Writing EXTRA (IN PLACE OF OFFICE HOURS)

In The Beach Beneath the Street, McKenzie Wark speaks about the radical ideas of the Situationist International, highlighting their challenge of everyday life under capitalism and their use of art as a political weapon. One idea that I was able to relate to my own creative practice is the Situationist strategy of détournement, the act of hijacking and rerouting cultural materials to change their meaning. Wark explains how the Situationists reimagined media, language, and urban space to show the ways in which capitalist society relates to passive consumption. Through détournement, the culture acts as a confrontation, having the familiar made strange, and everyday life is disrupted to provoke awareness. After going over this reading, to me, a strong sense of urgency and inspiration is shown. Especially in how détournement empowers artists to reject the role of a passive observer and instead become active participants in shaping the collective experience. It invites a rebellion through creativity by using tools of popular culture to confront control.

This idea from the text directly relates to my final project for this course, where I’m creating handmade posters using lyrics from punk, rock, and alternative music. Much like détournement, I repurpose existing cultural material (song lyrics with emotional and political weight) and place them into public spaces. Inspired by Wark’s thoughts on the Situationists, this project is not just about visual aesthetics but about intervention. The DIY and raw feeling to how the posters will look is to break through the visual neutrality of the space and to instead place presence, feeling, and tension. My intention is to challenge passiveness and instead push moments of reflection. This connects with my earlier project of impermanence which was titled Thorned and dealt with transformation through exposure to the world around. While Thorned explores this on an emotional and material level, the posters do this on a social and political level, using vulnerability and disruption as the tools.

Wark’s work helped me understand that art can be a tool not just for self-expression but for reclaiming autonomy in a system that often feels alienating. Like the Situationists, I want to engage with the world, not just simply represent it. I find a sense of beauty in the act of placing something raw, vulnerable, or loud into a public setting that usually represents quiet conformity. Additionally, for me, détournement is not just about reusing material, but is about reasserting presence. It’s about taking something that once meant one thing and making it speak to my experience and my desire for connection. That act of vulnerability becomes a form of power. After learning about Wark's' views, it has deepened my belief that creative expression can be an act of reclaiming space and self by making yourself shown and known.