ton Steine Scherben’. '''[20]'''
 Papenfuß-Gorek not only suggests the alleged worthlessness of Biermann’s music but also a lack of interest in its themes. There was no place here for a dissident position – the expression of an open contestation of political authority. Rather, this was an attitude that defies everything that the establishment embodies, and it didn’t matter whether it was a Western or Eastern establishment. Punk in East Berlin declared war on the system in the broadest sense. In a documentary film about Sascha Anderson, Papenfuß-Gorek says: ‘We were against the GDR party dictatorship, not explicitly against the idea of socialism or communism … there were many who described themselves as real Marxists. There was everyone from anarchists to people who saw the Western welfare state as an ideal. That was basically the spectrum’. '''[21]'''
 [[File:HOI - (5).png|thumb|right|5. Licence given to AG Geige in ‘Recognition of Artistic Quality’, 1987. Archive of Frank Bretschneider]]
-But the regime saw no difference and cracked down on youth subcultures as vehemently as it fought the political opposition. Following a period of direct reprisals against the punk movement, which were supposed to eradicate it by 1983, in the second half of the 1980s the East German authorities changed strategy. Instead of compulsory military service, police harassment, detention or, in some cases, imprisonment, the state sought to extend control over counterculture groups. The policy of granting licences for public performances was relaxed (figure 5). This development is described by Susanne Binas, member of the band Expander des Fortschritts:
+But the regime saw no difference and cracked down on youth subcultures as vehemently as it fought the political opposition. Following a period of direct reprisals against the punk movement, which were supposed to eradicate it by 1983, in the second half of the 1980s the East German authorities changed strategy. Instead of compulsory military service, police harassment, detention or, in some cases, imprisonment, the state sought to extend control over counterculture groups. The policy of granting licences for public performances was relaxed (figure 5). This development is described by Susanne Binas, member of the band [[Expander des Fortschritts]]:
 ''"It was incomparably easier to obtain a license after the mid-1980s than in earlier years. In order to perform in front of an audience, each band had to present its repertoire to a cultural commission of the district government in a special audition. In earlier years, these posts were largely occupied by political bureaucrats with little or no musical background. In contrast to that, however, our band, auditioned in front of a commission composed of jazz musicians, who were amenable to, and familiar with the broad spectrum of our musical innovations like threechord textures, slap bass, cut ups and samples, tapes, or even quotations by Heiner Müller that were peculiar to our style of music. They deflected demands for high levels of musical proficiency and expertise typical of earlier periods by upholding the principles of artistic freedom and pointing out the existence of an interested audience."'' '''[22]'''
 [[File:HOI - (6).png|thumb|right|6. Jan Kummer and Frank Bretschneider during a recording session of [[AG Geige]] for radio, Karl-Marx-Stadt, 1987. Photography Lutz Schramm. Archive of Frank Bretschneider]]
-But that isn’t all. As in Poland earlier, where the term ‘ Muzyka Młodej Generacji’ (music of the new generation) was floated in 1978, the phrase ‘Anderen bands’ (other bands) then entered official discourse in East Germany. The idea was to avoid Western vocabulary (the name ‘punk’ remains taboo for official media). Some bands changed their names to sound less controversial. Repackaged in this way, new wave music could be presented to a mass-media audience. In 1986, the East German youth radio station DT64 started broadcasting ‘Parocktikum’, a weekly show that played bands such as Hard Pop, Cadavre Exquis or AG. Geige (figure 6). The scene was divided into two camps: the punk underground, interested in no compromises with the state, or simply with the East German social order, and the alternative. '''[23]''' The choice of the term ‘other bands’ seems very fitting in this case. One can easily find analogies with the Czechoslovak discussions and the division between the underground and the alternative.
