[Schiz-Flux] Smile 1-7. Madison, WI: n.p. [Schiz-Flux], 1987-1991. 24-48p..; ill.; 21 x 29.5 cm; ill. wrappers in different colors for each issue.

Launched in 1984 by Stewart Home, SMILE magazine was originally the organ of “Generation Positive”. Soon thereafter, the SMILE concept was appropriated by artists around the world, all writing anonymously (often under the pseudonym of Karen Eliot, a shared nom de plume used that originated within Home’s Neoist movement) and about various topics. It is estimated that over 100 different issues of this magazine of multiple origins have been issued in the UK, the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa and other countries. An exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1992, curated by Simon Ford, institutionalized SMILE. The catalogue of the exhibition also includes a non-exhaustive bibliography of SMILE magazines to 1992. For more information on SMILE, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_%28art_magazine%29

This series of SMILE is by Schiz-Flux, out of Madiscon (WI). It tackles a variety of topics, but the Situationist influence is strong. Issue #2 is essentially devoted to the SI, and contains “Socialism or Barbarism”; “The Totality for Kids”; “Festival of the Swamps”; “Situationist matter”; “Bolshevism matter” and other such articles.There were seven issues published, with the last issue released in 1993 (SQUIRTS: A Children’s Journal of Flows). We hold issues 1-6, but are missing issue 7.

Ford 152, Ford 207. Rare in the trade, with five OCLC holdings (MOMA, Michigan, Wisconsin Historical Society, LSU, Utah State)

[March 2019 update: we were able to secure the final issue (#7), courtesy of E.G. Many thanks!]

Lemoine, Randal and Ghislain de Marbaix. Monsieur Gontran, avril 1960-avril 1963. Paris: Julliard, 1968. 318 p.; 20.5 x 13.5 cm.; ill. dustjacket with text in white.

Ghislain de Marbaix co-owned the bar “L’Homme de Main” (1960-1962) – a favorite of the Situationist crew – alongside his companion Maryse Lucas. He was also a pimp. Monsieur Gontran offers us a glimpse into the life of a man who lived on the fringes of society, and whom Debord very much appreciated

Artus de Lavilleon, a contemporary artist and Maryse’s son, helped release a documentary entitled Les Enfants de la Societe du Spectacle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=FR&hl=fr&v=jJoAmRn7uwE&fmt=18

Artus also discusses the book here: http://www.artusdelavilleon.com/blog/2010/03/18-341-526-millions-de-visites/

Gonzalvez 234. Pictures courtesy of Gonzalvez.

[Tiffen, David and James, Andrea] Certain Gestures no.7. n.p. [Hamtpon, United Kingdom]: n.p. [Aldershot], n.d. [1980s]. n.p. [16p.]; ill.; 29.5 x 10.5 cm. Illustrated B&W wrappers with text in black. Profusely illustrated.

This publication is your typical librarian / cataloguer’s nightmare: no stated author, publisher, place or date of publication. Our investigations have yielded the above outcomes, but we would welcome any comments or corrections.

This issue of the pro-situationist zine contains two pieces. “Global Options” is a matter-of-fact description of a typical middle-class evening at home, with an emphasis on the objects (microwave, television, etc.) that the bourgeois couple and their child derive pleasure from. “The Adventures of a Dining Chair” (no doubt a nod to “The Adventures of Dialectic”) is an attempt to both mimic and pastiche Situationist detournement by mixing detective-novel writings with Situ-inspired political commentary.

Three copies on OCLC (Oxford, Cambridge, UCL) and one incomplete set in the trade. Not in Ford.

 

Lewino, Walter. L’Imagination au Pouvoir.  Paris: Eric Losfeld / Le Terrain Vague, June 1968. n.p. [50 p.]; ill.; 22 x 24 cm. Illustrated red cover with text in black. Includes 41 B&W photographies by Jo Schnapp.

