The 50th Anniversary of Throbbing Gristle with Matthew Levi Stevens

18th October 1976, and London’s prestigious Institute of Contemporary Arts hosts the opening of an exhibition that, almost overnight, will become celebrated, infamous, and notorious all at once.

Called PROSTITUTION, the basic premise was that it would be a retrospective of arts collective COUM Transmissions, showcasing their role in the international Mail Art movement, and also display an extensive array of props and documentation from their increasingly transgressive Performance Art actions.

Particularly provocative exhibits include Cosey Fanni Tutti’s appearance in pornographic magazines, lovingly framed and signed as artworks, and assemblages by Genesis P-Orridge incorporating Tutti’s used tampons.

Additionally, the opening night featured the formal debut of Throbbing Gristle, presenting the deliberately lo-fi garage musique concrete they dubbed “Music From the Death Factory,” to an invited audience of arts commentators, music journalists, and the regular press.

Also included were movers & shakers from the concurrently emerging Punk scene, including members of the Bromley Contingent, Mark Perry & Soo Catwoman, and support band, Chelsea (soon to morph in to Generation X.)

Conservative MP Nicholas Fairburn pronounced “These people are the wreckers of civilization,” subsequently there were questions asked in the House of Commons, and the director of the ICA was forced to resign.

Join Matthew Levi Stevens – and special guest Foxtrot Echo of COUM Transmissions – as they look back over the half-century since to explore the causes, consequences, and contributing factors.