By Vikki Law with writing from Mathew Courtney, Winchester Chimes, Jennifer Blowdryer, Steven Dominic Prestianni, Roger Manning, Orion Feig
New York: undated
Pages: 20
Dimensions: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Cover: soft
Binding: folded sheets, unstapled
Process: photocopy
Edition size: unknown
ISBN: none

The storied ABC No Rio - a place for radical culture, music, and art - began in all out confrontation when 3 artists, who were a part of a much larger group Colab (short for Colaborative Projects), broke into a city-owned former bus depot on New York's Lower East Side in 1980. The short lived show - The Real Estate Show - they mounted included many artists who made work about the gentrification that was starting to rapidly redefine the neighborhood. The show was closed by the police triggering immediate media attention. This brought out legendary "social sculputure" artist Joseph Beuys, who was in NY at the time, for a visit to support the artists whose work was being held hostage by city cops. Beuys's visit helped to secure the mythological beginning of ABC No Rio. The City of New York gave the current building, at 156 Rivington St., to Colab in exchange for vacating the bus terminal.

A chaotic collection of raw texts and recollections from ABC No Rio. A description of this publication on the website of Microcosm Distribution:

"This zine collects history from 1985-1990 at ABC NO RIO, a period where Matthew Courtney organized the wide open cabaret, an open mic series that was a very central, defining event in the East Village. Many people honed their craft there and moved on to other projects. People talk about their experiences and Matthew's non-judgmental nature and appreciation for eccentricity and marginal points of view. It stood in pale contrast to the club scene - being inviting to street characters and people who didn't identity as performers who just wanted to talk about their day."