Just a few days after the May uprisings in France, writer and journalist Walter Lewino joined forces with photographer Jo Schnapp to produce a volume devoted to the political slogans that filled the walls of the Left Bank and the Sorbonne. These ephemeral works of art – many of which the work of Christian Sebastiani – were heavily inspired by the Situationists. When Lewino realized that, he offered to share the proceeds of his book with the Internationale Situationniste, something Guy Debord very much appreciated (“Camarade Lewino…Merci pour la Phynance. Sans temps mort, sans entraves”). This anecdote is documented in Lewino’s autobiography, Pardon, pardon mon pere (Paris: Grasset, 2001) as well as in Christophe Bourseiller’s Vie et Mort de Guy Debord (Paris: Plon, 1999)

Gonzalvez 217 and Voyer 144. Readily available in the trade.    

 

 

London Psychogeographical Association. London Psychogeographical Association Newsletter. London, UK: East London Section of the London Psychogeographical Society, 1995-2000. 21 x 29.5 cm.; B&W ill.; plain white paper with text printed in black.

The London Psychogeographical Association (LPA) was originally founded by Ralph Rumney in 1957, but never disbanded. In the 1990s, Fabian Tompsett (under the pseudonym of Richard Essex), resurrected the long-dormant group as the LPA East London Section. Like Transgressions and the Manchester Psychogeographical Association – which were also active around the same time – the LPA rejected the orthodox Situationist vision of psychogeography, engaging instead in “Magico-marxism” and similar approaches. Beyond its publications, the LPA sponsored psychogeographical trips, which were advertised in its newsletter. Although it has been inactive since 2000, the LPA maintains a website at http://www.unpopular.demon.co.uk/lpa/organisations/lpa.html. A few issues from the newsletter can be found there.

LPA newsletters are rare, with only 3 OCLC full sets (National Library of Scotland, British Library, Oxford) and one partial set (NYU – issues 1,2,7). We have in our possession issues 9,11,13 and 14. No known issues in the trade.

[Situationistisk International] Situationistisk Revolution. Copenhagen: After Hand Archive, 2003. 24 x 16 cm; B&W illustrations throughout; brown covers with text printed in black

The Scandinavian section of the S.I. published 3 issues of their review from 1962 to 1970: Situationistisk Revolution 1, NY-Irrealisme – Operation Playtime (originally intended as a supplement to Situationistisk Revolution 2, but which ended up serving as the actual issue), and Situationistisk Revolution 3.

Martin was the editor of all three issues, with contributions from Michele Bernstein, Guy Debord, Attila Kotanya, Uwe Lausen, Raoul Vaneigem, Alexander Trocchi and Rene Vienet. Texts published were a mix of translations from Internationale Situationniste and originals.

Earlier posts on this blog reproduce the covers (and some content) from all three issues. However, the originals have become extremely scarce. After Hand has done researchers (and Situ-philes) a great favor by releasing this high-quality fac-simile edition of Situationistisk Revolution. More details can be found at http://afterhand.blogspot.dk/2013/06/situationistisk-internationale.html

 

[Apostolides, Jean-Marie] The Situationist International: Syllabus. n.p. [Palo Alto CA, USA]: self-published, n.d. [2001]. 10 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; stapled white sheets with text in black

Syllabus of a course on the Situationist International taught by Jean-Marie Apostolides at Stanford University in Winter 2001-2002. “The purpose of this class is to introduce students to the history of the Situationist movement and to permit them to read the major texts…This class will not speak for or against the situationists themselves; it will rather bring to the students an objective knowledge and a clear understanding of their social, political, artistic and philosophical positions” (p.1)

The syllabus is divided into five parts: I) Introduction to the course; II) Reading List (includes texts by Debord, Vaneigem and Greil Marcus); III) Course’s Plan; IV) Evaluation; and V) Selected Bibliography. This last part is sub-divided into three sections: A. Pre, pro, post-SI and Situationist texts; B. Secondary Sources on the Situationists (includes texts by Agamben, Blanchard, Bourseiller, Bracken,Guegan, Jappe, Marcus, Martos, Plant, Voyer…); and C. Around the Situationist Movement (with texts by Bounan, Clark, Moinet, Wolman…)

