Retroprinciple - Construction of the Context
Fajfrić, IRWIN, Mieszkowski, Vogelnik

Retroprinciple - Construction of the Context

Wednesday November 30 , 2011
At the GYM in the main building of the Rietveld Academie
2–4 PM

COLUMN

– Art needs interpretation. But life, too, be it biological, social, private or political, needs story telling in order to make sense to us. Making sense, however, is rarely a neutral project. More often, it is interwoven with interest. This spoken column by Sylvia Mieszkowski, teaching in film studies and on “literature and history of the body”, looks at feminism as context of thinking and a position that shapes our processes of meaning making. * Each week the column offers a personal reflection on the topic of the previous edition.

ARTIST PRESENTATION

– Retroprinciple - Construction of the Context, by Borut Vogelnik , co-founder of IRWIN
The Slovenian art collective IRWIN founded in the early 80s, has responded to the collapse of Yugoslavia with a declaration of independence, forming a new, artist state: NSK State in Time. This monumental and collective artistic act is now already 20 years old and marks one of the most charged and interesting art projects in recent history. This presentation will focus on IRWIN’s activities from the political changes in 1990 onward, that can be listed under a central tenet in their work - the retroprinciple , or retroavantgardist approach, which creates a provocative mix of politically charged imagery including fascist and Soviet symbols, religious motifs, and citations of Malevich’s Suprematist painting. *For this presentation Studium Generale Rietveld Academie has teamed up with ArtEZ studium generale in Arnhem.

SCREENING

– Theta Rhythm (2010), 17 min by Bojan Fajfrić
The 8th session of the Central Committee of the Communist League of Serbia was held on the 23rd and the 24th September 1987. Historians agree that this session represents a symbolic turning point that led to the rise of nationalism and wars in former Yugoslavia. Theta Rhythm is a reconstruction of one day of the 8th session through the perspective of the father of the artist - Mirko Fajfrić. The film is a way of mapping the place of a traumatic experience and addresses the moment in recent history that started the dramatic loss of “a better future.”

The three presentations will be followed by questions from the audience and a discussion moderated by Alena Alexandrova.