Plural Machine

Five years have already passed since the fateful NSK exhibition From Kapital to Capital  in Moderna Galerija. During the weekend of the exhibition symposium there was a Laibach Kunst gramophone performance on the steps of the gallery. To commemorate, here are my recently unearthed photos of the occasion.

Join us for the London launch of the English/German book Gesamtkunstwerk Laibach , a collection of new perspectives on the work of the group. Co-editor Uwe Schütte will present the book and this will be followed by a panel discussing their own selections of Laibach videos: Alexei Monroe will analyse  Mi kujemo bodočnost 1983 Simon Bell  will analyse  Opus Dei (Life is Life) Michael Goddard  will analyse  Wirtschaft ist Tot Uwe Schütte  will analyse  Germania Codex Europa will play a selection of rare and lesser-known Laibach pieces, alongside a few classics. Tickets are available on the door or f rom the venue website .

I have a major new text, in this excellent collection edited by Marc James Léger. ' Sponsored by Self-Management? Re-Constructing the Context and Consequences of Laibach’s Monumental Retro- Avant-Garde ' looks at the subject through the prism of pre- and post-war Yugoslav architecture and features rare Laibach illustrations. Full details on the book can be found on the Manchester University Press website .

Pluralni Monolit/WAT launch event, Vila Bled, 07.09.2003 The first edition of my book on Laibach and NSK was launched exactly 10 years ago to the day at Vila Bled, Slovenia, in a hall used by Tito for diplomatic receptions. This is an edited version of my presentation at the launch events in Bled and Ljubljana... This all began twenty-three years ago in Trbovlje when posters briefly appeared with a black cross and the word “Laibach”. No-one then could have imagined we would be here today, presenting this , but in the end time always catches up with itself. What would the former resident of this place have made of this gathering and his place on the cover of the book? Perhaps the situation seems even stranger because this book is not by a Slovene author. What right does a foreign author have to come here and present your history? The same right that Laibach and NSK had to respond to the cultures and symbols that intruded on their space. These artists took for themselves a rig...

The revised and expanded German translation of  Interrogation Machine will be published by Ventil Verlag this Spring. It contains much new material on the activities of NSK groups and citizens in the last decade as well as exclusive new photos. Further information on the release date and special events in March and May will follow, to keep up to date following the book's German language tumblr page .

This spring sees the largest concentration of NSK-related activity in London since July 1987 - symposia, two exhibitions, a Laibach concert in Tate Modern and more. For more information on these events and news on how I'll be participating check the new Retrogarde London blog .

A year ago the Red Districs, Black Cross event ended memorably in Trbovlje. One of the highlights was the visit to Termoelektrarna Trbovlje, iconic site of the tallest chimney in Europe. Here are a few souvenir shots taken on my mobile phone when the camera battery died...

This deluxe box of rare archive audio and video is available now from Vinyl on Demand . Besides the five LPs, DVD and deluxe artwork there is an extensive booklet which I edited. Besides my own text there are exclusive texts from Donald Campbell, Igor Vidmar, Michael Goddard and  Aleš Leko Gulič.

I'll be giving a talk on the strategies of Laibach Kunst in the context of the exhibition at UGM Maribor, April 7th at 18.00. Entrance is free, more details here .

View from the Red Districts, September 2010 I'm in Trbovlje on the eve of the Red Districts, Black Cross events to mark Laibach's 30th anniversary. Tomorrow evening at 20.00 former Slovene President Milan Kučan will open the Laibach exhibition and this will be followed by a short performance. On the morning of the 24th my work begins, moderating the three-day symposium with a unique combination of speakers, panellists, guests and friends. In the evenings there are Laibach concerts and DJ sessions plus the inevitable parties, this is going to be interesting... All the information you need is here

On the 2nd of September at 19.00 there will be a special event to accompany Laibach's MONUMENTAL RETRO-AVANT-GARDE installation at Wonderloch-Kellerland. I will read from Interrogation Machine , discuss Laibach and take questions. This will be followed by a rare screening of the Laibach documentary film Bravo (a.k.a. Laibach - A Film From Slovenia). Copies of the book will be available. Wonderloch-Kellerland Biesentaler Str. 6 D-13359 Berlin contact@wonderloch-kellerl and.org ENTRY: 5 EURO.

This autumn is dominated by the two major NSK-related events I'm involved in that take place within four weeks of each other: Firstly THE RED DISTRICT SYMPOSIUM (Past Perfect – Future Tense), co-organised by myself and Naomi Hennig as part of Laibach's 30th anniversary events in Trbovlje, Slovenia. September 23rd-26th. Secondly the first NSK Citizens' Congress taking place at the House of World Cultures in Berlin. October 21st-23rd. Further information soon...

I will be giving a guided tour of the Laibach Kunst exhibition at MGLC, Ljubljana on May 9th at midday. Entrance is free. Further details here .

I will be giving a talk on ‘Laibach Kunst and the Art of Total Non-Alignment’at the exhibition on June 23 rd at 6pm. Codex Europa and Wiktor Skok will DJ in an industrial vein afterwards. This Polish site has a short film which has a clip from the opening performance , similar to the one given at I.C.R.N.’s RoTr event in 2006. Read more here about this major exhibition, which presents the most comprehensive overview of Laibach Kunst works yet staged.