Attila Kotanyi: L’architecture du silence [2022]

KOTANYI, Attila. L’architecture du silence. Paris: Exils, September 2022. 255 p.; ill.; 20.5 x 14 cm.; color cover with B&W portrait of Kotanyi, text in black

We would like to announce the publication of the first compendium of Attila Kotanyi’s works under the title Attila Kotanyi: L’architecture du silence.

A lesser-known figure of the Situationist International, Kotanyi’s joined the movement in the Spring of 1960, In a letter to Pinot-Gallizio dated 16 May 1960, Debord writes: “Parmi les “nouvelles recrues de l’I.S.”, je viens de rencontrer Attila Kotányi. Il est sensationnel : et Asger est très content.” (“Among the ‘new recruits to the SI’, I just met Attila Kotanyi. He is amazing: and Asger is very happy”). Kotanyi was excluded in 1962 for his alleged “Christian mysticism”. In those short years, he made numerous contributions to the SI through its journal Internationale Situationniste:

• “Gangland et Philosophie” (Issue 4, p.33) (English)
• “Rapport a la IVe conférence” (Issue 5, p.24)
• “Programme élémentaire du bureau d’urbanisme unitaire” (issue 6, p. 16) (English)
• “L’étage suivant” (issue 7, p. 47) 
• (with Raoul Vaneigem) “Theses sur la Commune” (first released as a tract, then reprinted in issue 12)

The above texts, with the exception of “Theses sur la Commune”, are reproduced in L’architecture du silence. However, also included are two rare publications from 1946 (“Architecture”, “Mohol-Nagy”) and several texts from the post-SI period. The compendium also features an introduction by Christophe Kotanyi’s, Attila’s son.

Little has been written about Kotanyi and his role in the SI. We find a great article by Erhardt Miklós here

Première exposition de psychogéographie [1957]

[DEBORD, Guy et al.] Première exposition de psychogéographie. Brussels: Galerie Taptoe, February 1957. 1 p. (two-sided); 21 x 14 cm.; black ink on red stock (front) and white stock (back).

Rare leaflet for “Première exposition de psychogéographie” at the Galerie Taptoe in Brussels between 2 February and 28 February, 1957. This collective exhibition showcased works from the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus, the Letterist International, and the London Psychogeographical Institute (i.e., Ralph Rumney) — all if which would merge into the Situationist International only a few months thereafter. It was supposed to include works by Guy Debord (” Plans psychogéographiques de Paris”), Asger Jorn (“Peintures et céramiques sensationnelles”), Yves Klein (“Tableaux monochromes”), Ralph Rumney (“Peintures”), Michèle Bernstein et Mohamed Dahou (“Photographies”) as well as anonymous contributions including “a drawing by a mad psychogeographer” (perhaps Ivan Chtcheglov, who authored the influential “Formulary for a New Urbanism” in 1953).

However, the exhibition did not come about as advertised here. Following a missed appointment with Asger Jorn at the Gare du Nord in Paris (such things were more common in the pre-cell phone era), Debord became angry at the Danish painter and refused to travel to Brussels. The conflict would de-escalate: Jorn and Debord signed a formal agreement in April 1957, then traveled to Denmark and collaborated on the artist book Fin de Copenhague and two psychogeographic maps (The Naked City, Guide Psychogeographique de Paris). However, Debord’s works were never shown at Taptoe. In fact, it is not known to this day which parts (if any) of the original announcement actually materialized. The only thing we are certain of is that a collective painting, bearing the signatures of Jorn, Rumney, Klein and Ting, was created on the occasion of this potential exhibition. Excerpts of the 6-page catalog mockup (it would never be published) for the exhibition can be found in Guy Debord. Oeuvres (Paris: Gallimard, 2006), pp.282-285 and in Guy Debord, Un art de la guerre (Paris: Gallimard, 2013), p. 81.

Guy Debord: un art de la guerre p. 80. Gonzalvez p.104-106. Guy Debord: Oeuvres p. 280-281. Scheppe p. 675.

We located 3 copies of this leaflet, at Yale, the Getty, and the French National Library.

Piero Simondo: Alle radici del Situazionismo [2004]

[SIMOND, Piero] CURTO, Guido (Ed.). Piero Simondo: Alle radici del Situazionismo. Torino: Edizioni Giampiero Biasutti, 2004. 111 p.; ill.; 22 x 28 cm.; ill. Cover with photograph of Simondo.

Catalog published on the occasion a retrospective of Simondo’s 50 year career, held at Galleria Giampiero Biasutti in Torino, Italy on May 20 – June 30, 2004. Contents include an interview of Simondo by Guido Curto; critical texts by Lorenzo Mamino (“Memorie dal Monregalese”), Alberto Farinella (“L’estetica di Simondo”), Sandro Ricaldone (“Pittura contro lo stile”), and Francesca Comisso (“Laboratorio per un pratica artistica”); a short biosketch; and a bibliograpy. The catalog also features 30 full-page, color reproductions of the artist’s works – starting with Maschera (1953) and ending with Chissa Chi (1999) – and numerous black & white photographs of Simondo and his friends (including Debord, Jorn, etc.) in Alba. This copy is exceptionally signed by Simondo, and dated 20.04.04

Piero Simondo was born in Cosio d’Arroscia on 25 August 1928 – in the same village where, 29 years later, the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus (M.I.B.I.), the Lettrist International (L.I.), and the London Psychogeographical Association (L.P.A.) would merge to form the Situationist International (S.I.). In the Summer 1955, Simondo exhibited his works in Albisola. There, he met Ager Jorn, with whom he founded the Laboratorio di esperienze immaginiste (Laboratory of imaginist experiences) within the M.I.B.I. The next year, he edited Eristica –the review of the M.I.B.I – and organized the first World Congress of Free Artists. Baj, Contant, Jorn, Pinot-Gallizio, Wolman, and Elena Verrone (who would become Simondo’s wife in 1958) were in attendance. In July 1957, he hosted members of the M.I.B.I, L.I., and L.P.A. at his house in Cosio and was a founding member of the S.I. By the following year, however, he was excluded from the organization. As a way to extend the activities of the Laboratorio Sperimentale, Simondo went on to launch the International Center for Artistic Research (CIRA) in 1962. 10 years later, in 1972, he joined the University of Turin where he held the chair of Methodology and Didactics of the Audovisual Medium. Simondo passed away on 6 November, 2020

We locate 6 OCLC copies of this catalog.