Crowdsourcing question: the SI and the Egyptian Revolution?

Dear readers,

I received a query from a scholar regarding the Internationale Lettriste and its potential relationship with the Egyptian revolution.

Could readers please share insights on the following:

1. Is the man pictured  here (from the first issue of Internationale Lettriste, 1952) is indeed  Gamal Abdel Nasser? How do we know for sure?
2. What was the Internationale Lettriste‘s stance on Nasser and Egyptian politics in general? Are there specific references in Internationale Lettriste or Potlatch?

Thanks in advance. I will convey whatever information is shared to the aforementioned scholar or put you directly in touch with her.

Cheers

Situationnisteblog

Pinot Gallizio et il Laboratorio Sperimentale d’Alba del Movimento Internazionale per una Bauhaus Imaginista (1955-57) e dell’Internazionale Situazionista (1957-60)

[Pinot-Gallizio, Giuseppe]. Pinot Gallizio et il Laboratorio Sperimentale d’Alba del Movimento Internazionale per una Bauhaus Imaginista (1955-57) e dell’Internazionale Situazionista (1957-60). Torino: Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, 1974. n.p. [128 p. + 50+ p. of the artist’s works]’ ill.; 22 x 23.5 cm.; ill. Cover with B&W photo of Pinot Gallizio, Olmo, Simondo, Debord and Constant.

Catalog of the exhibition held at Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna in Torino from 28 May to 15 July 1974. The focus is on Pinot Gallizio’s years with the Imaginist Bauhaus (1955-57) and the Situationist International (1957-60). The richly illustrated and heavily documented catalog opens with a preface by Aldo Passoni and an introduction by Mirella Bandini. There are also numerous testimonials by the likes of Piero Simondo, a bio-bibliographical notice of Gallizio, and a reproduction of some of the painter’s key writings from that era (e.g., “Manifesto della Pittura Industriale”, 1959).

However, the most extraordinary part of the catalog is the plethora of documents that are reproduced – everything from Max Bill’s “Industrial design nella societa” (1954) to Asger Jorn’s “Critique de la politique economique” (1960) – as well as the dozens of paintings from Gallizio’s industrial period.

We find numerous OCLC copies, but the item is scarce in the trade.

The Right to Be Greedy [1974]

For Ourselves. The Right to Be Greedy. Berkeley, CA and Palo Alto, CA: For Ourselves, n.d. [1974]. First edition, first printing. n.p.[56 p.];  21.5 x 18 cm.; yellow wrappers with text in black. Russ Little’s prison copy, with his name and cell number inside the front cover. Heavy underlining by Little throughout.

” In the early 1970’s, ‘pro situ’ groups (as they are known) formed in Britain, in New York city and especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of these groups, Negation, reformed as For Ourselves around 1973…For Ourselves was particularly beholden to the situationist Raoul Vaneigem whose celebration of the ‘radical subjectivity’  of ‘master without slaves’  figures prominently in the theses espoused in The Right to Be Greedy. All too soon the group collapsed, its members regressing into Marxism from which they had never really departed”‘ (Ford 173).

This edition contains a preface by Bob Black and a Situ Reading List. “This work consists of 126 numbered theses, divided into an Introduction and 11 topical sections; followed by 16 pages of ‘Postnotes’ — four pages containing 58 notes, mainly in the form of citations and 12 pages containing chiefly content notes and definitions of terms. The text sets down a general theory of (and an argument for) ‘communist egoism’ and details the relation between it and such things as regular (narrow) egoism, communist society, pleasure, sexuality, authority, morality, and revolution.” (Beni 68-69)

Russ Little was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Active between 1973 and 1975, the SLA was a left-wing revolutionary group (for some) and a domestic terrorist organization (for others). The group committed bank robberies, two murders, and various other acts of violence. It became notorious for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst. For a biography of Little and more about his involvement with the SLA, see the PBS profile at  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/peopleevents/p_little.html

Full online version available at http://www.lust-for-life.org/Lust-For-Life/TheRightToBeGreedy/TheRightToBeGreedy-en.htm

Beni 68-69. Ford 173. Not in the trade. We locate 7 OCLC copies, though none of course with this meaningful and somewhat surprising association.

