WOUNDED GALAXIES
1968: Beneath the Paving Stones, the Beach
Festival + Symposium

Feb 8-10, 2018
Indiana University  

Call for Papers

The Sixties were a turbulent period, characterized by major revolutions in scholarship, politics, culture and the arts.  Indiana University, in conjunction with The Burroughs Century, plans an academic symposium welcoming scholars, archivists, filmmakers, and others interested in exploring the intellectual and aesthetic legacy of 1968, during its 50^th anniversary year.  The conference will be held on the beautiful Bloomington, Indiana campus and will be hosted by Indiana University’s Media School; the Indiana University Libraries (including the Lilly Library and the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive); and Indiana University Cinema, which has earned an international reputation for the high quality of its facilities and programming.

Accompanying the symposium will be a series of films and an exhibition featuring rare and unique items from the IU Library collection. Renowned scholars such as Greil Marcus McKenzie Wark, and, possibly, Penelope Rosemont are expected to give talks, introduce films, and appear in Q&A sessions following screenings.

In addition, we are planning an art exhibit, as well as series of experimental music performances and spoken word presentations, in keeping with the larger theme of radical aesthetics.  We plan to publish the conference proceedings.

Interested participants are invited to submit paper proposals on any aspect of the international history and cultural legacy of 1968.  Papers need not be limited to any particular critical, theoretical, historical, or political subject or method. We hope to receive proposals that deal with previously unexplored issues, but we are also interested in proposals that offer fresh approaches to much-discussed work.  As the symposium title suggests, we are using the Situationists as a point of departure and particularly welcome presentations that consider the revolutionary potential of the Everyday—in both historical and contemporary situations.

But we are happy to consider any proposals that address the historical legacy of 1968, and welcome submissions that attempt to trace the legacy of 68 in contemporary art and culture.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• history and historiography of 1968;
• the post-1968 generation and terrorism;
• post ’68 science fiction;
• anthropology and the Situationists;
• architecture after ’68;
• counter/sub-cultures after ’68;
• literature and literary theory;
• The Annales school and radical shifts in historiography
• Marshall McLuhan and the electronic revolution
• The history and legacy of the Black Panther Party
• Chicago 1968
• The International Student Movement(s)
• Revolution and the University
• Prague Spring – experimental & avant-garde art, film, literature & music made during this period of freedom; the avant-garde going underground during Normalization; lingering impacts of Prague Spring on experimental & avant-garde art/music/lit/etc.
• Surrealisms outside France – the internationalization of surrealism that happened in the late-60s onward (U.S., African surrealisms, Poland’s “Orange Alternative”, etc.)
• Neo-Dada and Fluxus
• French New Wave cinema and its response to the events of Mai-
• Third Cinema(s)
• East vs. West perspectives: pro-socialist avant-gardes in the West Europe versus anti-socialist avant-gardes in East Europe

Proposals should be limited to 300 words in length and consist of a brief description of the paper’s theme or focus, plus a one-page vita. Proposals may be submitted for individual papers or for sessions featuring two or three panelists. Proposals for panels should be submitted as a group by the organizer, along with a short explanation of the unifying theme. In addition, each panel proposal should consist of individual paper descriptions (limited to 300 words in length), names of panelists and their vitae.

Please email your proposals to Joan Hawkins jchawkin@indiana.edu, by July 1, 2017. The Symposium Program Committee will evaluate all submissions and notify all candidates of the results by Aug 1, 2017. . We look forward to your proposals, and to celebrating/reevaluating the legacy of international political and aesthetic upheaval.

Now with an addition – the tract and letter that were sent to the original signatories! Thanks Jasper for sending this.

[Internationale Lettriste et al.]. Toutes ces dames au salon!. Paris / Bruxelles: Internationale Lettriste / Les Lèvres Nues, [late 1956]. Single-side leaflet; 38 x 37 cm.; black ink on cream stock.

Violent manifesto against the exhibition “L’Industrie du pétrole vue par des artistes” (“The Oil Industry as seen by artists”) held June 2-14, 1956 in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles and sponsored by oil giant Shell.

