The Situationist Times: Facsimile Box Set

Jacqueline de Jong published the first issue of The Situationist Times in August 1962, a few months after leaving the Situationist International. That year saw the escalation of the longstanding friction between the artistic and political factions of the Situationists, resulting in the expulsion of the former. As de Jong remained impartial, key contributors to The Situationist Times included Debord, Asger Jorn, Gruppe SPUR and others from both sides of the skirmish. De Jong was determined to produce a completely free magazine. The six issues of The Situationist Times published between 1962–1967 are an extraordinary marriage of political polemic and visual art. The first two issues were coedited by Noël Arnaud, editor of the solitary issue of Surrealiste Revolutionnaire. The second issue saw the first experiments with typography and multiple-colored paper stocks. Issue three was the first produced with de Jong solely at the helm. Her editorial style produced a range of contributors, from architects (Aldo Van Eyck, David Georges Emmerich) to an art historian (Hans Jaffe) to astrophysicists (Jayant Narlikar, Fred Hoyle) to a composer (Peter Schat). As the publication went on, the emphasis became more visual (issue three had “situlogical” patterns, issue four had labyrinths, issue five featured topology). The set also includes a seventh volume with commentary, essays, photography and ephemera.