The legacy of the Situationist International: The production of situations of creative resistance

Abstract

This article argues that the Situationist International (S.I.) forms an essential resource that prefigures the values and organisation of certain trends within the creative industries. Reviewing the history and key contributions of the S.I., it will discuss the tensions between its artistic and more overtly political elements. The central concepts of the spectacle, dérive, détournement, psychogeography and unitary urbanism are examined in the second section. The third section addresses the construction of ‘situations’, and earlier attempts at architectural situations. Situations, projects and resistance to the spectacle are the central contributions that can inform creative industries and cultural production. The final section explores possible future directions for the S.I., before examining the Situationists' contribution to creative resistance.