LPA

The LPA was first mooted in 1957 by the British artist Ralph Rumney who was amicably expelled from the Situationist International for his failure to deliver a psychogeographical report on Venice, just as the report eventually surfaced in accordance with its own timescale. This psychogeographic project was reinvoked in the early 1990s as the LPA East London Section and after 35 years of non-existence a series of newsletters and pamphlets began to be issued to report on the persistences of ruling class power and free associational drifts across emplaced history. With an open non-sectarian context and contributions from writers associated with the Luther Blissett multiple name, the LPA newsletters regularly displayed a humour reminiscent of Class War and a parodic erudition to some degree aimed at exposing the pretentions and callousness of a western enlightenment tradition and how this persistently feeds into blunting the left opposition. LPA activities included trips to destinations of psychogeographic interest, the organization of three-sided football matches and the inauguration of bus stop competitions. Following my discovery of the LPA newsletters in the Mayday Rooms archive I have initiated my own Psychogeographic examination, taking prompts from the subjects and locations mentioned in the pamphlets. This is an on-going and occasional exercise, that is emerging according to its own timescale.