Gruppe SPUR. Manifest. n.p. [Munich]: Gruppe SPUR, n.d. [November 1958]. 1 p.; 21 x 30 cm.; black ink on off-white stock

First manifest of Gruppe SPUR, signed by all of its members (L. Fischer, H. Sturm, H. Prem, H.P. Zimmer, E. Eisch, A. Jorn, D. Rempf, G. Britt and G. Stadler) and likely published in November 1958. In 21 theses, the group sets itself on the margins of the art world by declaring that “whoever wants to create culture must destroy culture” (Thesis 5 — all translations are mine). It members take a stance against technicism (“Artistic research is free and has nothing to do with science and technology”, thesis 7), abstract art (“Abstract painting has become empty aestheticism”, thesis 14), among others. Gruppe SPUR concludes by stating: “WE ARE THE THIRD TACHIST WAVE .WE ARE THE THIRD DADAISTIC WAVE. WE ARE THE THIRD FUTURIST WAVE. WE ARE THE THIRD SURREALISTI WAVE. WE ARE THE THIRD WAVE . We are a sea of ​​waves ( SITUATIONISM ). The world can only be shattered by us. WE ARE THE PAINTERS OF THE FUTURE !”, theses 19-21). The full text in the original German is available here: http://protest-muenchen.sub-bavaria.de/artikel/1565

Gruppe SPUR would benefit from Asger Jorn’s support and begin exhibiting at Galerie Van de Loo in 1959. Between 1960 and 1961, the group would release seven issue of its eponymous journal (“SPUR”). Fischer, Prem, Zimmer, Sturm and Kunzelmann were also members of the Internationale Situationniste from 1959 until their formal exclusion on February 10, 1962. During those years, SPUR basically functioned as the German section of the SI. While the split was the result of a complex series of events, it was driven by a fundamental disagreement on the role art should play in a revolutionary avant-garde organization like the SI.

We locate 2 OCLC copies, as well as a copy at the MACBA.

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