Surplus Matter

The Joint Statement was presented at Tate Britain this January and revolves around the notion of “originary inauthenticity” — the trauma of materiality which prevents us from feeling at one with ourselves or the world. Art and literature frequently try to deal with this problem by sublimating matter and “elevating it into form”. Necronauts reject this temptation — they are “modern lovers of debris” who choose to “celebrate the imperfection of matter”. McCarthy points out that “what makes the trajectory of Yeats’s work so fascinating is the shift from early idealism to late materialism, And that’s where Joyce begins: debris, detritus, fragments, Stephen Dedalus squelching rubbish on the beach. That’s the landscape that has to be navigated, here, now — and celebrated, not transcended.”

Andrew Gallix on the International Necronautical Society in the March issue of Dazed & Confused.

The video of the controversial Tate Declaration is now up on the Tate’s website.

The two actors slip out of character and profess not to know very much about the whole thing. The real Tom McCarthy is beaming with delight, having watched from backstage. “We could franchise this,” he tells me. “Imagine Keanu Reeves and Brad Pitt standing in for us!” Everyone is relieved; it all worked out. The press people, the technical staff, and the rest of the INS staff slope off to the pub. In the emptying lobby, a spray of crumbs and crushed cups coat the floor and the sofas, like a punch line: “the brute materiality of the external world,” waiting around for the cleaners to turn up.

Ben Street reviews the International Necronautical Society’s Tate Declaration on Inauthenticity in Triple Canopy.

Pictures from the Tate Declaration on Inauthenticity by Tod Kesselman.

It has been rumoured, post event, that McCarthy and Critchley hired a couple of actors to impersonate them up on the stage in front of the packed auditorium. Contrary to popular opinion I can confirm that it was, in fact, the artist/novelist Tom McCarthy and Professor of Philosophy Simon Critchley before us, thus solidifying the event’s authenticity for those in attendance. This, some of you may recall, is not the first time the INS has caused such controversy.

Lee Rourke reviews the Tate Declaration on Inauthenticity for 3:AM Magazine.

According to the INS, we are all dividuals – the self is divided, split, is inauthentic, we are comic, incomplete; the art we make, which informs our existence, is fake, a forgery, is indeed the there of our thatness. Our journey to death (Necronaut) is a way to navigate existence – there is no transcendence – our matter matters. So: Beckett, Blanchot, and Bataille as drawn by Chuck Jones.

Steve Finbow reviews the Tate Declaration on Inauthenticity for 3:AM Magazine.

For their 17 January shindig, the INS hired actors to play General Secretary Tom ‘Thunderbird’ McCarthy and Chief Philosopher Simon ‘Hip Hugger’ Critchley. The event sold out well in advance because a sensation hungry public were under the entirely false impression that they would be personally addressed by this notorious pair of lobster loving nude chefs. Despite Radio 4 (Today programme, 29 December 2008) making the outrageous claim that McCarthy is widely recognised as a best-selling novelist, the majority of those present appeared blissfully unaware of the fact that the thespians pretending to be the notorious INS nude chefs were Sexton Blakes!

Stewart Home reviews the International Necronautical Society’s inauthentic Joint Declaration on Inauthenticity.

Everything you need to know about the International Necronautical Society’s Joint Declaration on Inauthenticity which will be delivered by Tom McCarthy and Simon Critchley at Tate Britain on 17 January.

Tom McCarthy at the Serpentine Gallery’s Manifesto Marathon 2008 in Dazed Digital.

Next week, Tom McCarthy will be in conversation with Alasdair Gray and Hans Ulrich Obrist. He will also deliver the International Necronautical Society’s Proclamation on Art and Democracy.