I’ve visited MoMa PS1 many times throughout the years, but last week at the New York Art Book Fair, I was transported back to my teenage years at Ann Arbor Community High. Also known as “Commie High”, this school started as a hippie education experiment in the early 1970s- and it actually worked. Community High does not have bells, a cafeteria, hall passes, tracking, AP classes, or sports teams. Unorthodox course offerings included subjects like Dream Analysis and Jazz Appreciation. The informal mascot was a rainbow colored AntiZebra, symbolizing nonconformism and individuality.

The yearbook typically had layouts like the following (step back from your monitor to get the full idea).

I feel I was most influenced by the  “fashion cliques” like rockabilly kids, mods, and skinhead girls.  These social tribes, among many others, had distinctively different haircuts, shoes and music preferences.   Commie High kids took these identities seriously and authenticity was key.  The worst thing you could be was a poseur.   So if you were a punk, you had better know your hardcore bands.

These days there’s an extensive wait list to get into the progressive magnet school, which is public by the way.   Alternative is “in”.

Anyway, back to the NY Art Book Fair.  On Sunday, the scene on the front steps at the Book Fair looked like Comstock, which was the end of the year celebration at Commie High when all the indie bands performed.

This exhibit reminded me of some of the Commie classrooms- note the word “THINGNESS” is on the chalkboard.

I was drawn to the vendors selling vintage flyers for punk shows and underground zines.  This is sooo what we were all about!

I even ran into an old friend from High School!  Here I am with Leif Ritchey, who was like the coolest skater kid at Commie  and now a Brooklyn based artist.   His work is part of a group show at The Journal called Salad Days on exhibit until December 15th.