Vienet, Rene. L’Aubergine est Farcie. n.p. [Paris]: Imp. BRICOUT, 1975. 60 x 80 cm.; ill. offset-printed.

Original film poster for Vienet’s detourned film. Originally released in Japan as “Zeroka no onna : Akai wappa” in 1974, the film was directed by Yukio Noda and featured Miki Sugimoto and Eiji Go. It was “adapted” by Vienet the following year.

Vienet’s adaptation was not released, as the film was struck with a complete ban by the French authorities on May 15, 1975. The French Ministry of Culture offered the following explanation for its decision: “This Japanese production presents an unprecedented accumulation of violence, sadism, complacently described torture, rape scenes, bloody close-up debauchery scenes, charred and deformed bodies, in a climate of extreme tension sustained by screams of agony. The extreme cynicism of police forces, the vulgarity of dialogues, all contribute to making this an unbearable film, whose sole “morality” lies in its most absolute contempt for human life. The commission unanimously agreed that such a production ought not be authorized on French screens and thus recommends a complete ban.” (Translation is mine). For contemporary accounts of the censorship decision, see Écran n° 40 page 2, cinéma & société [October 1975] and Image et Son – La Revue du Cinéma n° 298 page 23, cinéma & société [September 1975]

The film was never officially released – it was only screened privately to a handful of journalists. As such, that a film poster survives is indeed something of a miracle.

For the poster of the original (pre-detourned) Japanese release, see http://www.encyclocine.com/index.html?menu=72608&film=43573. For film photos, see http://photobuste.blogspot.com/2015/06/zeroka-no-onna-akai-wappa-1974-yukio.html

Rare. We find no copies on OCLC or in the trade.

A brief interlude to tell my readers about a current exhibit at 33 Orchard in New York. Jointly organized by Envoy Enterprises and Boo-Hooray, “The Line Between: Ben Morea Paintings of the Early 90s” showcases about two dozen paintings from the former Black Mask leader.

The opening reception was held on September 10. The exhibit will close on October 4.

Below is a description from Envoy Enterprises’ website as well as a few pictures. Higher resolution pictures are available through their website as well.

Ben Morea is a painter, publisher, and direct action political figure. As the unseen hand of the 1960s revolutionary underground, Morea is infamous for shutting down MoMA, forcibly entering the Pentagon, occupying the Fillmore East and Columbia University, and dumping the neglected garbage of the Lower East Side into the fountains of Lincoln Square. He was the force behind the 1960s art/anarchist collective Up Against the Wall Motherfucker and and the legendary anarchist zine/broadside ​Black Mask​.

Morea’s paintings have one foot firmly in a Suprematist camp while the other remains grounded in a playful use of composition. Traversing mid-century abstraction that utilizes basic geometric shapes and a primitive approach to mark making, and inspired by the spiritual as much as intellectual, ​The Line Between ​is comprised of work Morea made in the early 1990’s after abandoning painting for decades.

Picking up where he left off in the mid-‘60’s, Morea utilized spray paint as his primary medium to make a series of works on paper that he considers a rebirth and a continuation of his artistic explorations. The work asks the viewer to consider that there are no conclusions artistically or philosophically, but rather a series of loose answers to immediacy. Exhibiting only a few times since he began making art again, Morea had a show of paintings and graphic work from the ‘60’s with Boo-Hooray in ​‘Unseen 50 Years: Paintings By Ben Morea 1964-65’ in the Summer of 2014, and an earlier Boo-Hooray exhibition of his work as a publisher, illustrator, and direct action political figure, ​‘Opposition: Black Mask, Ben Morea, & U.A.W.M.F.’ ​in January of 2014

Trapier, Stephane. Tarzan contre la vie chere. Paris: Matiere, October 2014. 136 p.; ill.; 21 x 15 cm.; yellow and white cover with drawing of Tarzan and a Lenin look-alike.

