Radical Detours: A Situationist Reading of Philip K. Dick

<p>In this project I read four Philip K. Dick novels against the writing of the Situationist International (SI). In doing so, I seek to disrupt two critical trends that arguably impede Dick criticism: the depoliticization of Dick and the lack of focus on his style. Through reading his work against the politics of the SI, Dick’s own radical politics can be defined and reaffirmed. I make the case that Dick is a writer predominantly concerned with politics and ideology over and above philosophy and ontology. Secondly, I argue that the political power of Dick’s work is inseparable from his avant-garde style; in particular, his frequent use of what the Situationists termed détournement. With revolutionary politics and avant-garde aesthetics in mind, I re-examine the canonical novels Martian Time-Slip and Ubik, and redeem two of Dick’s neglected novels, The Game-Players of Titan and Galactic Pot-Healer.</p>

Radical Detours: A Situationist Reading of Philip K. Dick

<p>In this project I read four Philip K. Dick novels against the writing of the Situationist International (SI). In doing so, I seek to disrupt two critical trends that arguably impede Dick criticism: the depoliticization of Dick and the lack of focus on his style. Through reading his work against the politics of the SI, Dick’s own radical politics can be defined and reaffirmed. I make the case that Dick is a writer predominantly concerned with politics and ideology over and above philosophy and ontology. Secondly, I argue that the political power of Dick’s work is inseparable from his avant-garde style; in particular, his frequent use of what the Situationists termed détournement. With revolutionary politics and avant-garde aesthetics in mind, I re-examine the canonical novels Martian Time-Slip and Ubik, and redeem two of Dick’s neglected novels, The Game-Players of Titan and Galactic Pot-Healer.</p>

ShelteringThe Underbelly Of Society: Architecture As A Means Of Achieving Dignity For Those Living In A City's Residual Spaces

The attachment of the homeless to the city's residual spaces is a result of a lack of choice, but in some instances, it is a preference. This thesis focuses on the latter in addressing the housing needs of those who prefer to live outdoors rather than in the institutionalized environment of emergency shelters, or even permanent housing. It explores the role of architecture in empowering independence, dignity, and security without socially engineering the homeless and changing their lifestyle. This exploration is informed by the works of architects, urban geographers, cultural critics, artists and psychologists, among them the members of the Situationist International, Bernard Tschumi, Donald MacDonald, Michael Benedikt, David Harvey, Neil Smith, and Abraham Maslow. It proposes an alternative scenario whereby those persons preferring to live outdoors may be safely, decently, and innovatively sheltered independently in some of the many residual spaces found on streets and in parks.

ShelteringThe Underbelly Of Society: Architecture As A Means Of Achieving Dignity For Those Living In A City's Residual Spaces

The attachment of the homeless to the city's residual spaces is a result of a lack of choice, but in some instances, it is a preference. This thesis focuses on the latter in addressing the housing needs of those who prefer to live outdoors rather than in the institutionalized environment of emergency shelters, or even permanent housing. It explores the role of architecture in empowering independence, dignity, and security without socially engineering the homeless and changing their lifestyle. This exploration is informed by the works of architects, urban geographers, cultural critics, artists and psychologists, among them the members of the Situationist International, Bernard Tschumi, Donald MacDonald, Michael Benedikt, David Harvey, Neil Smith, and Abraham Maslow. It proposes an alternative scenario whereby those persons preferring to live outdoors may be safely, decently, and innovatively sheltered independently in some of the many residual spaces found on streets and in parks.

Letters from ‘Glaucos’: The Correspondence of Guy Debord during the Portuguese Revolution

Guy Debord, founder of the Situationist International and filmmaker, kept a meticulous record of his correspondence between 1951 and 1994. Published by Fayard, the fifth volume of the correspondence includes several letters signed ‘Glaucos’ (a character from the Iliad), which were sent to Afonso Monteiro, Gianfranco Sanguinetti, Eduardo Rothe, and Jaime Semprún. In those letters, Debord developed several analyses of the ‘Carnation Revolution’, arguing that ‘the Portuguese proletariat’ had gone ‘further than the May 1968 movement’. Debord initially supported a local group called Conselho para o Desenvolvimento da Revolução Social, but he would later criticise it for not taking sufficient action. He also encouraged Jaime Semprún to write La Guerre Social au Portugal, a book published by Éditions Champ Libre in May 1975. This article analyses Debord’s correspondence in 1974 and 1975, offering a critical assessment of how he related to the revolutionary situation in Portugal.

Art School Manifestos, Classical Music, and Industrial Abjection: Tracing the Artistic, Political, and Musical Antecedents of Punk

This chapter charts and explores the complex cultural origins of punk in Britain through three different case studies, beginning with an exploration of the influence of the Situationist International (SI) on the punk ethos and aesthetic around the Sex Pistols. Second, it looks at the musical and artistic trajectory of the anarcho-punk band Crass and, in particular, the contemporary classical music tradition that informed the work of Penny Rimbaud et al., from the late 1960s to the formation of Crass in the 1970s. Third, the chapter turns to the artistic influences of Neil Megson, later to be known as Genesis P-Orridge. Here, emphasis is placed on a timeline of artistic and political activities by P-Orridge, from his time in school, through his forming of COUM Transmissions in the early 1970s, to the early days of the innovative musical ensemble Throbbing Gristle (TG), formed in 1975. The case studies contribute to a wider understanding of the richer cultural references, practices, and traditions that early punk drew on.

ACTIVIST BROWSER EXTENSIONS AS INTERFACE DÉTOURNEMENT: REMINDING, COPING, AND INFRASTRUCTURAL ALIGNMENT

This paper investigates web browser extensions as an under-researched media object for their capacity for activism. “Activist extensions” disrupt a webpage’s intended use and redirect users’ attention to social issues by modifying textual, visual, or auditory elements of the web user interface. The relevance of the study stems from the ubiquity of the web browser as a communication tool and the potential of browser extensions to counter its power in shaping how web content is delivered to users. Based on the notions of transduction and affordance, the critical vocabulary of the Situationist International, and the conceptualization of platform governance through the provision of infrastructural services, this paper asks: Through what mechanism do activist extensions redirect users’ attention to social issues? What are the potential implications for users? And, how can browser platforms affect the creation and distribution of activist extensions? The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that includes discursive interface analysis of the extensions’ modification of the browser interface, critical discourse analysis of user comments on these extensions, and semi-structured interviews with extension developers. Major findings of the study include: 1) the redirection of users’ attention from the webpage to social issues is achieved through the mechanism of $2 , 2) activist extensions function as $2 that provides users with a coping mechanism against certain online rhetoric, and 3) the creation and distribution of activist extensions are conditioned by an $2 imposed by the browser platform on extension developers.

Relational Aesthetics and the Situationist International: Refusing the dépassement of Art

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Relational Aesthetics and the Situationist International: Refusing the dépassement of Art

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