 

Interlude: Detailed summary of holdings

Dear readers,

It has recently come to my attention that some of you would like to have a high-level view of my holdings. This will allow you to make requests, should you like a particular item scanned or featured on the blog.

Thanks and hope this proves helpful

Situationnisteblog

 

HOLDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONALE SITUATIONNISTE AND ITS AFTERMATH ARCHIVE

1. The prequel: the Internationale Lettriste (~25 items)

• Ion: Centre de Creation (issue 1; full run)
• Les Levres Nues (issues related to the Lettristes – 7, 8 and 9; incomplete run)
• Potlatch (issues 20-30; incomplete run)
2. The Internationale Situationniste (~500 items)

2.1 Works by the Internationale Situationniste – ~150 items, including:
• Internationale Situationniste (issues 1-12; full run including two printings of issue #2)
• Situationist International: Review of the American Section (issue 1; full run)
• Situationistisk Revolution (issues 1-3; full run including all supplements)
• Internazionale Situazionista (issue 1; full run)
• De la Misere en Milieu Etudiant ( 50+ editions in 15+ languages) – the most comprehensive archive of this publication that we know of. The first edition is signed by Mustapha Khayati
• Conseil pour le Maintien des Occupations (leaflets and posters issued by this group)
• As well as numerous other original leaflets, pamphlets, posters, etc. by the SI

2.2 Works by members of the Internationale Situationniste – ~350 items, including:
• Bernstein, Michèle (select original publications)
• Chasse, Robert (select original publications and one mimeographed letter)
• De Jong, Jacqueline (Situationist Times, issues 1-6 ; full run ; all issues signed by De Jong)
• Debord, Guy (significant archive, including original correspondence, artist books Mémoires and Fin de Copenhague, and 50+ distinct editions of La Société du Spectacle)
• Khayati, Mustapha (select original publications, including 6 distinct editions of Adresse aux Revolutionnaires d’Algerie et de Tous les Pays and Sulta-Al-Majaliss, an SI-influenced arab language periodical)
• Jorn, Asger (select original publications, including Pour la Forme)
• Nash, Jorgen (select original publications, including a full run of Drakabygget)
• Rumney, Ralph (select original publications, including The Leaning Tower of Venice)
• Sanguinetti, Gianfranco (select original publications, including Il Secreto e Dirlo)
• Straram, Patrick (select original publications, including Cahier Pour un Paysage à Inventer)
• SPUR (issues 1-7; full run + original correspondence around the SPUR trial)
• Vaneigem, Raoul (significant holdings, including 7 distinct editions of “Banalités de Base”, 10 distinct editions of Traité de Savoir-Vivre and 2 erotic novels written pseudonymously)
• Vienet, René (significant holdings, including DVDs of films, film synopsis and film posters for all his major films)
• As well as original publications by Constant (Nieuwenhuys), Frey/Garnault/Holl, Chris Gray, Jon Horelick, Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio, Charles Radcliffe, Rene Riesel, Gianfranco Sanguinetti, and others
3. Pro/Post-Situationist groups and publications (1960s-Present) (~1,000 items)

3.1 American pro/post-Situationist –~330 items, including:
• Against Sleep & Nightmare (issues 1-8; full run)
• Black & Red (issues 3-6)
• Black Mask (issues 1-6, 8-9)
• Bureau of Public Secrets (i.e., Ken Knabb) (significant holdings)
• Caribbean Situationist / Fundi (select origin-al publications)
• Contradiction (select original publications)
• End of Prehistory (select original publications)
• For Ourselves (select original publications)
• Michigan Anarchist coalition (select original publications)
• More to Come (select original publications)
• Negation (select original publications)
• No Middle Ground (issues 1-4; full run)
• Not Bored! (i.e., Bill Brown) (select issues)
• Operationist Group (significant holdings)
• Point-Blank! (select original publications)
• Processed World (issues 1-32, 2.001 and 2.005; full run + select original publications)
• Reinvention of Everyday Life (select original publications)
• Smile by Shiz-Flux (issues 1-6; full run)
• Upshot (i.e., John & Paula Zerzan) (significant holdings)
• As well as original publications by Isaac Cronin, Robert Cooperstein, Fredy Perlman, Chris Shutes, and others