A bit of an interlude to promote a book that is only indirectly related to the Situationists. But hear me out: what Stephane Trapier does in his wonderful “Tarzan contre la vie chere” is apply the Situationist technique of detournement to modern age comic books. The book’s cover tells it all: what could Tarzan and Lenin possibly have to do with each other? But just wait until the characters speak their mind – topics discussed include phone sex, women’s liberation movement, campaign finance, cell phone reception, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and more. Absolutely wonderful.

The book can be purchased directly from Editions Matiere on their website (http://www.matiere.org/livres/tarzan-contre-la-vie-chere/) for 27 Euro, which includes shipping to the United States.

Pictures below courtesy of Editions Matiere and Shige Gonzalvez, who was kind enough to introduce me to this fantastic comic book artist. (http://leblogdeshige.com/2014/11/connaissez-vous-stephane-trapier/)

King Mob. King Mob 3: A Motherfucker is a Werewolf!. London: BCM/King Mob, n.d. [1969]. 16 p.; ill.; 35x 21 cm.; ill. wrappers with large black & white drawing of a werewolf.

Third issue of the legendary UK counter-culture magazine put out by the Wise brothers and British Situationist member Christopher Gray. Retracing the history of King Mob, its evolution, and its linkages with Black Mask / Ben Morea would be too long for a blog post. I thus encourage all readers to learn more by reading Tom Vague’s “King Mob Echo: From Gordon Riots to Situations & Sex Pistols” (London: Dark Star, 2000; in print) or the Wise Brothers’ own “King Mob: A Critical Hidden History” (available online at http://www.revoltagainstplenty.com/index.php/archive-local/93-a-hidden-history-of-king-mob.html). Both are subjective histories, though.

This issue reprints extensive content from Ben Morea’s Black Mask journal and advertises its actions in the United States (“The first year Black Mask seized every possible opportunity of fucking up culture”). It includes the famous action to close the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As always, the illustrations are stunning and speak to the group’s radicalism and nihilistic outlook

Scarce in the trade, with about a dozen copies on OCLC.

Clavreul, Marie-Liesse and Thierry Kerserho (Ed.). Éléments de banalyse. Caen: Editions Le Jeu de la Règle, June 2015. 1 vol. (561 + XLIV p.); profusely illustrated.; 29 x 20 cm.; purple wrappers with text in white. With a preface by Pierre Bazantay and Yves Helias, co-founders of the Congrès Ordinaire de Banalyse.

This is the first book published on the (artistic/political/otherwise uncategorizable) movement known as the Banalyse. As stated in the Avertissement by the editors: “This first work on the banalyse movement is published over twenty years after the last meeting in Fades. [This is] a truly remarkable fact in our era of speed and saturation: to this day, with the exception of the banalystes themselves, few are those who have been able to get some first-hand information [on the Banalyse], while many others certainly believed that this movement had left only a few traces. Everything seemed in place for a legend to be perpetrated amongst a few amateurs, or for forgetfulness to win over. This book seeks to defeat both alternatives.” (p. XI, translation is mine)

But what is the Banalyse, and why does it matter? I have translated a short introduction from the publisher (it can be found here; http://www.lejeudelaregle.fr/skin2014/frame3.php): “Under the auspices of the Cahiers de Banalyse, Pierre Bazantay and Yves Helias founded, in 1982, the Ordinary Congress of Banalysis. The principle was such: participants were to join the Congress, which took place on the tracks of a small train station called Les Fades, in the Puy-de-Dome (France). However, the only activity scheduled for the aforementioned Congress consisted in waiting for other participants who had yet to arrive via train…In accordance with the upfront commitment, the Congress occured every year for 10 years, on the third weekend of June. The Congress stood as the first example of a type of propositions that combined  an experimental perspective on the banal and critical outlook of institutions” (translation is mine)

