SYSELUS AFFILIATIONS and OTHER SOCIETIES REPORT

The International Necronautical Society are a totalising project about knowledge, through a highly rhetorical exploration into the dusty crevices of avant-garde movements. Similarly to Syselus, the INS sheath their true intentions behind parody and internal contradiction. They dabble in the art of self-sacrifice, for example by deliberately exposing the INS’ essential contradiction of writing a cemented manifesto of ideas that prophesises the abolition of absolute ideas. This paradox is an eternally painful one, and pinpoints the inevitable dilution and bastardisation of every movement from Futurism to Dada and as far as Situationism. Ultimately, this painful paradox will forever self-perpetuate because of the basic human seduction of pack-like positivism and dependence on an Absolute idea. The INS, however, do not seem to struggle with this paradox directly- they are neither antagonistic towards seduction nor do they seem convincingly seduced at all. Instead the INS act in comfortably passive retrospect- with the safety cushion of arrogantly Postmodern hindsight (if hindsight were seen through glasses which flatten as opposed to give depth). They argue having theatrical stance- ridden with multileveled ironies and pastiches- but with sweeping generalities like;

“Do we contradict ourselves? Well then we contradict ourselves. We are large. We contain multitudes.” (www.necronauts.org)

they hardly appear to be grappling with a real antagonism towards itself and the audience – hardly Artaud! – but instead sit back and synthesise the paradox vicariously through the past, stale and dismissible rather than fresh and urgent.