TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Studded leather jackets, fanzines, and concert posters coat the white tile walls of the "Punk Graphics:" exhibition, which runs at Not Just Library (不只是圖書館) at Songshan Culture and Creative Park until Sept. 10.

The exhibit feels like a crowded bathroom at times, and many posters on the wall are from recent shows at clubs like Revolver, The Wall, and UU Mouth. The visual assault of so much punk imagery in one setting may feel unnerving, but it is intentional.

Recreating the live house feel at the punk graphic exhibition. (Sean Scanlan, Taiwan News photo)

“Punk is an anti-aesthetic and it is anti-design. It subverted all of the professional design norms and forever changed the field of design and marketing,” said the exhibit curator Andrew Wong, who is co-founder of Onion Design. A mix of different styles is also on view, featuring work from some of the better-known graphic designers, such as H.C.L aka Elf-19, who does posters for Korner and Pawnshop, and JDBG’s Yao Shen (堯神), who has designed for Beastie Rock Festival and countless other punk shows.

In addition to local artists and bands, the exhibition's curators have featured work by internationally known artists such as Winston Smith (Dead Kennedy’s logo and album art), Art Chantry (Mudhoney, Soundgarden), and the Brooklyn-based collective FAILE. The punk aesthetic is having its moment with major exhibitions such as "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976–1986" at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and "Rage and Revolution” at the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery in the U.K.

A collage of punk posters by JDBG. (Sean Scanlan, Taiwan News photo)

The sudden interest in punk does not come as a surprise to Wong. He said that punk designers violate nearly every rule of Swiss Style design, which advocates clean imaging, a grid system, and the use of only two fonts on a poster.

Wong said, “Most of the designers had no access to typography or professional printing as they just cut and paste from things that were easily accessible, such as comic books." However, more than an art form to make flyers, band logos, and silk-screened t-shirts, punk was an ethos that spread among the youth from New York City to London, to Tokyo and Taipei, Wong said.

"Punk Graphics: Talks" forum featuring three local musicians (from left) A-Chiang, Yao Shen, and Hsu Pei. (Sean Scanlan, Taiwan News photo)

Local Scene

The end of martial law in Taiwan in 1987 coincided with the height of a punk rock revival led by bands such as Green Day, Offspring, Soundgarden, and Nirvana. Taiwan took notice and quickly reveled in the freedom that punk offered: DIY shows, flyers, recordings, etc.

More than anything, the punk aesthetic eschewed prior conventions about how music should sound, and how it should be presented. The U.S. and U.K. were in the midst of punk's third wave, or punk revival or “pop-punk,” which featured a return to three-chord songs and simplistic arrangements.

For many local musicians, this accessible music form proved to be quite a blessing. “To tell you the truth, we listened to Sonic Youth, which had very long songs and wasn’t punk at all. But then when we played, our songs got shorter and shorter and we became punk," said A-Chiang (阿強), guitarist and singer for 88Balaz speaking at the "Punk Graphics: Talks" forum.

He said the center of the punk movement was in Taichung, mostly led by a group of students he characterized as poor, ugly, and with dyed hair. When it came to playing music, they did not tune their instruments nor stop between songs, and they always borrowed money after the show.

Singer and guitarist for BB Bomb Hsu Pei (許珮) said, “I used to watch them lay on a couch and apply glue to their hair to make it form a mohawk. About halfway through a show, their mohawks would all fall down, except one or two members who went to a hair salon to get their mohawk made.”

“In the past, punk shows were really rough. If you fell on the ground they would pull off your pants and there were lots of broken bones and hospital visits. But now it is policed and well structured,” Hsu added.

A recent poster designed by JDBG's Yao Shen. (Sean Scanlan, Taiwan News photo)

No Future

“I always thought we were an 'underground' band but many people told me we can’t say this because it has a bad meaning. They told me you have to be an 'indie' band because it sounds better,” said A-Chiang.

With independent music festivals springing up nearly every weekend, aligning with the indie rock movement was the right choice. Unfortunately for BB Bomb and Yao Shen's latest band, The Admonished Youth, punk rock was simply forgotten or squeezed to the margin because it was too loud and offensive for some people.

For Yao Shen, playing punk rock meant sticking up for his principles. “I always thought punk bands had to give everything to their music, oppose mainstream politics and music, and be honest in their message and their work ethic."

Hsu said she was attracted to punk because she was not a good musician, and if the band produced a cloud of smoke and noise on stage, the audience would not be offended. “I play punk for myself. Like recently we have a new album and there is a song about a guy who has hair on his back, his chest, and his nipples, but none on his head. It’s just a loud and fast song that doesn’t have any meaning. This is opposed to the indie rock scene, where its message is to work hard and the future is ahead of you," Hsu said.