[Ralph Rumney] ICA Place – Guide to Place [1958-59]

[Rumney, Ralph]. ICA Place: Guide to Place. London: ICA, n.d. [1958-59]. 1 p. leaflet; 20 x 45 cm. (folded into 10 x 22 cm); black ink on white stock.

This unassuming leaflet serves as the “catalog” of a collective exhibition held at the Tate Gallery in 1959. Curated by Roger Coleman (who also wrote the brief essay that appears here), the exhibition featured the paintings of Robyn Denny, Ralph Rumney and Richard Smith. The exhibition occurred only a few months after Rumney’s exclusion from the SI. 

“Back in what was becoming ‘Swinging London’ in 1959, Smith and Denny collaborated with Ralph Rumney on Place, an exhibition at the ICA exploring shared ‘ideas […] on the relationship between painting and the spectator’, according to Roger Coleman’s catalogue. One of the exhibition’s most immediate ways of achieving this was to stand the paintings directly on the ground, anticipating what Anthony Caro would go on to do with sculpture, and to make them uniformly large: the ‘Rules of PLACE’ stipulated” (British Pavilion in Venice, http://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/people/reference/robyn-denny)

Reproduced in Ralph Rumney: la Vie d’artiste (Paris: Allia, 2010), p.17.

We locate a single OCLC copy at the Tate.

 

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“Montages wrapped in flong: a material–archaeological investigation of Asger Jorn and Guy Debord’s Fin de Copenhague” (2015)

Kromann, Thomas Hvid. Montages wrapped in flong: a material–archaeological investigation of Asger Jorn and Guy Debord’s Fin de Copenhague. 2015. Longer Danish version originally published as “Montager svøbt i matricepap. En materialearkæologisk undersøgelse af Asger Jorn og Guy Debords Fin de Copenhague” in Fund & Forskning, no. 54, 2015, pp. 587–625. Copenhagen: Royal Library of Copenhagen, 2015.

Today, I’d like to share a scholarly article that could revolutionize the way we approach Debord and Jorn’s legendary Fin de Copenhague. Material evidence from a survey of over 30 copies in both Europe and the United States suggests that, contrary to what had been widely believed, the book could not have been produced in 24 hours. Instead, it appears to have been a much more deliberate endeavor that likely spanned a few months,

Below is the executive summary, which provides some more detail.

The article presents and analyses Fin de Copenhague, which was published in 1957 by the Danish painter Asger Jorn and the French theorist and activist Guy Debord. According to legend, this famous avant-garde masterpiece was created in a 24-hour fit of vandalistic creativity and bound in a waste product from the production of newspapers, “flong,” making every copy in this edition of 200 unique. Until recently, Fin de Copenhague has been analyzed within the theoretical framework of the Situationist International (1957– 1972), focusing rather on the concept than the materiality of the book. In alignment with a heightened theoretical awareness of the importance of Jorn’s printed matter, the article closely examines Fin de Copenhague, drawing on a combination of art historical and book historical disciplines. The first part of the article is focused on the production, the distribution and the reception of the work. Hereby, the article presents the first thorough analysis of the intertextuality of the work as well as the international network the book circulated within. In the second part of the article, one finds an in-depth analysis of the flong. Until now, no research has focused on the variations of Fin de Copenhague. The author has collected photographic documentation of numerous covers from European and American libraries, copies owned by collectors, and copies sold at auction. In this way, the multiple covers can be studied, including the various aesthetic effects of each individual book cover. Furthermore, a material-archeology of the flong makes it possible to date the single pieces of flong, proving that Fin de Copenhague couldn’t possibly be created within these 24-hours. It is necessary to differentiate between finalizing the idea for the book, the printed work and the published work. In addition to this, the notion of the “social authorship” is underlined, stressing the importance of the printers Verner Permild and Bjørn Rosengreen.

The original full-length danish version of the article is at academia.edu

The shorter English version of the article is here: Kromann_Montages_English summary (1).

