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{{Short description|Practical joke intended to subvert media culture}}
{{Merge to|Situationist International|discuss=Talk:Situationist International#Proposal to merge into this article|date=March 2011}}
{{Situationists |expanded=Concepts}}
⚫
'''Situationist prank''' is a term used in the [[mass media]] to label a distinctive tactic by the [[Situationist International]], consisting of setting up a subversive<ref name="KnabbSanguinetti"/><ref name="Holt2010p252"/> political prank, hoax or stunt;<ref name="Marrone05"/> In the terminology of the Situationist International, stunts and media pranks are very similar to ''situations''.<ref>Sandlin, Jennifer A. (2009) [http://books.google.com/books?id=32vZVme29CcC&pg=PA240 ''Critical pedagogies of consumption''] p.240 quote: {{quotation|Through artistic interventions, hoaxes, tactical media pranks, or what the SI called "situations," culture jammers direct public attention ...}}</ref><ref>Franks, Benjamin (2006) [http://books.google.com/books?id=HqvaAAAAMAAJ ''Rebel alliances: the means and ends of contemporary British anarchisms''] p.315 {{quotation|Stunts are very similar to situations but have an additional characteristic, namely that the imaginative interaction is aimed at the mainstream media, the intention being that they broadcast the prank to a wider public}}</ref> The ''[[détournement]]'' technique, that is "turning expressions of the capitalist system against itself,"<ref name="Holt2010p252"/> was the essential element of a situationist prank.<ref name="Marrone05"/> The Situationist tactic of using ''détournement'' for subversive pranks is such a distinctive and influential aspect of the Situationist International, that they are sometimes labeled as a group of political ''pranksters''.<ref name="Holt2010p252"/>


⚫
'''Situationist prank''' is a term used in the [[mass media]] to label a distinctive tactic by the [[Situationist International]], consisting of setting up a subversive<ref name="KnabbSanguinetti"/><ref name="Holt2010p252"/> political prank, hoax or stunt;<ref name="Marrone05"/> In the terminology of the Situationist International, stunts and media pranks are very similar to ''[[Situation (Sartre)|situation]]s''.<ref>Sandlin, Jennifer A. (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=32vZVme29CcC&pg=PA240 ''Critical pedagogies of consumption''] p.240 quote: {{quotation|Through artistic interventions, hoaxes, tactical media pranks, or what the SI called "situations," culture jammers direct public attention ...}}</ref><ref>Franks, Benjamin (2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HqvaAAAAMAAJ ''Rebel alliances: the means and ends of contemporary British anarchisms''] p.315 {{quotation|Stunts are very similar to situations but have an additional characteristic, namely that the imaginative interaction is aimed at the mainstream media, the intention being that they broadcast the prank to a wider public}}</ref> The ''[[détournement]]'' technique, that is "turning expressions of the capitalist system against itself,"<ref name="Holt2010p252"/> was the essential element of a situationist prank.<ref name="Marrone05"/> The Situationist tactic of using ''détournement'' for subversive pranks is such a distinctive and influential aspect of the Situationist International, that they are sometimes labeled as a group of political ''pranksters''.<ref name="Holt2010p252"/>
⚫
The tactic was reprised by the [[punk movement]] in the late 1970s, with [[Malcolm McLaren]]'s launch of the [[Sex Pistols]],<ref name="Holt2010p252"/><ref name="Marrone05"/> and inspired the [[culture jamming]] movement in the late 1980s.<ref name="Holt2010p252"/> The expression '''situationist prankster''' has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform [[media prank]]s or [[publicity stunt]]s.<ref name="Vincentelli04"/><ref name="Fortnight335-345"/><ref name="Buckley"/><ref name="Elsaesser"/>

