DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies
by Fiona Killackey
In 1962 America’s then President, John F. Kennedy stated, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth". Three decades later a group of likeminded individuals took this philosophy one step further, creating an entirely new medium of artwork from non-traditional sources. Embracing the Do-It-Yourself attitude made famous by the likes of Ian Mackaye, Lydia Lunch and Steve Albini, the punk and hardcore scenes of 1990s’ North America revolutionized the way music, tours and album cover art were produced.
Without the means to replicate the flashy and high-priced album covers so prevalent in the 1980s, this collective began utilizing ordinary products to create extraordinary work. Already experienced in booking their own shows, creating their own line-ups and orchestrating their own tours, these bands saw the art of making their own album covers as just another step in sourcing exposure in an inexpensive fashion. Cereal boxes transformed into canvases, while aluminum foil and vintage wallpaper replaced the need for an A-list designer. As stated by Tree’s Ken Shipley, "I think it’s important to note [that] I wasn’t trying to do hand-made intentionally. My influences were 4AD, but my budget was Ebullition."
Celebrating this historic merging of art and music is J. Namdev Hardisty’s text, DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies. A devoted fan of the punk movement, collector of DIY album art and the author of New Skateboard Graphics (Mark Batty Publisher NYC, RRP US$27.95), Hardisty has collated an impressive series of albums that expose the creativity that results from financial necessity. Encased within 74 pages (each designed with a DIY aesthetic) is the artwork from Gravity, Bloodlink, File 13, Tree, Repercussion, Auxiliary, Coreleone, Helicopter, Arcade Kacha, Tree and Vermin Scum. "The DIY aesthetic didn’t make things feel cheaper, but better," says Hardisty, who believes the entire movement allowed fans to gain "an intimate knowledge of what it takes to make things, and, furthermore, what it feels like to make things."
In an industry renowned for external staff and A&R steering control of a musical project, the DIY ethic allowed the 1990s’ punk collective to keep a hold of the reigns, creating, producing and ultimately manufacturing their art. By viewing items in a different light they created magic from the seemingly mundane and, in doing so, released themselves from the jail of conformity and planted the seed for a new art medium to grow.
DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies by J. Namdev Hardisty is published by Mark Batty NYC.
More Images
Gallery
