Editing London Psychogeographical Association

{{Short description|Organization dedicated to playful, unplanned urban exploration, Situationist precursor}}

[[File:London Psychogeographical Association.jpg|thumb|200px|logo of the East London Section of the London Psychogeographical Association]]

The '''London Psychogeographical Association''' ('''LPA'''), sometimes referred to as the '''London Psychogeographical Committee''', is an organisation<ref>'[https://www.unpopular.demon.co.uk/lpa/elpan001/001weareback.html We're Back]', ''LPA Newsletter'', No.1 Imbolc 1993 p1</ref> devoted to [[psychogeography]]. The LPA is perhaps best understood in the context of [[psychogeographical]] [[Praxis (process)|praxis]].

==London Psychogeographical Institute==
The LPA was first mentioned in 1957 by the British artist [[Ralph Rumney]], as one of the organisers of the "First Exhibition of Psychogeography" in Brussels, which included his work.<ref>[http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/chronology/1957.html Situationist International Online]</ref> According to many accounts the group eventually merged into the [[Situationist International]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Jeremy|title=The situationist city|url=http://www.sfbg.com/lit/aug02/sit.html|work=The Guardian Literary Supplement|accessdate=7 November 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040319114543/http://www.sfbg.com/lit/aug02/sit.html|archivedate=19 March 2004|year=2002}}</ref> Rumney was in fact the only member of the 'Association'.

==LPA East London Section==
In the 1990s, the LPA was reinvoked as the LPA East London Section by [[Fabian Tompsett]], using the pseudonym Richard Essex, who published a series of newsletters and pamphlets under its name, as well as the writers grouped around the multiple user name [[Luther Blissett (nom de plume)|Luther Blissett]], including [[Stewart Home]]. Activities of the ELS also included trips to destinations of psychogeographical interest and the organisation of [[three sided football]] matches.

This version of the LPA has been described by the writer [[Iain Sinclair]], whose work is often described as [[psychogeography|psychogeographical]], as useful in "branding" that kind of practice.<ref>[http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/147_iainsinclair.shtml Fortean Times Magazine | Articles |]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504215741/http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/147_iainsinclair.shtml |date=May 4, 2006 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.spoiledink.com/FEATURES/author_interviews_007.php Edit Red Writing Community]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508072216/http://www.spoiledink.com/FEATURES/author_interviews_007.php |date=May 8, 2006 }}</ref>

In 1994 Barry Hugill wrote an article for ''[[The Observer]]'' covering the LPA. He depicted their ideas as "so cranky that to mention [[Peter Ackroyd|Mr Ackroyd]]'s name in the same breath is to invite a writ." However he also states that "the psychogeographers fear that in 2000 there may be an attempt to perpetuate [[patriarchy]] through the [[ritual murder]] of a top member of royalty."<ref>'Cultists' Go Round in Circles', Barry Hugill, ''The Observer'' Sunday 28 August 1994</ref>

The work of Luther Blissett, Stewart Home and other psychogeographical groups is said to involve the issuing of numerous leaflets and letters under a series of aliases, both personal and organisational, and the description of interactions, including collaborations and feuds, between both these and other, real people and groups (for example between Luther Blissett and the parapolitical researcher [[Larry O'Hara]]).<ref>[http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/feud.htm Stewart Home: Feuds]</ref>

The last LPA Newsletter was issued around the year 2000.

==See also==
* [[Neoist Alliance]]
* [[Association of Autonomous Astronauts]]
* [[Class Wargames]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://empslocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/conjunction.htm ''The Great Conjunction: The Symbols of a College, the Death of a King and the Maze on the Hill''], ([[Unpopular Books]], 1992) - a booklet authored jointly by the LPA and the [[Archaeogeodetic Association]]
* [https://unpopular.org.uk/lpa/elpan001/elpan001.html ''LPA Newsletter'' no. 1 - February 1993]
* [https://unpopular.org.uk/lpa/elpan002/elpan002.html ''LPA Newsletter'' no. 2 - May 1993]
* [https://unpopular.org.uk/lpa/elpan003/elpan003.html ''LPA Newsletter'' no. 3 - August 1993]
* [https://unpopular.org.uk/lpa/elpan012/elpan012.html ''LPA Newsletter'' no. 12 - May 1995]
* [https://unpopular.org.uk/lpa/elpan018/elpan018.html ''LPA Newsletter'' no. 18 - May 1997]

[[Category:Situationist International]]
[[Category:Psychogeography]]