Aesthetic considerations where obviously never abandoned when it came to the main organ of the SI – its journal. However the physical presence of the review complicates that story – for while the content of the articles may have altered, the standard of design was remarkably consistent. One common narrative strand of the history of the SI is that the artistic elements of the movement were displaced by the activist elements.
Totally unlike the earlier roneo-ed Potlach – the journal of the SI’s precursor.įrench readers have historically been more aware of this aspect of the journal through the availability of facsimile editions of the full 12 issue run of the Internationale Situationniste in anthology form – first produced by Van Gennep in 1970, then Champ Libre in 1975, and most recently by Fayard. Then, when I physically saw my first full set of the journal (1996 in a London bookshop – priced at £2000!) I was stunned by the range of colours on those iconic metallic-tinted covers, as well as the quality of paper and printing.
Gradually I happened upon reprints of individual pages from Internationale Situationniste in other books – and was surprised at the careful design and extensive use of illustrations in the articles. However at that point the texts were just that: text on the page, and nothing more. The texts were densely populated with original ideas, eye-opening, and fascinating. Like many people, I suspect, my first experience of the Internationale Situationniste was through Knabb’s Anthology, in the pre-internet 80s. My Experience of Internationale Situationniste The UK and US-based members of the original Situationist International started the process in the mid-60s, the arrival of Ken Knabb’s Situationist International Anthology in 1981 was a huge milestone along the way, and finally with the advent of the internet a new and dedicated band of translators have taken up the task. Thankfully, for the English-speakers amongst us, there have been a dedicated band of people who have translated the writings of the SI into our language. Unfortunately each of the resulting journals was short-lived – and so the vast majority of Situationist writing was difficult to access for non-Francophones. However the international focus of the SI led to a number of attempts to start parallel reviews in other languages (Italian, German, and English). Given their Parisian base, there were obvious reasons why the journal was written in French. It functioned as the movement’s main organ, and over 12 issues its pages documented the evolution of Situationist theory, the members’ thoughts on everyday life, and the internal/external dramas of the group. The Situationist International(SI) produced the journal Internationale Situationniste between 19.
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