La Tour de Feu no. 82. Paris, June 1964. 23 x 13.5 cm. Off-white wrappers with text in grey and pink.

A self-described “International Review of Poetry” (“Revue Internationale de Creation Poetique”), La Tour de Feu  features what may be the first article in French about the Internationale Situationniste. While there is evidence of earlier articles in other languages, for instance in Dutch in Forum, we believe that Rene Lourau’s “Le Poete devant les Institutions” is the first (substantial) article written about the movement in France, at least outside the confidential Lettrist/Situ milieu [our friend Ian Thompson appropriately notes that Estivals wrote 11 pages about the SI in Grammes 4 in 1959, while Isou wrote another 136 pages in Poesie Nouvelle 13 the following year)

In this brief article (pp. 123-129), Rene Lourau discusses the oppositional rapport between the Poet and (social, religious, political) institutions, as expressed through form. According to Lourau, a desire to obliterate the very language of poetry – what he sees as”the most extreme extension of the Symbolists’ perspective -begins with the Futurists, ahead of Dada and the Surrealists. The Lettrists and, ultimately, the Situationists follow in their footsteps. Specifically, Lourau mentions the SI’s use of techniques like industrial painting and detournement, as well as their belief in a new urbanism.

A kind reader added the following: “It should also be noted that the S.I. thought little of this article, going so far as to refer to it in the article ‘Pour ne pas comprendre l’I.S’ in issue no. 10 of their journal (page 68): “Et plus mal encore, par exemple, dans l’article élogieux mais inintelligent qu’un lapassadiste, René Lourau, avait cru devoir consacrer à l’I.S. dans le no. 82 de la revue Tour de Feu.” Debord also dismissed Lourau and his article in a letter of 16 May 1966 (reproduced in Debord, Correspondance vol. 3)”

Finally, the article is mentionned in Raspaud & Voyer 141, under the section “quelques echos dans la presse et la librairie”.

Vaseline. n.p [Paris, France]: n.p. [self-printed], 1991-1993. 21 x 30 cm.; black ink on white stock. 7 issues and 1 supplement (to issue no.5) published.

Ephemeral pro-situ journal, about which very little known. The tone is deliberately provocative, with dry (often self-conscious) humour mixed in. This is perfectly summarized in the Editorial to the second issue: “La recette est facile: choisissez un theme, n’importe lequel, et critiquez violemment. N’oubliez jamais le point de vue de la totalite. Ajoutez une pointe d’humour! Laissez mijoter. Servez en potlatch.” (p.1) [The recipe is an easy one: pick a topic, any topic, and criticize violently. Never omit the point of view of totality. Add a touch of humor! Let it simmer, and serve as a “potlatch” (p.1)]

Scarce. We have never encountered a copy in the trade. The journal was only distributed at the legendary “Librairie Actualites”, which closed its doors in 2007. No copies on OCLC either, though it appears from Issue #2 (see pictures below) that the IISG in Amsterdam unsuccessfully attempted to get a subscription (and, in pure Situationist fashion, is lambasted for it)

Vaneigem, Raoul and Roure, Roland. Notes sans Portee. Bruxelles: La Pierre d’Alun, April 1997. 73 p.; ill.; 16 x 23 cm.; cream wrappers with text in black. In sheets.

For the thirtieth title in its “Pierre d’Alun” series, the small Belgian publishing house brings together former Situationist Raoul Vaneigem (Belgian, 1934-) and French artist Roland Roure (French, 1940-) for a celebration of pleasure.

Since “Le Livres des Plaisirs”, Vaneigem has indeed made hedonism his trademark: human beings should seek out pleasure, even though modern society does everything in its power to deny it to them. The first sentence sets the tone: “Le desir est semblable a l’enfant. Sa naissance est l’acte de vie par excellence. Cependant, tout est aussitot mis en oeuvre pour empecher son envol, lui rogner les ailes et le trainer vers la mort comme si elle etait son destin ineluctable” (p.9).

600 numbered copies, including 50 signed an numbered by the artists. This is No. 367.

