The Spectacle

02:36 / 04.12.01

If you don't want to wade through Society, which is pretty heavy and tedious, maybe try the bits on the Sits in Stewart Home's 'The Assault on Culture', the collection he edited 'What Is Situationism?', or Sadie Plant's 'The Most Radical Gesture'.

06:46 / 04.12.01

For the lazy theory cripples amongst us, would anyone care to do a brief explanation?

08:02 / 04.12.01

quote: In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into representation.

That's the opening of Society of the Spectacle, seems as good a summary as any...

08:05 / 04.12.01

I thought that was post modernity?

So what's situationism?

sleazenation

08:39 / 04.12.01

the spectacle is part of postmodernity but many situationists see it more as the defining moment .

Thanks Sleaze but that doesn't really help. Pretend I'm stupid.

Very, very roughly:

The Situationists saw the Spectacle as a specific effect of contemporary capitalism. Postmodernists (some of them, at least) see it - or something like it, if they don't use the term - as an effect of the structure of language, desire, or some other unchanging, unhistorical aspect of life. So, the Situationists believed in a revolution - 'the revolution of everyday life' - which would put an end to the Spectacle and alienation, and return us to a full connection with the world. Postmodernists (at least this reductive version - identified with people like Baudrillard) see such a revolution as impossible and, in some ways, a reactionary ideal of 'unity' or 'full presence', etc.

Thank you very much.

Ooo I think I like situationists, sound much more positive than post modernity.

My lecturers lied to me, miserable bastards.

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: The Redcap's futility. ]

Harold Washington died for you

If you liked that you should read Sadie Plant's book, which is basically about how all of postmodernism is just a lousy, conservative rip-off of Situationism.

Sax

21:21 / 04.12.01

Thanks people.

nowonmai

22:09 / 05.12.01

i find it easier to understand sirtuationism from what is said about it from obeservers rather than situationsists themselves.

they believe their own hype a bit too much

iconoplast

00:28 / 06.12.01

I read up on the siuationists today, following the links y'all so thoughtfully provided.

This depressed me deeply.

What the fuck is wrong with us?

Why don't we riot because of art and music (Dada, Stravinski, Cage), Levitate the pentagon (offman), or even just run around and fuck with authority like the situationists?

How in god's name did we let ourselves become so coopted? Most people I know have just retreated - having a social conscience takes so much effort that they'd rather just not know about the terrible consequences every choice they make sseems inevitably to have. (The "Taco bell is vegan as long as you don't tell me there's lard in the tortillas" attitude)...

pre - WWII had Dada. Post WWII had surrealism. Then there were the situationalists, the Yippies, the Weathermen, and all sorts of weirdos.

Then... then what happened? Where'd all the lunatics go?

01:53 / 06.12.01

quote:Originally posted by iconoplast:
Then... then what happened? Where'd all the lunatics go?

I suspect they went to ground. They hide in out of the way places or in secret email lists or whatever and plan and plot and scheme. The careless ones are found out, usually with a lot of guns, and are burned alive on CNN.

The next batch of agitators will most likely be labeled terrorists, as the The Public is burned out on religious extremism. And it will be much easier not to feel sorry for them, much much easier for Them to cover up.

iconoplast

02:17 / 06.12.01

...why does it have to be agitation? Why can't it just be fun?