American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
The movie about rock poster art: NEXT SCREENING: NOVEMBER 11 MISSISSIPPI
Information
Release Date:
June 20, 2009
Genre:
documentary
Studio:
Freakfilms, Inc.
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Movie PostersUpdated about 4 months ago
ScreeningsUpdated about 4 months ago

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

 
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art American Artifact Chicago Premiere announced! ( www.AmericanArtifactMovie.com )

9 hours ago via Ping.fm
Alysa Adkins
Alysa Adkins
Any chance you'll be coming to Denver again? I missed this the first time around :(
9 hours ago
Roc Ahrensdorf
Roc Ahrensdorf
Please come to Northampton, MA.
5 hours ago
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
American Artifact will be screening as part of the Gene Siskel "Stranger Than Fiction" film series. There will be a movie screening with artist and director Q&A afterwards. Dates / times and artist appearances to be announced shortly.

-------------MOVIE INFO----------------

"Finally, a true American form of artistic exp...ression is given the long-overdue credit it deserves!"
- Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood

"American Artifact" beautifully captures how artists pushed the boundaries of their own work in solidarity with the musicians who mattered most to them."
- Christian Toto, Whatwouldtotowatch.com

"It will lead, for many, not only to an enjoyable couple of movie-watching hours, but also to a lifetime of collecting gig art." - Paste Magazine

"American Artifact does a fine job of explaining why this visual offshoot of the musical medium might be considered equally important." - Detroit Metro Times


American Artifact chronicles the rise of American rock poster art since its birth in the '60s.

Director Merle Becker crosses the country interviewing rock poster artists from the different eras to discover that America is currently in the midst of a 21st century "rock poster art movement", where thousands of artists around the country are doing silk screened rock poster art inspired by their local scene, the music of our time, and the spirit of our era.

The film explores the history / rise of the current rock poster movement in America, and features a cast of quirky, interesting, and extremely talented rock poster artists telling the story of their underground art movement.

Beginning in the 1960s in San Francisco with the birth of the dance concert, a rock poster accompanied almost every show that was put on during that era. Soon, people began pulling the posters off of the telephone poles, almost as quickly as they were put up, and promoters such as Bill Graham started to give them out at the end of his shows to advertise the next week's show.

The art, both beautiful and edgy, closely parallels the changes in American culture throughout the decades.

"Posters" in the '80s were actually "flyers" done for punk shows on Xerox machines in local libraries, or at Kinko's. They were glued to buildings and phone poles surreptitiously at night by kids in the scene. In this pre-computer era, the flyers were, for lack of a better comparison "the MySpace of the '80s".

Today, America is seeing a resurgence in this art form brought upon by the popularity of websites like GigPosters.com, and the ease of screenprinting. Artists like EMEK, Tara McPherson, and Jay Ryan are creating beautiful works of art for contemporary groups like The Decemberists and Death Cab For Cutie.

This extraordinary film, which includes interviews with over 30 artists, takes the viewer on a journey through the different decades and incarnations of this rebellious art form, and spends time with, arguably, some of the finest artists of this era.

FEATURING INTERVIEWS AND ARTWORK BY: Stanley Mouse, Frank Kozik, Art Chantry, EMEK, COOP, Derek Hess, Mark Arminski, Tara McPherson, Justin Hampton, Victor Moscoso, Jermaine Rogers, Jay Ryan, Chuck Sperry, Ron Donovan, Lindsey Kuhn, Leia Bell, Jim Pollock, Randy Tuten, Jim Sherraden & Hatch Show Print, Scrojo, Winston Smith, Print Mafia, Paul Imagine, Kevin Bradley, Julie Belcher, Jeff Wood, Steve Walters, Mat Daly, Stainboy, David Singer, Dennis Loren, Mike Martin, Gary Grimshaw, and Chris Shaw.

More info at: http://www.AmericanArtifactMovie.com
Read More

Jan 29th - Feb 4th
Time:7:00PM Friday, January 29th
Location:Gene Siskel Film Center
Gary L Jackson

Gary L Jackson I love The Matrix, The Family Dog and Bill Graham Presents posters as they are part of my history and I am blessed to be a part of it. I'M A HUGE FAN.Cheers.

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art American Artifact screening in Mississippi tonight! (www.AmericanArtifactMovie.com)

Yesterday at 5:50am via Ping.fm
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art This Wednesday, American Artifact is screening in Mississippi! (www.AmericanArtifactMovie.com)

Ilka Erren Pardiñas

Ilka Erren Pardiñas Can't wait to see the film. I own several Koziks, Ron Donovan's plus a ton of other Resurgence era posters, as well as classic San Francisco 60s era posters my mom collected back in the day.

Lisa Burns

Lisa Burns Hartford? Can someone contact me?

October 29 at 9:47am · Report
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
Hi Lisa, please email your request to: americanartifact@freakfilms.com . We already have CT slated for early next year, but if you'd like to get it to Hartford specifically, the best way is to send the request through that email - Thank you
October 31 at 7:37am
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art Thanks to everyone who came out to the American Artifact Roxie screening last night!

October 29 at 5:29am via Ping.fm
Jorge E Gamboa
Jorge E Gamboa
pretty sure your rockin movie caused the current bay bridge failure , turn down the volume and lighten up on the colors next time
October 29 at 5:57am
Cyndy
Cyndy
i thoroughly enjoyed the film & the q&a session that followed. i'm now fired up to create some mind-blowing art!
October 29 at 8:03am
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art This Wednesday, American Artifact at the Roxie, SF! http://ping.fm/L4TxS

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
David Welker
David Welker
I wonder what the Gig Poster scene is like in Portugal ... ?
October 26 at 9:05am
Paul Imagine
Paul Imagine
thats so coool! even though i have no idea what it says, thanks pedro
October 26 at 9:55am
Malt Jones

Malt Jones 2010 for the uk showings? Getting pretty desperate, Can i organise one? Go on! I wanna see it!! x

Darryl Baird

Darryl Baird Sweet. Must come to Detroit. In Flint there are multiple exhibitions currently up on rock posters, historical and contemporary.
Check out http://flintarts.org/flashback.html#flashback AND
http://flintarts.org/graphic_beauty.html#graphic
I wish we could have gotten this film to screen in the museum.

October 24 at 8:26am · Report
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art
Hi Darryl, we screened in Detroit in August, and hope to be back soon - @ Nancy (below) Boston is tentatively Jan. Please email all screening requests to : americanartifact@freakfilms.com, so we can add them to the roster - thanks!
October 24 at 8:57am
Nancy Moore

Nancy Moore Boston?

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art This Sunday, "American Artifact" at the Roxie, SF! http://ping.fm/0QOKD

October 22 at 9:21pm via Ping.fm
Dennis C. Lee
Dennis C. Lee
The Roxie is the quintessential indy movie theater. My old stomping grounds!
October 23 at 11:51am
RECENT ACTIVITY
American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art changed their Plot Outline.