Gruppe SPUR. Die Zeitschrift SPUR. Munich, Germany: n.p., 1962. n.p. [7 volumes bound in one, ca. 250 p. total]; ill.; 29 x 30 cm. Cover consists of an original lithograph. One of 270 numbered copies (ours no. 81)
The volumes includes all 6 issues of group’s journal (released separately in Munich between August 1960 and January 1962, in printings of 1,000-1,600), a not-previously-released seventh issue, and the four most important manifestos. All this original material is assembled together and bound in a thick, luxurious square-shaped volume that appears destined for art collectors.
Gruppe SPUR was comprised of Lothar Fischer (1933-2004), Heimrad Prem (1934-1978), H.-.P Zimmer (1936-1992), Helmut Sturm (1932-2008), Dieter Kunzelmann (1939-), Erwin Eisch (1927-), Eva Renée Nele Bode (1932-), Margarete “Gretel” Stadler (1937-) and, briefly, Heinz Höfl (1934-). Fischer, Prem, Zimmer, Sturm and Kunzelmann were also members of the Internationale Situationniste from 1959 until their formal exclusion on February 10, 1962. During those years, SPUR basically functioned as the German section of the SI. While the split was the result of a complex series of events, it was driven by a fundamental disagreement on the role art should play in a revolutionary avant-garde organization like the SI.
Following its exclusion from the SI, Gruppe SPUR, which had been under the scrutiny of the German government, faced legal trouble. In the first trial of artists in Germany since the Third Reich, issue 6 of the group’s journal was seized by the police and its authors prosecuted for “blasphemy” and “pornography”. In a tract dated 25 June 1962 (“Déclaration sur les procès contre l’Internationale situationniste en Allemagne fédérale”) Michèle Bernstein, J.V. Martin, Alexander Trocchi and Raoul Vaneigem expressed their support to the group on behalf of the SI.
A legendary item of the European political and artistic avant-garde.
Scarce, with 10 copies on OCLC.
Alex said:
«Gruppe SPUR was comprised of by H.-P. Zimmer, H. Prem, H. Sturm and Asger Jorn.» Asger Jorn, co-founder of the Internationale Situationniste at Cosio d’Arroscia (Italy) in june 1957, was never a member of the Gruppe Spur…
Gruppe Spur was : Lothar Fischer (1933-2004), Heimrad Prem (1934-1978), H.-.P Zimmer (1936-1992), Helmut Sturm (1932-2008), Dieter Kunzelmann (1939-), Erwin Eisch (1927-), Eva Renée Nele Bode (1932-), Margarete “Gretel” Stadler (1937-) and, briefly, Heinz Höfl (1934-).
elhajoui said:
Updated, thanks
antyphayes said:
Spur no. 7 was published in October 1961. In fact it was the publication of Spur no. 7 which was the most obvious “cause” of the expulsion of Spur from the SI four months later. So I would check your claim that the collection contains a “a not-previously-released seventh issue”.
It’s also worth mentioning that Erwin Eisch, mentioned above as a member of Spur, was excluded from the SI (and thus also from Spur) in 1960. He tried to rejoin as a member of Radama later in the year but was unsuccessful. J.-P. Voyer & J.-J. Raspaud wrote in their work on the SI (L’Internationale situationniste: chronologie/bibliographie/protagonistes (avec un index de noms insultés): Champ Libre, 1972) that he was expelled with the bulk of Spur in February 1962 – but they are wrong.
You can check the following translation for more details, particularly footnote [3]: https://thesinisterquarter.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/situationist-news-december-1960/
Gretel Stadler was also a member of Radama but I don’t know if she remained in Spur. Interestingly Spur tried to lay some claim to influence in the case of Radama’s attempted “scandal” involving a hoax artist called Bolus Krim. Check out the PhD thesis ‘GRUPPE SPUR AND GRUPPE GEFLECHT: ART AND DISSENT IN WEST GERMANY, 1957 – 1968’ by Lauren A. Graber available here: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/96176