This seminar examines the writings, films, artworks, journals, and cultural strategies of the Situationist International (SI) (1957–72) as a prism to consider the longer avant-garde legacy to which they belong. The central concern is to reexamine avant-garde critiques of capitalism advanced as critiques of architecture and urban planning. These are examined through a close reading of texts and manifestos, and by archival attention to the varied experiences, writings, and projects of the SI’s far-flung and ever-shifting membership, drawing on the unparalleled archival collections of figures associated with Surrealism, Lettrism, and Situationism at Beinecke Library. These include Enrico Baj and Arte Nucleare (Italy), Jacqueline de Jong (Holland), Asger Jorn (Denmark), Mustapha Kayati (Tunisia), Attila Kotányi (Hungary), Maurice Lemaître (Paris), Jorgen Nash and Drakabygget (Sweden), Ralph Rumney (UK), Gianfranco Sanguinetti (Italy), the Spur Group (Germany), and Gil J. Wolman (France), among others. These collections provide a unique opportunity to read Situationism against the grain, not as a singular movement centered around Guy Debord, but as an unruly international network of agonistic affiliation and debate, whose legacy demands active reinterpretation.
Taught by Craig Buckley Fall 2019