The leaflet visionary in that it calls out rampant corporate sponsorship in the arts: “Que la Royal Dutch-Shell aujourd’hui, demain Coca-Cola ou les Saucisses de Francfort, ambitionnent les lauriers de Laurent de Medicis, voila qui n’étonnera guère. Il n’est pas un seul marchand de canons qui ne se double d’un philanthrope…” (“That the Royal Dutch-Shell today, Coca-Cola or Frankfurt Sausages tomorrow, wish to emulate Laurent de Medicis, this should surprise no one. There’s not a single weapon dealer that is not also a philantropist”)

Participanting artists are lambasted – they are the dames (i.e., whores) mentioned in the title – and a full list of these “sell-outs” is provided to readers.

The manifesto is signed by members of the Lettrist International (Michèle Bernstein, Mohamed Dahou, Guy Debord, Jacques Fillon, Alexander Trocchi, Gil J. Wolman), the review Les Lèvres nues (Paul Bourgoignie, Jane Graverol, Marcel Mariën, Paul Nougé, Gilbert Senecaut), the Nuclear Art Movement (Enrico Baj, Sergio Dangelo, Asger Jorn) and several independent artists (Ernest Carlier, Paul Joostens, Herbert Read).

We locate 3 OCLC copies (Yale, BNF, Getty) of this important document.

Addendum:

A fellow Situ-phile communicated to us the following document, which provide great context:

Marien, Marcel and Nouge, Paul. Chere Madame, Cher Monsieur, Cher ami…. Bruxelles, 19 June 1956. 1 p. letter; 21 x 29 cm.; faint purple ink on cream stock.

Letter by Marien and Nouge to the potential signatories of the tract “Toutes ces dames au salon”, which as published later that year. Individuals are urged to respond by June 24 [1956], either by returning a signed copy or by explaining the reason(s) behind their refusal to endorse this tract.

[Internationale Lettriste et al.]. Toutes ces dames au salon!. Paris / Bruxelles: Internationale Lettriste / Les Lèvres Nues, [June 1956]. Single-side leaflet;  black ink on cream stock.

Preliminary version of the tract, which was communicated to potential signatories for their endorsement.

 

[Internationale Lettriste et al.]’. Toutes ces dames au salon!. Paris / Bruxelles: Internationale Lettriste / Les Lèvres Nues, [late 1956]. Single-side leaflet; 38 x 37 cm.; black ink on cream stock.

Violent manifesto against the exhibition “L’Industrie du pétrole vue par des artistes” (“The Oil Industry as seen by artists”) held June 2-14, 1956 in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles and sponsored by oil giant Shell.

The leaflet visionary in that it calls out rampant corporate sponsorship in the arts: “Que la Royal Dutch-Shell aujourd’hui, demain Coca-Cola ou les Saucisses de Francfort, ambitionnent les lauriers de Laurent de Medicis, voila qui n’étonnera guère. Il n’est pas un seul marchand de canons qui ne se double d’un philanthrope…” (“That the Royal Dutch-Shell today, Coca-Cola or Frankfurt Sausages tomorrow, wish to emulate Laurent de Medicis, this should surprise no one. There’s not a single weapon dealer that is not also a philantropist”)

Participanting artists are lambasted – they are the dames (i.e., whores) mentioned in the title – and a full list of these “sell-outs” is provided to readers.

The manifesto is signed by members of the Lettrist International (Michèle Bernstein, Mohamed Dahou, Guy Debord, Jacques Fillon, Alexander Trocchi, Gil J. Wolman), the review Les Lèvres nues (Paul Bourgoignie, Jane Graverol, Marcel Mariën, Paul Nougé, Gilbert Senecaut), the Nuclear Art Movement (Enrico Baj, Sergio Dangelo, Asger Jorn) and several independent artists (Ernest Carlier, Paul Joostens, Herbert Read).

We locate 3 OCLC copies (Yale, BNF, Getty) of this important document.

