A private collection, photographed flat and catalogued
Ninety-four show flyers, zines, patches, and radical newspapers from the Lower East Side, Providence, Berkeley, Washington D.C., and Minneapolis. Mostly 1985 to 1993, with strays either side. Kept in a box for thirty years. It should be in an archive.
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This is one person's accumulation, not a curated set. It was picked up off lampposts, out of clubs, at the park, and by mail between roughly 1985 and 1993, then left alone. That is what makes it useful: it is a slice of what was actually in circulation on the Lower East Side and in a few other scenes in those years, with the folds, tape, and coffee rings intact.
The strongest thread is Tompkins Square Park in the summer of 1988 and the curfew fight that followed: Avenue A's front page, The Shadow, Riot Cops '88, a Missing Foundation handbill, and Newsday's outside view. Around it sit show flyers from Lismar Lounge, Rock Hotel, and Wetlands; a run of the Yippie paper Overthrow; three 1989 issues of Berkeley's Slingshot; Profane Existence benefit flyers from Minneapolis; Rock Against Reagan from Washington; Providence hardcore at Lupo's; and a scatter of anarchist, ecological, and prisoner-support press.
Every item is photographed once, as found. Catalog numbers follow the photo order and are permanent, so No. 17 will always be the Bad Brains flyer. Titles and years are my best reading of each piece; corrections are welcome. Two items are second copies and are marked as such.
I would like to donate the whole box, as a unit, to a library, museum, or community archive that will keep it together, catalog it, and let people use it. I am not looking for money for it. I can ship it, or bring it in person in the New York area.
If you work at an institution that collects this kind of material, or you know who does, please get in touch. The photographs on this site are yours to use for evaluation. Higher-resolution files exist for every item.
Institutions with strong related holdings. Listed so a curator can see the fit, and so friends can point me at the right desk.
