About the Issue:
powerHouse Magazine Issue 2: That 70s Show premiered in May 2007 with an ode to a city long forgotten, a city on the brink of bankruptcy, rife with anarchy, simmering insanity and extraordinary originality: New York City in the 70s. To celebrate an era that has long since passed, powerHouse Magazine pays tribute to the people of New York—from the pimps and the pushers to the police and the politicians, the musicians and the artists to everyday citizens—whose perseverance during these lean years reveals the insurmountable spirit intrinsic to this city. That 70s Show takes us back to a time of crisis and creativity, anxiety and artistry, madness and majesty—when genius burned up the sky like the Bronx on fire.
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Contributors:
Featuring work by photographers, artists, and writers including Charlie Ahearn, Patti Astor, Afrika Bambaataa, Roberta Bayley, The Black Tarantula, Stephen Blackwell, BLADE, Joe Conzo, Martha Cooper, COPE 2, Diego Cortez, Misha Erwitt, John Fekner, Jill Freedman, Carol Friedman, Larry Fink, Ron Galella, Godlis, Arlene Gottfried, Larry Grobel, Richard Hell, Lisa Kahane, Seth Kushner, Builder Levy, Christopher Makos, Carlo McCormick, Maripol, Susan Meiselas, Glenn O’Brien, Joseph Rodriguez, Thomas Roma, Bobby Seale, Jamel Shabazz, Stephen Shames, Harvey Stein, Straightman aka LAVA, Helen M. Stummer, Allan Tannebaum, James TOP, Maureen Valdes Marsh, Harvey Wang, Nicholas Weist, and Dondi White, as well as photographs from the archives of the New York Daily News.
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Advertisers:
Artillery Magazine, Brooklyn Bodega, Death & Taxes Magazine, Le Book, Magnum Photos, Mass Appeal Magazine, Montana Cans, New York Daily News, Photograph Magazine, Preen Magazine, The Royal Magazine, Theme Magazine, Tom Gitterman Gallery, and Wax Poetics Magazine.
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Exhibitions & Events:
That 70s Show was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name, which opened on March 8, 2007 at the powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn. Curated by Miss Rosen, exhibition partners included Chocolate Bar, FIJI Water, Halcyon the Shop, Montana, Smuttynose, and Starr African Rum. Visit That 70s Show: Exhibitions & Events for more information.
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Excerpt from the Letter from the Editor:
The 70s smell like fruit punch and Nilla Wafers, wet cardboard on a hazy summer day, fresh dirt under my feet.… At least that’s how I remember the earliest years of my childhood, a couple of which were spent in 70s New York City, the legacy of which has all but disappeared. I have only a vague sense of the 70s, having been too young to watch the flames of political rebellion die down into a smoldering pile of soot from which a great blaze of pop culture arose like the proverbial phoenix. How is it possible that one city, in the course of one decade, could bring forth hip hop, disco, and punk—possibly the most influential movements in music, fashion, and lifestyle of the late twentieth century—during a time of disaster, destitution, and decadence?
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My theory: New York City is the center of the universe. (And that’s not just provincial thinking masquerading as urbane sophistication; it’s an observation made from three decades of living in an ever-changing, always-present-tense, forward-thinking city that doesn’t take kindly to the faint of heart. Even if you never commit murder, you’ve got to be a killer to live here.) The 70s, however, saw the city shift from a spectacular galaxy into a gaping black hole, as concrete blocks began to eat themselves whole. Teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, rife with cultural anarchy, aggressive sexuality, and unrivaled creativity, New York City begat a new form of artistry: do it your own damn self.
—Miss Rosen
Brooklyn, 2007
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Miss Rosen’s Contribution to the Project
Art Direction, Photo Editing & Sequencing, Text Editing, Advertising,
Production Management, Brand Partnerships, Publicity, and Event Planning.
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Magazine layouts courtesy of powerHouse Books