I just watched Died Young, Stayed Pretty, an insightful documentary about the mysterious and curious Rock Poster Scene (thanks to Ollie at the ICA). If like me you’re addicted and inspired by the imagination and variety of poster art and the people behind them, then this is a must see.
DYSP Poster by Ron Liberti
I’ve been checking Gigposter.com (Set up and run by Clay Hayes) since back in 2001 after my design guru, Dave Marcar gave me the heads up. I’ve even had my own work on there at some point.The film gives a great opportunity to meet some of the players and protagonists from that community (of sorts) as well as exposing you to plenty of inspiring artwork and angry DIY ideas.
DYSP Screen shot
Iranian-born Canadian filmmaker Eileen Yaghoobian spent 4yrs making the film and I’m glad she did. If you liked Beautiful Losers chances are you’ll like this. It comes with a good dose of geek humor and frustrated, futile angst but thats rock posters all over.
I felt the film was maybe a little long and could have been cut to 60mins but hey, then I’d have probably complained and asked for more! I was tired so not the best time to judge. I did go to bed filled with ideas about posters and a new screen printing set up for the studio so it obviously did its job!
DYSP Screen shot
Official Synopsis…
Died Young, Stayed Pretty is a candid look at the underground poster culture in North America. This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America’s schizophrenic culture and piece them back together. What you end up with is a caricature of the black and bloated heart that pulses greed through the US economy. The artists push further into the pulp to grab the attention of passersby, plastering art that’s both vulgar and intensely visceral onto the gnarled surfaces of the urban landscape. The film gives us intimate look at some of the giants of this modern subculture. Outside of their own circle, they’re virtually unknown. But within their ranks they make up an army of bareknuckle brawlers, publicly arguing the aesthetic merits of octopus imagery and hairy 70s porn stars. They’ve created their own visual language for describing the spotty underbelly of western civilization and they’re not shy about throwing it in the face of polite society. Along the way, they manage to create posters that are strikingly obscene, unflinchingly blasphemous and often quite beautiful. Yaghoobian shows these artists for what they are: the vivisectionists of America’s morbidly obese consumer culture.
DYSP Screen shot
The film is available from the 8th February 2010 priced £12.99 in the UK
Died Young Stayed Pretty website
ICA Website
