This thesis draws attention to the overlooked period of English avant-garde activity that arose in response to the Situationist International (SI, 1957-1972). I attempt to consolidate the continued literary, political and artistic relevance of the disparate manifestations of English Situationist practices, while reflecting more broadly on the Anglicisation of Continental avant-garde traditions. The thesis contributes also to the ongoing re-evaluation of the SI through its peripheral and international permutations. The thesis presents an historical narrative in four stages. The first follows the formation of the Surrealist Group in England and its transformation into Mass- Observation. This activity in the Thirties is both prolepsis to and prehistory of the English Situationist tradition, which begins at the thesis's second stage, in the early Sixties, with the novelist and cultural organiser Alexander Trocchi, one of the first British members of the SI. The third stage introduces the short-lived English Section of the SI and its immediate precursor and successor groups of the late Sixties, all of whom undertook a cultural translation of the SI's project. The thesis's final stage identifies contemporary manifestations of what I argue is an English Situationist poetics, which exists independently of self-identifying avant-garde groups. Interwoven through my historical narrative are investigations of three recurring problems: the problem of ‘Englishness', and its perceived incompatibility with Continental avant-gardism; the problem of influence, whereby neo-avantgardism is dismissed as the hollow repetition of early twentieth century formations; and the Situationist problem of the radical aesthetic object's subsumption to a commodity economy. I offer readings of novels, films and visual materials; of tracts, manifestos and journal debates; and of theorists (especially Rancière) whose perspectives on history and political aesthetics are productively dissonant with those of the SI. Anglicised Situationist practices, I propose, are valuable precisely for their contestation of and movement through Situationist theory.

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This text looks at the political and cultural possibilities of détournement through the work of Guy Debord and my re-making of his film The Society of the Spectacle.

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A dissertação analisa a trajetória da Internacional Situacionista durante o período de sua existência, de 1957 até 1972, salientando as ressonâncias dos ideários das vanguardas do Futurismo, Dadaísmo e Surrealismo, no ideário da I.S.. Sua importância está vinculada a reinvenção do espaço público como lugar de criação cultural e ação política, além do fato de serem recorrentes na arte contemporânea as ideias de obra coletiva, participação, construção efêmera e de evento, que nos remete as ações da I.S. e dos movimentos citados. O objetivo da pesquisa é analisar e compreender a ideia de situação construída, a qual era o propósito fundamental dos situacionistas. Nessa abordagem revelamos as origens da ideia de situação construída e como ela é fruto da revisão crítica que a I.S. faz das experiências e conceitos das vanguardas analisadas. A metodologia utilizada examina de forma comparativa os textos produzidos pela I.S. com os do Futurismo, Dadaísmo e Surrealismo, contrapondo suas ideias no campo da arte, cultura, política e meios de ação nos espaços urbanos. A leitura dos textos primários, obras de \"arte\" e jornais situacionistas formam a base da análise. Os textos pré-situacionistas assim como os textos referentes às vanguardas analisadas, indicam a arqueologia do pensamento situacionista, expondo as suas diferenças e aproximações fundamentais entre os movimentos. Enquanto os textos secundários, análise de historiadores e comentadores da I.S., expandem o universo situacionista no contexto das décadas de 50, 60 e 70, auxiliando na compreensão de suas teorias, julgamentos e ações. / The dissertation analyzes the history of the Situationist International (S.I.) during its existence from 1957 until 1972, emphasizing the resonances of the ideals of the vanguards of Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism, the ideals of S.I.. Its importance is linked to the reinvention of public space as a place of cultural and political action. Besides the fact they are recurrent in contemporary art, the ideas of collective work, participation, construction and ephemeral event, which brings us the action of S.I. and movements mentioned. The objective of this research is to analyze and understand the idea of constructed situation, which was the fundamental purpose of the Situationists. In this approach reveal the origins of the idea of constructed situation and how it is the result of the critical of the S.I. makes the experiences and concepts of the vanguards analyzed. The methodology examines in a comparative way the texts produced by S.I. with Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism, opposing ideas in art, culture, politics and means of action in urban areas. The reading of primary texts, works of \"art\" Situationist and newspapers form the basis of the analysis. The pre-situationist texts as well as texts concerning vanguards analyzed, indicate the archeology of Situationist thought giving the fundamental differences and similarities between the movements. While the secondary texts, analysis of historians and commentators of the S.I., situationist expand the universe in the context of the 50, 60 and 70, assisting in the understanding of his theories, judgments and actions.