Ralph Rumney was one of the most noteworthy participants in the Banalyse. In many ways, the movement was heavily inspirated by psychogeography. In fact, at a conference on psychogeography, Situationist scholar Pierre Marcolini gave a talk called “pychogéographie et banalyse” where he explores the parallels between the two movements. For more about Rumney’s involvement with Banalyse, one may read “Sur le Passage de l’invite 889 a travers la banalyse” (http://www.homme-moderne.org/images/peintr/rrumney/helias99.html) You may also consult my earlier post on Rumney’s “Pourvu que ca dure” sur le passage de quelques idees a travers le temps”, published in 1999 by the Bureau des Inspections Banalytiques: https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/pourvu-que-ca-dure-sur-le-passage-de-quelques-idees-a-travers-le-temps-1999/

The book is available from Editions Le Jeu de la Regle. 1,300 copies were printed. http://www.lejeudelaregle.fr/skin2014/frame3.php

By popular request, I am adding more material that was viewed during my Beinecke visit.

1. Newspaper article chronicling the meeting in Goteborg of SI members

2. Correspondence between Guy Debord & Jacqueline de Jong

3. Copy of the ICA program – “Situationism”…

4. Jacqueline de Jong’s copy of “Les Aventures de la Dialectique”, a postcard used to announce the change in address for the SI.

5. Manuscript of “The Absence and its Inhabitants” / “L’absence et ses habilleurs” (Internationale Situationniste 2, translated by De Jong)

6. Pictures of Pinot-Gallizio

7. The split in the SI / the writing of the “Nicht Hinauslehnen!” tract

8. Preparatory work / writing of the tract “Mutant”

Again, a brief interlude to document my visit to the Beinecke Library at Yale University.

As some of you may know, Yale University has been building one of the world’s premier collections around the Post-War European Avant-Garde. This is how Yale describes its collection on the topic: Postwar Culture at Beinecke encompasses an extensive array of materials documenting artistic, literary, social, political, and philosophic developments in Europe and America between 1945 and 1989. Ranging from single pieces to entire archives and libraries of prominent figures of the period, these rich and disparate holdings converge to form a unique resource for exploring the work of creative individuals, movements, and transnational networks that reshaped cultural landscapes both “high” and “low” after the Second World War”. An excellent and accessible website documents the full extent of the collections; it can be accessed at http://www.beineckepostwar.com/

The acquisition effort has been led by Kevin Repp, whom I met during my trip. Serving as Curator, Modern European Books and Manuscripts, Repp is a scholar of 20th century European thought who knows the avant-garde well.

As one may expect, the Situationist International is a major component of Yale’s growing Post-War European Avant-Garde archives. Key collections from members of the SI include:

1. Attila Kotanyi papers: http://www.beineckepostwar.com/#!attila-kotnyi/cpck
2. Gianfranco Sanguinetti papers: http://www.beineckepostwar.com/#!gianfrancosanguinetti/cdr2
3. Jacqueline de Jong papers: http://www.beineckepostwar.com/#!jacqueline-de-jong/c1g50
4. Mustapha Khayati paper [currently being processed, not available to researchers]

I had the opportunity to look at a small fraction of both the Sanguinetti and De Jong papers. The De Jong archive consists of “correspondence, manuscript drafts, drawings and original artwork, photographs, ephemera, and documents relating to the Situationist Times.” Particularly compelling to me were some of the original maquettes used for the issues of Situationist Times:

There was also a good amount of correspondence with members of the Situationist International and others like Noel Arnaud. However, out of a concern from Jacqueline de Jong’s privacy, I have chosen not publish those here.

