IRWIN and all about (part 2)

IRWIN is a collective of Slovenian artists, primarily painters, and an original founding member of Neue Slowenische Kunst(NSK).

History[edit]

In 1983, the artists Dušan Mandič, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, and Borut Vogelnik, coming from the punk and graffiti scene in Ljubljana, formed an artistic group and called it Rrose Irwin Sélavy. This name had a reference to Marcel Duchamp, who used “Rrose Sélavy” (like eros c’est la vie) as one of his feminine pseudonyms.^{[original research?]}The group would soon shorten the name to R Irwin S.^[1]

In 1984, the group co-founded a larger collective known as Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK). Acting as the fine arts wing of the group, they joined the musical group Laibach, and the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre group. Soon after the formation of the larger collective, R Irwin S changed its name to simply Irwin.^[1]

In 1987, IRWIN, Novi Kolektivizem and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre were involved in one of the greatest art scandals in the history of Yugoslavia when they proposed a poster, based on a Nazi kunst poster, for the celebration of the Youth Day, Tito's birth anniversary. In the history of art, this scandal is known as the Poster Scandal.^[2] In 2012, D'Art documentaries production is to release a 1-hour documentary about the scandal, entitled "The Fine Art of Mirroring".^[3]

Characteristics[edit]

Irwin’s work is defined largely by three main principles. The first is the idea of building one’s own artistic position out of one’s particular circumstances; by being particular, art can become truly universal. The second is working in a group, a collective, or even an organization, shifting the emphasis away from the individual personality of the artist. The third is the fundamental NSK working procedure sometimes called the retro-principle.^[4] The latter principle gives rise to the concept known as “retroavantgardism” (or, later “retrogardism”). As the name implies, retroavantgardism is somewhat paradoxical because it calls for simultaneously looking backward (“retro”) and forward (“avant-garde”). This position is evident in the paradoxical title of an official statement of the group in 1987, “The Future is the seed of the past.” ^[5] In essence, retroavantgardism consists in the recycled use of past symbols, images and philosophical ideas, particularly those that have been used by governments or other institutions to accumulate and hold power.

Irwin is also very interested in the idea of the complexity of the image. For them, an image is never neutral, nor does it ever appear in a neutral space. Thus their work can be tied to the larger international inquiry known as Institutional Critique. Directly drawing upon images that have strong political and/or artistic connotations, including fascist, Soviet, religious, and Suprematist images, Irwin’s art is complex and has a traumatic and provocative effect. Reflecting their belief that there is no neutral space, Irwin’s work becomes increasingly concerned with location, both in performance pieces, but also in exhibitions. The self-curation of their shows becomes as much a part of the work, as the pieces themselves.^[4]

Works[edit]

Paintings[edit]

Irwin’s “paintings” incorporate a number of media including paint, tar, books, dishes, Lego, silkscreens and many others. The works are not signed by the group, in a traditional sense, but are presented to the collective for approval. The work will then be stamped with the groups monogram—often on a metal plate.

Performance Pieces[edit]

Although primarily painters, they have engaged in many collaborative works with other NSK art collectives, ranging from theater to music video. In 1992, in cooperation with Michael Benson, they created the performance Black Square on Red Square, in which a square of black cloth, 22 meters to a side, was unfurled on Moscow's Red Square, in homage toKazimir Malevich and suprematism. Others of their more notable activities have included the planning of the NSK Embassies and Consulates in Moscow, Gent and Florence, and the Transnacionala project—a journey from the east to the west coast of the United States in 1996.^[6]

East Art Map[edit]

East Art Map is a project to create a history and vocabulary for Eastern European art starting in 1945 by identifying and compiling a sourcebook of influential artists.

Exhibitions[edit]

Irwin have exhibited widely in Europe and the USA, including Manifesta in Rotterdam and Ljubljana, Venice Biennial, After the Wall, and Aspects/Positions.^[6] In 2004, they have received the Jakopič Award, the highest annual award in Slovene fine arts.

