The GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE book documents graffiti and rave subculture in the wake of a post-Thatcher Britain, as a disenfranchised youth finds identity through the act of graffiti. Meanwhile, rave’s rhetoric of social inclusion resisted the binaries of boredom, race, class and gender, making it one of its generation’s most significant youth movements. You can get your copy HERE.
Written through the eyes of two participant observers, @christopher_stead_ and Nema, who witnessed these two movements in their infancy blossom into global sociocultural phenomena, the book contains seven chapters of imperfect histories, lucid anecdotes, and subcultural polemics to accompany 300 archival photos that capture the spirit of intervention amid an oppressive political climate, along with a foreword by the artist and activist @sportsbanger.
Continuing into the 21st Century, the book charts counterculture’s journey to an unknown future, questioning if the mass acceleration of communication has led to a freezing of time, leaving both seemingly stuck in a state of hauntological retrospection.
You can get your copy HERE.
Hardcover / 32 x 24 cm | 360 pages | 300 color photograpies
Archive: @ghostsinthemachine__
Essays / photos: @christopher_stead_ & Nema
Foreword: @sportsbanger
Publisher: @aliaspress
Printer: @gutenbergbeuys
Studio photos/ reel edits: @louistfilm