As far as the Sanguinetti papers are concerned, the collection “consists of 48 boxes of correspondence (including more than 650 letters between Sanguinetti and Guy Debord most of which have never been published), writings, notes, clippings, photocopies, posters, printed materials, legal papers, and photographs by, to, or related to Gianfranco Sanguinetti and the Situationist International.” Some of the most compelling items are found in Box 48 (which contains Sanguinetti’s (unpublished) correspondence with Alice Debord following Guy Debord’s passing in 1994), Box 49 (hundreds of photographs of the SI taken by Sanguinetti, primarily around 1969-70), and Box 50 (the original material that was to constitute the thirteenth issue of Internationale Situationniste, including a never published 14-page Avertissement by Guy Debord). Unfortunately, as I do not have a personal contact with Sanguinetti, I cannot get authorization from him to release the material publicly. As a “teaser”, find below one of the hundreds of pictures found in the archive:

For those interested in this archive, I am happy to provide further insight. You may also contact Yale directly; the Beinecke has been nothing but accommodating — despite being under renovation until 2016, and currently relocated to the Sterling Memorial — and should make the material available to any scholars, researchers, and serious private collectors.

SPUR trial letters and ephemera. Munich (Germany), 1962.

Today, one of the more unique items in my collections – 7 pieces of ephemera around the Spur Trial, all dated between 24/05/1962 and 24/09/1962.

Beglaubigte Abschrift des Urteils. Munchen. 18 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on cream paper. “JUDGMENT. The Amtsgericht Munchen, Department criminal court recognizes in the criminal proceedings against Kunzelmann, Dieter / storm, Helmut / Prem, Heimrad / Zimmer, Hans-Peter / for religious defamation, among others” (p.1). May 4 verdict against the SPUR members in the first trial. Kunzelmann, Prem, Zimmer received five months and two weeks, while Sturm received five months (p.2-3). A few pencil annotations by Walter Jens, then Professor of Rhetoric at University of Tubingen. [ONLY PAGE 1 POSTED, FULL COPY AVAILABLE ON REQUEST]

Antrag wegen Berufungsverhandlung-Termin mit ausführl. Begründung zum Thema vom RA Kreile. Munchen. 4 p. 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock.Letter from Reinhold Kreile, lawyer (signed by him), to the Munich District Court (Lamdgericht Munchen) requests an appeal hearing date for the SPUR trial. It names Josef Oberberger, Walter Hollerer, Walter Haftmann and Pastpr Carls Anders-Skriver are the experts that will testify to SPUR group members’ good faith and “modern art” nature of their work.

Werner Haftmann, Gutachtliche Äußerung über das Heft 6 der Gruppe Spur.  Munchen. 9 p. 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock. Typed letter dated 15.8.1962 from Werner Haftmann, a renowned Art Historian of the time (he published a book on Paul Klee in 1958) who provides his expert testimony on Issue 6 of Gruppe SPUR. He provides a quick view of his credentials, then goes on to debunk the accusations against the members of the group. This successful defense is documented in his 1999 obituary in “The Guardian”: ” Above all, he was against state intervention in art, and it was for this reason that in 1961 he championed the Spur Group, which was accused by the Munich authorities of obscenity and blasphemy. His intervention reduced their punishment from five months’ imprisonment to a suspended sentence” (http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/aug/24/guardianobituaries2)

Joachim Kaiser, Abschrift seiner gutachterlichen Äußerung über das Heft 6. Munchen. 5 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on thin carbon paper. Copy of a letter by Dr. Joachin Kaiser’s expert testimony as part of the second SPUR trial. Like Oberbenger letter, this favorable testimony by a Music Professor will help group members receive shorter sentences or be acquitted in appeal.

Josef Oberberger, Abschrift seiner Stellungsnahme zur Gruppe “Spur”. Munchen. 3 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on thin carbon paper. Copy of a letter by Josef Obernberger (Professor of Artsat the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich) where he shares his opinion about Gruppe SPUR as part of the appeal / second trial in November. The letter is addressed to Dieter Liphart (a lawyer admitted to the bar in 1960) and Dr. Reinhold Kreile. Several of the SPUR members had studied painting with Obernberger in Munich. In this letter, the faculty member details his relationship with his former students and paints favorable portraits. He concludes by stating (translation is mine): “I could see how very surprised and depressed these young people could have been following the judgement and verdict” (p.3). Such a testimony will prove instrumental since Kunzelmann and Prem saw their sentence slashed to five weeks probation in appeal, while Sturm was eventually acquitted.