Jacqueline de Jong: Accidental Paintings [CATALOG]

Jong, Jacqueline de. Accidental Paintings. Odense: Galerie Westing, 1964. n.p. [12 p.]; ill.; 25 x 31 cm.; ill. cover with original lithograph by the artist

Catalog from the exhibition “Accidental Paintings” at Galerie Westing, Odense, Denmark, from 19 September to 12 October, 1964. This was Jacqueline de Jong’s third solo exhibiton (her eighth overall) amidst the productive “Situationist Times” era (1962-1967). Includes: frontispiece portrait of the artist,  checklist of 14 paintings and a short biographical sketch (“Was from 1960 to 1962 the Dutch section of the Internationale Situationiste [sic], got excluded when started in Mai 62 ‘The Situationiste [sic] Times.'”)

Earlier we posted a signed, original lithograph that was used to create the catalog’s cover. It thus appear that some copies of the lithograph were preserved “in sheets”, while others were cut to a smaller size and bound as covers to the catalog. For more detail on this original lithograph in sheets, see https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/jacqueline-de-jong-accidental-paintings-1964-lithograph/

We locate five copies through OCLC

Chinois, encore un effort pour etre revolutionnaires (Peking Duck Soup) [FILM POSTER]

Vienet, Rene. Chinois, Encore un Effort pour Etre Revolutionnaires (Peking Duck Soup) [FILM POSTER]. n.p. [Paris]: n.p. [Film des Iles], n.d. [1977]. 56 x 41 cm. ; ill. poster with text in black and red.

Original poster for Rene Vienet’s  third film, Chinois Encore Un Effort pour Etre Revolutionnaires (120 min; color; 35mm), released in 1977. The film title is a tongue-and-cheek reference to the pamphlet “Français, encore un effort si vous voulez être républicains”, which appears in the Marquis de Sade’s novel Philosophie dans le boudoir.

“Using official photographs, newsreels and other archival material, Peking Duck Soup presents an irreverent alternative view of the rise and fall of the Maoist dynasty (‘a social-Fascist dictatorship of the Feudal type’) based on Jean Pasqualini’s dictum in Prisoner of Mao that ‘in China it is the past that is unpredictable’. It was made… specifically to counter the sycophantic endorsements on film of the Cultural Revolution by Joris Ivens, Felix Green, Shirley Maclaine and others” (National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra, Australia).

It is worth noting that an alternate version of the poster appears to exist. While our copy features the name and address of the cinema where the film was screened (Cinema Git-le-Coeur in Saint-Michel) on the bottom left hand corner, other copies appear to be missing this information. See http://www.causeur.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/chinois-encore-effort-revolutionnaires-223×300.jpg

Chinois encore un effort…was shown as part the Rene Vienet retrospective at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris from March 20 to May 22, 2015. To my knowledge, it had not been publicly screened since its release in the 1970s. The full-length feature is now available to all courtesy Ubuweb (http://www.ubu.com/film/vienet_chinois.html)

We locate a single copy om OCLC (Bibliotheque Nationale de France)

Love is happening the new Little Mermaid

[BAUHAUS SITUATIONNISTE]. Nash – Love i happening – detta informationsmeddelande utgör ett tillägg till ert försäkringsbrev [ORIGINAL LEAFLET]. n.p. [Örkelljunga, Sweden]: n.p. [Bauhaus Situationniste], n.d. [1970? 1990?]. Two-sided leaflet (with detourned comic); 21 x 30 cm. Small paper loss at edges not affecting text.

Exceptional leaflet by the Second Situationist commemorating the Little Mermaid scandal as well as Jorgen Nash’s 50th (or 70th?) birthday. On April 24, 1964, Jorgen Nash and other members of the Second Situationist decapitated the world-famous Little Mermaid statue in an “anti-happening” protest . The head was never recovered, and a new one was produced and placed on the statue.