3.2 British pro/post-Situationist – ~250 items, including:
• Anti-Clock Wise (i.e., Richard Turner) (issues 1-20; full run)
• B.M. Blob (i.e., David & Stuart Wise) (several original publications)
• B.M. Chronos (i.e., Michel Prigent) (significant holdings)
• B.M. Combustion / Spontaneous Combustion (i.e., Nick Brandt) (significant holdings)
• DAta Miners et Travailleurs Psychiques (DAMTP) (issues 1-15; full run to date)
• Heatwave (issues 1-2; full run)
• Infopool (i.e., Jakob Jakobsen) (issues 1-8; full run)
• King Mob (issue 1-6; full run)
• London Psychogeographical Association Newsletter (issues 1-17 and 19-21)
• Manchester Area Psychogeographic (issues 1-9; full run)
• Pleasure Tendency (select original publications)
• Spectacular Times (issues 1-14; full run)
• The Spectacle (select original publications)
• Vague (select issues with Situationist content)
• As well as original publications by Stewart Home, Fabian Tompsett, and others

3.3 French pro/post-Situationist – ~375 items, including:
• Ab Irato (issues 5-7; incomplete run)
• L’Achevement (issues 1-8; full run + select original publications)
• L’Affranchi (issues 1-11; full run)
• Los Amigos de Ludd (issues 1-8; full run)
• Association Contre le Nucléaire et son Monde (ACNM) (select original publications)
• Associés Autonomes (i.e., Jaime Juan Garcia) (significant holdings)
• La Banalyse (select original publications)
• La Bibliothèque des Emeutes (issues 1-8 ; full run)
• De Bello Civili (issues 1-3; full run)
• Bibliothèque des Emeutes (issues 1-8; full run)
• Michel Bounan (complete publications)
• Dérive urbaine (issues 1-6 ; full run)
• L’Echaudée (issues 1-5; full run to date)
• L’Encyclopédie des Nuisances (issues 1-15; full run + select original publications)
• Les Fils de M. Hyde (issues 1-6 ; incomplete run)
• Les Fossoyeurs du Vieux Monde (issues 2 & 4 ; incomplete run)
• La Guerre Sociale (issues 1-7 ; full run)
• L’Homme au Foyer (issues 1-8 ; full run)
• Interférences (issues 1-10 ; incomplete run)
• Le Monde à l’Envers (i.e., Jean-Louis Paul) (issues 2-3 ; incomplete run)
• Mordicus (select issues; incomplete run)
• Oiseau-Tempete (issues 1-11, 13; incomplete run – issue 12 missing)
• Os Cangaceiros (select publications)
• Les Societaires du Spectacle (all issues 1990-1998; incomplete run)
• Tiqqun (issues 1-2; full run + select original publications)
• Tout doit partir (issues 0-6; full run)
• Trillaud, André (select original publications)
• Vaseline (issues 1-7 ; full run)
• Voyer, Jean-Pierre (significant holdings)
• As well as original publications by Guy Bodson, Jean-Francois Martos, and others

3.4 Japanese pro/post-Situationist – ~15 items, including:
• Various English language items related to the “Zengakuren” movement

 

