Ralph Rumney

Ralph Rumney (5 June 1934, Newcastle Upon Tyne - 6 March 2002, Manosque, Provence) was an artist and co-founder of the Situationist International.

In 1957 he co-founded the London Psychogeographical Association. This organization was, along with COBRA and the Lettrist International, involved in the formation of the Situationist International]]. However, within seven months Rumney had been 'amiably' expelled from the SI by Debord for allegedly "failing to hand in a psychogeography report about Venice on time." He spent much of his life living as a wanderer.

Publications

• "The Leaning Tower of Venice", Ark 24-26, London: Royal College of Art, 1959-1960; repr. as "Psychogeographical Report on Venice", Vague 22, Jun 1990; repr. as The Leaning Tower of Venice, Paris: Silverbridge, 2002, 36 pp. Originally intended to be published in Internationale Situationniste 1 (Jun 1958). [1] [2] (English)
  • Psychogeography of Venice, Venice: Museo del Camminare, 2019. Online edition.
  • Psicogeografia di Venezia, Venice: Museo del Camminare, 2019. Online edition. (Italian)

• "Kill John Bull with Art! What Went Wrong?", Studio International 178:917, London: Cory, Adams, and Mackay, Dec 1969, pp 216-221. [3]

• Le consul: entretiens avec Gérard Berréby, Paris: Allia, 1999, 124 pp; repr., 2018, 184 pp. Biographical interviews. (French)
  • The Consul, trans. Malcolm Imrie, London: Verso, 2002, 124 pp; San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002. [4]
  • Der Konsul. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Situationistischen Internationale, trans. Michael Sander, afterw. Roberto Ohrt, Berlin: Tiamat, 2011, 143 pp. (German)

• Pourvu que ça dure: sur le passage de quelques idées à travers le temps, Bureau des inspections banalytiques, 1999, 18 pp. (French)

• with Alan Woods, The Map Is Not The Territory, Manchester University Press, 2000, 204 pp. Biographical interviews.
• Autour de la création de l'Internationale situationniste, Arles: Sulliver, 2000, 15 pp. Catalogue. Texts by Andrew Hussey and Francesca Comisso. (French)
• Ralph Rumney: un protagonista del situazionismo: opere 1957-1995 / Ralph Rumney: un protagoniste du situationnisme: œuvres 1957-1995, Livorno: Galleria Peccolo, 2014, 46 pp. Catalogue. Texts by Yan Ciret, Sandro Ricaldone, and Renata Ghiazza. (Italian)/(French)

Interviews

• Stewart Home, "About the Historification of the Situationist International: Ralph Rumney in Conversation with Stewart Home, Paris 7 April 1989", Art Monthly, London, Jun 1989.
• "The Map is not the Territory: Ralph Rumney interview 4/5/89", Vague 22: "Media Sickness", Vague Publishing, Jun 1990.

Literature

• Natalie Ferris, "Ralph Rumney: The Shape of Heads to Come", Bricks from the Kiln 1, eds. Andrew Lister and Matthew Stuart, Winchester: Winchester School of Art, 2016, pp 22-35.
• Irma Delmonte, "Ralph Rumney and His Derive in the 1950s", Venice: Museo del Camminare, 2019.

Links

• Obituaries: Malcolm Imrie (The Guardian), Telegraph, Roberto Ohrt (Jungle World, DE).
• Wikipedia