[INTERLUDE] The Line Between: Ben Morea Paintings of the Early 90s

A brief interlude to tell my readers about a current exhibit at 33 Orchard in New York. Jointly organized by Envoy Enterprises and Boo-Hooray, “The Line Between: Ben Morea Paintings of the Early 90s” showcases about two dozen paintings from the former Black Mask leader.

The opening reception was held on September 10. The exhibit will close on October 4.

Below is a description from Envoy Enterprises’ website as well as a few pictures. Higher resolution pictures are available through their website as well.

Ben Morea is a painter, publisher, and direct action political figure. As the unseen hand of the 1960s revolutionary underground, Morea is infamous for shutting down MoMA, forcibly entering the Pentagon, occupying the Fillmore East and Columbia University, and dumping the neglected garbage of the Lower East Side into the fountains of Lincoln Square. He was the force behind the 1960s art/anarchist collective Up Against the Wall Motherfucker and and the legendary anarchist zine/broadside ​Black Mask​.

Morea’s paintings have one foot firmly in a Suprematist camp while the other remains grounded in a playful use of composition. Traversing mid-century abstraction that utilizes basic geometric shapes and a primitive approach to mark making, and inspired by the spiritual as much as intellectual, ​The Line Between ​is comprised of work Morea made in the early 1990’s after abandoning painting for decades.

Picking up where he left off in the mid-‘60’s, Morea utilized spray paint as his primary medium to make a series of works on paper that he considers a rebirth and a continuation of his artistic explorations. The work asks the viewer to consider that there are no conclusions artistically or philosophically, but rather a series of loose answers to immediacy. Exhibiting only a few times since he began making art again, Morea had a show of paintings and graphic work from the ‘60’s with Boo-Hooray in ​‘Unseen 50 Years: Paintings By Ben Morea 1964-65’ in the Summer of 2014, and an earlier Boo-Hooray exhibition of his work as a publisher, illustrator, and direct action political figure, ​‘Opposition: Black Mask, Ben Morea, & U.A.W.M.F.’ ​in January of 2014

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Tarzan contre la vie chere [2015]

Trapier, Stephane. Tarzan contre la vie chere. Paris: Matiere, October 2014. 136 p.; ill.; 21 x 15 cm.; yellow and white cover with drawing of Tarzan and a Lenin look-alike.

A bit of an interlude to promote a book that is only indirectly related to the Situationists. But hear me out: what Stephane Trapier does in his wonderful “Tarzan contre la vie chere” is apply the Situationist technique of detournement to modern age comic books. The book’s cover tells it all: what could Tarzan and Lenin possibly have to do with each other? But just wait until the characters speak their mind – topics discussed include phone sex, women’s liberation movement, campaign finance, cell phone reception, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and more. Absolutely wonderful.

The book can be purchased directly from Editions Matiere on their website (http://www.matiere.org/livres/tarzan-contre-la-vie-chere/) for 27 Euro, which includes shipping to the United States.

Pictures below courtesy of Editions Matiere and Shige Gonzalvez, who was kind enough to introduce me to this fantastic comic book artist. (http://leblogdeshige.com/2014/11/connaissez-vous-stephane-trapier/)

King Mob 3 – A Motherfucker is a Werewolf!

King Mob. King Mob 3: A Motherfucker is a Werewolf!. London: BCM/King Mob, n.d. [1969]. 16 p.; ill.; 35x 21 cm.; ill. wrappers with large black & white drawing of a werewolf.

Third issue of the legendary UK counter-culture magazine put out by the Wise brothers and British Situationist member Christopher Gray. Retracing the history of King Mob, its evolution, and its linkages with Black Mask / Ben Morea would be too long for a blog post. I thus encourage all readers to learn more by reading Tom Vague’s “King Mob Echo: From Gordon Riots to Situations & Sex Pistols” (London: Dark Star, 2000; in print) or the Wise Brothers’ own “King Mob: A Critical Hidden History” (available online at http://www.revoltagainstplenty.com/index.php/archive-local/93-a-hidden-history-of-king-mob.html). Both are subjective histories, though.

This issue reprints extensive content from Ben Morea’s Black Mask journal and advertises its actions in the United States (“The first year Black Mask seized every possible opportunity of fucking up culture”). It includes the famous action to close the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As always, the illustrations are stunning and speak to the group’s radicalism and nihilistic outlook

Scarce in the trade, with about a dozen copies on OCLC.

Elements de Banalyse [2015]

Clavreul, Marie-Liesse and Thierry Kerserho (Ed.). Éléments de banalyse. Caen: Editions Le Jeu de la Règle, June 2015. 1 vol. (561 + XLIV p.); profusely illustrated.; 29 x 20 cm.; purple wrappers with text in white. With a preface by Pierre Bazantay and Yves Helias, co-founders of the Congrès Ordinaire de Banalyse.

This is the first book published on the (artistic/political/otherwise uncategorizable) movement known as the Banalyse. As stated in the Avertissement by the editors: “This first work on the banalyse movement is published over twenty years after the last meeting in Fades. [This is] a truly remarkable fact in our era of speed and saturation: to this day, with the exception of the banalystes themselves, few are those who have been able to get some first-hand information [on the Banalyse], while many others certainly believed that this movement had left only a few traces. Everything seemed in place for a legend to be perpetrated amongst a few amateurs, or for forgetfulness to win over. This book seeks to defeat both alternatives.” (p. XI, translation is mine)

But what is the Banalyse, and why does it matter? I have translated a short introduction from the publisher (it can be found here; http://www.lejeudelaregle.fr/skin2014/frame3.php): “Under the auspices of the Cahiers de Banalyse, Pierre Bazantay and Yves Helias founded, in 1982, the Ordinary Congress of Banalysis. The principle was such: participants were to join the Congress, which took place on the tracks of a small train station called Les Fades, in the Puy-de-Dome (France). However, the only activity scheduled for the aforementioned Congress consisted in waiting for other participants who had yet to arrive via train…In accordance with the upfront commitment, the Congress occured every year for 10 years, on the third weekend of June. The Congress stood as the first example of a type of propositions that combined  an experimental perspective on the banal and critical outlook of institutions” (translation is mine)

Ralph Rumney was one of the most noteworthy participants in the Banalyse. In many ways, the movement was heavily inspirated by psychogeography. In fact, at a conference on psychogeography, Situationist scholar Pierre Marcolini gave a talk called “pychogéographie et banalyse” where he explores the parallels between the two movements. For more about Rumney’s involvement with Banalyse, one may read “Sur le Passage de l’invite 889 a travers la banalyse” (http://www.homme-moderne.org/images/peintr/rrumney/helias99.html) You may also consult my earlier post on Rumney’s “Pourvu que ca dure” sur le passage de quelques idees a travers le temps”, published in 1999 by the Bureau des Inspections Banalytiques: https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/pourvu-que-ca-dure-sur-le-passage-de-quelques-idees-a-travers-le-temps-1999/

The book is available from Editions Le Jeu de la Regle. 1,300 copies were printed. http://www.lejeudelaregle.fr/skin2014/frame3.php

[INTERLUDE] More from the Beinecke visit

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”