FLASH BANG ARCHIVE
FLASH BANG is an archive devoted to the collection and preservation of 1960s and 1970s subcultural movements. The archive holds clothing, ephemera, photographs, and artwork.
Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for a BFA in Design History & Practice at Parsons.
“With all due respect, Marc Bolan did not invent glitter,” penned rock journalist Lisa Robinson in an early edition of her “Eleganza” column in Creem magazine. She boldly wrote about what no rock journalist had ever given any serious thought to: fashion. Though fashion has always been pivotal to the sensual experience of music, specifically live performance, infrequently had clothing been given further attention in music journalism than the mere mention of its existence. This likely had something to do with rock journalism being a real tee-and-jeans affair: with no boardrooms or wads of cash in sight, there was no need to be buttoned up, and, how dare a lowly rock writer upstage the performer they’re meant to be observing? (Plus it would be very un-bohemian of them to put thought into their image when they should have been inventing astute takes on the topic at hand.) Robinson broke the mold with “Eleganza”, a column about the fashion choices of musicians, and what she thought those choices said about the state of affairs in rock ‘n’ roll and otherwise. She proved, beginning in June 1973, that the largely unserious topics of fashion and rock music could be written about in a way that was analytical and razor-sharp without ever going stale.
Robinson’s November 1973 column, “Alice Cooper Did Not Invent Glitter,” was a turning point. It recognized iconoclastic drag performers and theatrical productions as the real root of truly subversive, fast-and-loose displays of female impersonation (at most) and inspiration (at least) on stage. She comments that these productions, spearheaded by John Vaccaro (Play-House of the Ridiculous) and Charles Ludlam (Ridiculous Theatrical Company), who were interwoven with Warhol’s world, “were more visually outrageous than any current rockstar’s most carefully executed fantasies.” This comment speaks to the attitude with which Robinson approaches “glitter rock.” There is no solipsistic view of London’s shiniest musical exports, David Bowie and Marc Bolan, as the generative bubble where glam was born and raised (and later died with Gary Glitter.) Instead, Robinson recognizes the transformative impact of the New York underground in the image later adopted by Bowie. More importantly, she acknowledges the executive effort of the glitter fantasy, noting its meticulous performativity when co-opted by the rock community.
FLASH BANG (the book) is a collection of original writings and archival material, compiled into a 60-page publication. The book features personal essays on the politics of archives and the process of exhibiting an “incomplete” history, and research essays on the history of glam rock, the New York art underground, and Lisa Robinson’s CREEM column, “Eleganza”. Interspersed are photos of ephemera from the FLASH BANG archive, documentation of the exhibition, and images of important subjects in the research.