Up Against the Real: Black Mask from Art to Action [2023]

MILLNER-LARSEN, Nadja. Up Against the Real: Black Mask from Art to Action. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 7 March 2023. 288 p.; ill.; 23 x 15 cm.; ill. Cover with text in black and white.

Art Historian Nadja Millner-Larsen authors the first book-length scholarly study of Black Mask.

“”With Up Against the Real, Nadja Millner-Larsen offers the first comprehensive study of the group Black Mask and its acrimonious relationship to the New York art world of the 1960s. Cited as pioneers of now-common protest aesthetics, the group’s members employed incendiary modes of direct action against racism, colonialism, and the museum system. They shut down the Museum of Modern Art, fired blanks during a poetry reading, stormed the Pentagon in an antiwar protest, sprayed cow’s blood at the secretary of state, and dumped garbage into the fountain at Lincoln Center. Black Mask published a Dadaist broadside until 1968, when it changed its name to Up Against the Wall Motherfucker (after line in a poem by Amiri Baraka) and came to classify itself as “a street gang with analysis.” American activist Abbie Hoffman described the group as “the middle-class nightmare . . . an anti-media phenomenon simply because their name could not be printed.” Up Against the Real examines how and why the group ultimately rejected art in favor of what its members deemed “real” political action. Exploring this notorious example of cultural activism that rose from the ruins of the avant-garde, Millner-Larsen makes a critical intervention in our understanding of political art.” (Publisher)

For more on Black Mask, see https://situationnisteblog.wordpress.com//?s=%22black+mask%22&search=Go

Auf der Reise zum Mittepunkt der Geschichte [1973]

PROJEKTGRUPPE GEGENGESELLSCHAFT. Auf der Reise zum Mittepunkt der Geschichte. Dü̈sseldorf : Projektgruppe Gegengesellschaft, n.d.[1973]. 1 p.; 49.5 x 69.5 cm.; ill. B&W comics on white stock

“Detourned comix style design promoting Situationist publications available through the Projektgruppe Gegengesellschaft in Dusseldorf, with prices in German Mark and Dutch Guilders added in blue handwriting. Contains a stamp on lower right corner of Bas Moreel, a publisher/distributor of anarchist literature in Wageningen” (Zwigelaar)

Projektgruppe Gegengesellschaft was a pro-situ German group that translated and published numerous SI and post-SI texts into German. These include Das Elend der Studenten und der Beginn einer Epoche (translation of De la misère en milieu étudiant from 1966 and “Le commencement d’une époque”, in Internationale Situationniste 12, 1969) , Die Gesellschaft des Spektakels (translation of La Société du spectacle, 1967), Handbuch der Lebenskunst fur die jungen Generationen (translation of Traité de savoir-vivre à l’usage des jeunes générations, 1967), etc. They appear to have published a periodical, Zero : alternativ Zeitung, 11 issues of which were released between 1972 and 1977.

We do not locate any OCLC copies, though Ken Knabb states that a copy is part of his archive at Yale University (see http://www.bopsecrets.org/recent/yale-inventory.htm)

Andre Frankin, Personne et les autres (1960) [2023]

FRANKIN, André. Personne et les autres (1960). Ed. Francois Coadou and Frederic Thomas. Toulon, La Nerthe, March 2023. 116 pages.

We are excited to announce the publication of a previously unreleased text by A. Frankin, one of the most obscure figure of the Situationist movement.

About Andre Frankin.

“André Frankin is not well-known and his impact on the lettrist and situationist movements are hard to measure” states scholar Jean-Marie Apostolides. André Frankin (also know “Robert Rivier” and “Léonard Rankine”) was born on 16 June 1925 in Liege, Belgium and died in the same city on 28 March 1990. Born into a middle class family, he suffered from neurological issues as a child that left him partially disabled – he walked and, at times, spoke with difficulty. Yet, he was viewed as intelligent and well-read. He first met Debord and the Internationale Lettriste through the Metagraphies exhibition in Paris in 1954. He then wrote several articles in Potlatch under the pseudonym “Leonard Rankine”, including “Perspectives of the Paris and London agreements” (Potlatch 15, December 1954). His contributions to the SI include: “Platform for a cultural Revolution” (Internationale Situationniste 3, December 1959), “Programmatic Outlines” (Internationale Situationniste 4, June 1960), and “Preface to the Scenic Unity” (Internationale Situationniste 5, December 1960).

For more texts by Frankin that we have located, see here (“Wilhelm Reich et l’economie sexuelle” in Arguments 18, 1960; and Le parti, le quotidien, in Arguments 25-26, 1962).

About Personne et les autres

From the editor (translation is ours):

The only play written by one of the members of the Situationist International (SI) – André Frankin (1925-1990) from Liège – Personne et les autres (1960) seemed irretrievably lost. We only knew about the play’s introduction, which was published in December 1960 in issue #5 of the Internationale Situationniste, and from a few mentions in the correspondence of Guy Debord. This was all the more regrettable since the play opened up, in Debord’s words, a new domain “for the Situationist scandal”, and because Situationist thoughts has since had a great influence on contemporary theater and performance. .

In 2015, the artist Vincent Meessen borrowed from Frankin’s book in choosing title of the group exhibition he organized for the Belgian Pavilion, during the 56th Venice Biennale. It was also discussed, in 2017, during the symposium The Situationist International and Contemporary Performance, organized at the Théâtre des Amandiers and the Théâtre de l’Échangeur.

Raoul Vaneigem recently found the typescript of Personne et les autres in his archives, and was kind enough to entrust it to us for publication

Publisher’s website:

https://lanerthe.wixsite.com/editionslanerthe

Internazionale Situazionista – Corrispondenza con un’editore [1972]

INTERNAZIONALE SITUAZIONISTA. Corrispondenza con un’editore. Milan: Internazionale Situazionista, n.d. [Feb. 1972]. Broadside; 49.5 x 33.2 cm.; black and red ink on white stock.

