Le jeu et son pouvoir subversif chez Debord et les situationnistes et chez Flusser / Play and Its Subversive Power in the Writings of Guy Debord, the Situationists and Vilém Flusser
The relation between the Situationists and Guy Debord, and Flusser has never been seriously explored: they were never in contact, but one can find that they had some ideas in common. This essay attempts to analyze one of these commonalities, their approach to play and games, in the light of the theories of Johan Huizinga and of Roger Caillois. The Situationists placed the game at the center of their approach, seeing in it a revolutionary tool that could help change the world radically. Flusser initially saw the act of playing more as a form of communication within the telematic society, but progressively he saw it also as a form of rebellion against the apparatus. Both the situationists and Flusser emphasized the creative dimension of the game, its subversive power, and the profanation and the quest for freedom that games could empower.
But an important difference between them is that the Situationists fostered a collective game —a celebration in which everyone should participate, where time and space are suspended. Flusser, on the other hand, saw playing against the apparatus more as an individual endeavor, where the single actor does not respect the rules of the program and plays against it. However, the point remains the same: to play the game and use it against the system—whatever that system may be.