Total State Machine

Total State Machine

Total State Machine published by PC-Press is a unique historical document and visual representation of Test Dept, one of the UK’s truly investigative agitators, authentic industrialists, utilisers and recyclers of society’s debris.

The book features a wide range of texts from Test Dept allies, collaborators and writers, including Jonathan Moore, Robin Rimbaud, Laibach, Stephen Mallinder (ex Cabaret Voltaire), Marek Kohn, Alan Sutcliffe, Andy Wilson, Russell MacEwan and many more, with an introduction by Alexei Monroe and Peter Webb.

With artwork and event photos from the group’s archives and others, it is also a highly visual book, illustrating the spectacular scale and impact of Test Dept’s work.

As well as manifestos, excerpts from tour diaries and many previously unknown stories and documents, the book also contains extensive interviews conducted in which they speak openly about their history.

“Aesthetic re-industrialisation was a reaction against the gathering force of neo-liberal de-industrialisation. Whole technologies, populations, towns and regions were suddenly declared ‘obsolete’ and in need of clearance. In the early 1980s, the already blighted areas of South London the group lived and worked in also felt the force of rapid de-industrialisation and austerity.
Alexei Monroe
 

Total State Machine – Paperback

£30.00

‘Total State Machine’ is published by PC-Press and is a unique historical document and visual representation of Test Dept, one of the UK’s truly investigative agitators, authentic industrialists, utilisers and recyclers of society’s debris.

Printed on high quality art paper, the book contains chapters and reflections from Paul Jamrozy, Graham Cunnington, Angus Farquhar, Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), Robin Rimbaud (Scanner), Marek Kohn, Malcolm Pointer, Ivan Novak (Laibach), Alan Sutcliffe (Kent Miners) and many more with an introduction by Alexei Monroe and Peter Webb. The book also contains original artwork, photography and documentary images of the group from all periods of their work.

SKU: TSM004 Category: Tags: ,

Description

How did a group of disaffected young people come to pose a serious threat to the symbolic order of the Thatcherite state?

Test Dept were on the front line of struggles which are still playing out in the present day; raising questions, galvanising resistance and unnerving the titanic forces unleashed by the Thatcherite doctrine that still dominates the political mainstream. Their music was a full-frontal assault on the senses that also contained moments of reflection, beauty and echoes of post-industrial decay.

Until now the full history of British music, culture and politics in the 1980s and 1990s had not been told – a chapter has been missing. Total State Machine is this missing chapter. More than just a history of a group, it captures a wider history of those troubled times.

‘Total State Machine’ is published by PC-Press and is a unique historical document and visual representation of Test Dept, one of the UK’s truly investigative agitators, authentic industrialists, utilisers and recyclers of society’s debris.

Printed on high quality art paper, the book contains chapters and reflections from Paul Jamrozy, Graham Cunnington, Angus Farquhar, Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), Robin Rimbaud (Scanner), Marek Kohn, Malcolm Pointer, Ivan Novak (Laibach), Alan Sutcliffe (Kent Miners) and many more with an introduction by Alexei Monroe and Peter Webb. The book also contains original artwork, photography and documentary images of the group from all periods of their work.

Each chapter details the different periods of their work and has reflections and essays from the group and a host of contributors who were involved or affected in some way by the work of Test Dept.

Additional information

Weight 2.2 kg
Dimensions 28 × 23 × 3.1 cm
Size

Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small

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