Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

According to the Situationists, the “everyday” was a demonstrable repository of late capitalism’s consumer culture and its quasi-puritan work ethic. However, as emblematised by their concepts of détournement, dérive and psychogeography, as well as their general anti-hierarchical position, this somewhat nebulous existential principle, which we call the “everyday,” had also signaled a potential opening for the empowerment of the urban proletariat. The Situationist’s urban “everyday” was thus dialectical – a locus of capitalist oppression, yet also an underestimated gateway to activating the people’s power. The aim of this paper is to contend that the Situationist’s urban “everyday” may be repurposed to critically analyse instances of contemporary art, which have been influenced by the capitalism-urbanism nexus. Specifically speaking, it will demonstrate how Situationist concepts of détournement, psychogeography, dérive, as well as their rejection of hierarchy (in favour of horizontality), can function as a critical framework for analysing said contemporary practice. The works addressed locate radical socio-aesthetic value within the quotidian aspects of urban experience in order to reclaim it from economic hegemony and activate its potential as a site for the urban proletariat’s empowerment. The Situationists were amongst the many voices in critical theory (i.e. Lefebvre, De Certeau, Perec) to highlight the urban “everyday” as a site for the common masses to acquire social potency. Nevertheless, this paper will argue that, as an urban socio-aesthetic debate, the work of the Situationists is the most fruitful to repurpose for a critical examination of contemporary art’s activation of the radical urban “everyday.”