Signs of Distress: Wear and Tear in Punk Graphics

Like the music, early visual approaches reflected punk’s core themes of provocation, novelty, directness, honesty, and authenticity. Instant, home-made, and hand-made graphic styles— whether genuine or mimicked for effect—drew upon a long line of Twentieth Century artistic traditions, from Dada to Surrealism, the Lettrists and Situationists, and the late 1960s counterculture. Punk’s watchwords of autonomy and authenticity were reflected in visuals that revealed their origins and their construction—‘anyone’ could, indeed, do the same, and here was a clear, or at least implied, set of instructions for others to follow. Common punk visual tropes included collage, détournement, parody, pastiche, and the use of instant, hands-on tools and techniques for origination and reproduction (the photocopier, rubber stamps, stencils, and direct printing techniques). At the same time, punk graphic designers embraced the ephemeral, employing simple tools and mark-making techniques that embraced distortion, decay, rawness, and urgency. This presentation offers an overview of common visual styles in early punk graphics (1976–84) that embodied a time-worn aesthetic through graphic techniques ranging from simple DIY mark-making to carefully constructed images that project a sense of decay while at the same time disguising their complex origins.

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