⚫
This tactic was used by the [[Sex Pistols]] to mock [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]]'s [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver Jubilee]] celebrations.<ref name="Holt2010p252"/><ref name="Marrone05"/> Frank Discussion of the band the Feederz is well known for his situationist pranks and [[detournement]] in the United States since the late 1970s. It also inspired the [[culture jamming]] movement in the late 1980s.<ref name="Holt2010p252"/> The expression '''situationist prankster''' has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform [[media prank]]s or [[publicity stunt]]s.<ref name="Vincentelli04"/><ref name="Fortnight335-345"/><ref name="Buckley"/><ref name="Elsaesser"/>


==By Situationists==
==By Situationists==
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===Notre-Dame Affair on National TV===
===Notre-Dame Affair on National TV===
{{main|Notre-Dame Affair}}
{{main|Notre-Dame Affair}}
One of the earliest Situationist pranks,<ref name="Holt2010p252">Holt (2010) p.252</ref> '''The Notre-Dame Affair''' was an intervention performed by members of the radical wing of the [[Lettrist]] movement ([[Michel Mourre]], [[Serge Berna]], Ghislain Desnoyers de Marbaix and Jean Rullier), on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950, at [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame Cathedral]] in Paris, while the mass was aired lived on National TV. Michel Mourre, dressed in the habit of a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[monk]] and backed by his co-conspirators, chose a quiet moment in the Easter High Mass to climb to the rostrum and declaim before the whole congregation a blasphemous anti-sermon on the death of God, penned by Serge Berna.<ref>[http://www.snarkout.org/archives/2002/11/24/ snarkout: to have done with the judgment of god<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.mirorenzaglia.com/index.php?itemid=8 miro renzaglia - COSTRUIRE L'UNITA' D'AREA/2<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.mirorenzaglia.com/index.php?itemid=311 miro renzaglia - SITUAZIONISMO<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
One of the earliest Situationist pranks,<ref name="Holt2010p252">Holt (2010) p.252</ref> '''The Notre-Dame Affair''' was an intervention performed by members of the radical wing of the [[Lettrist]] movement ([[Michel Mourre]], [[Serge Berna]], Ghislain Desnoyers de Marbaix and Jean Rullier), on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950, at [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame Cathedral]] in Paris, while the mass was aired live on National TV. Michel Mourre, dressed in the habit of a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[friar]] and backed by his co-conspirators, chose a quiet moment in the Easter High Mass to climb to the rostrum and declaim before the whole congregation a blasphemous anti-sermon on the death of God, penned by Serge Berna.<ref>[http://www.snarkout.org/archives/2002/11/24/ snarkout: to have done with the judgment of god<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031113002215/http://www.snarkout.org/archives/2002/11/24/ |date=2003-11-13 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.mirorenzaglia.com/index.php?itemid=8 miro renzaglia - COSTRUIRE L'UNITA' D'AREA/2<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.mirorenzaglia.com/index.php?itemid=311 miro renzaglia – SITUAZIONISMO<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


