Gruppe SPUR
S.P.U.R.; Die Zeitschrift SPUR / hrsg. von der Gruppe Spur: Helmut Sturm ... [and others] (S.P.U.R.; The Magazine SPUR / edited by the SPUR group: Helmut Strum…[and others]) was published in Munich by members of the Modern German art group, Gruppe SPUR, in 1962 in an edition of 270 copies. The members listed as editors for this issue are Helmut Strum (1932-2008), Hans-Peter “H.P” Zimmer (1936-1992), Heimrad Prem (1934-1978), Lothar Fischer (1933-2004), and Dieter Kunzelmann (1939-2018).
While short lived, SPUR is recognized as one of the first German art movements to develop out of a post-war, post-Nazi Germany. Gruppe Spur formed after the members collaborated on a show in the Munich Botanical Garden, at which they disclayed a painting made by all collaborators. This experience encouraged them to create their own group, which they named after the German word for “trace” or “trail” (spur). To the members, this was not so much a “group” as it was a “community”, and they wanted to focus on creating art as individuals. This ideal seemed to be born from a rejection of the Nazi Germany belief of “culture to a single standard” and discussions being held during the Cold War about art’s role in social/political change; instead, Gruppe Spur wanted to push past what they viewed as limitations set on the freedom of artistic expression and artist autonomy.
They would join the Situationist International (SI) in 1959 and then in 1961, following disagreements on one of the SI group’s core stances and accusations of using the SI group for exposure, were officially excluded. The group’s political stance is interwoven into a leftist, socialist belief system that is evident in the style they chose to depict their art—a touch of dadaism and surrealism. In fact, Gruppe SPUR labelled themselves in the magazine as the third Tachistic, Dadaist, Futuristic, and Surrealistic waves in one of the manifestos interspliced throughout the magazine (image number 5).
The selected images for this post represent only a Fraction of what can be found in Spur magazine. The act of flipping through the pages is, in and of itself, an experience. Interspliced between jumbled sketches, splashes of paint, and collages is introspective essays, manifestos, and quotes from philosophers. The texture of the book pages changes consistently, going from fine, almost thin to the rough feeling of construction paper. The book forces the viewer to not just view the pages as the art but the whole book as one, continuous art piece.
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--Olivia, Special Collections Art History Fieldworker