+But that isn’t all. As in Poland earlier, where the term ‘ Muzyka Młodej Generacji’ (music of the new generation) was floated in 1978, the phrase ‘Anderen bands’ (other bands) then entered official discourse in East Germany. The idea was to avoid Western vocabulary (the name ‘punk’ remains taboo for official media). Some bands changed their names to sound less controversial. Repackaged in this way, new wave music could be presented to a mass-media audience. In 1986, the East German youth radio station DT64 started broadcasting ‘Parocktikum’, a weekly show that played bands such as [[Hard Pop]], [[Cadavre Exquis]] or [[AG. Geige]] (figure 6). The scene was divided into two camps: the punk underground, interested in no compromises with the state, or simply with the East German social order, and the alternative. '''[23]''' The choice of the term ‘other bands’ seems very fitting in this case. One can easily find analogies with the Czechoslovak discussions and the division between the underground and the alternative.
 == Places and Structures ==

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 Also Bondy speaks in a way which suggests that ‘the underground’ ultimately became a descriptive term, losing, as a result of the conflict, its projective, future-oriented character. In fact, at first, members of the underground had perceived dissidents as part of the establishment. This perspective can be sensed in Charter 77 itself, when it is pointed out that the signatories enjoyed better protection from oppression than figures from the underground. Jirous’s criticism of intellectuals from Havel’s milieu had been internalised, and the struggle for human rights became the groundwork of the alliance. The history of The [[Plastic People of the Universe|Plastic People]] and Charter 77 represents actually the only example of a lasting alliance between the two groups, compelled by the state. Let us notice that the very term ‘velvet revolution’ probably originated from the Velvet Underground, a key inspiration for The Plastic People. '''[11]'''
-At this point it is doubtless worth noting a completely different reaction to the notion of the underground, presented by Mikoláš Chadima, member of bands such as [[Kilhets]], Extempore and MCH Band, in the introduction to his book, <em>Alternativa.</em> <em>Od rekvalifikací k «Nové» vlně se starým obsahem</em>. Chadima reconstructs the scene, noting a possible tripartition: for him, the establishment and the underground are two circles, beyond which there is also the alternative. Miroslav Vaněk saw the matter in similar terms, writing that, ‘this branch of rock music constitutes an alternative to official pop and big beat (rock and roll), but is also an alternative to the other end, the so called Underground’. '''[12]'''
+At this point it is doubtless worth noting a completely different reaction to the notion of the underground, presented by Mikoláš Chadima, member of bands such as [[Kilhets]], [[Extempore]] and [[MCH Band]], in the introduction to his book, <em>Alternativa.</em> <em>Od rekvalifikací k «Nové» vlně se starým obsahem</em>. Chadima reconstructs the scene, noting a possible tripartition: for him, the establishment and the underground are two circles, beyond which there is also the alternative. Miroslav Vaněk saw the matter in similar terms, writing that, ‘this branch of rock music constitutes an alternative to official pop and big beat (rock and roll), but is also an alternative to the other end, the so called Underground’. '''[12]'''
 [[File:HOI - (4).png|thumb|right|4. Extempore Band, IX Pražske jazzove dny (Prague Jazz Days), 1979, photograph Jiři Kučera. Courtesy of Mikolaš Chadima]]

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 ''"The New Artists collaborated with the Leningrad Rock Club. I myself was a member of the rock club, as the official designer of Kino. The New Artists designed the Kino sets and records and held exhibitions at the club. The Leningrad Rock Club was an exciting place to be at that time. Hoards of strangely dressed young people flocked to the concerts, with the police hot on their tracks. In the 1980s, long hair was out; crew cuts dyed all the colours of the rainbow were in. All the gigs were accompanied by arrests and document checks, which only added fuel to the flames."'' '''[28]'''
-[[File:HOI - (11).png|thumb|right|11. Timur Novikov, Sergey Kuryokhin, Joanna Stingray and members of Kino, Aquarium and Alisa in Leningrad Rock Club, 1985. Courtesy of Joanna Stingray]]
+[[File:HOI - (11).png|thumb|right|11. Timur Novikov, [[Sergey Kuryokhin]], [[Joanna Stingray]] and members of [[Kino]], [[Aquarium]] and [[Alisa]] in Leningrad Rock Club, 1985. Courtesy of Joanna Stingray]]
