| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | V. Vale |
| Headquarters | San Francisco ,United States |
| Products | Books |
| Website | researchpubs.com |
RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based inSan Francisco, founded by its editorV. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlierpunk rock fanzineSearch & Destroy (1977–1979), which was started with small donations, provided to Vale byAllen Ginsberg andLawrence Ferlinghetti.[1]RE/Search has publishedtabloid-sized magazines and books.
In the late 1970s, Vale was working atCity Lights Bookstore, and he was deeply interested in the growingpunk rock scene.[2] He was dissatisfied with mainstream coverage of the emerging culture, so he decided to form his own independent magazine, known as azine. Inspired byClaude Levi-Strauss, the father of structural anthropology, Vale decided to treat the magazine like an anthropological project.[3] This meant, "...in other words, not to make any assumptions about the culture, and try and use a lot what I call 'first-hand informants." In addition, Vale was inspired byInterview magazine, which was put out byAndy Warhol.[4] For these reasons, he chose an interview format for the magazine.[3]
The first issue was financed through small donations. Allen Ginsberg wrote a $100 check, after a request from Vale. This was followed by $100 from Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Vale knew both writers through City Lights Bookstore. Then, he secured a $200 donation from a friend who was a doctor.[3] The debut issue ofSearch & Destroy, named after theStooges song, focused on the emerging punk and new wave scene, with articles onMabuhay Gardens, the hottest venue for punk in the city, and interviews with the local bandsCrime, Vermilion, andthe Nuns.[5] He stated in an interview, "...I sort of kept going, but I never thought I would make a living off it."[3]
In total, eleven issues of Search & Destroy were published, between 1977 and 1979.[citation needed] Like many other punk cultural figures, Vale saw connections between the punk movement anddadaism andsurrealism, and he sought to explore these influences in his zine.[4] Cultural figures and groups such asWilliam S. Burroughs,JG Ballard,Russ Meyer,Lou Reed,Patti Smith,Iggy Pop,Devo,the Clash,Talking Heads,Weirdos, andJello Biafra were profiled.[6][4][7] However, the staff and scene that supportedSearch & Destroy eventually diminished in size. Vale explained, "It took two years to build up 200 hardcore people truly into punk, so that they just got into it 100% and quit working full-time—most of them—and started bands, or publishing, or taking photos, or making posters, or making clothes, or whatever they did. Overnight they all pretty much vanished."[8]
The magazine later transformed into apublishing company, named RE/Search Publications. The first issue of RE/Search (1980)[9] had photographs byRuby Ray and articles onFactrix,The Slits, conspiracies (written byJay Kinney),Young Marble Giants,Boyd Rice's NON,Cabaret Voltaire,Sun Ra, flashcards, Japan,J. G. Ballard,Julio Cortázar, rhythm & noise,Soldier of Fortune Magazine,Throbbing Gristle,nuclear disaster,Situationism,Octavio Paz, and "punk prostitutes". It was distributed byRough Trade. Following the third issue, issues 4 and 5 were collected as a single volume, a "special book issue," with a focus onWilliam S. Burroughs,Brion Gysin, andThrobbing Gristle. Subsequent issues all retained the book format.
During this time, Vale also launched atypesetting business, RE/Search Typography.[10] This enabled him to fund the publishing house while managing the typography and designs of RE/Search books. He maintained the typesetting business until 1991, when he sold it so that he could focus on publishing work full-time.[11]
In the 1980s and 1990s, RE/Search published books on variousunderground topics. Some titles includedPranks,Incredibly Strange Films, andModern Primitives, and the subject matter included profiles ofWilliam S. Burroughs,SPK (band), J. G. Ballard, and others.Modern Primitives introduced many readers topiercing,tattooing,scarification, andbody modification. It included interviews withFakir Musafar,[12]Ed Hardy,Lyle Tuttle,Leo Zulueta, Bill Salmon, andVyvyn Lazonga, among others.[13]Angry Women was an influentialfeminist book, and it was read in many college classes. It included interviews withDiamanda Galas,Lydia Lunch,Karen Finley,Susie Bright,Annie Sprinkle,Kathy Acker,bell hooks, andWanda Coleman.[14]Freaks explored "circus freak" culture, whileBob Flanagan: Supermasochist profiledBob Flanagan, a performance artist and masochist withcystic fibrosis.[3]
Furthermore, RE/Search book explored "weird" culture.Incredibly Strange Films helped introduce audiences toRuss Meyer andHerschell Gordon Lewis.Incredibly Strange Music helped introduce audiences toYma Sumac andKen Nordine.[10]
In later publications, RE/Search explored topics such asartificial intelligence,Burning Man, andTimothy Leary.[10]
RE/Search was the subject of a special issue of the European Journal of American Studies (August 2011, Vol. 30 issue 2), including an examination of "the growth and decline of RE/Search as a commercial enterprise dedicated to documenting and, in effect, marketing selected countercultural trends."[15]
Both artist and musicianFlorian-Ayala Fauna and science fiction authorBruce Sterling aresponsors for the RE/Search newsletter.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
RE/Search books have influenced many writers, activists, and artists.Michelle Tea citedAngry Women as an early inspiration for her.[22] The book Modern Primitives "... changed countless lives, bringing what had been a localized and niche set of body modification practices, aesthetics and philosophies out of San Francisco to a global audience, dominating scholarly and popular discourse around body modification subculture for more than a decade afterwards," as written in European Journal of American Culture (2011).[23]Jello Biafra has also calledModern Primitives an influential book.[10]