8/11/23
Return of Secret Origins of the Crass Symbol at And Pens
3/23/23
Before it Becomes Words at Et al.
"In 1977, David King designed this logo for his friend's zine cover and later that same friend's band in Essex, England.
This book playfully explores this iconic symbol and the mind of the man that created it." - from Secret Origins of the Crass Symbol, published in 2013 by & Pens Press.
In the mid 2000s there was a brief controversy over the ownership and origins of the Crass symbol when a London fashion brand used it as part of a clothing line and then
unsuccessfully tried to copyright it. David King (1948 - 2019) knew that over the years the symbol he designed had come to stand not only for the band Crass, but also for
anarchy, peace, freedom, autonomy, DIY ethics, a rejection of church and state, a rejection of the system and, for some, a way of life. It was a symbol that could never be
owned by anyone. It was designed to be easily reproduced, as evidenced by its proliferation on clothing, walls, badges, jewelry, human skin, the bottom of empty swimming pools,
and almost any other surface that would take ink or spray paint. When faced with the suggestion of someone copyrighting or claiming ownership of his design, King decided to
"free the symbol" with humor and color- qualities not always associated with anarcho-punk. His Secret Origins book and related projects expanded the notion of what the symbol
could contain- including, but not limited to, wedges of cheese, extended serpents, the Batman logo, tea and coffee pots, smiley faces, the CND logo and more. Today reinterpretations
and homages have appeared incorporating killer whales, rainbows and air dancers, to name a few. We know King would have loved these variations, and through them his idea continues
to live on.
Return of Secret Origins of the Crass Symbol is an exhibition of King's process. Alongside the hand-lettered ink drawing for the original book's cover, there are five scalpel-cut
stencils thick with layers of spray paint. These stencils were used not only by King, but also by visitors to 2011's Spray Day at San Francisco's Goteblud gallery, where anyone
could apply the designs to clothing, skateboards, toilet seats and anything else they could carry in. Many were later photographed for the book David King Stencils, published by
Gingko Press in 2019. These stencils are the literal origins for many reproductions of the Crass symbol, and they offer a simple diagram for how it all began.
Liam Everett, Laura Figa, Mona Hatoum, David Ireland, David King, Lauren McKeon, Ben Peterson, Leland Rice, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Reception: Thursday, March 23, 5 - 8 pm
March 23 - April 22, 2023
1599fdT is super jazzed to announce the opening of Before it Becomes Words, a group exhibition hosted by Et al. Gallery in their Chinatown location as part of their guest
exhibition series called (tentatively) Et al. +. True to the itinerant spirit of 1599fdT, we are very excited to occupy Et al.'s legendary Chinatown space by exhibiting the
works of such an amazing group of artists, fostering emergent intergenerational conversations. The exhibition will also coincide with the 10th anniversary of the funding of
Et al. Chinatown by 1599fdT's founder Facundo Arganaraz alongside Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour back in March of 2013.