Dear readers,

I received a query from a scholar regarding the Internationale Lettriste and its potential relationship with the Egyptian revolution.

Could readers please share insights on the following:

1. Is the man pictured  here (from the first issue of Internationale Lettriste, 1952) is indeed  Gamal Abdel Nasser? How do we know for sure?
2. What was the Internationale Lettriste‘s stance on Nasser and Egyptian politics in general? Are there specific references in Internationale Lettriste or Potlatch?

Thanks in advance. I will convey whatever information is shared to the aforementioned scholar or put you directly in touch with her.

Cheers

Situationnisteblog

[Pinot-Gallizio, Giuseppe]. Pinot Gallizio et il Laboratorio Sperimentale d’Alba del Movimento Internazionale per una Bauhaus Imaginista (1955-57) e dell’Internazionale Situazionista (1957-60). Torino: Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, 1974. n.p. [128 p. + 50+ p. of the artist’s works]’ ill.; 22 x 23.5 cm.; ill. Cover with B&W photo of Pinot Gallizio, Olmo, Simondo, Debord and Constant.

Catalog of the exhibition held at Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna in Torino from 28 May to 15 July 1974. The focus is on Pinot Gallizio’s years with the Imaginist Bauhaus (1955-57) and the Situationist International (1957-60). The richly illustrated and heavily documented catalog opens with a preface by Aldo Passoni and an introduction by Mirella Bandini. There are also numerous testimonials by the likes of Piero Simondo, a bio-bibliographical notice of Gallizio, and a reproduction of some of the painter’s key writings from that era (e.g., “Manifesto della Pittura Industriale”, 1959).

However, the most extraordinary part of the catalog is the plethora of documents that are reproduced – everything from Max Bill’s “Industrial design nella societa” (1954) to Asger Jorn’s “Critique de la politique economique” (1960) – as well as the dozens of paintings from Gallizio’s industrial period.

We find numerous OCLC copies, but the item is scarce in the trade.

For Ourselves. The Right to Be Greedy. Berkeley, CA and Palo Alto, CA: For Ourselves, n.d. [1974]. First edition, first printing. n.p.[56 p.];  21.5 x 18 cm.; yellow wrappers with text in black. Russ Little’s prison copy, with his name and cell number inside the front cover. Heavy underlining by Little throughout.

” In the early 1970’s, ‘pro situ’ groups (as they are known) formed in Britain, in New York city and especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of these groups, Negation, reformed as For Ourselves around 1973…For Ourselves was particularly beholden to the situationist Raoul Vaneigem whose celebration of the ‘radical subjectivity’  of ‘master without slaves’  figures prominently in the theses espoused in The Right to Be Greedy. All too soon the group collapsed, its members regressing into Marxism from which they had never really departed”‘ (Ford 173).

This edition contains a preface by Bob Black and a Situ Reading List. “This work consists of 126 numbered theses, divided into an Introduction and 11 topical sections; followed by 16 pages of ‘Postnotes’ — four pages containing 58 notes, mainly in the form of citations and 12 pages containing chiefly content notes and definitions of terms. The text sets down a general theory of (and an argument for) ‘communist egoism’ and details the relation between it and such things as regular (narrow) egoism, communist society, pleasure, sexuality, authority, morality, and revolution.” (Beni 68-69)

Russ Little was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Active between 1973 and 1975, the SLA was a left-wing revolutionary group (for some) and a domestic terrorist organization (for others). The group committed bank robberies, two murders, and various other acts of violence. It became notorious for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst. For a biography of Little and more about his involvement with the SLA, see the PBS profile at  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/peopleevents/p_little.html

Full online version available at http://www.lust-for-life.org/Lust-For-Life/TheRightToBeGreedy/TheRightToBeGreedy-en.htm

Beni 68-69. Ford 173. Not in the trade. We locate 7 OCLC copies, though none of course with this meaningful and somewhat surprising association.

 

Dear readers,

It has recently come to my attention that some of you would like to have a high-level view of my holdings. This will allow you to make requests, should you like a particular item scanned or featured on the blog.

