SITUATIONISTS: SITUATIONIST INTERNATIONAL

Situationist International (SI), a neo-Marxist group formed at a conference in 1957 who were highly influential in 1960s and '70s Europe. They developed a critque of capitalism based on a mixture of Marxism and surrealism. The leading figure of the movement Guy Debord identified consumer society as the Society of the Spectacle his highly influential book of that name from 1967. Their view was the dissolution of the division between artists art and the diffusion of art from consumers and to make art a part of everyday life. They also promoted a profound skepticism about the idea of originality and a commitment to attack and provoke.

The influence of Situationism on popular culture, particularly on the punk music of the mid to late 1970’s, is undeniable. Managers such as Bernie Rhodes and Malcolm McLaren were committed, consummate Situationists (the latters bands the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow, were initially based around its principles). Some people even used Situationism as a bridge to punk, such as Brigadange vocalist Michelle Brigadange, who says, “I was really interested in the whole punk thing from the Situationists onwards. Guy Debord’s theory of the Spectacle is the resonant one. Simply put, the world we see is not the real world but the world we are conditioned to see, and the Situationist agenda is to explain how the nightmare works so that everyone can wake up.”

Situationist International fulfilled its true place in history in the famous events of May 1968, their ideas helping to provide the foundation for the uprisings in Paris. In an aftermath speech of June 7th, Charles De Galle said that “this explosion was provoked by groups in revolt against modern consumer and technical society, whether it be the communism of the East or the capitalism of the West.”

The Situationist International brought together currents of experimental poetry, avant-garde art, and radical social criticism to explore new techniques of engagement in cultural protest and revolutionary praxis. Although the organisation itself remained small and disbanded in 1972, the SI shaped the interaction of art and politics at crucial moments in the evolution of postwar culture, including the transnational uprisings of 1968 and 1977. Its influence continues to be felt today.

I really like the philosophy of the Situationist International movement. From their wanting to dissolve art and make it more accessible to the general public the DIY aesthetics and challenging of originality and the powers that be. They challenged the sleepwalking around in what is created by the media as "the real world" and challenged this but actively encouraging people to look deeper and challenge what has been set out to us by the media as "the norm". These are all themes that reverberate around my work. I will look to apply these even more as I move forward in my global warming piece. By using the medias own messages through images and news clips to create and often subvert their meanings and morality to create my own ideologies.