Saturday, March 27, 2010

Reminder: Boredom = Death: The Popstitutes 86-95 at Goteblud @ Sat Mar 27 12pm - 5pm (Queer Things)

Boredom = Death: The Popstitutes 86-95 at Goteblud

Boredom = Death: The Popstitutes 86-95
At Goteblud, 766 Valencia, San Francisco
http://goteblud.com

Starting Saturday, 3/20/10
Opening reception Saturday, 3/27/10 6-8pm
On display weekends from 12-5pm through 5/29/10

In 1986, three no-account gay barflies decided to fight back against the rising tide of Reagan-era conformity, complacency, and consumerism by forming an agit-prop band: The Popstitutes. Combining tape loops, live instruments, and seriously off-key vocals with a costume-heavy stage show, the band evolved a lewd, experimental, confrontational, and defiantly queer style of postmodern performance-protest. Throughout the late '80s, the group played at both night clubs and demonstrations (as well as an acid orgy, college, nude beach, ice cream parlor, and Tupperware Party) whilst expanding to include a revolving cast of unique talents and exhibitionistic oddballs.

The Popstitutes perfected a proto-rave, club-kid sensibility by way of a sincere DIY punk ethos, channelling anger and outrage into a festive party atmosphere, a defiant statement amidst the morose climate of an epidemic that had cast a dark shadow across San Francisco's artistic landscape. In their own words: "Dare to be Groovy!"

In 1990, the Popstitutes begat Klubstitute, an anything-goes queer cabaret they hoped would encourage others to adopt their ethos of unfettered self-expression. Launched at The Crystal Pistol, a Mission District dive bar, and thereafter floating around the city, Klubstitute presented underage punk bands, spoken word, drag kings and queens, poetry, avant garde music, art, theme nights, games, film screenings, and the gender-bending theatrical mash-ups of Tony Vaguely's stage troupe, the Sick & Twisted Players. Klubstitute MC and Popstitutes frontman, Diet - self-named as an homage to Princess Di and E.T. - believed that everyone should be a producer, as well as a consumer, of culture and constantly dragooned audience members into performing. The resulting interactive bedlam stood in stark contrast to the generic meat-markets that typified more predictable gay night spots.

In 1995, Diet succumbed to AIDS, effectively ending the group, the club, and the era. The formidable impact of the Popstitutes and Klubstitute on San Francisco's artistic community can be measured by the innumerable clubs, bands, performers and artists today who count them among their inspirations.

Goteblüd is proud to present a mixed-media installation of paper ephemera - flyers, letters, zines, lyrics and handbills - along with banners, photographs and mylar party ornaments, paying homage to the playful fluorescent chaos that the Popstitutes are known for.


When
Sat Mar 27 12pm – 5pm Pacific Time
Calendar
Queer Things
Who
Larry Bob Roberts - creator

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