On one side, the following text (google translation is mine) “One of the worst bandit in the international avant-garde poet, painter and troublemaker Jorgen Nash will soon turn 50 (crossed) 70. Friends comrades in the Nordic realms will celebrate the occasion in Copenhagen at namely the Grand Cafe Seiskabslokaler on Friday, 20 March at 19:00. To mark Jorgens’ birthday and be involved in this great life celebration, you must send 30 DKK per person to Lyngaard Soren Petersen, Fire Holm, Rodovre, Denmark by 16 March. These 30 Danish krones pay for the birth day dinner: beef fillet with  Bearnaise. Caramel ice cream. Coffee. This is inclusive of music, dance and tips, but excludes drinks.Approximately 1,200 people came to Jorgen’s poetry jubilee in Trondheim in 1967…You are among the chosen few.

On the other side, a detourned copy “Leva Livet”: LINE 1: “The goal of a revolutionary movement is to abolish class society…without creating a new class.” LINE 2: “All the power to the work councils, not the party!” “Damn. It itches.” “We must criticize the world and life – not just the socioeconomic market structure” “GRRRR AAA OUT!”. LINE 3: “We should not manage the world, but transform it!” “The so-called revolutionary ideologies are merely an attempt to stop the revolutionary project!”. LINE 4: “I will not surrender my life to some damn technocrats and bureaucrats.” “Death to the leaders!!!! Ahhhh!!!” “Yes. Marx’s theories are really a critique of everyday life! Ah!”

 

 

We locate a single OCLC copy at the Beinecke (Postwar Culture archive), Yale University. http://www.beineckepostwar.com/#!situationist-international/c1ae6

Drakabyggarna – Exposition Internationale d’Ete du Bauhaus Situationniste, Suede [POSTER]

[BAUHAUS SITUATIONNISTE]. Drakabyggarna: Exposition Internationale d’Ete du Bauhaus Situationniste  [ORIGINAL POSTER]. n.p. [Vejbystrand, Sweden]: n.p. [Galerie St. Nicolaus], n.d. [1963].One-sided poster; 31.5 x 43 cm. Exceptionnally signed by Nash.

Advertising poster for “Drakabyggarna”, the international summer exhibition for the newly-founded Bauhaus Situationniste. It took place at Galerie St. Nicolaus in Vejbystrand, Sweden between 22 June and 14 July 1963 and featured the following artists: Jorgen Nash, Hardy Strid, Jens Jorgen Thorsen, Manfred Laber, Ambrosius Fjord [Asger Jorn’s horse!], Heimrad Prem, Royston Adzak, Jacqueline de Jong, Helmut Sturm Hans-Peter Zimmer, Allan Nordmark, Bjorn Rosendahl, Mette Aarre, Lena Ewert, Jesper Solling, Gordon Fazakerley, Roy Lindkvist and Ansgar Elde.

This is an important document because it highlights the rivalry between the Internationale Situationniste and the Bauhaus Situationniste, which included a large number of the artists that were expelled from the first SI in 1962. Indeed, the exhibition opened on the same day as the Internationale Situationniste’s “Destruktion af RSG-6″did in Odense, Denmark – namely, June 22 – and closed around the same time as well (July 14 vs. July 7).

This copy was exceptionally presented by”Katja” [Katja Lindell] and “Nash” [Jorgen Nash] to one of their friends.

We locate no OCLC copy.

 

Destruktion af RSG-6 – En kollektiv manifestation af Situationistisk Internationale [1963]

[DEBORD, GUY]. Destruktion af RSG-6 – En kollektiv manifestation af Situationistisk Internationale. Odense: Galerie Exi, n.d. [1963]. 28 p.; ill.; 25 x 18 cm; ill. White wrappers with text in black and red

Original catalog of the Internationale Situationniste exhibition held at Galerie EXI in Odense, Denmark between June 22 and July 7, 1963.

The name of the exhibition is an homage to Spies for Peace’s Official Secret – RSG6 action, in which the anti-war activist group revealed that, in the event of a nuclear attack, the British government had conceived a plan to house key central government personnel in a secret bunker known as Regional Seat of Government number 6 (RSG-6). The intent was to insure continuity of law and order in the event of a nuclear holocaust. The information was published in the Danger! Official Secret RSG-6 pamphlet, of which 4,000 copies were produced, then mailed to key officials and distributed on the streets. More can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/counterculture/civildisobedience/spiesforpeace/spiesforpeace.html

The catalog includes photographic portraits of Guy Debord, Michele Bernstein, J.V Martin and Jan Strijbosch, as well as reproduction of original artwork by these members of the S.I. It also serves as the first edition of Guy Debord’s important text Les Situationnistes ou les nouvelles formes d’action dans la politique ou l’art, published in the original French as well as in Danish and English translations.

