King Mob: The Negation and Transcendence of Art: Malevich, Schwitters, Hirst, Banksy, Mayakovsky, Situationists, Tatlin, Fluxus, Black Mask

by David and Stuart Wise, David Black

Twin brothers David and Stuart Wise, as art students in mid-1960s Newcastle, immersed themselves the radical ideas of Icteric (‘the often confusedly anti-art magazine’). The Wises participated in the saving and restoration of Kurt Schwitters’ Lakeland Merz Barn, and organised a controversial commemoration of the Russian Futurist, Kazimir Malevich. The documents in this book, written over a 50-year period, describe these and subsequent efforts by the Wises to subvert the 'recuperation' of 'art' into the capitalist culture industry.
In reflection on their engagements with like-minded radicals - the English and French Situationists, New York's Black Mask collective, the London-based King Mob, and more recent formations - the authors consider how and why the Revolution 'due to unforeseen circumstances' did not take place. They also analyze the recuperation of radical aesthetic ideas in the works of latter-day chancers like Damian Hurst and Banksy.

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2024