Books[edit]

• Arns, Inke, Ed. (2003). IrwinRetroprincip. Revolver. ISBN 3-936919-56-9.
• Cufer, Eda, Ed. (1992). NSK Embassy Moscow: How the East Sees the East. Loza Gallery.
• Cufer, Eda, Ed. (1999). Transnacionala: Highway Collisions Between East and West at the Crossroads of Art. Studentska organizacija Univerze v Ljubljana, SOU. ISBN 961-6211-62-5.
• IRWIN (2006). East Art Map. Afterall Books and The MIT Press. ISBN 1-84638-005-7.
• New Collectivism (1991). Neue Slowenische Kunst. AMOK Books and Neue Slowenische Kunst. ISBN 1-878923-05-6.

Notes[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b Arns, Inke. "Irwin Navigator: Retroprincip 1983-2003" in IrwinRetroprincip edited by Inke Arns (Frankfurt am main: Revolver 2003)
2. Jump up^ [1]
3. Jump up^ [2]
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b Zabel, Igor. "Recall," in East Art Map: Contemporary Art in Eastern Europe edited by IRWIN (London: Afterall Books, 2006)
5. Jump up^ Neue Slowenische Kunst edited by New Collectivism (Los Angeles: Amok, 1991
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b [3]

References[edit]

• Arns, Inke (2002). Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) - eine Analyse ihrer kuenstlerischen Strategien im Kontext der 1980er Jahre in Jugoslawien. Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg. ISBN 961-90851-1-6.
• Arns (ed.), Inke (2003). Irwin: Retroprincip 1983-2003. Frankfurt/Main: Revolver - Archiv für aktuelle Kunst. ISBN 3-936919-56-9.
• Monroe, Alexei (2005). Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-63315-4.Neue Slowenische Kunst (a German phrase meaning "New Slovenian Art"), a.k.a. NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part ofYugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans. The name of NSK's music wing, Laibach, is also the German name of the Slovene capital Ljubljana, creating controversy through evoking memories of the Nazi annexation of Slovenia during the Second World War and Slovenia's previous seven centuries as part of the Habsburg Monarchy.^[1]

  Contents

    [hide] 

  • 1Composition
  • 2Characteristics
  • 3NSK State
  • 4See also
  • 5References
  • 6Further reading
  • 7External links

  Composition[edit]

  NSK's best-known member is the musical group Laibach. Other NSK member groups include IRWIN (visual art), Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre (also known as Red Pilot and Cosmokinetic Theatre Noordung), New Collective Studio (graphics; also known as New Collectivism), Retrovision (film and video), and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy(theory).^[2][3][4] The founding groups of the NSK were Laibach, IRWIN, and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theater. Membership has been open to all artistic groups interested in challenging taboos and challenging the norms of Slovene national identity.^[5]

  Characteristics[edit]

  NSK art often draws on symbols drawn from totalitarian or extreme nationalist movements, often reappropriating totalitarian kitsch in a visual style reminiscent of Dada. NSK artists often juxtapose symbols from different (and often incompatible) political ideologies. For example, a 1987 NSK-designed poster caused a scandal by winning a competition for the Yugoslavian Youth Day Celebration. The poster appropriated a painting by Nazi artist Richard Klein, replacing theflag of Nazi Germany with the Yugoslav flag and the German eagle with a dove.^[3] Intended as an ironic joke, the painting soon fell foul of the authorities, who interpreted it as equating Marshal Josip Broz Tito with Adolf Hitler, and when it was reproduced on the cover of Mladina, that particular issue was banned.^[6]
  Both IRWIN and Laibach are emphatic about their work being collective rather than individual. Laibach's original songs and arrangements are always credited to the group collectively; the individual musicians are not named on their album covers; at one point, there were even two separate Laibach groups touring at the same time, both with members of the original group. Similarly, the IRWIN artists never sign their work individually; instead, they are "signed" with a stamp orcertificate indicating approval as a work from the IRWIN collective.
  The NSK were the subject of a 1996 documentary film written and directed by Michael Benson, entitled Predictions of Fire(Prerokbe Ognja).^[7] Among those interviewed in the film is Slovenian intellectual Slavoj Žižek.