===Strasbourg scandal===
===Strasbourg scandal===


{{main|On the Poverty of Student Life}}
{{main|On the Poverty of Student Life}}
Taking advantage of the apathy of their colleagues, five "Pro-situs", Situationist-influenced students had infiltrated the University of Strasbourg's [[Student activity center|student union]] in November 1966 and began scandalising the authorities.<ref name=tmrg>{{cite book | last = Plant | first = Sadie | title = The Most Radical Gesture | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-415-06222-5 |page=94}}</ref><ref name=vague>{{cite book | last = Vague | first = Tom | title = Anarchy in the Uk: the Angry Brigade | publisher = AK Press | location = Stirling | year = 1997 | isbn = 1-873176-98-8 |pages=13–14}}</ref> Their first action was to form an "anarchist appreciation society" called The Society for the Rehabilitation for Karl Marx and Ravachol; next they appropriated union funds to [[Flyposting|flypost]] "Return of the Durruti Column", [[Andre Bertrand]]'s ''[[detournement|détourned]]'' comic strip.<ref name=vague/> They then invited the Situationists to contribute a critique of the University of Strasbourg, and ''On the Poverty of Student Life'', written by Tunisian Situationist [[Mustapha/Omar Khayati]] was the result.<ref name=vague/>
Taking advantage of the apathy of their colleagues, five "Pro-situs", Situationist-influenced students had infiltrated the University of Strasbourg's [[Student activity center|student union]] in November 1966 and began scandalising the authorities.<ref name=tmrg>{{cite book | last = Plant | first = Sadie | title = The Most Radical Gesture | url = https://archive.org/details/mostradicalgestu00plan | url-access = limited | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-415-06222-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mostradicalgestu00plan/page/n104 94]}}</ref><ref name=vague>{{cite book | last = Vague | first = Tom | title = Anarchy in the Uk: the Angry Brigade | publisher = AK Press | location = Stirling | year = 1997 | isbn = 1-873176-98-8 |pages=13–14}}</ref> Their first action was to form an "anarchist appreciation society" called The Society for the Rehabilitation for Karl Marx and Ravachol; next they appropriated union funds to [[Flyposting|flypost]] "Return of the Durruti Column", [[Andre Bertrand]]'s ''[[detournement|détourned]]'' comic strip.<ref name=vague/> They then invited the Situationists to contribute a critique of the University of Strasbourg, and ''On the Poverty of Student Life'', written by Tunisian Situationist [[Mustapha Khayati|Mustapha/Omar Khayati]] was the result.<ref name=vague/>


The students promptly proceeded to print 10,000 copies of the pamphlet using university funds and distributed them during a ceremony marking the beginning of the [[academic year]]. This provoked an immediate outcry in the local, national and international media.<ref name=vague/>
The students promptly proceeded to print 10,000 copies of the pamphlet using university funds and distributed them during a ceremony marking the beginning of the [[academic year]]. This provoked an immediate outcry in the local, national and international media.<ref name=vague/>


===Sanguinetti's ''Report'' to save capitalism===
===Sanguinetti's ''Report'' to save capitalism===
By 1972, [[Gianfranco Sanguinetti]] and [[Guy Debord]] were the only two remaining members of the SI. Working with Debord, in August 1975, Sanguinetti wrote a pamphlet titled ''Rapporto veridico sulle ultima opportunita di salvare il capitalismo in Italia'' ([[English language|Eng]]: ''Veritable Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy''), which (inspired by [[Bruno Bauer]]) purported to be the cynical writing of "Censor", a powerful [[industrialist]]. The pamphlet was to show how the ruling class of Italy supported the [[Piazza Fontana bombing]] and other mass slaughter, for the higher goal of defending the capitalist status quo from the communist claims. The pamphlet was mailed to 520 of Italy's most powerful individuals. It was received as genuine, and powerful politicians, industrialists and journalist praised its content and guessed on the identity of its high profile author. After reprinting the tract into a small book, Sanguinetti revealed himself to be the true author. Scandal raised after the revelation, as it successfully exposed the truth and hypocrisy on the mass slaughters,<ref name="KnabbSanguinetti">[[Ken Knabb]] [http://www.notbored.org/report.html ''Gianfranco Sanguinetti'']</ref> and under pressure from Italian authorities, Sanguinetti left Italy in February 1976, and was denied entry to France.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}
By 1972, [[Gianfranco Sanguinetti]] and [[Guy Debord]] were the only two remaining members of Situationist International. Working with Debord, in August 1975, Sanguinetti wrote a pamphlet titled ''Rapporto veridico sulle ultime opportunità di salvare il capitalismo in Italia'' ([[English language|Eng]]: ''Veritable Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy''), which (inspired by [[Bruno Bauer]]) purported to be the cynical writing of "Censor", a powerful [[industrialist]]. The pamphlet argues that the ruling class of Italy supported the [[Piazza Fontana bombing]] and other mass slaughter, for the higher goal of defending the capitalist status quo from communist claims. The pamphlet was mailed to 520 of Italy's most powerful individuals. It was received as genuine, and powerful politicians, industrialists and journalists praised its contents and guessed the identity of its high-profile author. After reprinting the tract into a small book,<ref>{{cite book |last1= Sanguineti|first1= Gianfranco|last2=Censor (pseud.) |date= 1975 |title= Rapporto veridico sulle ultime opportunità di salvare il capitalismo in Italia|trans-title= Veritable Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=84chYAAACAAJ|language= it|publisher= [[Mursia]] |pages= 139|access-date= 2015-03-20}}</ref> Sanguinetti revealed himself to be the true author. Under pressure from Italian authorities, Sanguinetti left Italy in February 1976, and was denied re-entry to France, from which he had previously been deported in 1971.<ref name="KnabbSanguinetti">[[Ken Knabb]] [http://www.notbored.org/report.html ''Gianfranco Sanguinetti'']</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Sanguinetti |first= Gianfranco|others=Translated by Bill Brown|date= 2014 |title= Truthful Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YpdKBgAAQBAJ&q=Gianfranco+Sanguinetti+Rapporto+veridico+sulle+ultima+opportunita+di+salvare+il+capitalismo+in+Italia&pg=PR6|location= Brooklyn|publisher= Colossal Books|isbn= 9780615948270|access-date= 2015-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1= Munzi|last2=Macciocchi|first1= Ulderico|first2=Maria Antonietta|date= 1994-03-12|title=Debord, la rivoluzione è finita|trans-title= Debord, the revolution is over|url= http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1994/dicembre/03/Debord_rivoluzione_finita_co_0_9412039257.shtml|language= it|newspaper= [[Corriere della Sera]]|location= Milan|access-date= 2015-03-20}}</ref>