-While most of the musicians collaborating with Novikov, such as Victor Tsoy or Sergey Kuryokhin, worked with success at the Leningrad Rock Club, Novikov himself and the painters with whom he worked decided to start their own place (figure 12). Its activities and the one-of-a-kind community that formed around it are described by Konstanty Usenko:
+While most of the musicians collaborating with Novikov, such as [[Victor Tsoi]] or [[Sergey Kuryokhin]], worked with success at the Leningrad Rock Club, Novikov himself and the painters with whom he worked decided to start their own place (figure 12). Its activities and the one-of-a-kind community that formed around it are described by Konstanty Usenko:
 ''"Timur organises the legendary Assa Gallery in an abandoned komunalka. Installations exhibited there will later appear in an eponymous film. Assa’s most famous show is one presenting the works of Andy Warhol himself, little known in the USSR at the time. Novikov, who corresponded by mail with the Pop Art master, had received from him several copies of the famous Marilyn Monroe poster and exhibited them in 1986 in a vacant communal flat in Leningrad. . . . Spaces in Papa Om’s new musical squat are also populated by painters and performers. Besides the neo-expressionists, there were also necro-realist filmmakers there, led by Evgeny “Yufa” Yufit, from the first punk crew from Kupchino. “Yufa” tries his hand there in video art making. In 1988, the Friends of Mayakovsky Club, led by Novikov and the Kino drummer, Gustav, organises at H4/B4 an exhibition commemorating the ninety-fifth anniversary of the artist’s death. News about it spread rapidly around the northern metropolis. [[Sergey Kuryokhin]]’s avant-garde orchestra, Pop-Mekhanika, gave a concert."'' '''[29]'''

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 == Assaulting Culture ==
 [[File:HOI - 2.png|thumb|right|2. Still from ‘Plastic People of the Universe’, directed by C.sar de Ferrari, 1970. Courtesy of Česka Televize ]]
-The history of The Plastic People of the Universe, their idea of the underground and their subsequent involvement in the democratic opposition movement is well known. And yet it continues to shine uniquely as the most radical moment of Eastern European counterculture. Analyses of the writings of the group’s chief ideologist and manager, Ivan Martin ‘Magor’ Jirous, have revealed new insights reflecting how culturally complex a phenomenon The Plastic People were. Asked about the meaning of the term ‘underground’ in an interview included in Césare de Ferrari’s 1970 film entitled <em>Plastic People of the Universe</em>, Jirous cites The Fugs and Ed Sanders and speaks of a ‘total assault on culture’ (figure 1). '''[3]''' Already in 1965 the same phrase appears, as ‘<em>atentát na kulturu</em>’, in a song by the band Aktual, run by Milan Knížák, and this may have been in that context that Jirous had first heard it. '''[4]'''
+The history of [[The Plastic People of the Universe]], their idea of the underground and their subsequent involvement in the democratic opposition movement is well known. And yet it continues to shine uniquely as the most radical moment of Eastern European counterculture. Analyses of the writings of the group’s chief ideologist and manager, [[Ivan Martin Jirous|Ivan Martin ‘Magor’ Jirous]], have revealed new insights reflecting how culturally complex a phenomenon The Plastic People were. Asked about the meaning of the term ‘underground’ in an interview included in Césare de Ferrari’s 1970 film entitled <em>Plastic People of the Universe</em>, Jirous cites The Fugs and Ed Sanders and speaks of a ‘total assault on culture’ (figure 1). '''[3]''' Already in 1965 the same phrase appears, as ‘<em>atentát na kulturu</em>’, in a song by the band Aktual, run by Milan Knížák, and this may have been in that context that Jirous had first heard it. '''[4]'''
 So the underground was for Jirous a cultural formation, its defining characteristic being confrontation with the establishment. It is worth noting that it doesn’t matter here whether ‘the establishment’ refers to Western society or to the communist party and the cultural elites. Another source that Jirous cited in his early texts was Marcel Duchamp and his famous dictum that the ‘great artist of tomorrow will go underground’. This pays witness to a need to escape from the commercialisation of art and withdraw to an area of anonymity that would protect one from the invisible hand of the market. But the two quotations (from Sanders and Duchamp) evidence also Jirous’s ambitions to follow the example set by Andy Warhol in the Velvet Underground and create a cultural structure as rich as The Factory (figure 2).

