【コラム】 RE/Search：サブカルチャーを記録する雑誌と文化的影響

Column en Film History Industrial Noise Zine

02 Oct 2025

V. Vale and RE/Search: Subculture Explorer

Text: mmr｜Theme: About “RE/Search”, a historical archive of subcultures and cultural heritage that records music, movies, and art across the board.

V. Vale is a publisher and editor based in San Francisco since the late 1970s.His works Search & Destroy and RE/Search became important archives that systematically recorded underground culture. In this article, we look back at the history of RE/Search by year and cover related music, movies, and art events.

Origin and development of RE/Search

Search & Destroy (1977–1979)

Founded as Punk Zine.It introduced the West Coast punk scene and later became the foundation for RE/Search.

RE/Search first issue (1980–)

Started in 1980.Contains interviews and reviews on the themes of industrial music and avant-garde culture. His representative issues include Industrial Culture Handbook,''Modern Primitives,’’ and ``Incredibly Strange Films.’’

Since the 1990s

Featuring body modification, cult movies, cyberpunk, and more.It has expanded beyond publishing to include events and exhibitions.

The impact and cultural significance of RE/Search

RE/Search is more than just a publication; it also serves as a subculture archive.Vale’s interviews and documentaries are valuable documents that convey the history of underground culture to future generations.

Recommended RE/Search magazines by age group

Magazine title	Publication year	Main contents/features	Contributors	Links
RE/Search #1: Industrial Culture Handbook	1980	Recording the origins of industrial music	Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire	Amazon
RE/Search Modern Primitives	1981	Special feature on body modification culture	Fakir Musafar	Amazon
RE/Search Incredibly Strange Films	1983	Special feature on B-movies and cult films	Nick Zedd, John Waters	Amazon
RE/Search Industrial Culture Handbook (Revised)	1987	Revised edition of Industrial Culture	SPK, Nurse With Wound	Amazon
RE/Search J.G. Ballard	1988	Science fiction writer Ballard special feature	J.G. Ballard	Amazon
RE/Search Industrial Culture Handbook 2000 Edition	2000	Noise/Rethinking Industrial Culture	Coil, Merzbow	Amazon

Year	Item	Type	Explanation	Link
1980	20 Jazz Funk Greats	Music	Throbbing Gristle’s masterpiece of early industrial.A fusion of social criticism and acoustic experimentation.	Amazon
1980	Industrial Music Night	Events	Live Series in San Francisco.Documents the early days of industrial culture.	RE/Search Archive
1981	Red Mecca	Music	Cabaret Voltaire’s masterpiece.Reflecting urban anxiety and the atmosphere of the Cold War era.	Amazon
1981	Pink Flamingos	Movie	Cult film by John Waters.A symbol of subculture.	Amazon
1983	Scatology	Music	Coil’s early experimental work.A fusion of ritual and noise aesthetics.	Amazon
1983	Liquid Sky	Movie	A cult science fiction film depicting New York’s drug culture.Resonates with the RE/Search worldview.	Amazon
1987	Leichenschrei	Music	The pinnacle of noise industrial music by SPK.	Amazon
1987	Begotten	Movie	Silent, monochrome experimental film.Mythical and decadent visual beauty.	Amazon
1988	Homotopy to Marie	Music	Nurse With Wound’s masterpiece.Connecting avant-garde music and contemporary art.	Amazon
1988	Videodrome	Movie	Directed by Cronenberg.A cult work depicting the fusion of the body and media.	Amazon
1991	Queen of Siam	Music	Post-punk solo by Lydia Lunch.Contains radical social criticism.	Amazon
1991	Tetsuo: The Iron Man	Movie	Japanese cult film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto.The theme is body modification and urban anxiety.	Amazon
1996	The Audacity of Hype	Music	Political punk work by Jello Biafra.	Amazon
1996	Tetsuo II	Movie	Sequel to “Tetsuo”.Further exploring the boundaries between body and machine.	Amazon
2000	Pulse Demon	Music	Merzbow’s masterpiece in the history of noise.An overwhelming sound experiment.	Amazon
2000	Ghost in the Shell	Movie	Animated film directed by Mamoru Oshii.A philosophical story of cyborgs and AI.	Amazon

RE/Search anecdotes and inside stories

There are many anecdotes about RE/Search’s publishing activities.Typical examples are listed below.

Birth of Search & Destroy While working at San Francisco’s City Lights bookstore, Vale founded Search & Destroy with help from Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg.The aim was to convey the energy of the punk scene.
The DIY spirit of the Industrial Culture Handbook Direct interviews with Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire by phone and mail.The layout was completed by Vale using a typewriter and hand-delivering it to the printer.
Shock created by Modern Primitives Introducing body modification as “art”.He elevated piercing and tattoo culture from taboo to culture.This directly led to later art events and performances.
Collaboration with John Waters John Waters provided many materials during the production of Incredibly Strange Films.``Vale was the only place that treated my films as having cultural value,’’ he recalled.
Ballard special feature and subculture literature In 1988, he traveled to London to interview J.G. Ballard in person.Ballard said, ``I never thought that the people who would read my novels would be the punk generation.’’
Funding difficulties and the continuation of zine culture Although its circulation was small, its readership spread all over the world, and Vale said, ``A passionate readership is more important than mass circulation.’’
Resonance with San Francisco Experimental groups such as Survival Research Laboratories and Other Cinema gathered around RE/Search, building a network of zines and art.

summary

V. Vale’s RE/Search is more than just a magazine; it is a historical archive of subculture, and a cultural heritage that cross-cuts music, film, and art.He continues to explore a wide range of fields, from industrial to modern primitives, from cult films to cyberpunk, and his influence continues to ripple all over the world. For researchers and underground culture enthusiasts, RE/Search is a must-read.