===Others===
===Others===
Film ''[[Hurlements en faveur de Sade]]'' (Howls for Sade) (1952) by [[Guy Debord]], had 24 minutes of black screen. Book ''[[Mémoires]]'' (1959) by [[Guy Debord]] and [[Asger Jorn]] had the cover made of [[sandpaper]].
Film ''[[Hurlements en faveur de Sade]]'' (Howls for de Sade) (1952) by [[Guy Debord]], had 24 minutes of black screen. Book ''[[Mémoires]]'' (1959) by [[Guy Debord]] and [[Asger Jorn]] had the cover made of [[sandpaper]].


==Legacy==
==Legacy==
The situationist tactic of a détournement-based hoax was nototriously reprised by the [[Punk movement]], like in [[Malcolm McLaren]]'s 1977 launch of the [[Sex Pistols]].<ref name="Marrone05">Marrone, Gianfranco (2005) [http://books.google.com/books?id=0jluoyGktKsC ''Sensi alterati: droghe, musica, immagini''], p.45, quote:
The situationist tactic of a détournement-based hoax was notoriously used in February 1977 by the Sex Pistols, who played [[God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)|their version of "God Save the Queen"]] while sailing down the [[River Thames]] past the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]] to mock the [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver Jubilee]] river procession in honor of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref name="Marrone05">Marrone, Gianfranco (2005) [https://books.google.com/books?id=0jluoyGktKsC ''Sensi alterati: droghe, musica, immagini''], p.45, quote:
{{quotation|[...] gioco al coplotto, alla manipolazione dei media, alla beffa, alla "grande truffa," o al ''detournement'' -- inventato dai situazionisti e ripreso dai punk -- che appunto del situazionismo sono talvolta concreti continuatori. Pensiamo in questo senso al fin troppo noto caso, esagerato dai media, ma paradigmatico, del manager dei Sex Pistols, Malcom McClaren, a partire dal quale, nell'estate del 1977, si scateno', con grande scandalo, il lancio del gruppo dei Pistols in pieno Giubileo della regina, e l'interesse della stampa per la nascente scena punk. Tuttavia, anche in questo caso non si tratta, come invece e' stato spesso sostenuto, di freddo "gioco a tavolino", di cinismo, di furbo lancio di un prodotto da parte di chi aveva studiato i media e lavorava sulla guerriglia semiologica (cfr. Fabbri P. 2002, p.40), di una tattica che sarebbe poi stata facilmente sfruttata e fatta propria da quel momento in avanti dall'industria culturale ''mainstream''.}}</ref>
{{quotation|[...] gioco al complotto, alla manipolazione dei media, alla beffa, alla "grande truffa," o al ''detournement'' -- inventato dai situazionisti e ripreso dai punk -- che appunto del situazionismo sono talvolta concreti continuatori. Pensiamo in questo senso al fin troppo noto caso, esagerato dai media, ma paradigmatico, del manager dei Sex Pistols, Malcom McLaren, a partire dal quale, nell'estate del 1977, si scatenò, con grande scandalo, il lancio del gruppo dei Pistols in pieno Giubileo della regina, e l'interesse della stampa per la nascente scena punk. Tuttavia, anche in questo caso non si tratta, come invece e' stato spesso sostenuto, di freddo "gioco a tavolino", di cinismo, di furbo lancio di un prodotto da parte di chi aveva studiato i media e lavorava sulla guerriglia semiologica (cfr. Fabbri P. 2002, p.40), di una tattica che sarebbe poi stata facilmente sfruttata e fatta propria da quel momento in avanti dall'industria culturale ''mainstream''.}}</ref>


