JORN, Asger; DE JONG, Jacqueline. The Case of the Ascetic Satyr. Snapshots from Eternity. New York: JdJ / DAP, 2015.

This artist book is comprised of several parts:

[A] 2 vol.: (A1) Text volume: 30 p.; ill.; 24 x 30.5 cm.; (A2) Plates volume: n.p. [10 plates]; ill.; 24 x 30.5 cm. [B] 1 folder containing 48 ephemera items (various sizes), loosely inserted as issued. 24 x 30.5 cm.
Both [A] and [B] are housed in an original paper chemise.
[C] 1 folder (24 x 30.5 cm) containing an original etching by J. de Jong, signed and numbered (30/35)
Items [A-C] are housed inside an original, red clamshell dropback box with mounted plate on front

“1962, while living in Paris, Dutch painter, sculptor and editor of The Situationist Times Jacqueline de Jong (born 1939) completed a set of 11 woodcut engravings, a medium in which she rarely worked. Danish painter and writer Asger Jorn (1914–1973) adored the engravings and decided to publish them. First, however, Jorn decided to compose a set of texts to accompany the art work, turning the suite of engravings into an “erotic novel” which they called “The Case of the Ascetic Satyr.” Over the course of the next decade they jotted down playful (and occasionally sexually explicit) notes to each other on anything that came to hand–exhibition flyers, cocktail napkins, even an unused sheet from Memoires, Jorn’s famous collaborative artist’s book with Guy Debord. The texts are mostly in English, the language Jorn and de Jong usually used together, though some are in French, Danish, Dutch or German. Wordplay is prevalent, sometimes referring to James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. In the end, the book project outlasted the relationship between the two artists, and so was never published. This beautifully produced artist’s book–published in a signed and numbered edition of 200 copies–is thus not so much a facsimile as a true first edition, with the prints accompanied by replicas of the notes between the two lovers. A companion volume includes essays on the piece by leading art historians in the field, Kevin Repp, Marc Lenot, Roberto Ohrt, Karen Kurczynski and Axel Heil” (DAP)

A spectacular account of the nearly two-decade long relationship between two important artists and members of the Situationist movement.

Printed in 334 copies: 200 signed and numbered copies, 100 signed H.C. copies, and 34 deluxe copies that include an original etching by Jacqueline de Jong from “La folie endormie” (1961), signed and numbered. Ours is copy #30. While the regular edition remains available (see https://www.artbook.com/9781938922862.html if interested), the deluxe edition is sold out and not available in the trade.

INTERNATIONALE SITUATIONNISTE. Ein kultureller Putsch während Ihr schlaft! n.p. [Munich, Germany]: n.p. [Internationale Situationniste], n.d. [21 April 1959]. Leaflet; 21 x 15 cm.; black ink on pink stock.

Leaflet signed by members of different sections of the Situationist International – Constant for Holland, Debord for France, Jorn for Denmark, Pinot-Gallizio for Italy, Wyckaert for Belgium, and Zimmer for Germany – as a closing statement for the third SI conference. It was distributed in the streets of Munchen on April 21, 1959.

More details are given in Potlatch 30 (15 July 1959):”THE SITUATIONISTS held their Third International Conference in Munich from 17 to 20 April 1959, fifteen months after the Second Conference (Paris, January 1958). Six sections of the SI (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands) were represented by Armando, Constant, Debord, Eisch, Gallizio, Höfl, Jorn, Melanotte, Oudejans, Prem, Stadler, Sturm, Wyckaert and Zimmer. The conference debated as many questions posed from a theoretical perspective as it did from the prespective of tactics for the survival of the situationist movement through its extension. An eleven-point declaration was adopted unanimously as a proclamation of the minimum requirements of situationist action: a project, which was hardly modified in a long discussion of each point, previously appearing in the second issue of our journal, Internationale Situationniste [The Amsterdam Declaration]. It was decided that the German version of this journal be launched in the Autumn. The closure of the conference was marked by the publication of a leaflet entitled “Ein kultureller Putsch während Ihr schlaft!” (A Cultural Putsch While You Sleep!).” (Eng translation courtesy of https://www.sionline.researche-editions.cddc.vt.edu/si/third.html)

Reproduced in Destribats (Petits papier) p.312 and Oeuvres p.492-93. Accounted for by Gonzalvez (p.110), Raspaud & Voyer (p. 109), and Scheppe & Ohrt (188)

After a long hiatus — my books have finally come out of their boxes, as we finalized our move — I am happy to be posting again on this blog.

I would like to take the opportunity to share the birth of the Situationist International Research Network (SIRN) https://www.situationistresearch.net/. For the first time, a centralized resource is now available for scholars to connect around their shared interest in the SI and related movements.

SIRN defines itself as “a network of academics and independent researchers working on the Situationist International and related topics. It seeks to provide news, information, contacts and other resources for people interested in undertaking or engaging with peer-reviewed research on the Situationists. Our goal is to facilitate international, interdisciplinary and multilingual collaboration between researchers and to promote peer-reviewed academic research on the Situationists to a wider audience”

SIRN is led by Dr. Alastair Hemmens, with Prof. Gabriel Zacarias as Deputy Director. The two scholars most recently co-authored he Situationist International: A Critical Handbook (London: Pluto Press, 2020). Members hail from a range of academic fields, including Philosophy & Aesthetics, Literature, Art History, History, Sociology.. They include Tom Bunyard, Francois Coadou, Bertrand Cochard, Patrick Marcolini, Sophie Dolto, Fabrice Flahutez, Amy Grandvoinet, Eric-John Russell, Vanessa Theodoropoulou, Anna Trespeuch-Berthelot…

A list of bilingual resources is made available to scholars (https://www.situationistresearch.net/resources), and a quarterly newsletter is found here: https://www.situationistresearch.net/blog. If there is any news that you would like to be included in the next newsletter, please reach out to SIRN through their contact page here: https://www.situationistresearch.net/contact