The Antinational Situationist No. 1 / Den Antinationale Situationist No.1 [1974]

[Bauhaus Situationiste] KROJER, Tom; THORSEN, Jens Jorgen (Eds.). The Antinational Situationist No. 1 / Den Antinationale Situationist No.1. Våxtorp, Sweden / Copenhagen, Denmark: Bauhaus Situationiste, n.d. [1974]. n.p. [30 p.]; ill.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; yellow screen-printed wrappers with text in black

The Antinational Situationist – sub-titled “Tidsskrift for almen kreativitet mode stater, uniformer, autoriteter og generaler” (“periodical for common creativity against states, uniforms, authorities, popes and generals”) – was a bilingual (English/Danish) periodical published by the Bauhaus Situationiste. Its editors, Tom Krojer and Jens Jorgen Thersen, had big ambitions: “We are happy to present you the first issue of our periodical for common creativity, ‘The Antinational Situationist’. As you will see, this first issue is concentrated on the collective creativity, which according to our opinion is the threshold of a completely new phase in culture. The First Situationist International, based in Paris, is completely dead now….Therefore the Antinational Situationist movement is founded, and this is marked by bringing the outlines for the manifesto of the founding of this movement. In Issue 2 of this periodical we hope to be able to publish the signed and ratified manifesto.” (p.1). However, only a single issue of this beautiful screen-printed magazine would ever be released.

This inaugural issue includes a wide range of contributions (all in English and Danish)
(1) “Beyond The Crisis Of Abstraction And The Abstract Break With That Crisis: The SI”, by former American SI member Jon Horelick. The article offers a harsh critique of Debord and Sanguinetti’s La véritable scission dans l’Internationale.
(2) “Is this Metaville? A project for creative play” by Jens Jorgen Thorsen, in collaboration with Susanne Ussing and Carsten Hoff. The article brings backs and builds on the notions of architecture and play, as expressed in the writings and Constant and the early SI.
(3) “The Antinational of the Fourth World: Divided we Stand” by Jens Jorgen Thorsen. This is the draft Manifesto of Antinational Situationist, which is co-signed by Jorgen Nash, J.V. Martin, Patrick O’Brien (i.e., Asger Jorn), Tom Krojen, Ambrosius Fjord (Jorn’s horse), Andres King, Yoshio Nakajima, Liza Menue, Heimad Prem, Mette Aarre, Heinz Freitag, Liz Zwick, Novi Maruni, and Helmut Strum.
(4) “My pocket history of collective painting” by Jens Jorgen Thorsen. This discusses the art of collective painting including Cobra’s practices
(5) “Collective painting statement” by Tom Krojer and J.J. Thorsen.
(6) “All culture is collective” by J.V. Martin, an apology of collective creation and criticism of individual art (“DOWN WITH ART WHICH IS SELF-CONTENTED AND EGOCENTRIC, WHICH CONTEMPLATES ITS OWN NAVEL!”)
Finally, the last two pages list publications by the Bauhaus Situationiste and its members

Texts (2), (3) and (6) are reproduced in Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen & Jakob Jakobsen’s Cosmonauts of the Future: Texts from the Situationist Movement in Scandinavia and Elsewhere (Copenhagen: Nebula and Brooklyn: Autonomedia, 2015.

We locate a single copy of this rare publication on OCLC (Princeton).

Erklæring vedrorende processen mod internationale situationister I Den Tyske Forbundsrepublik [1962]

[Internationale Situationniste] BERNSTEIN, Michele; MARTIN, J.V.; TROCCHI, Alexander; VANEIGEM, Raoul. [Déclaration sur les procès contre l’Internationale Situationniste en Allemagne Fédérale] Erklæring vedrorende processen mod internationale situationister I Den Tyske Forbundsrepublik. n.p. [Randers, Denmark]: n.p. [Internationale Situationniste], n.d. [1962]. 3 p.; 21 x 34 cm.; black ink on cream stock.

In November 1961, Gruppe SPUR published the sixth issue of their periodical, which was promptly seized by authorities. Soon thereafter, in the first trial of artists in Germany since the Third Reich, the group was prosecuted for “pornography” and “religious defamation”. Though the Situationist group excluded Gruppe SPUR in February 1962, it continued to showcase solidarity towards its members. In May 1962, the leaflet “Déclaration sur les procès contre l’Internationale Situationniste en Allemagne Fédérale” was published in Paris. Its last paragraph read “We ask that all the sections of the SI translate and publish this declaration; and that our comrades adhere to our perspectives and distribute information about this affair as widely as possible. We ask everyone to support Uwe Lausen as soon as possible, as much though public declarations that could be useful during his trial as through forms of practical aid that could help the continuation of the SI’s activities in Germany” (p.3).

The following leaflet therefore comes in direct response to this ask. In it, the Scandinavian section of the S.I. offers a translation of “Declaration” into Danish. It is unclear how widely this leaflet was distributed, though – this is the first copy we encounter. As far as we are aware, no bibliography mentions its existence. Readers are encouraged to reach out to us should they have more details to contribute.

We locate no copy of this rare leaflet on OCLC or in the trade. A facsimile of the (much more common) French original can be found here, while an English translation can be found here

I Partiti Non Hanno Piu Niente Da Dirci [1966]

PIERINI, Franco. “I Partiti Non Hanno Piu Niente Da Dirci” in L’Europeo no. 1101. Milano: L’Europeo, 15 December 1966. 98 p.; ill.; 27 x 37 cm.; ill. wrappers.

Article on the Strasbourg scandal in the Italian magazine L’Europeo (pp. 26-31) illustrated by a series of photographs by Gianfranco Moroldo, one of which captures a young Mustapha Khayati. Though rarely kind to journalists, The S.I. was particularly pleased by this article. In a letter to Mario Perniola dated 26 December 1966, Debord describes it as “very honest and sympathetic, despite the “objective information” aspect of the end” (Correspondance Vol. III, p. 187). He respected its author sufficiently to have him included among the recipients of the first issue of Internazionale Situazionista (letter to the Italian section dated 29 August 1969 in Correspondance Vol. IV, p.108). When Sanguinetti considered giving an interview to the press in 1972, Debord recommended that he reach out to Franco Pierini at L’Europeo (Correspondance Vol. IV, p.526). Finally, in 1972, Raspaud & Voyer describe it as “excelent, clear, and intelligent” (l’Internationale Situationniste : protagonistes / chronologie / bibliographie (avec un index des noms insultés), pp. 141)

Raspaud & Voyer 141. Trespeuch 32.