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SINECURE BOOKS
Sounds of Two Eyes Opening
Southern Cali Punk/Surf/Skate Culture 69-82, Photographs by Spot
Edited by Johan Kugelberg, Introduction by Ryan Richardson.
Spot landed in Hermosa Beach, CA in the mid-1970s. A serious musician, he helped build Media Art Recording Studio and stumbled into photojournalism via Easy Reader, the local news weekly. Hermosa proved to be a crossroads abounding with oddball roller skaters who were mostly overshadowed by Venice disco rollers and the Dogtown-inspired leaps into professional skateboarding (never mind that the first skateboard competition ever was in Hermosa in 1963). Then, in the late 70s, a cultural shift hit, fueled largely by music. This time the South Bay was in the vanguard. Spot became the in-house producer and engineer at SST Records--the label founded in 1978 by Greg Ginn as a vehicle for Black Flag, the band that defined LA hardcore. Between 1979 and 1985, he recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced most of SST's pivotal acts, working on all of Black Flag's greatest releases, and on classic albums by the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Saint Vitus, Descendents, Big Boys, Hüsker Dü, The Dicks, Subhumans and Misfits. Throughout this period, Spot remained a master photographer who documented various Los Angeles subcultures in intelligently composed black-and-white photographs. As this volume reveals, there was no distinction between the musical and the visual--he heard what he saw; saw what he heard--hence, the title of this collection. Spanning the late 1960s through the early 1980s, Sounds of Two Eyes Opening offers an amazing portrait of Southern California beach life, set against the dark clubs and rehearsal spaces of the burgeoning punk scene.
Featured image is reproduced from Sounds of Two Eyes Opening.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times
Rebecca Bengal
Among the images are recognizable faces and moments. And in the scenes of pure abandonment - of skaters in the middle of a hand plant, or briefly airborne; of smoke and sweat visibly emanating from a crowded show - Spot's pictures feel almost audible, full of noise and freedom, what it must have felt like to have been there.
"Spot's camera repeatedly captures happiness, enthusiasm, and a sense of purpose, he also captures doubt and despair, all this in the eyes of beach bunnies and punk rockers, and bums and scenesters. The whole damn photo narrative starts unfolding in front of us, bringing a complexity to the work that evermore terminates the notion of defining Spot as a punk photographer or, for that matter, a chronicler of beach culture. Featured photograph, captioned "All smiles: Hermosa," is reproduced from Sounds of Two Eyes Opening: Southern Cali Punk/Surf/Skate Culture 69-82, Sinecure's new collection of photographs by the legendary underground musician, producer and documentary photographer. If you're in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 6, drop by Arcana from 4-6PM to have your book signed by the artist. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.25 x 10.75 in. / 276 pgs / 13 color / 263 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $50.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 ISBN: 9781938265105 PUBLISHER: Sinecure Books AVAILABLE: 10/31/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: FLAT40 PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA
Sounds of Two Eyes Opening Southern Cali Punk/Surf/Skate Culture 69-82, Photographs by Spot
Published by Sinecure Books. Edited by Johan Kugelberg, Introduction by Ryan Richardson.
Spot landed in Hermosa Beach, CA in the mid-1970s. A serious musician, he helped build Media Art Recording Studio and stumbled into photojournalism via Easy Reader, the local news weekly. Hermosa proved to be a crossroads abounding with oddball roller skaters who were mostly overshadowed by Venice disco rollers and the Dogtown-inspired leaps into professional skateboarding (never mind that the first skateboard competition ever was in Hermosa in 1963). Then, in the late 70s, a cultural shift hit, fueled largely by music. This time the South Bay was in the vanguard. Spot became the in-house producer and engineer at SST Records--the label founded in 1978 by Greg Ginn as a vehicle for Black Flag, the band that defined LA hardcore. Between 1979 and 1985, he recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced most of SST's pivotal acts, working on all of Black Flag's greatest releases, and on classic albums by the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Saint Vitus, Descendents, Big Boys, Hüsker Dü, The Dicks, Subhumans and Misfits. Throughout this period, Spot remained a master photographer who documented various Los Angeles subcultures in intelligently composed black-and-white photographs. As this volume reveals, there was no distinction between the musical and the visual--he heard what he saw; saw what he heard--hence, the title of this collection. Spanning the late 1960s through the early 1980s, Sounds of Two Eyes Opening offers an amazing portrait of Southern California beach life, set against the dark clubs and rehearsal spaces of the burgeoning punk scene.