4. Publications about the Internationale Situationniste (~300 items)

• Bibliographies of the Internationale Situationniste and its aftermath by Beni, Bill Brown, Simon Ford, Shigenobu Gonzalvez, J-J Raspaud & J-P Voyer,.
• Books and pamphlets about the Internationale Situationniste by Jean-Marie Apostolidès, Christophe Bourseiller, Laurent Chollet, Boris Donné, Vincent Kaufmann, J-F Martos, Anna Trespeuch-Berthelot, McKenzie Wark, etc.).
• Various auction and bookseller catalogs (e.g., Lecointre Drouet, Jean-Yves Lacroix, etc.)
• Various exhibition catalogs (Boston, Paris, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Basel, etc.) and related ephemera
• Various dissertations and university theses
• Various issues of magazines and press clippings (150+ articles, mostly in French press)

 

5. Press coverage about the Internationale Situationniste (~200 items)

• Various issues of magazines and press clippings (mostly in French press)

 

La Guerre Sociale [1977-1985]

[La Guerre Sociale]. La Guerre Sociale no.1-7. Paris: La Guerre Sociale, 1977-1985. v.p. [14-71 p.]; ill.; 18 x 26 cm (issues 1-6) and 19.5 x 28 cm. (issue 7).

La Guerre Sociale was an ultra-left, Situationist-influence journal appearing in France from 1977 to 1985. Dominique Blanc was the driving force behind it. In 1980, the group divided itself around the question of the support to Robert Faurisson and his negationist theses. Several individuals (such as Gilles Dauve) walked away and founded the journal La Banquise. For a detailed discussion of “La Guerre Sociale” and the controversy surrounding it, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Guerre_Sociale

La Guerre Sociale is known for having first published Semprun’s “La Guerre Sociale au Portugal”.

The table of contents as well as the full text of all scanned issues is available at http://archivesautonomies.org/spip.php?article35

Scarce in the trade. OCLC locates holdings at IISG (Amsterdam), BnF, BDIC (Paris) and National Library of Sweden.

Supplement Til Situationistisk Revolution 2 [1969]

[Situationistisk International] Supplement Til Situationistisk Revolution 2. Randers (Denmark): Situationistisk International, March 1969. 4 p.; ill.; 21 x 59 cm.; black ink on brown newspaper stock.

Two years after NY-Irrealism (see https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/ny-irrealisme-specialudgave-situationistisk-revolution-2-1967/ for more info), this supplement to Situationistisk Revolution provides an illustrated account of the May 68 riots. As Shigenobu Gonzalvez notes, it reproduces excerpts and documents from Enrages et Situationnistes dans le Mouvement des Occupations (Paris: Gallimard, 1968). The editorial committee includes Bernstein, Debord, Khayati, Vaneigem and Vienet.

Gonzalvez 93. Raspaud & Voyer 125.

We have yet to see this item in the trade, and we cannot locate a copy through OCLC. As such, we have chosen to reproduce it in full.

 

Primo Congresso Mondiale Degli Artisti Liberi [1956]

Laboratorio Sperimentale Del Movimento Internazionale per una ‘Bauhaus Immaginista’. Primo Congresso Mondiale Degli Artisti Liberi. Alba: n.p. [M.I.B.I.], September 1956. 6 p. (1 x 21 x 29.5 cm sheet folded into a six-page mini-brochure); 12 x 23.5 cm.; black ink on thin white stock.

This unassuming document serves as the program of the First World Congress of Free Artists, which was held in Alba on September 2-9, 1956. Participants include “Enrico Baj (Nuclear Art Movement, Milan; excluded in the course of the conference on the Lettrist delegate’s demand), Jacques Calonne, Constant (ex-Cobra; Christian Dotremont does not attend, ostensibly because of illness), Giuseppe Pinot Gallizio, Asger Jorn, Piero Simondo, Ettore Sottsass Jr, Elena Verrone (International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus), Gil J. Wolman (Lettrist International/Potlatch), Sandro Cherchi, Franco Garelli (Turin), Jan Kotik, Pravoslav Rada (Czechoslovakia), Charles Estienne, Klaus Fischer, several others.” (http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/chronology/1956.html).

