Workshop for Non-Linear Architecture: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|British experimental artist and psychogeography collective}}

{{copy edit|for=jargon and overly long sentences|date=March 2021}}

{{cite check|date=April 2021}}

The '''Workshop for Non-Linear Architecture''' ('''WNLA''') was a group of experimental artists and [[Psychogeography|psychogeographers]]. The group was active in parts of [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] and [[Glasgow]] during the 1990s. Based on the urban practices of the [[Paris]]-based [[Lettriste Internationale]] (1952–1957), the workshop focused on developing the [[Lettrism|Lettrist]] theory of [[Unitary Urbanism]]. The development of the theory was donedeveloped through physical research and behavioral intervention.

The artist, [[Ralph Rumney]] (1934-2002), who had known many of the original Parisian leaders, participated in one of the groups derived in [[London]] in 1995. He is credited with bringing the activities of the workshop to a wider audience. The workshop appears to have disbanded shortly after the release of the fourth and final issue of its journal ''Viscosity''. The journal is now infamous for having been selected by the [[K Foundation]] to announce their 23-year ban on all artistic practices.

British cultural commentator and activist [[Stewart Home]] became a champion of their unrestrained adventurism, including excerpts from the journal. These were published in a series of edited collections by Serpent's Tail.

"The Joker, the Incidental Game of Urban Poker", printed in "Mind Invaders", describes a game of poker played between cities from playing cards found in the street. "St. Andrews Arena", which appeared in the collection "[[Suspect Device]]", narrates one particular derivation that took place in [[Glasgow]] in 1993. Other references to the workshop's activities have appeared in articles by Home, notably in the journal ''Variant''.<ref>Home, Stewart. "[https://articles.bplans.com/theres-no-success-like-failure/ There's no success like failure]", ''Variant'', Volume 2 Number 1 (Winter 1996), p18 Home, Stewart. "Mondo Mythopoesis", ''Variant'', Volume 2 Number 2 (Spring 1997), p7]</ref>

==History==

{{More citations needed section|date=March 2021}}

During its 2-year 'Psycho geographicalPsychogeographical Survey of Glasgow' (1992–1994), the group concentrated on improving the relationship between the [[Lettrism|Letterist]] (and later [[Situationist International Situationist]]) techniques of "taken" and "built" situations. The outcome, described in the essay "Programmed and Constructed Drifting; the Event Architectures of [[Unitary urbanism#:~:text=Unitary urbanism (UU) was the International between 1953 and 1960.|Unitary Urbanism]]" (''Viscosity'' No.3 Glasgow, Jan 1994), highlighted the unnecessary separation of these two tools. The techniques were initially borrowed from the writing techniques of the [[Oulipo]], where the flow of an otherwise free ''[[dérive]]'' is directed in its apparent randomness (and given an element of control over its protagonists) by applying [[parameter]]s. The behavioral [[algorithm]]s employed by WNLA range from elaborate "drifting machines" that are carried across the land and deployed at intervals to generate repeating instructions for movement (non-linear feedback loops), to the simple "anywhere" hitchhiking sign, a regular sight in the summer of 1993, being held aloft on the pavement of the bridge on The M8's Great Western Road.

Artist [[Ralph Rumney]] (1934–2002) is credited with bringing the workshop's activities to a wider audience. He was acquainted with many of the original Parisian Letterists and participated in one of the group's ''dérives'' in London in 1995. It was assumed that WNLA had disbanded shortly after releasing the fourth and final issue of its journal ''Viscosity'', which is now infamous for being selected by the [[K Foundation]] to announce its 23-year ban on all artistic practice. However, the journal suggests that the temporary ban applied to the K Foundation and WNLA itself, with the group committing to stop intervening in their activities entirely until 2018.

British cultural commentator and activist [[Stewart Home]] became a champion of WNLA's adventurism, including excerpts from the journal and the type of works undertaken in a series of edited collections published by [[Serpent's Tail]]. References to the workshop's activities have appeared in "The Joker: A Game of Incidental Urban Poker" and were printed in ''Mind Invaders,'' describing a game of poker played between cities from playing cards found in the street. "St. Andrews Arena" appears in the collection ''Suspect Device'' and narrates one particular ''dérive'' in Glasgow in 1993. Other references have appeared in Home's articles, notably in the journal ''Variant''.<ref>Home, Stewart. [https://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue1/success.pdf "There's no success like failure"], ''Variant'', Volume 2 Number 1 (Winter 1996), p18<br /> Home, Stewart. [https://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue2/mondo.pdf "Mondo Mythopoesis"], ''Variant'', Volume 2 Number 2 (Spring 1997), p7</ref>

{{quote| While the Workshop for Non-Linear Architecture has received little press, this is due to the WNLA's indifference towards media coverage rather than a policy decision. Indeed, the WNLA text 'The Joker: A Game of Incidental Urban Poker' included in the anthology describes exactly the sort of 'unusual activity - teams of players scavenging city streets for playing cards that make up the hands in games of poker which go on for months - that might receive coverage in the press if those involved had the slightest interest in publicizing their activities".<ref>Home, Stewart. "[http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/ga/swamp.html Mind-Bending, Swamp Fever & The Ideological Vortex]". ''Public Netbase'', Vienna. 29 April 1998.</ref>}}

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*[http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline The situationist website], containing many of the original translations undertaken by WNLA of the letterist bulletin ''Potlatch''.

{{DEFAULTSORT: Workshop For Non-Linear Architecture}}

[[Category: Psychogeography]]