O objetivo de Situações: da Tecnologia à interação entre Arte e Política é a apresentação de modos pelos quais a experiência estética no espaço urbano pode gerar atos de resistência capazes de uma expressão efetiva no âmbito da prática política. Trata-se da criação de experimentações estéticas por meio de operações poéticas que têm como recurso a utilização das tecnologias teleinformáticas. A hipótese é de que a eficácia estética desses experimentos, com o uso dos dispositivos teleinformáticos, evidencia as potencialidades político-ideológicas contidas na mídia, cujos usos costumeiros têm se prestado mais amplamente aos propósitos da ordem e à reprodução ampliada da produção capitalista. Nesse contexto, o conceito de \"situação\" tem particular relevo para a experimentação poética, ele expressa a ideia central do movimento Internacional Situacionista (IS), que consiste na adoção de um \"comportamento experimental poético\" como procedimento de intervenção afetiva no ambiente urbano convencional, cotidiano, visando sua transformação \"em uma qualidade passional superior\". Em Situações: da Tecnologia à interação entre Arte e Política, a partir da criação de um conjunto de situações procura-se constituir uma poética de subversão, cujo objetivo central é a instauração de um campo estético propício para novas experiências comunitárias em rede, aberto à participação coletiva, ao diálogo e à mudança de certos modos de produção. As operações poéticas efetuadas almejam também contribuir para a produção de conhecimento interdisciplinar acerca dos dispositivos de dominação política, no estágio de desenvolvimento capitalista em que a produção de bens culturais tornou-se fundamental à própria reprodução ampliada do capital, por meio da construção de duas situações: \"Intransferência\" e \"Unidade Tática de Comunicação Ativa - UTCAt\" e outros experimentos poéticos, trabalhos migrantes que, desarticulados das situações, mantém com elas estreita familiaridade. / The present work, Situations: from Technology to interaction between Art and Politics, aims to present ways through which aesthetic experiences in urban spaces generate resistance acts capable of an effective expression within the political practice. It is constituted by aesthetic experiments via poetic operations which resort to teleinformatics technologies. The hypothesis is that the aesthetic efficacy of such experiments, which use teleinformatics devices, makes evident the political-ideological potentialities contained in such media, which have been more commonly used in support of the Order and for the enhanced reproduction of capitalist production. In this context, the concept of \'situation\' is of much consequence for poetic experimentation, it expresses the key Idea of the Situationist International (SI) movement, which consists in the adoption of an \'experimental behavior\' as an affective intervention procedure in the conventional everyday urban environment, targeting its transformation into \'a higher passional quality\'. In Situations: from Technology to interaction between Art and Politics, stemming from the creation of a set of situations, we attempt to build a poetics of subversion, whose central objective is instituting a favorable aesthetic field for new community web experiences, open to collective participation, to dialogue and to the change of certain modes of production. The poetic operations carried out also intend to contribute to the production of interdisciplinary knowledge about the political domination devices, in the stage of capitalist development in which the production of cultural goods has become fundamental to the very amplified reproduction of capital itself, by means of the construction of two situations, \'Intransference\' and \'Tactical Unit of Active Communication - TUAcT, along with other poetic experiments, migrating works which, albeit not articulated with the situations, keep with them a close familiarity.

O objetivo de Situações: da Tecnologia à interação entre Arte e Política é a apresentação de modos pelos quais a experiência estética no espaço urbano pode gerar atos de resistência capazes de uma expressão efetiva no âmbito da prática política. Trata-se da criação de experimentações estéticas por meio de operações poéticas que têm como recurso a utilização das tecnologias teleinformáticas. A hipótese é de que a eficácia estética desses experimentos, com o uso dos dispositivos teleinformáticos, evidencia as potencialidades político-ideológicas contidas na mídia, cujos usos costumeiros têm se prestado mais amplamente aos propósitos da ordem e à reprodução ampliada da produção capitalista. Nesse contexto, o conceito de \"situação\" tem particular relevo para a experimentação poética, ele expressa a ideia central do movimento Internacional Situacionista (IS), que consiste na adoção de um \"comportamento experimental poético\" como procedimento de intervenção afetiva no ambiente urbano convencional, cotidiano, visando sua transformação \"em uma qualidade passional superior\". Em Situações: da Tecnologia à interação entre Arte e Política, a partir da criação de um conjunto de situações procura-se constituir uma poética de subversão, cujo objetivo central é a instauração de um campo estético propício para novas experiências comunitárias em rede, aberto à participação coletiva, ao diálogo e à mudança de certos modos de produção. As operações poéticas efetuadas almejam também contribuir para a produção de conhecimento interdisciplinar acerca dos dispositivos de dominação política, no estágio de desenvolvimento capitalista em que a produção de bens culturais tornou-se fundamental à própria reprodução ampliada do capital, por meio da construção de duas situações: \"Intransferência\" e \"Unidade Tática de Comunicação Ativa - UTCAt\" e outros experimentos poéticos, trabalhos migrantes que, desarticulados das situações, mantém com elas estreita familiaridade. / The present work, Situations: from Technology to interaction between Art and Politics, aims to present ways through which aesthetic experiences in urban spaces generate resistance acts capable of an effective expression within the political practice. It is constituted by aesthetic experiments via poetic operations which resort to teleinformatics technologies. The hypothesis is that the aesthetic efficacy of such experiments, which use teleinformatics devices, makes evident the political-ideological potentialities contained in such media, which have been more commonly used in support of the Order and for the enhanced reproduction of capitalist production. In this context, the concept of \'situation\' is of much consequence for poetic experimentation, it expresses the key Idea of the Situationist International (SI) movement, which consists in the adoption of an \'experimental behavior\' as an affective intervention procedure in the conventional everyday urban environment, targeting its transformation into \'a higher passional quality\'. In Situations: from Technology to interaction between Art and Politics, stemming from the creation of a set of situations, we attempt to build a poetics of subversion, whose central objective is instituting a favorable aesthetic field for new community web experiences, open to collective participation, to dialogue and to the change of certain modes of production. The poetic operations carried out also intend to contribute to the production of interdisciplinary knowledge about the political domination devices, in the stage of capitalist development in which the production of cultural goods has become fundamental to the very amplified reproduction of capital itself, by means of the construction of two situations, \'Intransference\' and \'Tactical Unit of Active Communication - TUAcT, along with other poetic experiments, migrating works which, albeit not articulated with the situations, keep with them a close familiarity.

