Memoires by Debord & Jorn [1959] – with a unique cover

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Asger Jorn, Guy Debord, Memoires

Debord, Guy and Jorn, Asger. Mémoires: Structures Portantes d’Asger Jorn. Copenhagen: Internationale Situationniste, 1959. n.p. [64 p.]; ill.; 28 x 21 cm. White card wrappers with Viks no.2 sandpaper cover.

Memoires is the product of a collaboration between Guy Debord and Asger Jorn in the early years of the Situationist International. Printed in vivid colors – the work of Danish masterprinters Permild & Rosengreen – it is viewed by some as the most important art book of the twentieth century.

The making of Memoires is the subject of full-length book by Troels Andersen (curator of the Silkerborg Museum of Arts): Erindriger om Asger Jorn. Suffice to say that Debord and Jorn had “worked” together two years earlier – after stealing a large stock of magazines and newspapers, they spent a drunken afternoon collaging elements together. After transferring these collages to litographic plates, Jorn poured ink over them and the resulting plates were etched and printed. Thus, Fin de Copenhague was born (1957), printed in 200 copies. Memoires constitutes a continuation of this unique partnership

Memoires is perhaps best known for its unique cover: a single sheet of heavy grade sandpaper (specifically Viks no.2 grade), wrapped around the book’s inner cover but otherwise unattached to the white card wrappers. The intent was that Memoires would damage books next to it on a library shelf.

Our copy of Memoires  offers a unique presentation: the traditional sandpaper sheet is replaced with a cover made of 110 razor blades. The work of Michel Guet, an artist and writer who was close friends with Ralph Rumney, it is an homage to Jorn & Debord.

500 copies of Memoires were originally issued. However, the book is in high demand and thus rare in the trade. We have yet to encounter another copy with the Michel Guet cover; private sources lead us to believe this may have been a one-of-a-kind artwork

Gonzalvez 84, Raspaud & Voyer 108

For more information:

Donne, Boris. Pour Memoires. Paris: Allia, 2004. Perhaps the most ambitious and complete attempt at deciphering Memoires.

Edwards, Richard. Uneasy Arrangements: Looking at Guy Debord’s Memoires. http://remixhumanities.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/uneasy-arrangements-looking-at-guy-debords-memoires/

Nolle, Christian. Books of Warfare: The Collaboration between Guy Debord & Asger Jorn from 1957-1959. http://virose.pt/vector/b_13/nolle.html

“Memoires”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mémoires

GUEST POST: Berkeley Barb Vol.6, No.16 Issue 140 (April 19-25, 1968)

Berkeley Barb Vol. 6 No. 16 Issue 140 (April 19-25 1968). [San Francisco, US]: Liberation News Service, 1968. 24 p.; ill.; 45 x 29cm; white self-wraps with image printed in red (continued in black on inside page).

A previous post featured the cover of International Times #28 which had a Situationist poster (announcing the publication of Internationale Situationniste #11) as it’s front cover. This edition of the Berkeley Barb features the second poster produced to promote IS #11 – again in (quite loose) English translation. This poster was designed by André Bertrand with text by Raoul Vaneigem, and was originally issued in French in October 1967.

Interestingly, even though it was printed in an American paper, the reference to the “Roundhouse” (an underground music venue in London) strongly suggests that this translation was produced by the English section of the SI (possibly before it was excluded in December 1967).

The translation omits the last part of the original poster, which references the publication of IS#11:

“Camarades, ceci n’est qu’un commencement. Pour en savoir plus long sur vous-mêmes, pour reconnaître rapidement vos possibilitiés, lisez la revue ‘Internationale Situationniste’. Le numéro 11 vient de paraitre. Boite postale 307 03 Paris”

(”Comrades, this is only the beginning. To find out a lot more about yourselves, and to quickly identify your options, read ‘Internationale Situationiste’. Issue no. 11 is just out. PO Box 30703 Paris”)

La Societe du Spectacle [FILM – VHS Tape]

Debord, Guy. La Société du Spectacle et Refutation de tous les jugements…plus ‘Guy Debord, son Art et son Temps’ avec Brigitte Cornand [FILM].

The film version of the Society of the Spectacle was released in 1973, six years after the eponymous book and a year after the dissolution of the SI. Following Gerard Lebovici’s assassination in 1984, and in response to the press’ accusations that he may have killed his friend and publisher, Debord took his films out of circulation until after his death. While his films were shown on French television immediately following Debord’s suicide in 1994, it wasn’t until 2005 that they were officially re-released to the public in a DVD box set titled Guy Debord: Oeuvres cinématographiques complètes.