Thanks and hope this proves helpful

Situationnisteblog

 

HOLDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONALE SITUATIONNISTE AND ITS AFTERMATH ARCHIVE

1. The prequel: the Internationale Lettriste (~25 items)

• Ion: Centre de Creation (issue 1; full run)
• Les Levres Nues (issues related to the Lettristes – 7, 8 and 9; incomplete run)
• Potlatch (issues 20-30; incomplete run)
2. The Internationale Situationniste (~500 items)

2.1 Works by the Internationale Situationniste – ~150 items, including:
• Internationale Situationniste (issues 1-12; full run including two printings of issue #2)
• Situationist International: Review of the American Section (issue 1; full run)
• Situationistisk Revolution (issues 1-3; full run including all supplements)
• Internazionale Situazionista (issue 1; full run)
• De la Misere en Milieu Etudiant ( 50+ editions in 15+ languages) – the most comprehensive archive of this publication that we know of. The first edition is signed by Mustapha Khayati
• Conseil pour le Maintien des Occupations (leaflets and posters issued by this group)
• As well as numerous other original leaflets, pamphlets, posters, etc. by the SI

2.2 Works by members of the Internationale Situationniste – ~350 items, including:
• Bernstein, Michèle (select original publications)
• Chasse, Robert (select original publications and one mimeographed letter)
• De Jong, Jacqueline (Situationist Times, issues 1-6 ; full run ; all issues signed by De Jong)
• Debord, Guy (significant archive, including original correspondence, artist books Mémoires and Fin de Copenhague, and 50+ distinct editions of La Société du Spectacle)
• Khayati, Mustapha (select original publications, including 6 distinct editions of Adresse aux Revolutionnaires d’Algerie et de Tous les Pays and Sulta-Al-Majaliss, an SI-influenced arab language periodical)
• Jorn, Asger (select original publications, including Pour la Forme)
• Nash, Jorgen (select original publications, including a full run of Drakabygget)
• Rumney, Ralph (select original publications, including The Leaning Tower of Venice)
• Sanguinetti, Gianfranco (select original publications, including Il Secreto e Dirlo)
• Straram, Patrick (select original publications, including Cahier Pour un Paysage à Inventer)
• SPUR (issues 1-7; full run + original correspondence around the SPUR trial)
• Vaneigem, Raoul (significant holdings, including 7 distinct editions of “Banalités de Base”, 10 distinct editions of Traité de Savoir-Vivre and 2 erotic novels written pseudonymously)
• Vienet, René (significant holdings, including DVDs of films, film synopsis and film posters for all his major films)
• As well as original publications by Constant (Nieuwenhuys), Frey/Garnault/Holl, Chris Gray, Jon Horelick, Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio, Charles Radcliffe, Rene Riesel, Gianfranco Sanguinetti, and others
3. Pro/Post-Situationist groups and publications (1960s-Present) (~1,000 items)

3.1 American pro/post-Situationist –~330 items, including:
• Against Sleep & Nightmare (issues 1-8; full run)
• Black & Red (issues 3-6)
• Black Mask (issues 1-6, 8-9)
• Bureau of Public Secrets (i.e., Ken Knabb) (significant holdings)
• Caribbean Situationist / Fundi (select origin-al publications)
• Contradiction (select original publications)
• End of Prehistory (select original publications)
• For Ourselves (select original publications)
• Michigan Anarchist coalition (select original publications)
• More to Come (select original publications)
• Negation (select original publications)
• No Middle Ground (issues 1-4; full run)
• Not Bored! (i.e., Bill Brown) (select issues)
• Operationist Group (significant holdings)
• Point-Blank! (select original publications)
• Processed World (issues 1-32, 2.001 and 2.005; full run + select original publications)
• Reinvention of Everyday Life (select original publications)
• Smile by Shiz-Flux (issues 1-6; full run)
• Upshot (i.e., John & Paula Zerzan) (significant holdings)
• As well as original publications by Isaac Cronin, Robert Cooperstein, Fredy Perlman, Chris Shutes, and others