The expression '''situationist prankster''' has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform [[media prank]]s or [[publicity stunt]]s, as in the cases of ''[[The KLF]]'',<ref name="Vincentelli04">Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2004) [http://books.google.com/books?id=yoCV0eaetb0C ''ABBA gold'']</ref> the ''[[K Foundation]]'',<ref name="Fortnight335-345">[http://books.google.com/books?id=edhnAAAAMAAJ Fortnight, Issues 335-345] p.349</ref> [[Genesis P-Orridge]],<ref name="Buckley">[http://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C The rough guide to rock edited by Peter Buckley]</ref> [[Harun Farocki]],<ref name="Elsaesser">[http://books.google.com/books?id=OHBrp2_W2ccC Harun Farocki: working on the sightlines By Thomas Elsaesser] p.106</ref> and others.<ref name="Gimarc94p47">[[George Gimarc]] (1994) [http://www.gimarc.com/PUNK_DIARY.html ''Punk Diary 1970-1979''], p.47</ref><ref name="Sabin99p182">Sabin, Roger (1999) [http://books.google.com/books?id=Pnb1g3oIzTIC ''Punk rock: so what? : the cultural legacy of punk''], p.182</ref>
The expression '''situationist prankster''' has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform [[media prank]]s or [[publicity stunt]]s, as in the cases of ''[[The KLF]]'',<ref name="Vincentelli04">Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2004) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yoCV0eaetb0C ''ABBA gold'']</ref> the ''[[K Foundation]]'',<ref name="Fortnight335-345">[https://books.google.com/books?id=edhnAAAAMAAJ Fortnight, Issues 335-345] p.349</ref> [[Genesis P-Orridge]],<ref name="Buckley">[https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C The rough guide to rock edited by Peter Buckley]</ref> [[Harun Farocki]],<ref name="Elsaesser">[https://books.google.com/books?id=OHBrp2_W2ccC Harun Farocki: working on the sightlines By Thomas Elsaesser] p.106</ref> and others.<ref name="Gimarc94p47">[[George Gimarc]] (1994) [http://www.gimarc.com/PUNK_DIARY.html ''Punk Diary 1970-1979''], p.47</ref><ref name="Sabin99p182">Sabin, Roger (1999) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pnb1g3oIzTIC ''Punk rock: so what? : the cultural legacy of punk''], p.182</ref>


