RAVE: Rave and its Influence on Art and Culture

This book has been published to accompany the exhibition Energy Flash — The Rave Movement, M HKA, 17 June — 25 September 2016. RAVE is one of the first publications to critically engage with the historical rave movement of the 1980s and 1990s as it relates to contemporary art and visual culture. Following the death of industrial Europe, Rave emerged as Europe’s last big youth movement. This book considers the social, political and economic conditions that led to the advent of rave as a “counterculture” across Europe, as well as its aesthetics, ideologies and influence on contemporary art and beyond. Combining specially commissioned texts, interviews and factual material, RAVE represents a broad range of artistic practices, including the work of Jeremy Deller, Rineke Dijkstra and Daniel Pflumm, amongst many others. In addition to artistic contributions, the book features texts by Mark Fisher and Nav Haq, as well as interviews with Walter van Beirendonck, the famous Belgian fashion designer; and Renaat Vandepapeliere & Sabine Maes, who run the legendary R&S Record label.