3.2 British pro/post-Situationist – ~250 items, including:
• Anti-Clock Wise (i.e., Richard Turner) (issues 1-20; full run)
• B.M. Blob (i.e., David & Stuart Wise) (several original publications)
• B.M. Chronos (i.e., Michel Prigent) (significant holdings)
• B.M. Combustion / Spontaneous Combustion (i.e., Nick Brandt) (significant holdings)
• DAta Miners et Travailleurs Psychiques (DAMTP) (issues 1-15; full run to date)
• Heatwave (issues 1-2; full run)
• Infopool (i.e., Jakob Jakobsen) (issues 1-8; full run)
• King Mob (issue 1-6; full run)
• London Psychogeographical Association Newsletter (issues 1-17 and 19-21)
• Manchester Area Psychogeographic (issues 1-9; full run)
• Pleasure Tendency (select original publications)
• Spectacular Times (issues 1-14; full run)
• The Spectacle (select original publications)
• Vague (select issues with Situationist content)
• As well as original publications by Stewart Home, Fabian Tompsett, and others

3.3 French pro/post-Situationist – ~375 items, including:
• Ab Irato (issues 5-7; incomplete run)
• L’Achevement (issues 1-8; full run + select original publications)
• L’Affranchi (issues 1-11; full run)
• Los Amigos de Ludd (issues 1-8; full run)
• Association Contre le Nucléaire et son Monde (ACNM) (select original publications)
• Associés Autonomes (i.e., Jaime Juan Garcia) (significant holdings)
• La Banalyse (select original publications)
• La Bibliothèque des Emeutes (issues 1-8 ; full run)
• De Bello Civili (issues 1-3; full run)
• Bibliothèque des Emeutes (issues 1-8; full run)
• Michel Bounan (complete publications)
• Dérive urbaine (issues 1-6 ; full run)
• L’Echaudée (issues 1-5; full run to date)
• L’Encyclopédie des Nuisances (issues 1-15; full run + select original publications)
• Les Fils de M. Hyde (issues 1-6 ; incomplete run)
• Les Fossoyeurs du Vieux Monde (issues 2 & 4 ; incomplete run)
• La Guerre Sociale (issues 1-7 ; full run)
• L’Homme au Foyer (issues 1-8 ; full run)
• Interférences (issues 1-10 ; incomplete run)
• Le Monde à l’Envers (i.e., Jean-Louis Paul) (issues 2-3 ; incomplete run)
• Mordicus (select issues; incomplete run)
• Oiseau-Tempete (issues 1-11, 13; incomplete run – issue 12 missing)
• Os Cangaceiros (select publications)
• Les Societaires du Spectacle (all issues 1990-1998; incomplete run)
• Tiqqun (issues 1-2; full run + select original publications)
• Tout doit partir (issues 0-6; full run)
• Trillaud, André (select original publications)
• Vaseline (issues 1-7 ; full run)
• Voyer, Jean-Pierre (significant holdings)
• As well as original publications by Guy Bodson, Jean-Francois Martos, and others

3.4 Japanese pro/post-Situationist – ~15 items, including:
• Various English language items related to the “Zengakuren” movement

 

4. Publications about the Internationale Situationniste (~300 items)

• Bibliographies of the Internationale Situationniste and its aftermath by Beni, Bill Brown, Simon Ford, Shigenobu Gonzalvez, J-J Raspaud & J-P Voyer,.
• Books and pamphlets about the Internationale Situationniste by Jean-Marie Apostolidès, Christophe Bourseiller, Laurent Chollet, Boris Donné, Vincent Kaufmann, J-F Martos, Anna Trespeuch-Berthelot, McKenzie Wark, etc.).
• Various auction and bookseller catalogs (e.g., Lecointre Drouet, Jean-Yves Lacroix, etc.)
• Various exhibition catalogs (Boston, Paris, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Basel, etc.) and related ephemera
• Various dissertations and university theses
• Various issues of magazines and press clippings (150+ articles, mostly in French press)

 

5. Press coverage about the Internationale Situationniste (~200 items)

• Various issues of magazines and press clippings (mostly in French press)

 

[La Guerre Sociale]. La Guerre Sociale no.1-7. Paris: La Guerre Sociale, 1977-1985. v.p. [14-71 p.]; ill.; 18 x 26 cm (issues 1-6) and 19.5 x 28 cm. (issue 7).

