A-Infos (en) The Female Species Zine - interview with Bill Brown of NOT BORED! about the strong Situationist influence in his work and his views on the Anarchist movement

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Bill, Publisher of Not Bored!talks about the strong
Situationist influence in his work and his views on
the Anarchist movement, art, and protesting.
TFS: Briefly describe who you are, what your zine is.
BB: Bill Brown aka Bill Not Bored. I am the publisher of NOT BORED!
TFS: What inspired you to begin making your zine and how long have
you been making it?
BB: I started publishing in July 1983 because I was writing things
(about the politics of rock music) that couldn't or wouldn't get
published in the newspaper for which I was writing at the time ("The
Ann Arbor News"). I was beginning to receive objections from readers
and editors. In particular, the first issue of NOT BORED! was
published so that I could tell people honestly and without editing what
I was realizing about David Bowie (his fascism and elitism).

TFS: What issues or theory does your zine mostly deal with?

BB: Issues? Mostly rock music, but also paintings, films, TV, books,
local/national/international politics, and my personal political
activities. Theories? Situationist theory, mostly; the zine become a
situationist zine after the second issue. Other very important
theorists: Baudrillard, Virilio, Batatille, Deleuze & Guattari,
Burroughs.

TFS: What drew you to the Situationists, any specific book or member
of the Internationale?

BB: In 1983, Greil Marcus explored the influence of the Situationists
on the Sex Pistols, a group that was very important to me. I figured if
one inspired the other, I should find out more. When I read the "SI
Anthology" and then Vaneigem's "Revolution of Everyday Life," I was
hooked. Over the years, I've realized that it is Debord who most
impresses me: such a great writer!

TFS: Do you feel the Situationists are relevant today? Any books or
documents specifically?

BB: Yes, very relevant: the Surveillance Camera Players are a
thoroughly situationist project, and they are (obviously) very relevant
to today's society and politics. To me as I am today, the most relevant
things by the Situationists were written between 1966 and 1971, when
they struggled to become a purely political (and anarchist) group.

TFS: How do you think the Anarchist movement of today could learn
from the Situationists?

BB: It already has learned a great deal from them! All of the following
groups are obviously situationist in impulse, influence or tone: Reclaim
the Streets, Carnival Against Capitalism, and Radical Cheerleaders.

TFS: Are there any books or writers in particular that you think
anarchists today should read?

BB: Yes, definitely! Wilhelm Reich's "The Mass Psychology of
Fascism"; Julian Beck's "The Life of the Theatre"; Guy Debord's
"Comments on the Society of the Spectacle" and "The Assassination
of Gerard Lebovici".

TFS: Are there any particular groups within the anarchist movement
that you associate yourself with?

BB: Depends what you mean by "asssociate." Direct association?
None. We are very impressed with the performances of the following
groups: the various USA Black Blocs, Tutti Bianchi (Italy), Wombles
(England).

TFS: Where do you stand on the issue of anarchist organization?

BB: Against federations and collectives; in favor of small,
autonomous, networked affinity groups.

TFS: Do you think there is a place in the movement for the
Primitivists, Green Anarchists, etc.?

BB: Yes, absolutely! All true solutions are human; all technological
solutions are doomed to failure. But a major problem with some USA
primitivists/green anarchists is their inability to work with or even
show respect for the work of others. In the hope of being more radical
than everyone else, they have completely isolated themselves and
have thus become ignorable.

TFS: What are your thoughts on the anti-war movement in the United
States? Have radicals played a constructive role?

BB: The anti-war movement in the United States is very strong,
vibrant, and brave. It needs to become a pro-peace movement, and
then an anti-capitalist movement. Radicals have played a very
constructive role, chiefly by daring to protest, even after September
11th. Best example: NYC protest against World Economic Forum in
February/March 2002. Without such bravery and commitment, it would
have been impossible to motivate a million people to brave the cold on
15 February 2003.

TFS: Are there any protesting tactics that you would like to see used
more often?

BB: Yes! Running from A to B and stopping; swarming; Black Blocs;
graffiti campaigns

TFS: In the broader anti-capitalist movement, do you see any place for
contemporary avant-garde art movements?

BB: Yes, of course! Art carries with the promises of happiness, utopia
and the expansion of creativity. Without these positive aspects, the
merely negative critique of capitalism is incomplete, unpersuasive,
sterile.

But also art carries with it retrogressive elements as well: irony,
self-aggrandizement, isolation, and elitism. These "faults" can only be
corrected or cured by political awareness and action.

TFS: Are there any particular artists or art movements today that have
revolutionary potential?

BB: Yes, those devoted to hacktivism, plagiarism, scandals in the
mass media: for example, Electronic Disturbance Theatre (USA),
Uebermorgen (Austria), 0100101110101101.org (Italy), Yes Men
(France)

TFS: Finally, what authors or musicians have you been enjoying lately?

BB: Authors: Juilian Beck; Edgar Allan Poe; Robert Fisk; Walter
Benjamin; Musicians: Le Tigre; Fred Wesley and the JBs; Robert
Ashley;

Not Bored! is online at www.notbored.org

(To recieve a copy of the Female Species, email us at
thefemalespecies@hotmail.com or check us out online at
http://www.geocities.com/yoshomon.)


Link: http://www.geocities.com/yoshomon


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