The Situationists International

Guy Debord was a cofounder of Situationists International and one of the most prominent figures of the movement, in part due to his writing and publishing, which included books and journals dedicated to Situationist ideas. Beyond written statements, one of the most influential contributions by the Situationists is a particular set of methods for creative practices intended to subvert capitalist consumer culture. Three of these methods are détournement, dérive, and psychogeography. Détournement refers to turning expressions of a capitalist media culture against itself—for example, turning marketing slogans or corporate logos against advertisers or political representatives of the capitalist system. Dérive is “a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances.”[ii] The term is literally translated into English as “drift,” and the Situationists would use this method of “drifting” through the urban environment in unexpected ways in an attempt to subvert the functional, commercial logics of the city and its extensions into media spaces. Psychogeography is “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.”[iii] These methods have been adopted in various ways by successive generations of anticapitalist creative practitioners.