Plural Machine

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 .

The first post-Congress citizen-organised event took place in Lyon last night. RDV#1 went very well. The crowd was engaged and responsive and there were some interesting discussions. This was followed by an impromptu passport-stamping session. The event augurs well for future NSK-related events in Lyon. Congratulations to Bertrand Thibert for his hard work and for taking this initiative.

Congress month opens with my lecture on NSK and the Congress at the workshop Andere Europas (Other Europes). The event is free and will take place in both English and German. Workshop zum Start des Studienprojekts Andere Europas: Soziale Imagination in transnationalen Bewegungen und urbanen Öffentlichkeiten Das Projekt stellt die Frage nach Anderen Europas in doppelter Hinsicht: einmal als Frage danach, ob, wo und durch wen andere als die herrschenden Visionen Europas vorstellbar und öffentlich kommunizierbar werden; zum anderen die Frage danach, ob und wie in solchen alternativen Imaginationen die Anderen Europas - im Sinne der in den herrschenden Visionen Ausgeschlossenen oder jedenfalls Marginalisierten (Migrant/innen, soziale/kulturelle Minoritäten, Kritiker/innen des Neuen Europas) - eine besondere Rolle als Adressat/innen, als Produzent/innen spielen. Damit wird zugleich die Frage neu aufgeworfen, inwieweit Europa als Raum sozialer, politischer Utopien und für die Mobilis...

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...