Only one copy found in the trade, with another 15 on OCLC.

Jorn, Asger. De la methode triolectique dans ses applications en situlogie generale: Institut Scandinave de Vandalisme Compare, [June] 1964. 11 p.;ill.; 21.5 x 14 cm.; white wrappers with text in black

First separate edition of this important text by Jorn, which was also published as a chapter in Signes gravés sur les églises des départements de l’Eure et du Calvados (Etching on the churches of Eure and Calvados) in the same year.

The Triolectic method defines itself against the Dialectic method, which embodies a violent conception of the world embraced by the bourgeoisie. The binary model is replaced by a tertiary model, which smashes the bipolar confrontation that prevails in modern society.

De la methode triolectique was the inspiration behind and laid the foundations for three-sided football, among others. To learn more about three-sided football and how it relates to Jorn, watch the video at https://vimeo.com/12509689

Scarce, with 8 copies on OCLC

A brief interlude to announce the release of a new book about the SI:

Bolt, Mikkel and Jakobsen, Jakob (Ed.). Cosmonauts of the Future: Texts from the Situationist Movement in Scandinavia and Elsewhere. Copenhagen: Nebula, April 2015. 304 p.

From the publisher:

This is the first ever English-language anthology collecting texts and documents from the still little-known Scandinavian part of the Situationist movement. The book covers over three decades of writing, from Asger Jorn’s “Luck and Chance” published in 1953, to the statements of the Situationist Antinational set up by Jens Jørgen Thorsen and J.V. Martin in 1974. The writings collected gravitate around the year 1962 when the Situationist movement went through it’s most dynamic and critical moments, and the disagreements about the relationship between art and politics came to a culmination, resulting in exclusions and the split of the Situationist International.

Internationale Situationniste. Reedition d’articles [Supplement a 4 Millions de Jeunes Travailleurs] Paris: Les Amis de 4 millions de jeunes travailleurs, n.d. [1970] 44 p.;  21 x 15 cm; yellow wrappers with text in black.

Sommaire: Le déclin et la chute de l’économie spectaculaire marchande (I.S. n° 10 mars 1966) – Définition minimum des organisations révolutionnaires (I.S. n° 11 Octobre 1967) – Contribution au programme des conseils ouvriers en Espagne (I.S. n° 10) – Le point d’explosion de l’idéologie en Chine (I.S. n° 11) – Deux guerres locales (I.S. n° 11) – Pour le pouvoir des conseils ouvriers (mai 68) – Adresse à tous les travailleurs (mai 68)

One of many bootleg reprints of articles from Internationale Situationniste. Not common. with no copies found on OCLC

This item is for sale or trade. Please contact me for details

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On Friday, April 17, I had the privilege to partake in a “show-and-tell” session on the Internationale Situationniste. For about 2 hours, Princeton faculty member Thomas Y. Levin (more below) and I showcased some of the most prized items from our respective Situationist collections. The session was held in a beautiful seminar room on the second floor of East Pyne Hall, and was attended by a small group of graduate students and faculty from the Departments of German, French, and English.

Thomas Y. Levin is a Humanist in the best sense of the term. A Professor of German at Princeton, he also serves as the Acting Co-Director of the University’s Program in Media and Modernity. He cultivate a broad range of interests, from Early German and Weimar Cinema to the Rhetorics of Surveillance. His current research focuses on the archaeology of voicemail. But for this Blog’s readers, Thomas Levin is likely best known for his pioneering efforts in researching Guy Debord and the Situationist International, with a focus on the movement’s films. He was involved with the 1989 SI exhibits (held in Paris, Boston, London and Barcelona) and, along with Keith Sanborn, played a pivotal role in making Debord’s film once again available to a (small) public in the United States. Levin was also a friend of Debord, and kept a sustained correspondence with him

Highlights of the show-and-tell included: Three copies of Debord’s “Memoires”, one of which with an original cover comprised of 110 razorblades (the work of Michel Guet); a copy of “Oeuvres Cinematographiques Completes” heavily annotated by Guy Debord; several letters and postcards sent by Guy Debord to Thomas Levin (these can also be found in the last volume of Debord’s “Correspondance”); a framed “Plan Psychogeographique de Paris”; two copies of the journal “Ion” from 1952 (the first time Debord was published); two erotic novels written by Raoul Vaneigem under a pseudonym; original photographs of Debord, and more.