Printed and distributed in Italy, this broadside reproduces several letters between Guy Debord, Gianfranco Sanguinetti (from the Situationist International) and Gian Piero Brega (who worked for Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli). Sanguinetti’s Foreign Rights department initiates contact with the SI, with the intent to publish an Italian translation of the 12 issues of Internationale Situationniste. Debord writes back, calling Feltrinelli a “Stalinist reptile” and “formally [denying him] the right to publish, in whole or in part, any SI text”. Brega further responds that Debord’s “letter of the 9th December is overflowing with errors of fact and of argument” then closes with “Good advice: get help. Good wishes: get well soon”. The last letter, penned by Sanguinetti, openly threatens Brega should he or Feltrinelli dare publish any texts from the SI.

The text from this broadside was reproduced alongside Avviso al proletariato italiano ; Gli operai d’Italia e la rivolta di Reggio Calabria by G.d.C in 1973 & 1976. It was translated into French by Luc Mercier and Joel Gayraud, then published in Ecrits complets. Section italienne de l’Internationale Situationniste [1969-1972] (Paris: Contre-Moule, 1988), pp. 133-137. It has also been translated into English by Phil Edwards in 1998 and posted on NotBored! (https://www.notbored.org/feltrinelli.html).

Gonzalvez 130.

We locate a single copy on OCLC at the Biblioteca del Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea (MART) in Italy.

Memoires by Debord & Jorn – Spanish Edition [2022]

DEBORD, Guy and JORN, Asger. Memorias: Estructuras Portantes de Asger Jorn. Buenos Aires: Homo Faber, November 2022. n.p. [62 p.]; ill.; 21 x 29.7 cm. Japanese side-stitch binding with 3M sandpaper (ref. HB004070866) and 1mm thick grey cardboard.

Memoires is the product of a collaboration between Guy Debord and Asger Jorn in the early years of the Situationist International. Printed in vivid colors – the work of Danish master-printers Permild & Rosengreen – it is viewed by some as the most important art book of the twentieth century. 500 copies of Memoires were originally issued. For more details about the original edition, see here

Produced by Mariano Gigena and published by Homo Faber in Buenos Aires in November 2022, this work is believed to be the first Spanish language edition of Memoires. The translation and postface are the work of Argentinean poet Bárbara Belloc. The book is printed on 150 gr paper using a Brother DCP-T420 for the images and Brother HL-J2360dw for the text. Only 50 numbered copies were created, all handmade. For more information, see here

We do have two additional copies in our possession, which we are willing to trade.

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.

Présent fait aux lecteurs de Lire Debord, traitant des curiosités et difficultés rencontrées dans l’ouvrage [2022]

MERCIER, Luc. Présent fait aux lecteurs de Lire Debord, traitant des curiosités et difficultés rencontrées dans l’ouvrage. n.p. [Luc Mercier]: n.p.[France], 22 September 2022. Comb-bound pamphlet. 49 p.; 21 x 30 cm.; black ink on plain white stock

Edited by Guy Emmanuel and Laurence LeBras, Lire Debord (Paris: L’Echappée, 2016) made available to readers several never-published texts, notes and documents by Guy Debord. Scholarly articles by Anselm Jappe, Greil Marcus, Tom McDonough, and Patrick Marcolini, among others, helped contextualize and bring into light this new original content.

While Lire Debord provides a rich repository of primary and second material, and despite the editors’ best intentions, it is not without gaps, errors, and misinterpretations. Mercier’s Présent fait aux lecteurs de Lire Debord, traitant des curiosités et difficultés rencontrées dans l’ouvrage provides readers a rich set of additions and corrections. Among those are details about topics like the Fronde (a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653), Orson Welles, and some aspects of Debord’s cinema. There are many others

The author of this brochure is no stranger to Debord and the S.I. more broadly. Born in 1954, Mercier is perhaps best known for having played a key role in the dissemination of Situationist material in the 1980s and 1990s. For instance, he circulated Le Port-Folio Situationniste (Paris: Le Lundi au soleil, 1993), a two-volume compilation of texts by the S.I. Mercier also published a translation of texts by the Italian section (Paris: Contre-Moule, 1988), and a translation of documents by various sections of the S.I. (Archives situationnistes Volume 1: Documents traduits (1958-1970). Paris: Contre-Moule / Paralleles, 1997). The latter features the first translation into French of texts by Gruppe SPUR. Other Situationist-related texts by Mercier include Le vraisemblable sur l’assassinat de Gerard Lebovici (Paris, 1984) — which Debord lauded — and Apostrophe à l’auteur de « Guy Debord ou la beauté du négatif (Paris, 1998). Mercier was also a founding member of Comité irradiés de tous les pays, unissons-nous, an anti-nuclear collective influenced by Situationist ideas (their manifesto can be found here), but would depart a year later as the group split into two opposing factions

If interested in acquiring Présent fait aux lecteurs… please get in touch with us, and we will connect you with Luc Mercier.

[11/29 update: adding links to the text and errata file below

lire-debord-1Download

erratum-1-1Download

Adages / Vaneigem & Stas [2022]

VANEIGEM, Raoul; STAS, André. Adages. Brussels: La Pierre d’Alun, 21 March 2022. 64 p.; 11 x 14 cm; ill. Cover with text in gold, housed in a black slipcase embossed with gold lettering.

This artist book includes aphorisms by Vaneigem and collages by artist André Stas. It was printed in 500 copies. An additional third copies, numbered and signed by the artists, feature an original print by Stas and are housed in a black slipcase embossed with gold lettering. Ours is copy number 9.