Currently a Professor at Stanford University, Jean-Marie Apostolides is both a friend of Debord and a scholar of the SI. He is the author of Les Tombeaux de Guy Debord and the play Il faut construire l’hacienda. Apostolides has also undertaken a study of “minor” figures of the Situationist and Lettrist movement. As such, he is the author of the first biography of the Lettrist Ivan Chtcheglov (Ivan Chtcheglov, profil perdu) and edited his texts (Chtcheglovm Ecrits Retrouves). He also edited several books on Patrick Straram (also known as Le Bison Ravi): Les bouteilles se couchent, la veuve blanche et noire un peu détournée; and  Lettre à Guy Debord. Several of Apostolides’ self-published writings on the SI have been published under a pseudonym.

 

 

[Situationistisk International] NY-Irrealisme (det fjerde riges undergang og fald). Specialudgave Situationistisk Revolution 2. Øster Tørslev (Denmark) : Situationistisk International, March 1967. Pamphlet. 16 p.; ill.; 22 x 15 cm; gold-colored metallic cover with text printed in black.

The Scandinavian section of the S.I. published 3 issues of their review from 1962 to 1970. Martin was the editor of all three issues, with contributions from Michele Bernstein, Guy Debord, Attila Kotanya, Uwe Lausen, Raoul Vaneigem, Alexander Trocchi and Rene Vienet. Texts published were a mix of translations from Internationale Situationniste and originals.

NY-Irrealisme (Operation “Playtime”)  is a rare special supplement to Situationistisk Revolution 2. It serves as a catalogue for a second ‘manifestation of the Situationist International‘ held at Gallery Vestergade and featuring the works of Guy Debord, J.V.Martin (the Golden Ships series), Michele Bernstein (The Victory of the Spanish Republicans), and Rene Vienet (five Nothing Boxes). The content of this brochure is later reprinted in Situationistisk Revolution 2 in 1968.

There are no known copies in the trade, and only a handful through OCLC.

Khayati, Mustafa. La Verdad de Los Paises Subdesarrollados en la Revolucion Internacional Brooklyn: Diversion, [Spring 1973]. 4 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm. Illustrated front wrapper with B&W picture of a reclining topless woman with a speech balloon proclaiming “¡La emancipación de los trabajadores será la obra de ellos mismos!” 

Spanish translation by Julian Cordero of Khayati’s text, which had been originally published in Internationale Situationniste 11 as “Contribution servant à rectifier l’opinion du public sur la révolution dans les pays sous-développés” (1967). In Diversion 1 (1973), we find a notice about this text’s publication as well as about its circulation “in particular in the Dominican Republic as well as in New York”. The article was also translated into English (and widely distributed in the United States) the same year.

With the exception of the anouncement in Diversion, this translation is not accounted for. This is one of a few documents that attests to the spread of Situationist theses in Central America in the 1970s.

There are no other known copies in the trade or on OCLC.

Cronin, Isaac and Spangler, Tyler. The Dictionary of Unhapiness. Berkeley CA: Little Black Cart (Cruel Hospice), 2014. 80 p.; profusely ill.;  25.5 x 20 cm. Illustrated blue cover with text in black. Introduction by Cronin.

The result of a collaboration between Isaac Cronin – one of early pro-Situationists the late 1960s and the co-creator of the Council for the Eruption of the Marvelous – and contemporary visual artist Tyler Spangler (http://tylerspangler.com/), this book superposes digital collages with Situationist-influenced writing. Sample entries of this dictionary include:

AIR: Widely prevalent gas, soon to be the subject of an extensive marketing campaign

BULIMIA: Metaphor for the state of mind of the consumer that allows maximum growth of the market system

CHILD: Proof of disposable income

HUMAN RESOURCE: Concentration camp inmate who gets to take a shower with soap so long as he doesn’t complain about the lack of hot water

…and so forth.