WHEN DOES DISRUPTING THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE BECOME SOCIAL PRACTICE? University of Reading. Rachel Wyatt

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1 WHEN DOES DISRUPTING THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE BECOME SOCIAL PRACTICE? University of Reading Rachel Wyatt 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Chapter 1: Awareness of the Spectacle 5 Chapter 2: Transforming the Spectacle 9 Conclusion 13 Bibliography 14 2

3 INTRODUCTION According to Guy Debord, the spectacle in general is the autonomous movement of the non-living. 1 This is illustrated well by the stranded population of the Axium, who spend their days passively floating on programmed tracks and consuming technologies. They are unaware of, and unparticipating in the world surrounding them until they are physically pushed from these tracks by a drifting robot called Wall-e. 2 I will argue that the Non-Living population as a whole must be pushed from their floating loungers in order to see, and to change, their reality. Figure 1. Still from Wall-e (2008) Modern day leisure activities do hint of a trend towards the excessive consumption seen in Figure 1. Westerners thirst for revolution is constantly quenched by the technology that fills our leisure time, such as the so-called social media. The Society of the Spectacle explains this phenomenon best: All the goods selected by the spectacular system are also weapons for a constant reinforcement of the conditions of isolation of lonely crowds. 3 The Non-Living are not aware that their everyday lives could be more than a spectacle, until they 1 Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle, (Exeter: Rebel Press, 1987), 2. 2 Wall-e. DVD. Directed by Andrew Stanton. (Los Angeles: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2008.) 3 Debord, Society of the Spectacle, 28. 3

4 are aware that they are living in one. This demonstrates the importance of consciousness raising. In its current spectacular state, human behaviour is so predictable that it can be taught to marketing students as consumer behaviour. 4 The behaviour of the spectacle s Non-Living community informs the production of its products and so in this way, we create our own spectacle. The spectacle is the main production of present-day society it is its own product and it has made its own rules. 5 As society builds up its own spectacle, so it can break it down. For the spectacle itself to be transformed, the whole community must change their actions. Once the Non-Living residents are made conscious, they can work to achieve this. While the focus of situationist art is on changing the mind-set of the individual, social practice art is defined by society s participation 6, giving it the unique power to raise the consciousness of whole communities, and therefore thoroughly transform the spectacle. 4 Nicolas Bourriard, Relational Aesthetics (Dijon: Les presses du réel, 2002). 5 Debord, Society of the Spectacle, Claire Bishop, Artificial hells: participatory art and the politics of spectatorship, (London: Verso Books, 2012) 4

5 CHAPTER 1: AWARENESS OF THE SPECTACLE 1 Situationalist International aims to make the everyday more extraordinary, something one can only achieve if he is made consciously aware of the spectacle. They suggest using the dérive, or drift, technique, which involves spontaneously moving towards the things you are attracted to, to create a utopia from the hidden parts of your world. 7 2 An 1840s trend saw Parisian flâneurs walking turtles around the city, 8 in order to force a leisurely pace upon their dérives and allow them to view the world around them with raised consciousness. Drifting in a utopia, be it the streets of Paris or the pubs of Marseille, 9 is an example of free leisure time, awake in the real world, and away from the accordingly planned outlets of which Bourriard speaks According to Nicolas Bourriard, the spectacle channels human relations and leisure time into accordingly planned outlets which can be both monitored and repeated 11, such as frequenting a pub in order to see one s friends. As previously explained, it is the passive technologies that fill our leisure time and suppress our desire for more. When leisure time is allotted to planned outlets, the purpose of the city becomes more and more refined, until it 7 On the passage of a few people through a rather brief moment in time: the Situationalist International , Directed by Branka Bogdanov, (Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, 1989) 8 Walter Benjamin, Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, Harry Zohn, trans. (London, 1983), Walter Benjamin, Hashish in Marseilles, from Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Volume 2, Part 2, (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1999). 10 Bourriard, Relational Aesthetics, Ibid. 5

