STEVEN PARRINO, Black Flag, 2003
42 x 30 cm
portfolio of 4 sheets
edition 15
signed, numbered, name stamped
published by Galerie de Multiple, Paris, France
not available

STEVEN PARRINO was among other things known for wiping out texts with his black marker in order to draw attention to the language of the images in photographed printed matter. Here a few pages of a book about the history of the band Black Flag has been reproduced. Less important parts in the text have been eliminated by the artist in order to come to essentials like: “The tortuous music was meant to signify the band member’s intense engagement – most tattooed the Black Flag bars on their bodies – and the frustration of tooling around in the face of poverty and indifference. Black Flag’ work ethic – the constant touring, the fully committed performances, the relentless rehearsals – was a way of working through the pain, drowning it out in wave after wave of noise and adrenaline. As the old joke goes, Black Flag was suffering for their art, and now the audience had to suffer for it, too. Gina even had a name for the approach ‘the blasting concept’, or a sonic assault on the audience. Joe Carducci recalls one show when the band played for over two hours. “By the end,” he says, “people were just straggling away, like from a battlefield.”
The band had become as alienated from its own audience as it was from society in general. “We were trying to play through the audience rather than to the audience.” Stevenson said “We would put our heads down, play as hard as we could, and didn’t acknowledge their existence.”….

History of prices:
Galerie de Multiple, Paris, France   € 900,- February 2013