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Class Wargames: Ludic Subversion Against Spectacular Capitalism Richard Barbrook

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Class Wargames: Ludic Subversion Against Spectacular Capitalism Richard Barbrook Minor Compositions Open Access Statement – Please Read This book is open access. This work is not simply an electronic book; it is the open access version of a work that exists in a number of forms, the traditional printed form being one of them. All Minor Compositions publications are placed for free, in their entirety, on the web. This is because the free and autonomous sharing of knowledges and experiences is important, especially at a time when the restructuring and increased centralization of book distribution makes it difficult (and expensive) to distribute radical texts effectively. The free posting of these texts does not mean that the necessary energy and labor to produce them is no longer there. One can think of buying physical copies not as the purchase of commodities, but as a form of support or solidarity for an approach to knowledge production and engaged research (particularly when purchasing directly from the publisher). The open access nature of this publication means that you can: • read and store this document free of charge • distribute it for personal use free of charge • print sections of the work for personal use • read or perform parts of the work in a context where no financial transactions take place However, it is against the purposes of Minor Compositions open access approach to: • gain financially from the work • sell the work or seek monies in relation to the distribution of the work • use the work in any commercial activity of any kind • profit a third party indirectly via use or distribution of the work • distribute in or through a commercial body (with the exception of academic usage within educational institutions) The intent of Minor Compositions as a project is that any surpluses generated from the use of collectively produced literature are intended to return to further the development and production of further publications and writing: that which comes from the commons will be used to keep cultivating those commons. Omnia sunt communia! Support Minor Compositions / Purchasing Books The PDF you are reading is an electronic version of a physical book that can be purchased through booksellers (including online stores), through the normal book supply channels, or Minor Compositions directly. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university or local library purchase a physical printed copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions please contact the publisher: [email protected]. “In a world become ‘game-ifed’ against its will, Class Wargames provides the feld manual for the only game that matters – that of history.” – McKenzie Wark, author of Te Beach Beneath the Street and Gamer Teory “Richard Barbrook’s approach to the Situationist International is so left feld, he leaves virtually every other author addressing the subject looking like a dull academic plodder. Were he still alive, Barbrook’s fellow iconoclast Guy Debord would heartily approve of such unacceptable theory.” – Stewart Home, avant-garde pornographer and Paul Hamlyn Foundation prize winner “Richard Barbrook’s book is a jubilant manifesto for ludic art and revolution – each in service of the other – for a participatory future. By bringing Situationist disciplines into a contemporary context, he shows how thinkers, gamers, artists, hackers and educators can resist assimilation, and their creative endeavours escape perversion, by the deadly, dominating forces of neoliberalism.” – Ruth Catlow, co-founder of Furtherfeld and creator of Rethinking Wargames “Like H.G. Wells, Guy Debord saw wargames as a valuable means of ludic subversion of established societal and military hierarchies. In this impressively eclectic and erudite book, Richard Barbrook explains with infectious enthusiasm how he and his group have striven to use ludic ideas to inspire and inform a new generation of radicals.” – Philip Sabin, Professor of Strategic Studies at King’s College London and author of Simulating War class wargames LUDIC SUBVERSION AGAINST SPECTACULAR CAPITALISM Richard Barbrook classwargames.net Class Wargames: ludic subversion against spectacular capitalism Richard Barbrook Tis book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 licence. If you have any queries about republishing, please contact Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. ISBN 978-1-57027-293-6 Designed by David S. and Anne L. Blanco Cover image: Toussaint L’Ouverture at Bedourete © Kimathi Donkor (2004) www.kimathidonkor.net Released by Minor Compositions 2014 Wivenhoe / New York / Port Watson Minor Compositions is a series of interventions & provocations drawing from autonomous politics, avant-garde aesthetics, and the revolutions of everyday life. Minor Compositions is an imprint of Autonomedia www.minorcompositions.info | [email protected] Distributed by Autonomedia PO Box 568 Williamsburgh Station Brooklyn, NY 11211 www.autonomedia.org [email protected] dedicated to Elena Mikhailovna Duffield ( née Vorontsova ) 1975–2012 Comrade, Class Wargamer & Friend ‘While you live, shine Don’t sufer anything at all; Life exists only a short while And time demands its toll.’ – Seikilos ‘Spectacular domination’s frst priority is to eradi- cate historical knowledge in general; beginning with just about all rational information and commentary about the most recent past. With consummate skill, the spectacle organises ignorance of what is about to happen and, immediately afterwards, the forgetting of what has nonetheless been understood. History’s domain is the memorable, the totality of events whose consequences will be lastingly apparent. As thus, inseparably, history is knowledge that should endure and aid in understanding, at least in part, what is to come. In this way, history is the measure of genuine novelty.’ – Guy Debord Comments on the Society of the Spectacle respect due Arty Barbrook-Black; Adeline Mannarini; Alan Freeman; Alastair Brotchie; Ale Freire; Alessandro Vincentelli; Alex Auld; Alex Galloway; Alexander Nikolic; Alexandra Poblinkowa; Alexei Blinov; Alexei Monroe; Alexei Tsvetcof; Ali Tajvidi; Andriy Linik; Andy Cameron; Angelina Davydova; Anna Kolodziejska; Anne Blanco; Andrew Burgin; Anton Lukinskij; Armin Medosch; Ben Carmedy; Ben Vanovitch; Billy Cass; Brian Train; Bridget Cotter; Caterina Carta; Clare Solomon; Claus Voigtmann; Christian Nold; Clive Adams; Corrado Morgana; Dan Judelson; Daniel Hinchclife; Dave Douglass; Dave Green; David Blanco; David Bovill; Dibyesh Anand; Dick Pountain; Djahjah Bonorandi; Dmitry Golynko; Dominic Wells; Don Nicholson-Smith; Drica Veloso; Eva Pascoe; Farhang Morady; Frands Pedersen; Frank Boyd; Fred Turner; Fred Vermorel; Gill Woodward; Harry Pearson; Helen Barbrook; Henry Hyde; Hicham Khalidi; Hubert Czerepok; Ian Bone; Inke Arns; Isis Salvaterra; Jacqueline de Jong; James Moulding; Jane Pavitt; Joel Bauman; John Barker; John McDonnell; John Rees; John Wyver; Jonathan Dufeld; Kateryna Onyiliogwu; Keith Franklin; Ken Wark; Kimathi Donkor; Lara Blazic; Lewis Sykes; Lisa Devaney; Lisa Vanovitch; Lyubov Bejkatskaya; Malcolm Hopkins; Malcolm Imrie; Marc Garrett; Marina Koldobskaya; Marta Kubik; Martin Housden; Mary Flanagan; Mel Franklin; Michael Kalivoda; Michèle Bernstein; Nik Gorecki; Niki Gomez; Olena Linik; Paolo Gerbaudo; Paul Gilroy; Pat McMath; Patrick Burke; Phil Sabin; Pil & Galia Kollectiv; Radhika Desai; Ray Holiday; Ricardo Blaug; Richard Parry; Richard Tomas; Rob Lucas; Rob McMaster; Robin Halpin; Russell King; Ruth Catlow; Sam Cooper; Simona Lodi; Sofa Korzova; Sophia Drakopoulou; Stevphen Shukaitis; Stewart Home; Suzy Robson; Tara Woodyer; Tiago Novaes; Tom Campbell; Tom Moore; Tom Vague; Tuesday Greenidge; Ursula Huws; Vladimir Rudykh; Wessel van Rensburg; Autonomedia; BOEM; Chto Delat?; Cybersalon; Cyland; End Notes; FleaPit; Firebox; Furtherfeld Gallery; Housmans Bookshop; KCC & the Rocking Crew; LRC; Media Ecology Association; Midia Tática Brasil; NCCA; nettime; Pussy Riot; Raylab; Resonance FM; Teory & Practice; Toi-Toi; UCU; and Weekly Worker. contents Illustrations 8 Xenon-Eye by Alex Veness 10 Class Wargames Players 14 Class Wargames on Campaign 15 Games Played on Campaign 20 1.0: Te Art of War 28 2.0: Te Skilful General 112 3.0: Te Workers’ Militia 230 4.0: Bibliography 342 5.0: Index by John Barker 406 illustrations Xenographs by Alex Veness Inside Cover: María Mencía with Class Wargames at Cold War Modern in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England, on 31st October 2008. Frontispiece: Richard Barbrook and Ilze Black playing Te Game of War at Alex Veness’ Bankside fat in London, England, on 28th October 2008. Chapter 1: Richard Barbrook and Malcolm McLaren with Class Wargames at the Wunderbar Festival in the Baltic Centre for Contem- porary Art, Gateshead, England, on 14th November 2009. Chapter 2: Stefan Lutschinger and Danilo Mandic with Class Wargames at What Is To Be Done? Te Urgent Need to Struggle in the ICA, London, England, on 13th October 2010. Chapter 3: Ilze Black, Lucy Blake and Stefan Lutschinger with Class Wargames at Cold War Modern in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Lon- don, England, on 31st October 2008. Bibliography: Fabian Tompsett, Mark Copplestone and Richard Bar- brook with Class Wargames at Cyberfest 2008 in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, on 27th November 2008. Index: Alex Veness with the Xenon-Eye scanner camera at Occupation Studios, London, England, on 14th March 2014. 8 9 Diagrams 1: Pump House opening positions for Guy Debord’s Te Game of War. Page 110 2: Rio de
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