6 is merely a spectacle, or as Debord puts it, The spectacle is capital to such a degree of accumulation that it becomes an image Situationalist International s second main technique, détournement, involves using the city in other ways than that which is prescribed. The modern spectacle expresses what society can do, but in this expression the permitted is absolutely opposed to the possible. 13 A modern example of détournement would be skaters using public areas, such as stairs and railings, as if they were a skate park, despite that not being their intended use. Although skating here is possible, it is not expected, and technically not permitted. Situationists can prevent their leisure time from being sold back to them, by appropriating the city as their entertainment, for skating, dancing or parkour. 5 These situationists are aware and take advantage of the possibilities that the city holds, despite what is permitted, to avoid becoming one of the Non-Living. However, while they may be changing themselves, flâneurs will not change society; they are merely passionate spectators, as described by Baudelaire. 14 The aim of situationist art is simply to make art for its own sake 15. While in the spectacle everything has a purpose, situationist art is just for entertainment, if anything at all Debord, Society of the Spectacle, Ibid., Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life, (New York: Da Capo Press, 1964). 15 ICA, On the passage of a few people through a rather brief moment in time. 6

Richard Long s A line made by walking is an example of this. Long used a grassy field as the canvas and his actions as the medium, to create a visible effect on the earth.

7 Richard Long s A line made by walking is an example of this. Long used a grassy field as the canvas and his actions as the medium, to create a visible effect on the earth. After walking back and forth in a line, a trampled area of the grass is the psychogeography of this short meditative dérive, as is the large black and white photograph currently displayed at the Tate Long described the piece as walking as art. 17 The pointless act of the walk itself, his dérive, is therefore the artwork. It achieved nothing and is therefore distinct from the spectacle. The immateriality of the piece also prevented it from entering the spectacle through the art market. Figure 2. A Line Made by Walking by Richard Long (1967), photograph, Tate Modern Tate, Richard Long, A line made by walking, (accessed December 23, 2016) 17 Ben Tufnell (ed.), Richard Long: Selected Statements & Interviews (London, 2007), 39. 7

8 A lesson that can be learned from situationist art such as this, is that it shows the effect an individual can have on an experience, or in Long s case, the earth. Your actions in society have the power to affect the spectacle; to build it or disrupt it, but only if you are aware of this fact and purposefully stay above the current that drags the Non-Living. 8

9 CHAPTER 2: TRANSFORMING THE SPECTACLE 9 As described by Claire Bishop, social practice focuses on participation and collaboration from the audience. 18 The audience is often also the community that surrounds the social practice artwork. In social practice, the artwork gains its meaning from the social context in which it is viewed. Bourriard speaks of the encounter as the true modern form of art. 19 Instead of seeing the piece in isolation, the encounter also considers how the viewer interacts with it, as imperative to the meaning of the piece. 10 The fact that the audience affects the artwork so, allows them to be co-producers and participants, rather than the passive Non-Living that Debord speaks of as populating the Society of the Spectacle. Social practice is the dialogic encounter between the community-ofthe-spectacle and the spectacle itself. As Debord explains, The spectacle escapes the activity of men, that which escapes reconsideration and correction by their work. It is the opposite of dialogue. 20 As soon as the audience engages with a situation, the spectacle is acknowledged and a dialogue is opened. 11 This reveals to the community the existence of the spectacle, thus raising the consciousness of the whole group. Once a dialogue is opened, the community can learn about the city s possibilities, rather than only see that which is permitted Bishop, Artificial hells. 19 Bourriard, Relational Aesthetics. 20 Debord, Society of the Spectacle, 18. 9

A possible, yet extremely unusual situation known as Please Love Austria or Foreigners Out!, was constructed in 2000 by Christoph Schlingensief.

10 A possible, yet extremely unusual situation known as Please Love Austria or Foreigners Out!, was constructed in 2000 by Christoph Schlingensief. In this film project, asylum-seekers were housed in a shipping container in the middle of town, (which is détournement of the space), and were broadcasted using CCTV. The container was decorated with the government flag, and the logo for the tabloid news. 21 This comments on the media s pride for their stories, with they treat as commodities and present as spectacles. However, placing the situation in a public space made it more present in real life, and more accessible for opening dialogues. Figure 3. Please Love Austria by Christoph Schlingensief, (2000), photographed situation. 13 The public had to engage to bring meaning to the piece. They could call in to vote on which refugee should leave each week, just like on Big Brother. However, Foreigners Out! had higher stakes, as those who were voted out, were forced to leave the country. The situation that Schlingensief created therefore made people s attitudes to refugees, and the power of these attitudes, very visible. Just like the spectacle, it was so close, and yet inaccessible; to see inside, one had to look via CCTV. If the audience had not been able to affect the outcome 21 Schlingensief, Please love Austria - First Austrian coalition week (Accessed December 23, 2016). 10

