ALIEN SHE: Disrupting the Archive: Home

This is an amazing book that documents the trajectory of DIY printed matter in terms of fanzines and ephemera. I am particularly interested in the ways it articulates the graphic language of punk, and girl power/riot grrrl personal politics. As an artist who engages notions of collage/photomontage as a nod to punk strategies, this book provides a strong summary of key publications, zines, and printed matter that has inspired me.

This book elaborates on Sarah Ahmed’s radical idea of the Feminist Killjoy. I have been very interested in how to embrace being the disruptor who questions and does not want to participate in stereotypical ways. This role of the Feminist Killjoy is one that I attempt to embody as an artist and educator. I’m particularly interested in not subscribing to conventional notions of what feminism is within certain contexts.

This is a great distillation of how the punk movement destabilized music, art, design, and fashion. There’s so much overlap in how these intersections became agitated and new aesthetics were born. I’m very curious about how working class politics became a lens for creative pursuits.

I was so lucky to see this exhibition in the Fall of 2017 in New York. It changed everything for me in terms of thinking about how artists choose to perform through materials and methodologies that are aligned with notions of gender exploration. This exhibition embraced the archive through immersive spaces.

I’ve always felt a kinship with Valie Export and her approach to self-documenting as an artist. She’s always integrated notions of the archive as an active site for radical thinking through collection-based methodologies. This exhibition catalogue highlights how the archive can be exploited and explored within a gallery space. I am particularly inspired by Valie Export’s branding through personal stamps to catalogue images and documentation.

On page 49, in the chapter titled Honesty: Be True to Love, hooks states “The wounded child inside many males is a boy who, when he first spoke his truths, was silenced by paternal sadism, by a patriarchal world that did not want him to claim his true feelings. The wounded child inside many females is a girl who was taught from early childhood on that she must become something other than herself, deny her true feelings, in order to attract and please others… To be loving we willingly hear each other's truth and, most important, we affirm the value of truth telling.”

FRUITS was a Japanese magazine (1997-2017), created by photographer Shoichi Aoki. This book highlights the street fashion that littered Tokyo's Harajuku district.

• Nan Goldin’s most praised publication is titled I’ll Be Your Mirror, after a Velvet Underground Song. Its title serves as an homage to the arts and music scene in New York City during the time in which these photos were taken.
• A link to the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/velvetunderground/illbeyourmirror.html
• On pages 228 and 229 are my favourite photographs of all time, titled Rise and Monty Kissing. It was taken in New York City in 1980.

A quote that encapsulates the spirit of punk in this memoir is found on page 240. It reads “...the sounds of a scene emerging. Though no one knew it, the stars were aligning, the angels were calling.”

In the chapter called Kim Wilde, pages 126-134, Marjane’s parents find loopholes and risk their safety to allow their daughter to experience some form of subculture. It’s a really beautiful thing to see people so determined to fight unjust rules through silent action. Later in the chapter, Marjane’s run-in with the guardians of the revolution goes to show how music and art can be used as a coping tool in even the harshest of conditions. A graphic of her dancing and screaming to her “black market” tapes is captioned with “TO EACH HIS OWN WAY OF CALMING DOWN”