Lettrists/Situationists/Pro-Situs

Started by Jordan, April 04, 2013, 07:21:50 AM

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Jordan

I figured I'd make a topic on this since I know that at least some industrial projects found inspiration within this current.

The SI and related groups have been an obsession of mine for a really long time, and I try to pick up everything I possibly can related to them. A lot of people I've talked to always seem to acknowledge them as simply an avant-garde art movement with political aims, forgetting that the Situationists decided to stop making art (besides propaganda) until after the fall of capitalism fairly early on in their activities. The most crucial phase of their activities are summed up in their two main works -- Debord's Society of The Spectacle and Vaneigem's The Revolution of Everyday Life (French: Traité de savoir-vivre à l'usage des jeunes générations) -- which unfortunately most of the people that I have met who are aware of the SI, and even some enthusiasts, seem to be less than willing to engage with in any serious sort of matter.

Perhaps they simply lack the background in Feuerbach (The Essence of Christianity), Marx (Capital) and Lukács (History and Class Consciousness) that Debord's text(s) demands, but I often find myself annoyed when people try to talk about the critique of spectacular-commodity economy.

For example, I was reading this review a while ago: http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2008-03/merrifield.htm and found myself pissed off quite a lot.  I haven't read the book being reviewed, but I am in the acknowledgements of the second printing of the Critical Lives Burroughs biography, if there is a second printing yet, because I pointed out some mistakes to the author, which may or may not say something about the quality of the work. And come to think of it, one of the errors was about Debord and Lettrism! It's also just one of those stupid "Introduction to..." kind of books, so one shouldn't expect much anyway. I just picked up the Burroughs edition of the series because I'm a bit of a retard for having Burroughs and related books, despite my enthusiasm for him having largely waned. But I guess that's for another topic...

Anyway, that's my contribution for now.

Anyone?


HongKongGoolagong

Larry Law's 'Spectacular Times' series of 1980s pro-situ pamphlets were very inspirational to me as a young man, and made clear connections between advertising techniques and everyday alienation. There is a collection at http://nntk.net/main.php?g2_itemId=251 - Cities of Illusion is especially good.

I have a copy of Debord's 'Panegyric' which is a very unusual kind of non-linear autobiography - he articulates defeat with a kind of grandeur throughout and mentions how much he has drunk almost every chapter. Worth a read. Vaneigem's later book on manifestations of the Holy Spirit is heavy going but rewarding.

Also have a bunch of moany critiques of situationist currents and pissing on Debord's grave by all those political guys who love to fall out with each other and create schisms. I don't really understand this angle of radical politics.

The idea of the derive is wonderful for anyone who hates work and doesn't have much money to spend. It's an adventure you can have anywhere. And the aimless wandering really does get the mind working on how economics creates urban spaces. I had never visited Freiburg in Germany before last month, but spent a few hours drifting there while waiting for a flight and I feel like I know the city well. The tourist quarter, the druggy area...of course huge and old cities like London and Paris are amazing for psychogeography.


Jordan

#2
Spectacular Times was great.

I think the thing with the feuds, aside from the obvious attraction of being rude and having a potty mouth, is about having all of these ideas you want to put into praxis and the urge for action, which, when the impotence of their ability to draw the masses to action sets in, becomes aimed inward because they are demanding that their ideas be taken seriously somewhere, and they are nowhere. So instead of accounting for the fact that the masses of people don't want things to change, instead of incorporating that into their theory that is theoretically supposed to benefit the masses, that the masses are happy with their car and roads and T.V.'s and jobs and commodities and whatever, they point blame on those who have a different vision than themselves, and take action against them. So they don't feel completely impotent. The Situationists felt that the masses were getting tired of the spectacular-commodity economy, that it's negation was starting to show in wildcats, in youth gangs, in shoplifting, but the economy colonized everyday life further and further without showing any weakness that would last, or even a short lived loss of steam. May '68 left them poised for action that would never come, and they took it out on those around them, though that's not to say that that sectarianism and breaks and bad behaviour didn't precede that.

But I guess more so than that, they're just aping the tone set by Breton what with the exclusions and denunciations, which I guess, again is about not feeling impotent. The will to pussy trumps all.


The Right To Be Greedy by For Ourselves is the pinnacle of US pro-situ activity. I'm pretty sure they had members from Negation, who did the Power Of Negative Thinking journal, and made up the American section of the SI, probably for a week or two. A copy of The Right To Be Greedy can be found here:

http://void.nothingness.org/archives/situationist/display/4602/index.php


There was also Black Mask/Up Against The Wall Motherfucker, who were considered for sectionhood in the SI, but were prematurely excluded when poet and member Dan Georgakis offered up a mystical interpretation of The Revolution Of Everyday Life by Vaneigem, who had just flown to the States to meet with them about their membership. He got on the next plane to Paris and that was the end of that. Heatwave, the short lived British section made a stink about the Motherfuckers affair, were quickly excluded for their support. They became King Mob, who included Jamie Reid among their ranks, as well as Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, who were more kind of hangers on, I believe.

There was an anthology of Black Mask/Motherfuckers works edited by "Jacque Vache" published by Unpopular Books and Sabotage Editions in the 90's. I suspect Jacque Vache may have been Stewart Home assuming the name of the famous proto-Dadaist and suicide, but I never could figure that out for sure.