A growth of campaigns using tactics such as the [[Flash Mob]] or [[Subvertising]] in recent years can be traced to situationist pranks. These tactics, notable in stunts by [[The Yes Men]], campaigns by [[Green Peace]], and guerilla art by [[Banksy]], have been characterised by their appropriation of establishment symbols, shifting the intended purpose of public (now private) space, or creating bizarre reality hacks that merely remix the cultural context, as opposed to providing something entirely surreal.<ref name="New Statesman">New Statesman (2013) [http://newstatesman.com/culture/2013/05/spectacle-disintegration ''The Spectacle of Disintegration'']</ref> Some surreal pranks continue to exist in more subversive movements, such as the Alley concept,<ref name="Alley concept">Alley Concept (2013) [http://alleyconcept.tumblr.com "Alley Concept"]</ref> and are traceable to situationist pranks in their deliberate constructions of surreal situations that juxtapose the [[Spectacle|Spectacle (critical theory)]] thereby aiming to reawaken authentic desires and liberate everyday life.
A growth of campaigns using tactics such as the [[Flash Mob]] or [[Subvertising]] in recent years can be traced to situationist pranks. These tactics, notable in stunts by [[The Yes Men]], campaigns by [[Greenpeace]], and guerilla art by [[Banksy]], have been characterised by their appropriation of establishment symbols, shifting the intended purpose of public (now private) space, or creating bizarre reality hacks that merely remix the cultural context, as opposed to providing something entirely surreal.<ref name="New Statesman">New Statesman (2013) [http://newstatesman.com/culture/2013/05/spectacle-disintegration ''The Spectacle of Disintegration'']</ref> Some surreal pranks continue to exist in more subversive movements, such as the Alley concept,<ref name="Alley concept">Alley Concept (2013) [http://alleyconcept.tumblr.com "Alley Concept"]</ref> and are traceable to situationist pranks in their deliberate constructions of surreal situations that juxtapose the [[Spectacle (critical theory)|Spectacle]] thereby aiming to reawaken authentic desires and liberate everyday life.


The concept forms the primary genre on popular Australian television series "The Chasers War on Everything". Worldwide media attention followed their successful entry into the G20 Summit held in Sydney, Australia - September 2007. The group formed a motorcade with a Bin Laden-esq character inside a limousine flying flags of a non-existent country.<ref>[[www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvH3YQGQwLM]] Sep 12, 2007 - Chas dressed as Osama bin Laden the Chasers drive a disguised Canadian motorcade ...</ref>
The concept forms the primary genre on popular Australian television series "The Chaser's War on Everything." Worldwide media attention followed their successful entry into the G20 Summit held in Sydney, Australia - September 2007. The group formed a motorcade with a Bin Laden-esque character inside a limousine flying flags of a non-existent country.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvH3YQGQwLM The Chaser's war on Everything - APEC Motorcade] Sep 12, 2007 - Chas dressed as Osama bin Laden the Chasers drive a disguised Canadian motorcade ...</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Psyops]]
*[[Psyops]]
*[[Yippies]]
*[[Abbie Hoffman]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==References==
==References==
*Holt, Douglas and [[Amalgamated Advertising|Cameron, Douglas]] (2010) [http://books.google.com/books?id=PNEQ7gGDGVwC ''Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands''], Oxford University Press
*Holt, Douglas and [[Amalgamated Advertising|Cameron, Douglas]] (2010) [https://books.google.com/books?id=PNEQ7gGDGVwC ''Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands''], Oxford University Press


{{Guerrilla theatre}}
{{Guerrilla theatre}}

Latest revision as of 20:20, 9 January 2024

Part of the Politics series on
The Situationist International
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Situationist prank is a term used in the mass media to label a distinctive tactic by the Situationist International, consisting of setting up a subversive[1][2] political prank, hoax or stunt;[3] In the terminology of the Situationist International, stunts and media pranks are very similar to situations.[4][5] The détournement technique, that is "turning expressions of the capitalist system against itself,"[2] was the essential element of a situationist prank.[3] The Situationist tactic of using détournement for subversive pranks is such a distinctive and influential aspect of the Situationist International, that they are sometimes labeled as a group of political pranksters.[2]

This tactic was used by the Sex Pistols to mock Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee celebrations.[2][3] Frank Discussion of the band the Feederz is well known for his situationist pranks and detournement in the United States since the late 1970s. It also inspired the culture jamming movement in the late 1980s.[2] The expression situationist prankster has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform media pranks or publicity stunts.[6][7][8][9]