This thesis examines the projects outlined by the Situationist philosophers and their impact on revolutionizing consciousness. Alongside of this examination this thesis demonstrates how the appropriate rhetorical means in conjunction with street art—specifically the work of Banksy—may lead to the successful implementation and execution of the Situationist's projects. This thesis examines the concept of the spectacle as developed by the Situationists as its object of critique and the concepts of culture, unitary urbanism, psychogeography, détournement and dérive as the framework in which the spectacle can be successfully critiqued in order to foster a more critical consciousness. In addition to this framework my claim is that the aforementioned elements are accomplished by the work of Banksy and his ability to alter the material conditions of our reality through his rhetorical construction of material enactments by creating appropriate and kairotic works which provide life to the Situationist's projects and affords the potentiality of revolutionizing consciousness. In Figure 1. Banksy critiques the idea of spectacularization. There is a fear that technology will distract individuals’ from living and experiencing their lives to the fullest, that their desire to record moments will get in the way with actually living through experiences. In fact the concept of recording events, for many people, is bringing more life to those events than the event itself. We’re currently living in a society where the record of the thing itself is greater than the thing itself. Of course, whenever something is recorded it can be spectacularized--elevated to a greater degree of importance--and shared with many. At the same time, urban architectural achievements have become idols unto themselves. People visit the Eiffel Tower for the purposes of visiting the Eiffel Tower. Even in the act of being a tourist or a spectator we are being placed in positions of passivity. The goal is to absorb whatever man made phenomena has been constructed for the purposes of enjoying it intrinsically without understanding why. In their article "Rhetoric and Materiality in the Museum Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art" Kenneth Zagacki and Victoria Gallagher rhetorically analyze the complex and interwoven spaces of the North Carolina Museum of Art. Their research claims that "the move from symbolicity to materiality involves a shift from examining representations (what does a text mean/what are the persuader's goals) to examining enactments (what does a text or artifact do/what are the consequences beyond that of the persuader's goals) and, as Carole Blair suggests, to considering the significance a particular artifact or text's material existence: What does it do with or against other artifacts? And how does it act on persons?" (Zagacki and Gallagher 172). This move from the purely symbolic importance of a text or artifact to its materiality is exceptionally important when discussing how potential Situationist projects can be materialized into and implemented effectively in the real world. The Situationists were essentially radical realists—their critiques need to exist in the most material form possible in order to generate the conscious liberation that they desired. That being said Margaret LaWare and Victoria Gallagher "...suggest that material rhetorics contribute to discourses of public identity by inviting visitors to see and experience landscape (or physical context) around them in new, and very much embodied ways" (as cited in Zagacki and Gallagher 172). The recursive nature of material rhetorics allows us to analyze exactly how environment's are affecting individual's subjectivities and how they too can go about affecting their world in new ways. I turn to this article specifically for the methodology that Zagacki and Gallagher construct in order to discuss in a more concrete fashion the rhetorical complexity of these spaces and their potential affect on visitors: we argue, through two material enactments of the human/nature interface that we characterize as ‘‘inside/outside’’ and ‘‘regenerative/transformative.’’ By ‘‘inside/outside,’’ we refer to the experience of moving (1) between constructed spaces, such as a museum space or an urban landscape, to less constructed, more organic spaces such as the outdoor park or the rural landscape; and (2) between what we refer to as natural history and human history. By ‘‘regenerative/transformative,’’ we mean moving (1) from natural states to human-constructed states and back again to nature, and (2) from one state of understanding to another. The capacity to create spaces of attention that call forth particular experiences reveals the potential rhetorical impact and reach of the Museum Park’s material forms. (173) The framework established here is specifically most affective when discussing these specific spaces—not every material space will have an inside/outside which would lend itself to phenomenological observation. However, for the purposes of this project, I find it important to reflect on how the "static/dynamic" enactments produced by the space harboring Banksy's work functions as a method to produce the "concrete/utopia" enactment by détourning expectations of space via messages whose kairotic nature—its location in time and place—and content create a specific psychogeography which can revolutionize our expectations and engagement with the world.