There is a fellowship forged through creating by bringing about a sense of place and identity. Beyond just 90’s punk houses, there are various examples of these past or current spaces thriving, and there’s a need to encourage more of them today. These collectives are fluid, inclusive, motivated, supportive, and good. Good in their intention and simple in their existence.

Beyond physical spaces bringing shared experiences, this particular Sioux Falls music scene brought something intangible and sacred to the lives of people within it — something that’s bonded them till today, across the world. Something you’ll notice in Bieber’s documentary.

“Like a lot of people, for me the scene started as a refuge. Later, it felt like home. Eventually, it felt like it didn’t belong to me anymore, which I think is a pretty natural and healthy progression. I think subcultures works best when people involved in them apply what they’ve learned to the culture at large.”

Within these spaces and subcultures, we witness close relationships and the sort of analog way in which these come to be. “My wife and I often say that loving something together is a different way to love one another. That idea has really helped me come to understand my relationship with the people I came up with in the scene. I feel a very deep love and affection for not just my close friends, but almost everyone who was part of that scene.”

Art has a way of intertwining itself within space, time, and life in general, in many different ways. It’s an outlet for voice, an avenue for visiting hard concepts, and a foundation for communities. “There were a lot of different people with a lot of different personalities and a lot of different value systems, but what we had and have in common is fundamental enough for me to feel that the crowd of people I stood in for those years will always be my family.”

Looking at the early ’90s origin of the punk scene in Sioux Falls and how it formed a community beyond the music is something that could possibly be adapted or applied to the local arts scene right now. There’s room to create a larger cohesive space and community around the arts in Sioux Falls by visiting and revisiting things that are at the core of art-making — art enriches lives, communities, and place. It allows us to explore concepts and ideas that connect diverse groups. Art for the sake of community.

Brian Bieber is a writer and filmmaker based in Sioux Fall, SD.

@brian_bieber www.ireallygetintoit.com
www.ghostsandhorses.com