Featured pieces – all the result of some form of “detournement – include Debord’s “Directives” (which “should be considered as slogans that one might see written on walls… intended, of course, as a simultaneous ridicule and reversal of that pompous academicism currently in fashion which is trying to base itself on the painting of incommunicable “pure signs.””), Bernstein’s “Victories”, and J.V. Martin’s “Thermonuclear maps” (paintings representing various regions of the globe during World War III), among others. All the artwork is shown in a gallery setting that invokes a post-nuclear world – one area, for instance, was a reconstruction of an oppressive nuclear bomb shelter.

This catalog is particularly scarce because most copies (and, in a rather ironic twist of the fate, the bulk of the artwork shown at EXI) were destroyed by a fire bomb on March 18, 1965 . More detail about this incident be found in issue 10 of Internationale Situationniste (“L’I.S. et les incidents de Randers”, http://debordiana.chez.com/francais/is10.htm)

Yale University’s Beinecke library has made a full facsimile of this important but rare piece of Situationist history available on its website at http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3839317

Since thanks to TK and PB for this.

Gonzalvez 119. Raspaud 115-116

Opus 27 – Constant and New Babylon

[CONSTANT]. Opus International no. 27. Paris: Editions Georges Fall, September 1971. 84 p.; ill.; 18 x 27 cm.; ill. Wrappers with striking New Babylon reproduction.

Special issue of this magazine dedicated to contemporary Dutch art, with a significant emphasis on Constant and New Babylon. Includes, among others, “Lettre d’Amsterdam: le jeu est-il une solution?” by Jean-Clarence Lambert; “Les contestaires” by H. L-J. Jaffe; “Un mediateur du future – Constant: trajet et correspondances” by Irina Paslariu; “Auto-dialogue a propos de New Babylon” by Constant; “Chronique d’Amsterdam” by Jacqueline de Jong and more.

Interlude: How you can contribute

It is this time of the year again when I remind readers of the many ways can contribute to this blog:

(1) Write a blog post sharing interesting or unusual Situationist (or Situ-related) material that you own. This may include anything from original Debord correspondence to a contemporary post-Situ publication you’d like others to know about

(2) Gift to, sell to or trade material with the archive. As you can see in the “about” section, my ultimate goal is to place this collection at a major research institution where it is accessible by all, free of charge. I will gladly accept donations  and I am prepared to make serious financial offers when necessary. No item is too small – ephemera (postcards, leaflets, etc.) is awesome.

(3) Retweet, reblog, facebook share or otherwise spread the word so that many others can learn about it

(4) Invite me to speak about the archive. I travel a lot for work and I now have a 45-minute presentation with PowerPoint and audio/video that introduces the S.I. and its unique material to a general audience. So let me know if this is of interest.

(5) Introduce yourself to me – lets get to know each other. It’s good to know who reads and appreciates this blog. And we could find new grounds for collaboration (cheers to Ian Thompson, whom I assisted with his first-ever English translation of Debord’s “Memoires”)

To reach me: elhajoui (.AT.) gmail (.DOT.) com

Happy new year to all

Jacqueline de Jong – Accidental Paintings [1964] [LITHOGRAPH]

Jong, Jacqueline de. Accidental Paintings. n.p. [Netherlands or Denmark], 1964. 50 x 36 cm.; large lithographed sheet on thick grey paper. Signed by De Jong

Signed lithograph from the exhibition “Accidental Paintings” at Galerie Westing, Odense, Denmark, from 19 September to 12 October, 1964. This original lithograph, which dates from the “Situationist Times” period (1962-1967) also constitutes the cover to the exhibition catalog.

This lithograph is unnumbered, but we locate no other copy sold at auction.