CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 10/24/2015

Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia

In a 1970 issue of Progressive Architecture, the following text began a hand-typed page in the magazine's "Advertisements for a Counter Culture" section: "The hippies in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district are probably the most misunderstood group in current American society. Reports of narcotics arrests and various other sensationalized events, although excellent subjects for the sale of newspapers, present an inaccurate impression of the situation and people in the area. This basic lack of understanding makes cooperation on community problems extremely difficult. One of the basic principles for which this country stands is the individual's right to think and act in any manner which he chooses, while not interfering with the rights of other members of the society. The hippie in Haight-Ashbury is exercising these rights, in an attempt to develop his own concept of what a society should be. He is aware of his individual role in the community and refuses to permit his forebearers to shape his destiny. American society has been in motion since the inception of the country, changing its structure for the benefit of all its citizens, adapting to new personal and world responsibilities." This text and featured photograph by Clay Geerdes of the San Francisco "acid drag" performance collective The Cockettes are reproduced from Hippie Modernism, published to accompany the blockbuster exhibition now on view at the Walker Art Center.