Spectacular Subversions centres on republishing the Spectacular Times pocketbook series compiled and written by Larry Law. Fourteen issues were published from 1979 to 1987 by @ Distribution [now a part of Freedom Press], and together, they presented an introduction to the writings of the Situationists International - especially that of The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. The series balanced handwritten text and typewritten quotes with ‘subversions’ - a collection of articles and other related imagery which have been ‘détourned’ to critique the Spectacle rather than aid it, thereby providing examples for the text.

The Spectacular Times presents a window into the era of its publishing, with the subversions demonstrating how 'the Spectacle' could be situated within current events and imagery. Therefore, to republish the Spectacular Times for the present day the “subversions” need to be updated, both to allow the same entry point for understanding as the original text but also to show how elements such as Everyday Life and The Media have changed in the last 40 years.

Updating the original publication four decades later means resituating the approach in a different media ecology while maintaining - via updating - the key tension and exploration of Spectacular Times. With the new republication taking place 40 years ago and being digitally formatted and printed, unlike the original Xerox versions, there are new avenues of formats to explore and represent.

Spectacular Subversions sets out to republish the original Spectacular Times pocketbooks with new interventions made in the text and imagery. To begin with, the first three issues are to be remade and contrasted with republished and unedited copies of all 14 issues of the series. This is to demonstrate the changes made in the new republications through juxtaposition and to set out a goal for the future of the project where all issues are to be remade in this format. The republished issues will be moved from the original handwritten and xeroxed format to digital formatting, including translating Larry Law’s original text into a Gmail exchange and quotes into Google Docs screenshots. All new insertions into the text are to be coloured orange in contrast to the original black and white format, with a large orange band running down the front of every republished issue. Finally, a new Issue 0 will be created, filling in the gaps in the series’ history and conclusion.