Do it yourself.
The punk rock manifesto did not just encourage inexperienced musicians to pick up instruments, it started a revolution.
The new exhibit at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts Center, “The Secret History of Punk Rock: Visual Vitriol,” will explore this revolution through the medium of Xerox art.
Folklore graduate student David Ensminger, who has been involved with punk music since he was a kid, is curating the exhibit. He has collected show flyers for decades.
“Ten years ago, I decided to do it full-on and commit a part of my life to it,” he said.
“Visual Vitriol” features flyers from around the world and illustrates the contributions of women, gay men, lesbians and people of color to punk music.
The show also features several posters donated by Jeff Nelson, drummer for Minor Threat and Randy “Biscuit” Turner, frontman of the Big Boys. Both musicians were heavily immersed in the punk scene and designed hundreds of flyers.
The DIVA exhibition is not the first time “Visual Vitriol” has been on display.
Ensminger toured with a band in Europe and set up his exhibit at every venue.
“We printed these panels that were portable, and we would place them throughout the hall at the venue,” he said. “We were going to places like a small village in Italy that had never had a punk concert before. For the first time, these kids could see it in the flesh.”
Show flyers were originally meant to be temporary or instant art. Posting in some places is illegal, and once a show is over, the flyer holds little advertising value.
“Knowing your stuff would only be up for a short time, you had to try to make it as interesting and as shocking as possible,” Ensminger said.

Ensminger said another constraint of Xerox art is the fact that its placement is widely contested: “Where you placed the poster was a space you were contesting with the authorities, other bands and other types of graffiti,” he said.
But punk rock wasn’t just about music. The fans, fashion, photography and video all provided a platform of ideas someone could work with.
The point of punk was actually doing something.
“By doing, it meant you were participating in culture,” he said. “It was super important because it meant you were moving from object to subject and that you’re no longer just a consumer, you’re a producer.”
Ensminger described the process of obtaining band flyers as simple but personal.
“You would write a band, and they would write you back by hand. They would send you the flyer and say ‘Thanks so much, I hope to see you in Santa Barbara,’” he said.
“There’s no way in hell if you write Green Day, they’re going to write you back.”
For Ensminger, it went a step further than exchanging letters. His supportive parents allowed touring bands to stay at their house.
“These were fairly large bands. The band Government Issue stayed at my house, and they already had five records out,” he said.
“I still talk to those dudes, and it’s been 20 years.”
Ensminger continues to apply the do-it-yourself punk declaration to his own life.
He received his Master’s degree from the City College of New York, taught English for 10 years, played drums for a punk band and ran his own music magazine.
This year, he will finish two films, two conferences, a major exhibition and a book about “Visual Vitriol.”
“I’m a teacher, and I encourage my kids to participate in culture. They may find it daunting, but it’s really not,” he said. “It’s all about will and getting it done.”
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