The beginning of situationism

While researching situationism I eventually grasped the very simple concept behind this very complicated time. All artists were against capitalism and were supporters of socialism. They came to an agreement that humanity had stopped living and was only existing in order to produce a product of their lives like machines. Therefor situationists took it upon themselves to express their views of a creative of nomadic lifestyle, in essence, they wanted humanity to have fun and live life for the purpose of living, not to become boring products of mundane existence.

Guiseppe Pinot-Gallizio together with his son Giors Melanotte created industrial paintings. These were abstract paintings which were created on large rolls of canvas using traditional methods. Their aim was to sell the painted fabric by the yard in hopes that everyone would have a piece of art. The term “industrial Painting” is used to discribe the scale of these paintings and not the method by which they were painted.
This would emphasize humanities dependency upon machines, and how we need to reproduce and repeat. Pinot-Gallizio explains in his manifesto for industrial painting that humans should become nomads, return to nature.

“letter to my son”
Asger Jorn
Oil on Canvas
In this painting, Jorn has used the idea he explored during his CoBRA period of children’s drawings. This painting shows a lot of energy and urgency that is often found in children’s drawings. His intention was to create an image that was playful and fun while forgetting strict rules and conformities. “Tension in a work of art is negative-positive: repulsive-attractive, ugly-beautiful. If one of these poles is removed, only boredom is left” – Jorn.

Constant developed the idea of New Babylon. A structure built above ground which would lend space for agriculture, forests, parks, throughways and fully automated production centres necessary for the structure, on the exterior. The structure would be a network of buildings creating many sectors and labyrinths which would be versatile internally but restricted to the base structure.
This would be a habitat were material value was not important and people could live a nomadic lifestyle with the aim to progress creatively.


‘Everyone wavers between the emotionally still-alive past and the already dead future.
We don’t intend to prolong the mechanistic civilizations and frigid architecture that ultimately lead to boring leisure.
We propose to invent new, changeable decors.
Architecture is the simplest means of articulating time and space, of modulating reality and engendering dreams. It is a matter not only of plastic articulation and modulation expressing an ephemeral beauty, but of a modulation producing influences in accordance with the eternal spectrum of human desires and the progress in fulfilling them.
The architecture of tomorrow will be a means of modifying present conceptions of time and space. It will be both a means of knowledge and a means of action.’
http://dossierjournal.com/read/theory/formulary-for-a-new-urbanism/

“formulary for a new urbanism” by Ivan Chtcheglov was published in the first issue of the Situations’ Journal. He talks about a new world, a new way of life. He envisions people living together under one construction viewed in his mind as many castles, reminiscent of the Baroque period. And under this construction would be many different Quarters where people would be able to experience different states of being. Some quarters will be for ill-reputed people and others could be hospitals or nurseries. We would all socialize amongst ourselves and interact, living the life of a “drifter”. Chtcheglov write about the economy and how it prevents us from living a free live, one of creativity and fun.