Luther Blisset
Related: art - politics - author - anonymity - name - identity
Description
Luther Blissett is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. Other multiple identities in use include Monty Cantsin, Karen Eliot and Michael K. These multiple names were developed and popularized in artistic subcultures of the 1970s to 1990 like Mail Art, Neoism and post-situationist discourse, with the pseudonym Rrose Sélavy jointly used by Dada artist Marcel Duchamp and the surrealist poet Robert Desnos forming a historical pretext.
Luther Blissett, the multiple identity is named after the footballer Luther Blissett who use to play for A.C. Milan amongst other teams.
The Luther Blissett multiple identity is particularly popular among Italian subcultural activists and artists, possibly because of the A.C. Milan connection.
Indeed the BBC reported (see [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/293678.stm)) that Luther Blissett is also the name of a "group of Italian anarchists". Much of the reported news about this "group of anarchists" appears to be speculation. Blissett, the footballer, is known to be aware of the 'group' taking his name but reports differ widely in saying whether he likes the attention he receives because of them. Some reports have said he is flattered by the attention, others claim he is very upset about it. The reasons why the group chose the name are unclear to mainstream journalists (e.g. the BBC suggested that Blissett, one of the first black footballers to play in Italy, may have been chosen to make a statement against right-wing extremists in the country). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Blissett_%28nom_de_plume%29 [Oct 2004]
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