By Situationists

[edit]

Notre-Dame Affair on National TV

[edit]
Main article: Notre-Dame Affair

One of the earliest Situationist pranks,[2] The Notre-Dame Affair was an intervention performed by members of the radical wing of the Lettrist movement (Michel Mourre, Serge Berna, Ghislain Desnoyers de Marbaix and Jean Rullier), on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950, at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, while the mass was aired live on National TV. Michel Mourre, dressed in the habit of a Dominican friar and backed by his co-conspirators, chose a quiet moment in the Easter High Mass to climb to the rostrum and declaim before the whole congregation a blasphemous anti-sermon on the death of God, penned by Serge Berna.[10][11][12]

Strasbourg scandal

[edit]
Main article: On the Poverty of Student Life

Taking advantage of the apathy of their colleagues, five "Pro-situs", Situationist-influenced students had infiltrated the University of Strasbourg's student union in November 1966 and began scandalising the authorities.[13][14] Their first action was to form an "anarchist appreciation society" called The Society for the Rehabilitation for Karl Marx and Ravachol; next they appropriated union funds to flypost "Return of the Durruti Column", Andre Bertrand's détourned comic strip.[14] They then invited the Situationists to contribute a critique of the University of Strasbourg, and On the Poverty of Student Life, written by Tunisian Situationist Mustapha/Omar Khayati was the result.[14]

The students promptly proceeded to print 10,000 copies of the pamphlet using university funds and distributed them during a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year. This provoked an immediate outcry in the local, national and international media.[14]

Sanguinetti's Report to save capitalism

[edit]

By 1972, Gianfranco Sanguinetti and Guy Debord were the only two remaining members of Situationist International. Working with Debord, in August 1975, Sanguinetti wrote a pamphlet titled Rapporto veridico sulle ultime opportunità di salvare il capitalismo in Italia (Eng: Veritable Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy), which (inspired by Bruno Bauer) purported to be the cynical writing of "Censor", a powerful industrialist. The pamphlet argues that the ruling class of Italy supported the Piazza Fontana bombing and other mass slaughter, for the higher goal of defending the capitalist status quo from communist claims. The pamphlet was mailed to 520 of Italy's most powerful individuals. It was received as genuine, and powerful politicians, industrialists and journalists praised its contents and guessed the identity of its high-profile author. After reprinting the tract into a small book,[15] Sanguinetti revealed himself to be the true author. Under pressure from Italian authorities, Sanguinetti left Italy in February 1976, and was denied re-entry to France, from which he had previously been deported in 1971.[1][16][17]

Others

[edit]

Film Hurlements en faveur de Sade (Howls for de Sade) (1952) by Guy Debord, had 24 minutes of black screen. Book Mémoires (1959) by Guy Debord and Asger Jorn had the cover made of sandpaper.

Legacy

[edit]

The situationist tactic of a détournement-based hoax was notoriously used in February 1977 by the Sex Pistols, who played their version of "God Save the Queen" while sailing down the River Thames past the Houses of Parliament to mock the Silver Jubilee river procession in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.[3]

The expression situationist prankster has been later established as a typical label used on those who perform media pranks or publicity stunts, as in the cases of The KLF,[6] the K Foundation,[7] Genesis P-Orridge,[8] Harun Farocki,[9] and others.[18][19]

A growth of campaigns using tactics such as the Flash Mob or Subvertising in recent years can be traced to situationist pranks. These tactics, notable in stunts by The Yes Men, campaigns by Greenpeace, and guerilla art by Banksy, have been characterised by their appropriation of establishment symbols, shifting the intended purpose of public (now private) space, or creating bizarre reality hacks that merely remix the cultural context, as opposed to providing something entirely surreal.[20] Some surreal pranks continue to exist in more subversive movements, such as the Alley concept,[21] and are traceable to situationist pranks in their deliberate constructions of surreal situations that juxtapose the Spectacle thereby aiming to reawaken authentic desires and liberate everyday life.

