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.

Debord, Guy. Black Box. Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain, n.d. [2014]. 1 Box; 20.5 x 9.0 x 4.0 cm.; black and white box with text in black. Laid in: 8 mini-books (each 6 p.; ill.; 7.5 x 7.5 cm.).

Laser-printed on featherweight paper (papier bouffant). The box contains 8 mini books which include excerpts from Guy Debord’s writings. They are richly illustrated with B&W photographs of Debord, with and without other members of the SI.

Les Editions Derriere la Salle de Bain is a small press ran by Marie-Laure Dagois. It publishes the Beat Generation, the Surrealists, the Situationists, and author avant-garde movements

This Black Box is available for 20 Euro at the following link: http://leseditionsderrierelasalledebains.bigcartel.com/product/guy-debord-black-box

Rumney, Ralph. Pourvu que ca dure – Sur le passage de quelques idees a travers le temps. Manosque: Bureau des Inspections Analytiques, June 1999. 14 p.; ill.; 21 x 14.5 cm.; blue wrappers with text in black.

First edition, limited to 100 copies (all stamped). This copy signed by Ralph Rumney “Faut savoir tamponner aussi / A bientot Roger / Ralph”. A second edition, limited to 200 copies and with an explanatory preface by Yves Helias, was published in November 1999.

This brief text by Ralph Rumney was originally to be published in “Le Consul” (Paris: Allia, October 1999). For technical reasons, it was not included in that volume, and is thus issued here in full. In The Map is Not the Territory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001), we learn that “the text arises from conversations with Michel Guet in November 1998, edited with great care so as to be a definitive statement of Ralph’s relation to the ideas of the SI. On the title page, under his name, he declares himself a member of the Comite Psychogeographique de Londres…The pamphlet begins with a set of definitions from Internationale Situationniste no.1 (1958) (p.26-28)

Full text available at http://homme-moderne.org/images/peintr/rrumney/pourvu.html and list of brochures available here: http://homme-moderne.org/images/peintr/rrumney/bipK.gif

Scarce in the trade, with only a single OCLC copy (Centre Pompidou in Paris)

Martin, J.V. [Else Steen Hansen]. Homo Ludens. In Konstrevy 5-6 (pp. 200-203). Stockholm: Ahlen & Akerlunds Forlags, 1963. ca. 64 p. [numbered 162-224]; ill.; 21 x 30 cm.; ill. Black and red wrappers with text in white.

Rare contemporary account of the RSG-6 exhibit (“Homo Ludens” by Else Steen Hansen (pp. 200-203) published in a Swedish avant-garde art magazine. Even more uncommon is the fact that this profusely illustrated review received the closest thing to praise from the members of the Internationale Situationniste. In “les mois les plus longs” (Internationale Situationniste 9, August 1964), those who professed their contempt for all art critics describe Hansen’s review as “un compte rendu intelligent” (see http://mai68.org/textes/IS/i-situationniste.blogspot.com/2007/04/les-mois-les-plus-longs.html)

So how is this possible? Well, the only review the Situationists would endorse is one written by their own. Indeed, Else Steen Hansen is a pseudonym for J.V. Martin, who authored this (understandably positive) review. The full text (along with the illustrations) can be found at http://www.copenhagenfreeuniversity.dk/homolude.html

Bauhaus Situationiste. Drakabygget 1-11. Örkelljunga (Sweden): Bauhaus Situationiste, 1962-1984. 64-98-96-192-192 p.; ill.; 18 x 25 cm. Profusely illustrated covers.

Drakabygget was the organ of the Bauhaus Situationiste  group. Following an internal strife which led to his exclusion (and that of several other members of the Internationale Situationniste, including the entire SPUR  group), Jorgen Nash grew a movement that also came to be known as the Second Situationist International out of Skane, Sweden.  The title of the magazine was directly borrowed from the name of Nash’s farm, which by then had been turned into a kind of artists’ commune. It was subtitled Tidskrift for konst mot atombomber, påvar och politiker (“Magazine for art against atomic bombs, popes and politicians”), with contents just as sulfurous as one may expect. In one of their best-known scandals, Nash with other members of Bauhaus Situationniste allegedly decapitated the statue of the Little Mermaid in the Copenhagen harbor.

Texts in Drakabygget  are primarily written in Swedish, though many have recently been translated (see: Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen and Jakob Jakobsen, “Cosmonauts of the Future: Texts from the Situationist Movement in Scandinavia and Elswhere”, Autonomedia 2015) with some success.

Our copies of issues 6-7-8 and 9-10-11 are both dedication copies, one by Nash and the other by Nash and the other by Zwick and Nash

Full sets are scarce, as issues were published as much as 10+ years apart. About a dozen copies on OCLC, with 5 in North America.

This post is a little different. I would like to pay a tribute to lesser-known members of the SI (i.e., figures beyond Debord and Vaneigem) by sharing some videos that showcases their works and lives:

Ralph Rumney:

Brief video account of the Rumney exhibit at the Centre International de Poesie in Marseille a few years ago. A rare chance to glimpse at some of Rumney’s works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmfQwMdAvbw

Derive Gallizio

A short video tribute to Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio, a most original artist (“l’artiste libre est un amateur professionnel”) and short-lived member of the SI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FphPUHG0NCs

Michele Bernstein – “Tous les Chevaux du Roi”

A fabulous interview of Michele Bernstein who speaks to Pierre Dumayet in 1960. Beautiful, charming, and witty, Bernstein is an oft-overlooked member of the SI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlIc_1cjCdg