Guy Debord: An Art of War at BnF Sparks Controversy Over Institutional Recuperation
In 2013, the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) hosted an exhibition titled 'Guy Debord: An Art of War,' which faced backlash due to its €2.7 million purchase of Debord's archives from his widow, Alice Debord. Detractors, including Raphaëlle Rérolle and Antonio Casilli, criticized the BnF for prohibiting photography. The exhibition portrayed Debord as a tactician, yet it risked 'mummifying' his revolutionary ideas by prioritizing him over the Situationist International (SI) and downplaying essential concepts such as dérive. A prominent 'reading room' featured Debord's index cards, which limited visitor interaction. Critics asserted that the exhibition reinforced a divide between art and politics, overlooking Debord's political activism and recent SI research. It concluded with Debord's 'Game of War' board game.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Guy Debord: An Art of War' held at Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in 2013.
- BnF acquired Debord's archives in 2011 for €2.7 million from his widow Alice Debord.
- Critics accused BnF of institutional recuperation of an anti-establishment figure.
- Exhibition focused on Debord as a strategist, using Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' as reference.
- Curators Emmanuel Guy and Laurence Le Bras acknowledged risk of 'mummification' of Debord's work.
- Key SI techniques like dérive and psychogeography were underplayed; only a maquette of Constant's 'New Babylon' represented unitary urbanism.
- Debord's annotated index cards were displayed under glass, forcing passive viewing.
- Film 'In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni' was shown outside the main exhibition area.
- Exhibition concluded with Debord's 'Game of War' (Kriegspiel), a strategic board game.
- NOT BORED! and Olivier Beuvelet criticized the exhibition for ignoring Debord's political engagement and SI's integrated praxis.
- Situationist tactics have been co-opted by Occupy Wall Street, Adbusters, Haçienda nightclub, and Benetton ad man Oliviero Toscani.
- The exhibition did not engage with contemporary SI-related movements like Tiqqun and Claire Fontaine.
Entities
Artists
- Guy Debord
- Alice Debord
- Asger Jorn
- Constant Nieuwenhuys
- Michèle Bernstein
- Jacqueline de Jong
- Gérard Lebovici
- Philippe Sollers
- Michel Houellebecq
- Manuel Noriega
- Régis Debray
- Jean Baudrillard
- Julien Coupat
- Oliviero Toscani
- T.J. Clark
- Donald Nicholson-Smith
- Peter Wollen
- Mark Francis
- McKenzie Wark
- Steve Shaviro
- Raphaëlle Rérolle
- Antonio Casilli
- Emmanuel Guy
- Laurence Le Bras
- Olivier Beuvelet
- Clodagh Kinsella
- Laurent Wolf
- Len Bracken
- Jeff Kinkle
- Tom McDonough
- Peter Smith
- Ivan Chtcheglov
- René Viénet
- Ken Knabb
- Elisabeth Sussman
- Iwona Blazwick
Institutions
- Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF)
- Le Monde
- Situationist International (SI)
- Lettrist International
- Pompidou Centre
- Centraal Museum Utrecht
- Musée Tinguely
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- New Left Review
- October
- Afterall
- NOT BORED!
- Adbusters
- Occupy Wall Street
- Haçienda nightclub
- Benetton
- Factory Records
- Tiqqun
- Claire Fontaine
- Invisible Committee
- Éditions Allia
- Atlas Press
- Bureau of Public Secrets
- Princeton Architectural Press
- Verso
- Book Works
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Paris
- Pompidou Centre, Paris
- Centraal Museum Utrecht, Utrecht
- Netherlands
- Basel
- Switzerland
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- United States
- Boston
- London
- Copenhagen
- Denmark
- Tarnac
- Nanterre University
- Sorbonne
Sources
- Afterall —