jueves, 1 de junio de 2017

Gee Vaucher, la artista anarquista

Gee Vaucher, the anarchist artist


Portada para 'The Feeding of the 5000'


'Acts Of Love'


Portada de International Anthem no.2


'Dictator'


'Oh America'


'Give Us Justice'


'Inside Out'


Poster para el single 'Bloody Revolutions'


'Domestic Violence', International Anthem no.2


'Our Father'


Pintura para 'Penis Envy'


'Your Country Needs You', reedición de 'The Feeding of the 5000'


La banda Crass se formó en una comuna que convivía en una granja conocida como Dial House, en el condado británico de Essex. Se les suele ignorar en el repaso a las bandas punk, salvo por su conocido símbolo, diseñado originalmente por David King para un fanzine-manifiesto que los miembros de la banda editaron tiempo antes de planear su asalto musical y que se convirtió en un clásico para camisetas, tatuajes, parches... En realidad, y a pesar de una abundante discografía, Crass surgieron, aunque inspirados sus fundadores Penny Rimbaud y Steve Ignorant por un recital de los primeros Clash, más bien como una anti-banda, un combo anti-música de alguna manera. Sus conciertos eran para algunos de sus integrantes un vehículo para diseminar su mensaje político anti-sistema, parecido a lo que estaban haciendo sus amigos de Poison Girls aunque estos eran más musicales. Los beneficios del grupo, que además crearon un sello discográfico propio para hacer las cosas a su manera, eran reinvertidos en continuar sus aventuras, en proyectos afines, en ayudar a todo aquel que conocían y tenía dificultades para salir adelante y que, muchas veces, recogían en la comuna. Activismo y altruismo básicamente. A veces incluso los seguidores pasaban a formar parte de la banda, como fue el caso de su cantante principal, Eve Libertine.  Gee Vaucher fue también miembro fundador del colectivo, para los que diseñaba el arte de discos y publicaciones. Significativos y celebrados son esos collages políticos que aparecían en sus discos y que se convirtieron en marca reconocible de la casa. Gee recaló en la comuna después de pasar por una decepcionante experiencia en Nueva York como ilustradora política para revistas, siendo censurada por sus jefes en demasiadas ocasiones. Paradójicamente, su creación de la Estatua de la Libertad cubriéndose la cara con espanto, que ya usara muchos años antes el grupo de hip-hop Tackhead para el álbum 'Friendly as a Hand Grenade', sería portada del Daily Mirror ante la victoria de Trump y se volvería viral,  es decir, muy celebrado en Internet. Gee continúa exhibiendo sus creaciones, con la particularidad de que no vende originales (que almacena como puede en la granja) sino reproducciones y libros. Y de vez en cuando reniega de la etiqueta anarquista por lo que tiene de nihilista, para señalar que Crass eran más bien activistas libertarios.
Crass was formed in a commune that lived on a farm in Essex, known as the Dial House. They are often ignored when it comes to reviewing punk bands, except for their well-known symbol, designed by David King for a fanzine-manifesto that the band members edited long before conceiving their musical assault and which became a classic for t-shirts, Tattoos, patches... Actually, despite an abundant discography, Crass emerged, although inspired its founders Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant by a Clash gig, rather as an anti-band, an anti-music combo somehow. Their shows were for some of his members a vehicle to disseminate their anti-system political message, as were doing their friends Poison Girls although these in a more developed musical style. The benefits of the group, self-published by their own record label that allowed them to do things their own way, were reinvested in continuing their adventures and in related projects or to help everyone they knew and had difficulties, some of those many times welcome in the commune. Activism and altruism basically. Sometimes even the followers became part of the band, as was the case of their lead singer, Eve Libertine. Gee Vaucher was also a founding member of the collective, for whom she designed the art of albums and publications. Significant and celebrated are those political collages that appeared on their records and which became their recognizable image. Gee landed in the commune after going through a traumatic experience in New York as a political illustrator for magazines, being censored by bosses on too many occasions. Paradoxically, her creation of the Statue of Liberty, covering face with horror first used for the cover of the album 'Friendly as a Hand Grenade' by hip-hop group Tackhead, would be the cover of the Daily Mirror for Trump's victory and would become viral, that is, very celebrated on the Internet. Gee continues to exhibit her creations, with the peculiarity that she does not sell originals (stored in the farm), but reproductions and books. And from time to time she denies being an anarchist but a libertarian.



Gee Vaucher. Foto: Charlie Waterhouse


'Friendly as a Hand Grenade', Tackhead 1989


Daily Mirror, 2016


Logo de David King para Crass



EscuchaListen
Crass·'So What' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Do They Owe Us a Living?' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Bloody Revolution' (subtitulado)
Crass·'You're Already Dead' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Sucks' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Reality Whitewash' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Punk Is Dead' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Big A Little A' (subtitulado)
Crass·'End Result' (subtitulado)
Crass·A Reject Of Society' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Banned From The Roxy' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Smother Love' (subtitulado)
Crass·'You Pay' (subtitulado)
Crass·'Reality Whitewash' (subtitulado)
Poison Girls·'Abort The System'
Poison Girls·'Underbitch'
Poison Girls·'Price Of Grain'
Poison Girls·'Ideologically Unsound'
Poison Girls·'Other'
Poison Girls·'Fear of Freedom'
Posion Girls·'Riot In My Mind' 
MiraWatch
Crass·'There is No Authority But Yourself' (subtitulado)
The Art of Punk - Crass
In All Our Decadence People Die
In All Our Decadence... Exhibition Catalog
▶Crass - Christ The Movie: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
Poison Girls: Another Hero, Live 1980