La Guerre Sociale was an ultra-left, Situationist-influence journal appearing in France from 1977 to 1985. Dominique Blanc was the driving force behind it. In 1980, the group divided itself around the question of the support to Robert Faurisson and his negationist theses. Several individuals (such as Gilles Dauve) walked away and founded the journal La Banquise. For a detailed discussion of “La Guerre Sociale” and the controversy surrounding it, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Guerre_Sociale

La Guerre Sociale is known for having first published Semprun’s “La Guerre Sociale au Portugal”.

The table of contents as well as the full text of all scanned issues is available at http://archivesautonomies.org/spip.php?article35

Scarce in the trade. OCLC locates holdings at IISG (Amsterdam), BnF, BDIC (Paris) and National Library of Sweden.

[Situationistisk International] Supplement Til Situationistisk Revolution 2. Randers (Denmark): Situationistisk International, March 1969. 4 p.; ill.; 21 x 59 cm.; black ink on brown newspaper stock.

Two years after NY-Irrealism (see https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/ny-irrealisme-specialudgave-situationistisk-revolution-2-1967/ for more info), this supplement to Situationistisk Revolution provides an illustrated account of the May 68 riots. As Shigenobu Gonzalvez notes, it reproduces excerpts and documents from Enrages et Situationnistes dans le Mouvement des Occupations (Paris: Gallimard, 1968). The editorial committee includes Bernstein, Debord, Khayati, Vaneigem and Vienet.

Gonzalvez 93. Raspaud & Voyer 125.

We have yet to see this item in the trade, and we cannot locate a copy through OCLC. As such, we have chosen to reproduce it in full.

 

Laboratorio Sperimentale Del Movimento Internazionale per una ‘Bauhaus Immaginista’. Primo Congresso Mondiale Degli Artisti Liberi. Alba: n.p. [M.I.B.I.], September 1956. 6 p. (1 x 21 x 29.5 cm sheet folded into a six-page mini-brochure); 12 x 23.5 cm.; black ink on thin white stock.

This unassuming document serves as the program of the First World Congress of Free Artists, which was held in Alba on September 2-9, 1956. Participants include “Enrico Baj (Nuclear Art Movement, Milan; excluded in the course of the conference on the Lettrist delegate’s demand), Jacques Calonne, Constant (ex-Cobra; Christian Dotremont does not attend, ostensibly because of illness), Giuseppe Pinot Gallizio, Asger Jorn, Piero Simondo, Ettore Sottsass Jr, Elena Verrone (International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus), Gil J. Wolman (Lettrist International/Potlatch), Sandro Cherchi, Franco Garelli (Turin), Jan Kotik, Pravoslav Rada (Czechoslovakia), Charles Estienne, Klaus Fischer, several others.” (http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/chronology/1956.html).

From the same source: “Two exhibitions are held simultaneously: Futurist Ceramics 1925-33, organized by Jorn and Gallizio, at Alba town hall; and an exhibition by the experimental laboratory at Corino cinema, involving Constant, Gallizio, Garelli, Jorn, Kotik, Rada, Simondo and Wolman. Wolman’s ‘Address’ is accepted by the congress as its final resolution. Jorn is appointed committee director of Potlatch, while Wolman is added to the editorial board of Eristica.”

The First World Congress is critical in that it cements relationships between key avant-garde artists and emerging movements of the time. In many ways, it lays the ground for the Founding Conference of the Situationist International (SI), which takes places in Cosio d’Arroscia, Italy, the following July. Many of the participants were the same as in Alba, and the “complete unification of the groups represented and…the constitution of a Situationist International” (Potlatch #29) should then be viewed as something that was long in the making.

Rare. Not in the trade or in OCLC.