Brief des RA Kreile an Walter Jens mit der Bitte um Stellungsnahme zum Heft 6. Munchen. 2 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock. Letter from Reinhold Kreile, lawyer, to Dr. Walter Jens, then Professor at the University of Tubingen. The letter comes on Reinhold Kreile’s letterhead, and is hand-signed by him. It also includes a handful of handwritten correction in blue pen. Walter Jens, along with Obernberger, Haftmann and Kaiser, will come to the rescue of the SPUR members. In this letter, Kreile asks Jens for his opinion on SPUR’s issue #6.

Brief des Otto van de Loo an Walter Jens zum SPUR Heft 6. Munchen. 1 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock. Letter from Otto Van de Loo of the Galerie Van de Loo in Munich to Professor Jens, who had written an expert testimony to support the members of Gruppe SPUR. This is the letter that came with the Gruppe SPUR book, which Van de Loo enclosed.

Black Mask. Black Mask 1-10. New York: Black Mask, 11/1966-05/1968. 4 p.; ill.; 25 x 33 cm. Offset-printed in black & white. First edition.

All 10 issues of the journal of the Black Mask group. “Founded in New York City in the mid-1960s by self-educated ghetto kid and painter Ben Morea, the Black Mask group melded the ideas and inspiration of Dada and the Surrealists, with the anarchism of the Durruti Column from the Spanish Revolution. With a theory and practice that had much in common with their contemporaries the San Francisco Diggers, Dutch Provos, and the French Situationists—who famously excommunicated 3 of the 4 members of the British section of the Situationist International for associating too closely with Black Mask—the group intervened spectacularly in the art, politics and culture of their times. From shutting down the Museum of Modern Art to protesting Wall Street’s bankrolling of war, from battling with Maoists at SDS conferences to defending the Valerie Solanas shooting of Andy Warhol, Black Mask successfully straddled the counterculture and politics of the 60s, and remained the Joker in the pack of both sides of “The Movement.”‘ (PM Press)

To understand the relationship between Black Mask and the Situationists, one can refer to Debord’s correspondence with Morea and members of both the British and American sections of the Internationale Situationniste (available in translation here: http://www.notbored.org/debord.html). The exclusion of Clark, Gray and Smith from the SI is documented in Internationale Situationniste #12 (in translation here: http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/latest.html), though this is very much written from the “orthodox” perspective and should not be construed as objective truth. Lastly, the astute scholar may choose to consult Morea’s papers at New York University, with a focus on Series V (http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/tam_530/dscref17.html)

A reprint of all 10 issues is available from PM press (http://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=255)

Debord, Guy. À propos de quelques erreurs d’interprétation . Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; purple-white wrappers with text in black.

Debord, Guy.  Le cinéma après Alain Resnais . Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; blue-white wrappers with text in black.

Debord, Guy. Pour un jugement révolutionnaire de l’art. Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; blue-white wrappers with text in black.

Debord, Guy. Le questionnaire situationniste. Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; yellow-white wrappers with text in black.

Debord, Guy. Le rôle de Godard . Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; purple-white wrappers with text in black.

Debord, Guy. Thèses sur la révolution culturelle  . Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, 2013. n.p..; 15 x 24 cm.; purple-white wrappers with text in black.

A set of six pamphlets produced by Les Editions Derrière la Salle de Bain, and which consist in excerpts (or occasionally full texts) of articles penned by Debord, primarily in the journal Internationale Situationniste. Laser-printed on featherweight paper (papier bouffant, 150 gr.)

These can be purchased directly for 5 Euro each at http://leseditionsderrierelasalledebains.bigcartel.com/product/internationale-situationniste-6-titres . The picture are borrowed from the publisher’s website.