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 The Czechoslovak case of cooperation between the Jazz Section and the U Zábranských club is worth comparing with other institutions with similar profiles (i.e., state-funded spaces that weren’t hostile to semi-official activities). Such spaces included the Fiatal Művészek Klubja (Young Artists Club) in Budapest, the Riviera-Remont club and Post in Warsaw, and the Leningrad Rock Club. Each exploited the resources offered by the state in a different way that, combined with the socio-political context, produced specific subcultures. In Hungary, the situation was seemingly clear: according to a policy implemented by prominent politician György Aczél in the 1960s, each manifestation of cultural life was labelled as belonging to one of three categories known as the ‘three Ts’ (<em>Tiltott</em> = banned; <em>Tűrt</em> = tolerated; <em>Támogatott</em> = supported).
-However, a look at the 1980s new-wave scene confirms that the division applied to the whole culture where, as in Yurchak’s characterisation, contacts with the state were avoided but the resources and infrastructure provided by it were exploited to the full. In her book about the Hungarian music scene in the 1980s, Anna Szemere writes about a subculture that she describes as the ‘marginal intelligentsia’, the focal point of which was Budapest’s Young Artists Club. It was a meeting place for political dissidents, musicians as well as visual artists. Established in the 1960s, the Club gained full momentum only in the last decade of socialism in Hungary thanks to its open formula which accommodated punk concerts as well as political discussions with members of the democratic opposition. Such activities triggered official reprisals, including frequent event cancellations, but that only added to the place’s popularity. New wave bands such as Balaton, Trabant, [[A. E. Bizottság]] or [[Vágtázó Halottkémek]] found perfect conditions here for developing their innovative ideas. Young Artists Club was also the best environment for them due to its exhibition programme. Artist János Vető, for example, whose works created in a duo with Lóránt Méhes (as Zuzu-Vető) were presented in several exhibitions at the Club, was also a member of Trabant (figure 7). The Young Artists Club was a place where much of his artistic activity was focused. Soon new venues with a similar profile started springing up. Szemere arrives at interesting conclusions, describing this movement towards new spaces of autonomy:
+However, a look at the 1980s new-wave scene confirms that the division applied to the whole culture where, as in Yurchak’s characterisation, contacts with the state were avoided but the resources and infrastructure provided by it were exploited to the full. In her book about the Hungarian music scene in the 1980s, Anna Szemere writes about a subculture that she describes as the ‘marginal intelligentsia’, the focal point of which was Budapest’s Young Artists Club. It was a meeting place for political dissidents, musicians as well as visual artists. Established in the 1960s, the Club gained full momentum only in the last decade of socialism in Hungary thanks to its open formula which accommodated punk concerts as well as political discussions with members of the democratic opposition. Such activities triggered official reprisals, including frequent event cancellations, but that only added to the place’s popularity. New wave bands such as [[Balaton]], [[Trabant]], [[A. E. Bizottság]] or [[Vágtázó Halottkémek]] found perfect conditions here for developing their innovative ideas. Young Artists Club was also the best environment for them due to its exhibition programme. Artist János Vető, for example, whose works created in a duo with Lóránt Méhes (as Zuzu-Vető) were presented in several exhibitions at the Club, was also a member of Trabant (figure 7). The Young Artists Club was a place where much of his artistic activity was focused. Soon new venues with a similar profile started springing up. Szemere arrives at interesting conclusions, describing this movement towards new spaces of autonomy:
 ''"Subconsciously, musicians must have known that only by establishing physical spaces and places (primarily venues, but also radio and television stations, etc.) could they re-create affective spaces and places, which are the stuff and goal of music-based social events and rituals. The reconfiguration of the political-social space surrounding the community compelled it to seek stability in the building of physical places. This territorial approach to renewal seemed indispensable for many members of the underground if they were to retain a minimal sense of continuity with the past and regenerate a sense of collective identity."'' '''[24]'''
@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 [[File:HOI - (10).png|thumb|right|10. Artpool r.di. 6, audio casette, 1984. Courtesy of Artpool]]
-Each of the three – the Association of Experimental Visual Art (TEII), Club 81 (a literary organisation) and the Ленинградский рок-клуб (Leningrad Rock Club) – had a different structure. Club 81 was a recognised association of some 70 unofficial writers who organised lectures, conferences and concerts at the Dostoyevsky Museum (the famous writer’s former apartment). The Leningrad Rock Club was supposed to function much like the Association of Soviet Composers, that is, to issue concert permits and to act as a censor in the field of youth popular music. What proved far more important however was the space where the institution was housed: it became an influential venue for rehearsals, live shows or simply meetings (figure 11). It was the place where bands such as Kino, Alisa, Akvarium or Zoopark successfully launched their careers. In this context it is worth noting that liberalisation did’t produce the same effects in all areas. Timur Novikov, the leader of the New Artists group, felt ill at ease in the elitist structures of TEII and for this reason sought his own, alternative, methods of collective visual-arts practice. He remembered the Club as a place of unique atmosphere:
+Each of the three – the Association of Experimental Visual Art (TEII), Club 81 (a literary organisation) and the Ленинградский рок-клуб (Leningrad Rock Club) – had a different structure. Club 81 was a recognised association of some 70 unofficial writers who organised lectures, conferences and concerts at the Dostoyevsky Museum (the famous writer’s former apartment). The Leningrad Rock Club was supposed to function much like the Association of Soviet Composers, that is, to issue concert permits and to act as a censor in the field of youth popular music. What proved far more important however was the space where the institution was housed: it became an influential venue for rehearsals, live shows or simply meetings (figure 11). It was the place where bands such as [[Kino]], [[Alisa]], [[Aquarium|Akvarium]] or [[Zoopark]] successfully launched their careers. In this context it is worth noting that liberalisation didn’t produce the same effects in all areas. Timur Novikov, the leader of the New Artists group, felt ill at ease in the elitist structures of TEII and for this reason sought his own, alternative, methods of collective visual-arts practice. He remembered the Club as a place of unique atmosphere:
 ''"The New Artists collaborated with the Leningrad Rock Club. I myself was a member of the rock club, as the official designer of Kino. The New Artists designed the Kino sets and records and held exhibitions at the club. The Leningrad Rock Club was an exciting place to be at that time. Hoards of strangely dressed young people flocked to the concerts, with the police hot on their tracks. In the 1980s, long hair was out; crew cuts dyed all the colours of the rainbow were in. All the gigs were accompanied by arrests and document checks, which only added fuel to the flames."'' '''[28]'''
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 [[File:HOI - (11).png|thumb|right|11. Timur Novikov, Sergey Kuryokhin, Joanna Stingray and members of Kino, Aquarium and Alisa in Leningrad Rock Club, 1985. Courtesy of Joanna Stingray]]
 While most of the musicians collaborating with Novikov, such as Victor Tsoy or Sergey Kuryokhin, worked with success at the Leningrad Rock Club, Novikov himself and the painters with whom he worked decided to start their own place (figure 12). Its activities and the one-of-a-kind community that formed around it are described by Konstanty Usenko:
 ''