The concept forms the primary genre on popular Australian television series "The Chaser's War on Everything." Worldwide media attention followed their successful entry into the G20 Summit held in Sydney, Australia - September 2007. The group formed a motorcade with a Bin Laden-esque character inside a limousine flying flags of a non-existent country.[22]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Ken Knabb Gianfranco Sanguinetti
  2. ^ a b c d e f Holt (2010) p.252
  3. ^ a b c d Marrone, Gianfranco (2005) Sensi alterati: droghe, musica, immagini, p.45, quote:

    [...] gioco al complotto, alla manipolazione dei media, alla beffa, alla "grande truffa," o al detournement -- inventato dai situazionisti e ripreso dai punk -- che appunto del situazionismo sono talvolta concreti continuatori. Pensiamo in questo senso al fin troppo noto caso, esagerato dai media, ma paradigmatico, del manager dei Sex Pistols, Malcom McLaren, a partire dal quale, nell'estate del 1977, si scatenò, con grande scandalo, il lancio del gruppo dei Pistols in pieno Giubileo della regina, e l'interesse della stampa per la nascente scena punk. Tuttavia, anche in questo caso non si tratta, come invece e' stato spesso sostenuto, di freddo "gioco a tavolino", di cinismo, di furbo lancio di un prodotto da parte di chi aveva studiato i media e lavorava sulla guerriglia semiologica (cfr. Fabbri P. 2002, p.40), di una tattica che sarebbe poi stata facilmente sfruttata e fatta propria da quel momento in avanti dall'industria culturale mainstream.
  4. ^ Sandlin, Jennifer A. (2009) Critical pedagogies of consumption p.240 quote:

    Through artistic interventions, hoaxes, tactical media pranks, or what the SI called "situations," culture jammers direct public attention ...
  5. ^ Franks, Benjamin (2006) Rebel alliances: the means and ends of contemporary British anarchisms p.315

    Stunts are very similar to situations but have an additional characteristic, namely that the imaginative interaction is aimed at the mainstream media, the intention being that they broadcast the prank to a wider public
  6. ^ a b Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2004) ABBA gold
  7. ^ a b Fortnight, Issues 335-345 p.349
  8. ^ a b The rough guide to rock edited by Peter Buckley
  9. ^ a b Harun Farocki: working on the sightlines By Thomas Elsaesser p.106
  10. ^ snarkout: to have done with the judgment of god Archived 2003-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ miro renzaglia - COSTRUIRE L'UNITA' D'AREA/2
  12. ^ miro renzaglia – SITUAZIONISMO
  13. ^ Plant, Sadie (1992). The Most Radical Gesture. New York: Routledge. p. 94. ISBN 0-415-06222-5.
  14. ^ a b c d Vague, Tom (1997). Anarchy in the Uk: the Angry Brigade. Stirling: AK Press. pp. 13–14. ISBN 1-873176-98-8.
  15. ^ Sanguineti, Gianfranco; Censor (pseud.) (1975). Rapporto veridico sulle ultime opportunità di salvare il capitalismo in Italia [Veritable Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy] (in Italian). Mursia. p. 139. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  16. ^ Sanguinetti, Gianfranco (2014). Truthful Report on the Last Chances to Save Capitalism in Italy. Translated by Bill Brown. Brooklyn: Colossal Books. ISBN 9780615948270. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  17. ^ Munzi, Ulderico; Macciocchi, Maria Antonietta (1994-03-12). "Debord, la rivoluzione è finita" [Debord, the revolution is over]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Milan. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  18. ^ George Gimarc (1994) Punk Diary 1970-1979, p.47
  19. ^ Sabin, Roger (1999) Punk rock: so what? : the cultural legacy of punk, p.182
  20. ^ New Statesman (2013) The Spectacle of Disintegration
  21. ^ Alley Concept (2013) "Alley Concept"
  22. ^ The Chaser's war on Everything - APEC Motorcade Sep 12, 2007 - Chas dressed as Osama bin Laden the Chasers drive a disguised Canadian motorcade ...

References

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