Between 1984 and 2005 – when Debord’s films were difficult to get a hold off – bootleg VHS tapes and DVDs flourished, some astronomically priced. The item below offers a glimpse of such items, and was likely released sometime in the mid to late 1990s.

Not found in the trade, with a single OCLC copy (Nanterre BDIC)

 

Das Unbehagen in Der Kultur [1962]

Internationale Situationniste. Das Unbehagen in Der Kultur (A Propos de la Condamnation du Situationniste Uwe Lausen). Paris: Internationale Situationniste, 16 July 1962. 1 p. leaflet (single-sided); black type on white paper.

Leaflet in French, signed by Debord and Vaneigem and illustrated by a photography of the young Uwe Lausen, a member of the German section of the Internationale Situationniste. This leaflet denounces the sentencing of Uwe to a year-long prison term for his involvement with the periodical SPUR. It comes as a follow-up to Declaration sur les Proces contre l’Internationale Situationniste en Allemagne Federale, issued on June 25, 1962, and which protested the trial of Uwe Lausen in Munich. Das Unbehagen in Der Kultur is reproduced in Situationist Times 2 (September 1962) and Situationistisk Revolution 1 (October 1962).

Found in Raspaud 114 and Gonzalvez 118. Rare in the trade, with no copies currently available. OCLC lists a single copy at the Getty, but we know that the BNF, the Centre Pompidou and Yale also have copies of their own.

Espana en el corazon [1960]

Internationale Situationniste. Espana en el corazon. n.p.: Internationale Situationniste, July 1964. 1 p. leaflet (single-sided); black type on white paper.

Leaflet issued by the Situationist International (but written by Raoul Vaneigem) and illustrated with two detourned erotic photographs. The leaflet announces the clandestine circulation in Spain of the two abovementionned photographs, and states that “the love of freedom and freedom in love (el amor de la libertad y la libertad del amor) continue to define the revolutionary spirit everywhere. It further denounces the sacred union (union sagrada) between the Catholic Church and Franco and calls for the abolition of the current regime in Spain.

The text for this leaflet was written by Vaneigem in July 1964, then translated by Eduardo Rothe around the same time. A bilingual (French/Spanish) version of the leaflet was circulated alongside the Spanish-only version, which we showcase here.

Found in Raspaud 116 and Gonzalvez 121 Rare in the trade, with no copies currently available. OCLC lists a single copy at the Getty, but we know that the BNF, the Centre Pompidou and Yale also have copies of their own.

 

Hands Off Alexander Trocchi [1960]

Internationale Situationniste. Hands Off Alexander Trocchi. Paris: Internationale Situationniste, 7 October 1960. 1 p. leaflet (single-sided); black type on white paper.

Leaflet written in English which calls for the liberation of Alexander Trocchi, who had been arrested by the New York police and charged of drug possession. The SI calls for his liberation on the grounds that the British writer was simply using drugs as parts of the creative process. The call ends with a plea to “all the artists and intellectuals who knew Alexander Trocchi in Paris or London…to bear witness without fail to his authentic artistic status, to enable the authorities in Great Britain to take the necessary steps in the USA in favour of a British subject” The SI had issued a similar statement on 27 September 1960 (“Resolution of the Fourth Conference of the Situationist International Concerning the Imprisonment of Alexander Trocchi”, published in Internationale Situationniste 5)

Alexander Trocchi was a member of the SI until October 1964. His contributions include “Technique du coupe du monde” in Internationale Situationniste 8 (January 1963) and “Sigma: A Tactical Blueprint” in City Lights Journal 2 (1964). Trocchi was a key member of the British Avant-Garde; a good starting point on his life and works is the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Trocchi)

Found in Raspaud 111 and Gonzalvez 115. Rare in the trade, with no copies currently available. OCLC lists a single copy at the Getty, but we know that the BNF, the Centre Pompidou and Yale also have copies of their own.

The full text is available at http://www.notbored.org/hands-off.html

Pour le Pouvoir des Conseils Ouvriers [1968]

Internationale Situationniste / Conseil pour le Maintien des Occupations (CMDO). Pour le Pouvoir des Conseils Ouvriers. Paris: CMDO, 22 May 1968. 1 p. leaflet (single-sided); black type on cream paper.

This leaflet, which was distributed at the Sorbonne during May 1968, calls for the transition of key economic activities to workers councils. Most likely authored by Debord, though signed by the Conseil pour le Maintien des Occupations (CMDO).