  NSK State[edit]

  Since 1991, NSK claims to constitute a state,^[8] a claim similar to that of micronations. They issue passports,^[9] have presented shows of their work in the guise of an embassy or even as a territory of their supposed state, and maintainconsulates in several cities including Umag, Croatia (since 1994).^[10] NSK have also issued postage stamps. Laibach, in 2006, recorded (some may say 'remixed') the NSK State National Anthem on the LP "Volk." The "anthem" adopts its melody from another Laibach song, "The Great Seal." Laibach's version of the NSK anthem includes a recitation of an excerpt from Winston Churchill's famous "We shall fight them on the beaches/We shall never surrender" speech.
  The NSK passports are an art project and as such are not valid for travel. However, many desperate people have fallen for a scam in which they are issued a NSK passport.^{[citation needed]} Most of these scams originate in Nigeria and Egypt.^[11]
  The first NSK citizens congress was held in Berlin 2010. It was followed by a "NSK Rendez-Vous" in Lyon, France, where Alexei Monroe revealed to The Captain Spaulding's Bizarre Freaky Circus^[12] Laibach and NSK 's aim : make people "aware that totalitarianism isn’t a discrete historical phenomenon which went on from 1933 to 1989 and then it’s over so let’s have a nice triumph of liberal democracy". Another "NSK Rendez-Vous" took place in London on February 26, 2011. A third "NSK Rendez-Vous" was set to take place from February 1 to 3, 2012 in New York's Museum of Modern Art.^[13]

  See also[edit]

  • Culture of Slovenia
  • New Wave music in Yugoslavia

  References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Monroe, Alexei. Interrogation Machine. MIT Press, 2005. p 3.
  2. Jump up^ Anonymous. "State of Art: the new Slovene Avant Garde" (2004). Northwest Film Forum and Scala House, program for exhibit November 18–November 24, 2004 at Northwest Film Forum, Seattle.
  3. ^ Jump up to:^a b Regina Hackett. "Slovenian art collective is adept at working politics and art". Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 19, 2004.
  4. Jump up^ "Laibach". Laibach.nsk.si. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  5. Jump up^ James Gow & Cathie Carmichael, Slovenia and the Slovenes: A Small State and the New Europe, C. Hurst & Company, 2001, pp. 98-99
  6. Jump up^ Gow & Carmichael, Slovenia and the Slovenes, p. 96
  7. Jump up^ Holden, Steven. "Facing the Menace of Totalitarianism". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  8. Jump up^ "[ NSKSTATE.COM ] [ The Slovenia of Athens ]". Nskstate.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  9. Jump up^ "[ NSKSTATE.COM ] [ HOW TO GET A PASSPORT ]". Nnskstate.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  10. Jump up^ "[ NSKSTATE.COM ]". Nskstate.com. Archived fromthe original on 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  11. Jump up^ ^{[dead link]} "[ NSK Passport ]". DHC 2008. Retrieved2010-06-07.
  12. Jump up^ "NSK à Lyon : Perspektive 2/2".
  13. Jump up^ "NSK Passport Office, New York & NSK Rendezvous MoMA".

  Further reading[edit]

  • Arns, Inke (2002). Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) - eine Analyse ihrer kuenstlerischen Strategien im Kontext der 1980er Jahre in Jugoslawien. Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg. ISBN 961-90851-1-6.
  • Arns (ed.), Inke (2003). Irwin: Retroprincip 1983-2003. Frankfurt/Main: Revolver - Archiv für aktuelle Kunst. ISBN 3-936919-56-9.
  • Monroe, Alexei (2005). Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-63315-9.