11 of this piece, it would have had no meaning, but as it was, everyone was invited to have their consciousness raised. 14 But are works of art such as this part of real life, or simply false promises; models of a utopia? Christoph Schlingensief s situation is both embedded in the world and at one remove from it, 22 reminiscent of art in a gallery; something to visit, but not real life, just like the spectacle. According to Bourriard, the role of artworks is no longer to form imaginary and utopian realities, but to actually be ways of living and models of action within the existing real. 23 This therefore raises the expectations of the art to actually change the world, not just illustrate situationist ideas. 15 A more direct method of educating the public is through pedagogic work like that of Thomas Hirschhorn. Hirschhorn creates situations in areas of town that perhaps wouldn t be a tourist spectacle, like the South Bronx housing complex featured in his piece Gramsci Monument. He directs the creation of stages for encounters, such as libraries, diners, Wi-Fi stations and more, all with the aim of educating the public. His motto while creating Gramsci Monument was every human is an intellectual Bishop, Artificial Hells, Bourriard, Relational Aesthetics, ART21, Thomas Hirschhorn: Gramsci Monument, ART21 Exclusive YouTube video, 7:16. Posted May

For the most part he does not create these stages himself; they are created with the participation of the local community, who not only build the stages, but work in them.

12 For the most part he does not create these stages himself; they are created with the participation of the local community, who not only build the stages, but work in them. One of the workers involved, Freddy Velez speaks of his return to an active role in society: This was a great opportunity I put retirement to the side and I am enjoying myself every day and I feel a lot better. 25 Figure 4. Gramsci Monument by Thomas Hirschhorn, (2013), photographed situation. 17 For Velez and the other participants, their real lives are changed. Without an unusual situation such as this, they wouldn t have had this opportunity for work, and for leisure and socialising outside of the planned outlets, The encounters that Hirschhorn directs contrast the existing spectacle with the power that we all hold to change it; to make our everyday more extraordinary. To see such an encounter, and to be part of it, brings this power to the conscious attention of the audience, so that they can participate in changing the world. 25 ART21, Thomas Hirschhorn: Gramsci Monument, Youtube video. 12

13 CONCLUSION Hirschhorn s work embodies my understanding of social practice ; it involves a whole community and raises their consciousness to see how the spectacle can be changed for the better, once their passive everyday routine is disrupted by an active effort for the benefit of the community. It is an example of social practice encouraging active audiences to become producers, rather than consumers, of situations. As you can see, Bishop was right: social practice is not about the unhelpful binary of active and passive spectatorship, 26 but, I believe, more about how art can create active participants in a passive world. This is arguably an improvement on the theories of the Situationalist International, as social practice aims to raise the consciousness of whole groups and therefore disrupt the whole spectacle, rather than just drift within it like a flâneur. 26 Bishop, Artificial Hells, 8. 13

14 BIBLIOGRAPHY ART21, Thomas Hirschhorn: Gramsci Monument, ART21 Exclusive YouTube video, 7:16. Posted May Baudelaire, Charles. The Painter of Modern Life, (New York: Da Capo Press, 1964). Benjamin, Walter. Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, Harry Zohn, trans. (London, 1983). Benjamin, Walter. Hashish in Marseilles, from Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Volume 2, Part 2, (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1999). Bishop, Claire. Artificial hells: participatory art and the politics of spectatorship, (London: Verso Books, 2012). Bourriard, Nicolas. Relational Aesthetics (Dijon: Les presses du réel, 2002). Debord, Guy. Society of the Spectacle, (Exeter: Rebel Press, 1987). ICA, On the passage of a few people through a rather brief moment in time: the Situationalist International , Directed by Branka Bogdanov, (Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, 1989). Tate, Richard Long, A line made by walking, (Accessed December 23, 2016). Tufnell, Ben. Richard Long: Selected Statements & Interviews (London, 2007). Schlingensief, Please love Austria - First Austrian coalition week (Accessed December 23, 2016). Stanton, Andrew. Wall-e. DVD. Directed by Andrew Stanton. (Los Angeles: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2008). 14

The Commodity as Spectacle

The Commodity as Spectacle 117 9 The Commodity as Spectacle Guy Debord 1 In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles.