The Cacophony Society
The Cacophony Society is “a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society.” Started in 1986 by surviving members of the now defunct Suicide Club of San Francisco.
Cacophony could be described as an indirect culture jamming outgrowth of the Dada movement, and the Situationists. One of its central concepts is the Trip to the Zone, or Zone Trip, inspired by the Temporary Autonomous Zone.
According to self-designated members of the Society, “you may already be a member.” The anarchic nature of the Society means that membership is left open-ended and anyone may sponsor an event, though not every idea pitched garners attendance by members. Cacophony events often involve costumes and pranks in public places and sometimes going into places that are generally off-limits to the public.
Members of the Cacophony Society’s first group were also the primary organizers of the annual Burning Man festival after Cacophony co-founder John Law attended its previous incarnation as an as-yet-unnamed beach party at Baker Beach in 1988 and publicized the 1989 event in the Cacophony Society newsletter.
Cacophonist Kevin Evans conceived of Zone Trip #4 in 1990 and organized it with John Law and Michael Mikel, publicizing it in the newsletter as “A Bad Day at Black Rock”. Harvey and James were subsequently invited to bring their effigy along, after being prevented from burning it on the beach by law enforcement.
Other events created by the Society are: the Atomic Cafe, the Chinese New Year’s Treasure Hunt, the picnic on the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brides of March, Urban Iditarod, and the Sewer Walk.
After a lull in activity in the San Francisco branch of the society in the late 1990s and the cease of publication of that chapter’s monthly newsletter Rough Draft listing of events for the San Francisco Cacophony Society (172 issues were produced during the years 1986 to 2001), a group of subscribers to the practically defunct society’s email discussion list became active under the Cacophony Society aegis following a mock Pigeon Roast put on by a fictitious organization calling itself “Bay Area Rotisserie Friends” in San Francisco’s Union Square in 2000 proposed by Drunken Consumptive Panda. This new group of Cacophonists is occasionally referred to by its members as Cacophony 2.0 and emphasize their chaotic, ebullient spirit with the motto “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your [bull]horn.” The Society’s newsletter was briefly revived under the name 2econd Draft.