-"Timur organises the legendary Assa Gallery in an abandoned komunalka. Installations exhibited there will later appear in an eponymous film. Assa’s most famous show is one presenting the works of Andy Warhol himself, little known in the USSR at the time. Novikov, who corresponded by mail with the Pop Art master, had received from him several copies of the famous Marilyn Monroe poster and exhibited them in 1986 in a vacant communal flat in Leningrad. . . . Spaces in Papa Om’s new musical squat are also populated by painters and performers. Besides the neo-expressionists, there were also necro-realist filmmakers there, led by Evgeny “Yufa” Yufit, from the first punk crew from Kupchino. “Yufa” tries his hand there in video art making. In 1988, the Friends of Mayakovsky Club, led by Novikov and the Kino drummer, Gustav, organises at H4/B4 an exhibition commemorating the ninety-fifth anniversary of the artist’s death. News about it spread rapidly around the northern metropolis. Sergey Kuryokhin’s avant-garde orchestra, Pop-Mekhanika, gave a concert."'' '''[29]'''
+''"Timur organises the legendary Assa Gallery in an abandoned komunalka. Installations exhibited there will later appear in an eponymous film. Assa’s most famous show is one presenting the works of Andy Warhol himself, little known in the USSR at the time. Novikov, who corresponded by mail with the Pop Art master, had received from him several copies of the famous Marilyn Monroe poster and exhibited them in 1986 in a vacant communal flat in Leningrad. . . . Spaces in Papa Om’s new musical squat are also populated by painters and performers. Besides the neo-expressionists, there were also necro-realist filmmakers there, led by Evgeny “Yufa” Yufit, from the first punk crew from Kupchino. “Yufa” tries his hand there in video art making. In 1988, the Friends of Mayakovsky Club, led by Novikov and the Kino drummer, Gustav, organises at H4/B4 an exhibition commemorating the ninety-fifth anniversary of the artist’s death. News about it spread rapidly around the northern metropolis. [[Sergey Kuryokhin]]’s avant-garde orchestra, Pop-Mekhanika, gave a concert."'' '''[29]'''
 The Leningrad Rock Club helped create a musical scene of great vitality, a scene that (like the New Artists) wasn’t interested in politics. During the period of perestroika after 1985, liberalisation opened the way for an explosion of youth culture which could be witnessed in film, music and the visual arts. It was thanks to the alliance between the disciplines that bands like Kino or Akvarium shot to real stardom and the official media had no choice but to report about their successes.

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 The group founded a discussion club, according to the Aczél principles described earlier, and adopted the name of Lajos Vajda, a pre-WWII artist active in the town, thus emphasising the significance of the classic avant-garde in Szentendre. Exhibitions as well as works by amateur artists were qualified by the Népművelési Intézet [Culture Institute], responsible for community and cultural centres, amateur groups and the promotion of art, again according to the ‘three T’ formula. Since the qualifying committee members, who enjoyed respect in the community as expert figures, usually supported the Vajda Lajos Stúdió, the town authorities gave the artists a postindustrial space as a permanent exhibition venue where the Stúdió continues to function to this day. '''[41]'''
-In 1980, continuing the countercultural-amateur traditions of the Szentendre artistic community, a group of artists who were eventually to form A. E. Bizottság decided – just for fun – to take part in a talent show. Their unexpected success drew the attention of the public and of other new wave bands, but also of filmmakers. In 1982, at the Balázs Béla Studio (BBS), the idea was conceived of making a documentary film about the new music scene, including bands such as Trabant, Balaton or VHK. Soon it was decided to focus on A. E. Bizottság alone, and since the band members were artists, the filmmakers thought to conduct an unusual experiment: the band was asked to make a film about itself, with funding provided by the studio. András Wahorn, as the group’s leading member and someone with filmmaking experience, became the project leader and the original script was co-written by László feLugossy. But the resulting footage was unusable and BBS decided to cancel the project. Help came from one of their filmmakers, Gábor Bódy, who liked the experiment enough to lend Wahorn his own video camera, a crew, and some money to finish the film.
