Bad Religion at the Double Door

My thesis critique is next week (ahhhhhhhhh!!)!! I’ve spent the last few weeks humming and hawing about what exactly I was going to do for it. Originally I wanted my thesis install in the gallery to be a straight reflection if the work I make; drawings, video, weird kid friendly play-sculptures, my zine. The original pitch to faculty didn’t go over that well; it seems like too scattered of an install. During that conversation, an alternative play date was brought up. Since social practice is something I’m interested in, I thought, why not? So I built a new proposal to create a space for kids to learn about the punk scene while their parents could get together to have a conversation about parenting. I met with my advisors and they did not like the idea at all. They mostly thought that it would look too cutesy. But… During that meeting, we spent a lot of time speaking about what is and is not considered punk and the motivations of the genre. After 50 minutes, my zine came up and they were like, that’s the thing. And so it is.

My zine, Post-Punk Parenthood, has been my baby for the last couple of years. Why I didn’t just commit to that being my thesis project in the first place, I have no idea. So the plan as it stands now is that I’m going to elevate my zine to the next level. We’re going to cover punchier topics, such as the correlations between the co-opting of punk and the co-opting of parenting culture as a whole, how both have become big money industries. We’ll also be talking about alternative commerce and underground markets. Something else I really want to discuss is: why do younger punks always have their motives questioned?

Moving forward with this project, MY project, I am very excited. The install in the gallery is going to be a zine reading room and a place where people can come together and discuss the topics I’ve been presenting.

On that note, this weekend I was able to go to a few shows with all of these thoughts running through my head. Friday night I was able to get on the guest list for Bad Religion’s show at the Double Door. This will be regarded as the best show that I have ever been to for the rest of my days. Anti-Flag, a member of the new guard, opened for them and it was perfect. Old and new punks stood side by side, and it worked. The overall message was one of community.

Pizza Underground at Riot Fest

The same thing happened when I went to Riot Fest on Saturday. It was a mix of old punks who were there at the beginning in the late 70s, their kids, my generation, and my generation’s kids.  Everyone was there to enjoy the scene that we love so much. Again, it was a sense of community that I saw. The bassist form Anti-Flag, put it nicely, “it’s not about records sales, or T-shirts, or ticket sales. It’s about the community we forge here in these places. If you take anything away from this, make it be a new friend, because when all the [expletive deleted] with guitars leave town! you’ll still have your community.”

That’s why I’m doing this and why my year is going to be great.