Film Bombast: MOCATV’s The Art of Punk
“My name is Raymond Pettibon and I designed this motherfuckin’ thing.”
–Raymond Pettibon
MOCATV is a contemporary art video channel hosted on Youtube, operated by (obviously) the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
Much to my delight, they recently launched a new series called, “The Art of Punk,” which explores the iconic visual art associated with various punk bands. I’ve always been skeptical of punk in museums, but I have to say, this is done right. Each mini-documentary is limited to just one band, and features both interviews from today, plus raw footage from the original scene.
Don’t get me wrong- there are definitely a few punk cliches and rehashed scene memories. Honestly, how many more interviews, books, and documentaries does Rollins have left in him? And I know better than most that even documentaries without narration are still subject to adulteration and misrepresentation by filmmakers.
But for the most part, this is just great. I appreciate the new perspective- the art angle really isn’t done that often! I also appreciate the fact that instead of presenting punk art with the museum’s voice, it’s presented with the voices of the artists, musicians, and other members of the punk community. The creator/producer of the videos is Bryan Ray Turcotte, the founder of Kill Your Idols. I don’t know much more about him, but this type of collaboration is totally preferable to if MOCA had simply produced the series themselves.
So far, MOCATV has done videos for Black Flag, Crass, and the just-released-yesterday Dead Kennedys. Check out all of them below:
Black Flag / Ray Pettibon:
Crass / Dave King:
Dead Kennedys / Winston Smith:
Fav moment from the Crass video is when Dave King sees kids rocking the Crass symbol: “I should go say hello, I should say, ‘excuse me, young man, did you know that I designed that logo?’ And they’ll be like ‘piss off, Granddad!’”
I have no idea if they’re doing more, but if so, anyone have ideas for who will be featured next? My money’s on the Misfits.
Ribbon Around A Bomb 
Do any other art museums have youtube channels? Because that in itself is pretty cool.
I’ll definitely have to watch all of these videos- I’ve been meaning to find out more about punk and stuff like that. (The little knowledge I do have on it just comes from friends who are into it and articles on TV Tropes.) Punk seems to have been pretty amazing visually.
A video on the Misfits would be amazing. Are they the band that does all those horror-themed songs? I’d love to see one on early Siouxsie and the Banshees too.
I love that poster with the shower and all that tape around the woman’s body. Reminds me of some nightmares I’ve had.