Spiabooks

Debord series explanation 2012

This series of books is based on the fifth chapter of Guy Debord's book "the Society of the Spectacle". The book, written in 1967, seems surprisingly current in terms of our virtual society even though it is describing a society based in the time of mass industrialization. The spectacle is the importance society puts on the "appearance of having" versus the previous goal, which was just "having", and the ancient or pre-historical importance of "Being". Chapter 5 is titled Time and History and it discusses the development of History as History, in other words the change from an anonymous nomadic society that lived in cyclical time to one where there are individuals that inhabit a chronological period. The first book "Human Nature" describes the change brought about by agriculture where nomadic tribes gradually traded a cycle of seasonal places for seasonal gestures. "The Society Pages" describes through illustration the change from a more democratic egalitarian society to a more hierarchical community run by individuals. Debord describes a "mental construct" which initially is based on a religion or on "mythical underpinnings". In the last book "A Time and a Place" I explore the difference between absolute time and space and specific or individual time and place, also playing with the parental admonishment with the title that guides most of our social behavior. The three one of a kind books were made Fabriano paper with sewn designs, sewn on lotka paper "puppets" sewn onto accordions. Paste paper covers with a fabric belt to keep the book closed.