+In 1980, continuing the countercultural-amateur traditions of the Szentendre artistic community, a group of artists who were eventually to form A. E. Bizottság decided – just for fun – to take part in a talent show. Their unexpected success drew the attention of the public and of other new wave bands, but also of filmmakers. In 1982, at the Balázs Béla Studio (BBS), the idea was conceived of making a documentary film about the new music scene, including bands such as Trabant, Balaton or VHK. Soon it was decided to focus on A. E. Bizottság alone, and since the band members were artists, the filmmakers thought to conduct an unusual experiment: the band was asked to make a film about itself, with funding provided by the studio. [[András Wahorn]], as the group’s leading member and someone with filmmaking experience, became the project leader and the original script was co-written by [[László feLugossy]]. But the resulting footage was unusable and BBS decided to cancel the project. Help came from one of their filmmakers, Gábor Bódy, who liked the experiment enough to lend Wahorn his own video camera, a crew, and some money to finish the film.
 [[File:HOI - (21).png|thumb|right|21. A. E. Bizottsag, ‘Kalandra Fel!!’, LP, 1983, Start Records. Design by Andras Wahorn. Courtesy of Andras Wahorn]]
-That’s how <em>Jégkrémbalett</em> (Ice-cream Ballet, 1984) was made. At first, it enjoyed limited screening rights at home, but when, following Bódy’s inspiration, A. E. Bizottság were invited to the Berlin Film Festival, it was banned altogether. The band described their situation as ‘undorground’, a pun on the Hungarian word <em>undor</em>, ‘distaste’. '''[42]''' A year earlier, A. E. Bizottság were invited by Hungaroton, the official record company, to record an album. This had been provoked by a radio interview where the company’s head was asked why a band so popular still hadn’t released a record. The apparatchik replied, falsely, that work on the record was under way. Wahorn sensed an opportunity and decided to hold Hungaroton to their word. The impossible became possible and <em>Kalandra Fel!!</em>, featuring strikingly avant-garde music, was published in 1983 (figure 21).
+That’s how <em>Jégkrémbalett</em> (Ice-cream Ballet, 1984) was made. At first, it enjoyed limited screening rights at home, but when, following Bódy’s inspiration, A. E. Bizottság were invited to the Berlin Film Festival, it was banned altogether. The band described their situation as ‘undorground’, a pun on the Hungarian word <em>undor</em>, ‘distaste’. '''[42]''' A year earlier, [[A. E. Bizottság]] were invited by Hungaroton, the official record company, to record an album. This had been provoked by a radio interview where the company’s head was asked why a band so popular still hadn’t released a record. The apparatchik replied, falsely, that work on the record was under way. Wahorn sensed an opportunity and decided to hold Hungaroton to their word. The impossible became possible and <em>Kalandra Fel!!</em>, featuring strikingly avant-garde music, was published in 1983 (figure 21).
 == Twittering Machines ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:32, 4 April 2019
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	'''[45] ''' Seth Howes, ‘“Killersatellit” and Randerscheinung: Punk and the Prenzlauer Berg’ in German Studies Review, Vol. 36, No. 3 (October 2013) 583–584.		'''[45] ''' Seth Howes, ‘“Killersatellit” and Randerscheinung: Punk and the Prenzlauer Berg’ in German Studies Review, Vol. 36, No. 3 (October 2013) 583–584.

−	[[Category:Czechoslovakian Content]] [[Category:Russian ~~Contributions~~]] [[Category:Hungarian Content]] [[Category:East German Content]] [[Category:Polish Content]]	+	[[Category:Czechoslovakian Content]] [[Category:Russian Content]] [[Category:Hungarian Content]] [[Category:East German Content]] [[Category:Polish Content]]