From the same source: “Two exhibitions are held simultaneously: Futurist Ceramics 1925-33, organized by Jorn and Gallizio, at Alba town hall; and an exhibition by the experimental laboratory at Corino cinema, involving Constant, Gallizio, Garelli, Jorn, Kotik, Rada, Simondo and Wolman. Wolman’s ‘Address’ is accepted by the congress as its final resolution. Jorn is appointed committee director of Potlatch, while Wolman is added to the editorial board of Eristica.”

The First World Congress is critical in that it cements relationships between key avant-garde artists and emerging movements of the time. In many ways, it lays the ground for the Founding Conference of the Situationist International (SI), which takes places in Cosio d’Arroscia, Italy, the following July. Many of the participants were the same as in Alba, and the “complete unification of the groups represented and…the constitution of a Situationist International” (Potlatch #29) should then be viewed as something that was long in the making.

Rare. Not in the trade or in OCLC.

 

La Nuit du Cinema [1952]

[Groupe Lettriste]. La Nuit du Cinema. n.p. [Paris]: n.p. [Groupe Lettriste], n.d. [1952]. 1p. leaflet (single-sided); 21 x 29.5 cm.; black text on off-white/grey stock.

Issued by the Groupe Lettriste (the Internationale Lettriste was only founded in June 1952), this single-sided leaflet promotes Lettrist experimental films, including Jean-Isidore sou’s “Traite de Bave et d’Eternite” (Treaty of Slime and Eternity) from April 1951, Gil J Wolman’s “L’Anticoncept” (The Anticoncept) from February 1952, and Guy-Ernest Debord’s “Hurlements en Faveur de Sade” (Howlings in Favor of Sade) from June 1952. Forthcoming films by Jean-Louis Brau and Serge Berna are also announced. The leaflet closes with the following sentence: “Nous faisons la revolution a nos moments perdus” (We engage in revolution in our spare time). A criticism of Chaplin (which will be further developed in the leaflet “Fini les Pieds Plats!”) can also be found in the first paragraph

Scarce in the trade, with two OCLC copies (Yale, BnF).

The full text is available at http://debordiana.chez.com/francais/cannes.htm

 

Rapporto informativo su : Comme non si comprende l’arte musicale. Morte e trasfigurazione dell’Estetica [1957]

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Olmo, Walter. Rapporto informativo su : Comme non si comprende l’arte musicale. Morte e trasfigurazione dell’Estetica. n.p. [Alba?]: n.p. [self-published], n.d. [1957]. 10 single-sided,stapled sheets; 33 x 22 cm; black ink on white stock.

Mimeographed report produced by Walter Olmo, a member of the the SI from its creation in Cosio in July 1957 until his exclusion in January 1958. It was presented to the Experimental Laboratory for an Imaginist Bauhaus in Alba, and deals with death and aesthetic transfiguration in music. This is one of a very small number of documents by SI members on the topic of music.

Rare. Not in Raspaud & Voyer or other bibliographies. We cannot locate a copy on OCLC, but we do find one on MACBA’s website.

In light of this scarcity, and so that scholars and enthusiasts may readily access its content, we have thus chosen to showcase the full document below.

Difendiamo la libertà [1959]

[Internationale Situationniste] Laboratoirio Situazionisti di Alba / Gruppo S.p.u.r. Difendiamo la libertà. Alba: Laboratorio Situazionista di Alba, November 1959. 1 p. leaflet (single-sided); 15 x 24 cm.; black ink on thin white stock.

“Tract by Pinot Gallizio, Eisch, Fischer, Nele, Prem, Sturm and Zimmer advocating public execration of the Spanish painter Cuixard, who, in order to increase his chances of securing the Grand Prize for painting at São Paulo, did not shrink from denouncing the communism of his compatriots Saura and Tapiés, at the risk of putting them ‘in grave danger with political organizations in their country.'” (Situationist International Online, http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/chronology/1959.html)

Reproduced (alongside a French translation) by Gerard Berreby in Textes et Documents Situationnistes 1957-1960” (Paris: Allia, 2004). Raspaud & Voyer 109-110.

Scarce in the trade, with two copies found on OCLC (Yale, the Getty Museum)