The Situationist International : a user's guide / Simon Ford.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book is the first to present in a single volume a complete guide to one of the most notorious and radical art movements of the twentieth century, the Situationist International (SI). Comprising a comprehensive history that includes an examination of the SI's far-reaching ideas about our 'society of the spectacle', this book also provides an insight into the Situationist legacy together with extensive visual material. Tracing its development back to the European avant-garde and groups such as COBRA, the Lettrists and the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus, Ford provides a comprehensive historical background to the 1957 foundation of the Situationist International under its self-proclaimed leader, the brilliant Guy Debord. Looking at painting, architecture and cinema, Ford includes detailed profiles of the main members such as the Asger Jorn, Constant, Pinot-Gallizio and Ralph Rumney. The final chapter looks at how the SI's legacy, following its disintegration in 1972, can be traced within subsequent artistic and activist movements, from punk through to culture jamming and media activism.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Pre-Situationist Years, 1931-1956 (p. 13)
• Guy Debord and the Lettriste Movement (p. 15)
• Howlings in Favour of Sade and the founding of the Lettriste International (p. 24)
• Potlatch, Psychogeography, Derive, and Detournement (p. 33)
• Asger Jorn, Cobra, and The International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus (p. 37)
• First World Congress of Free Artists (1956) (p. 42)
• Chapter 2 Early Years of the Situationist International, 1957-1965 (p. 47)
• "Report on the Construction of Situations" and the Cosio d'Arroscia Conference (1957) (p. 49)
• The Launch of Internationale situationniste (p. 52)
• Jorn's Modifications and Disfigurations (p. 60)
• Pinot-Gallizio's Industrial Painting (p. 68)
• Constant's New Babylon (p. 74)
• Debord's Films (p. 79)
• The German and Scandinavian Sections (p. 81)
• The Scission (p. 86)
• The Second Situationist International (p. 88)
• SI Post-Scission (p. 93)
• Chapter 3 The Beginning of an Era, 1966-1968 (p. 99)
• The Society of the Spectacle and The Revolution of Everyday Life (p. 101)
• May '68 (p. 112)
• Chapter 4 The Dissolution of the SI and its Aftermath, 1969 and beyond (p. 133)
• The Veritable Split in the International (p. 135)
• The Films of Guy Debord (p. 138)
• History and Legacy (p. 145)
• Chronology (p. 161)
• Further Information (p. 169)
• Index (p. 173)