Founded on May 17, 1968 and dissolved on June 15 – less than a month later – the short-lived CMDO published a number of critical documents (many penned by Debord and other Situationists) during the May uprisings. Members included the Situationists and the Enrages, but also workers, students and other councilists. “Throughout its existence [the CMDO] was a successful experiment in direct democracy, guaraanteed by an equal participation of everyone in debates, decisions, and their execution. It was essentially an uninterrupted general assembly deliberating day and night. No faction or private meetings ever existed outside the common debate” (Cobra Antiquariat)

Found in Vienet 280-281, Raspaud 124 and Gonzalvez 134. While 150,000 copies were allegedly printed (according to Raspaud), only a few survive today in the trade and on OCLC.

The Totality for Kids [1966]

Vaneigem, Raoul. The Totality for Kids. n.p. [London, United Kingdom]: n.p. [Christopher Gray], n.d. [1966]. n.p [32 p.].; 21  x 14.5 cm; plain blue wrappers with text in white

First English translation of Banalites de Base in English by Christopher Gray, briefly a member of the British section of the Internationale Situationniste (he was excluded in Dec. 1967) and the editor, with Charles Radcliffe, of the iconic review Heatwave.

The original French text was published in issues 7 (April 1962) and 8 (January 1963) of Internationale Situationniste.

Scarce in the trade, with a few copies in OCLC. However, this is one of the most reprinted text of the SI in the English language and is readily available at your local distro/anarchist bookstore

Transgressions: A Journal of Urban Exploration [1995-2001]

Bonnett, Alastair (Ed.) Transgressions: A Journal of Urban Exploration 1-5. London, UK: Salamander Press, 1995-2001. 96-132p..; ill.; 25 x 17.5 cm; ill. covers.

Transgressions: A Journal of Urban Exploration ran five issues (published in four volumes, 2/3 was a double issue) from 1995-2001. Founded by Alastair Bonnett, the publication saw itself as providing “an essential forum for the critical debate of the contemporary city”. In effect, Transgressions reflected an increased interest in – and re-discovery of – psychogeography in the United Kingdom and beyond; by means of illustration, the London Psychogeographical Association (LPA) and the Manchester Area Psychogeographic (MAP) were active around the same time. The review also diverged from Orthodox Situationist theory by introducing concepts like “Magico-Marxism” and discussing the work of the Italian “Situationauts”. The editorial board included, among others, Stewart Home, David Pindar, and Luther Blissett

Transgressions was also unique in bringing together a wide range of content, from academic articles by esteemed scholars to accounts of derives in various cities, interviews of pro-Situ figures (e.g., Tom Vague), translations of Situationist content (e.g., Jorn’s “Critique of Economic Policy”), debates, book/zine reviews, and more.

Rare in the trade, with no full set available (the editor himself, who was kind enough to send these to me, only has a single copy of Issue 1 left)

La Vieille Taupe no.1 [1995]

Guillaume, Pierre (Ed.). La Vieille Taupe: Organe de Critique et d’Orientation Postmessianique no.1. Paris: La Vieille Taupe, Spring 1985. 134p.; 22 x 14 cm; ill.; white and red cover with text in black.

Debord’s recuperation by the extreme right wing is a fascinating topic, but has generated limited scholarship. We are only aware of a single piece, “Recuperation a tous les etages: Guy Debord et l’extrême-droite” in Archives et Documents Situationnistes 1, Paris, Denoël, n°1, automne 2001

Here we deal with an article published in La Vieille Taupe, a negationist (i.e., historical revisionist) publication which was born from a split from La Banquise, a pro-situ periodical whose editorial board did not share Pierre Guillaume’s views on the Holocaust. This first issue is of great interest because it features a 50-page, highly unusual article on Debord’s alleged support of – or, at the very least, lack of criticism towards –  historical revisionism (pp. 63-113).

Not Bored! offers a great summary of this piece: “[Pierre Guillaume] provides information on Debord’s resignation from SB [Socialisme & Barbarie, an ultra-left group] not available from other sources. However, his gloss on the information is highly particular, conditioned by his analysis of his own experience. It should be noted that any use Guillaume’s text is complicated by his revisionism (denial of the Holocaust). He turns his relationship to Debord to its service: he appropriates the “public enemy number one” persona and uses it to legitimate his politics, and spends much of the latter part of the article intimating that at least some of the old Situationists approve of this appropriation, as if to say that such approval makes Guillaume a legitimate heir to Debord”. A partial translation can be found at http://www.notbored.org/guillaume-comments.html

Laid in is a 4-page “Bulletin des Amis de la Vieille Taupe”, signed by Pierre Guillaume

Uncommon in the trade, with only 3 OCLC copies (BNF, Nanterre, Stanford)

[Should it not be sufficiently clear from previous blog entries, please note that my posts are of strict bibliographical / informative nature. In this particular case, it goes without saying that I do not in any way condone Pierre Guillaume’s historical views]