Photo via Wikimedia
This article was originally published on Noisey UK.
Videos by VICE
Let’s be honest: in 2016, “punk” has almost no meaning at all. The Sex Pistols have their own range of credit cards, Iggy Pop is doing insurance ads, and plaid skinnies are being sold in London’s Camden market alongside tea towels drenched in Kate and Will’s face. Even the word feels a bit gross to say out loud. Needless to say, punk’s original incarnation has been dead for so long, it’s rotten deep into the earth and grown a few trees.
Joseph Corré, the son of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and late punk icon Malcolm McLaren, also thinks punk has turned a bit cringe. In a statement to the press, the entrepreneur has said he plans to burn all of his punk memorabilia (which is reportedly worth around £5 million) in some sort of The KLF style protest at the state-backed “40th Anniversary of Punk” celebrations, which will take place on November 26th (the same day the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK” was first released).
Corré also called out The British Library, The BFI, the Design Museum, ICA, Museum of London, The Photographers’ Gallery, Rough Trade, and the Roundhouse for running “40th anniversary of Punk” events after Punk London received a £99,000 grant from the Lottery Fund.
“The Queen giving 2016, the Year of Punk, her official blessing is the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard,” he wrote in the statement. “Talk about alternative and punk culture being appropriated by the mainstream. Rather than a movement for change, punk has become like a fucking museum piece or a tribute act.”
“People are feeling numb,” he added. “And with numbness comes complacency. People don’t feel they have a voice anymore. The most dangerous thing is that they have stopped fighting for what they believe in. They have given up the chase. We need to explode all the shit once more.” He then went on to urge other members of the public to follow his example on November 26th also.
So there you have it—Viv’s son proving punk is not dead by burning it all to the ground.