My sincere thanks again to Tom Levin for giving me the chance to share my passion of the SI with young, inquisitive brains, as well as to discover his own amazing collection.

Cambridge Lettrist and Situationist Society (CLASS) and Alytus Biennial Reversion into Abolition of Culture and Distribution of its Aberrant Bacillus Right Abroad – Committee (ABRACADABRA-C). DAMTP Congress Newspaper. Alytus, Lithuania: CLASS, 2010-. 10 issues to date (8-12 pp. each), 42 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock.

DAMTP (DAta Miners Travailleurs Psychique) is a group out of Alytus, Lithuania. The name is an ironic reference to the famed Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University. According to the group, “this is an act of Qunatum Lettrism – and allows us to create quantum superimposition whereby we can interfere with their experiments via instant transfer of data between us and them.”

DAMPTP does not consider itself pro-situ. To quote the group, “We see ourselves perhaps as situationists in the sense we are surrealist or dadaists. we are revolutionary psychic workers. we utilise and develop situatiuonist ideas…[However] we are also critical of situationist praxis (eg expulsions, fetishisation of art”

DAMTP’s publications are “situgraphic – no top nor bottom settled, neither left nor right sides fixed. Every page could be considered to be the first. The 8 page newspaper combines texts and images in hypergraphic and situgraphic form by the DAta Miners Travailleurs Psychique”

The group’s members include the London Psychogeographic Associate (LPA), Lipovy Tsvet, Polaris, Dada Post, Transient art strike biennial supreme council of one, etc. Stewart Home, Luther Blissett and Fabian Tompsett’s mark is clear from the look of the journals.

All of DAMTP publications (the newspaper and more) are available on their website at http://alytusbiennial.com/publications.html . You can also learn more about DAMPT’s origins and influences at http://alytusbiennial.com/about-apie.html

Not in the trade or on OCLC. This is a confidential journal with a targeted audience.

The Bad Days Will End (for Libertarian and Council Communism) Sommerville MA: Merrymount publications, 2000-2001. 5 issues in 4 volumes (12-22 p. each), 21 x 29.5 cm.; plain white (or blue) wrappers with text in black.

This short-lived journal describes itself as “a quarterly bulletin advocating communism — the overthrow of capitalism by the international working class and the creation of a stateless and truly egalitarian society from below” To our knowledge, 5 issues were published in 2000 and 2001.

This bulletin is of interest because its third issue is devoted to the Situationist International.  Contents:”Back to the Situationist International”by Gilles Dauve (originally published in English by American pro-Situationist Journal “Red Eye” in 1979); “The Necessity and Impossibility of Anti-Activism” by J. Kellstadt (original piece); “The Work of Ideology” (initially written and published by American pro-Situationist group Point-Blank! in the first and only issue of their journal). A Review “Saved from Drowning” by Michael Seidman is also included

Rare in the trade, with no other copy found. OCLC lists holdings at Michigan (full set) and Wisconsin (one issue only).

Bauhaus Situationiste (sic). Die Situationisten – Alternativ Documenta 30 / 6 bis 6 / 9 1972. Kassel: Bauhaus Situationiste, 1972. Illustrated large cardboard sleeve (approx 50 x 75 cm unfolded) with 7 documents as issued (+3 additional documents in our copy, not usually found)

Large cardboard sleeve containing a variety of documents (as seen below), issued by the Bauhaus Situationiste (Jorgen Nash et al.) to protest the Documenta 5, held in Kassel in October 1972.

Our copy includes 3 additional documents relative to the actual Documenta 5: a map of the exhibition, a short information guide, and a tourist leaflet (“Welcome to Kassel”)

Rare, with only a single copy at the MACBA. OCLC lists no other copies.

Available for sale (P.O.R) or trade. More information upon request. [SOLD]