Plural Machine

So the year “everyone's been waiting for” has arrived and we can't ignore the fact that we're confronted by a pretty diabolical constellation of forces. The assault on/implosion of Europe, democracy, the welfare state, culture and the environment are all accelerating, generating new forms of resistance and despair in the process. It's a time of crisis and disintegration and much of this is going to become ever harder to ignore or deny – the phony war is over. A time of crisis demands an art of crisis and with luck the rediscovery of early 1980s art and music over the last decade may have proved a useful training in techniques for a similarly conflict-riven and potentially apocalyptic time. It's interesting to note how the still-developing NSK Folk Art movement has begun to flourish just as social and economic conditions have worsened since 2008. 2012 will see more exhibitions of NSK Folk Art and very probably more politicised responses like those of David K. Th...

Thanks to all who attended the event, to the Horse Hospital and to my co-presenters Avi Pitchon and Alexander Nym. There were many new faces, some completely new to NSK and some very interesting discussions. We also premiered the latest edition of NSK State News . All photos courtesy of Vera Bremerton. Reading from State Of Emergence The audience Discussions at the information point. Alexander Nym  Avi Pitchon, Alexei Monroe, Alexander Nym, Ursula Avi Pitchon

Ploettner Verlag and Poison Cabinet Press will shortly release the book “State of Emergence” which explores what did happen, what could have happened and what may happen following the Congress. The book comprises 250 pages and includes images from the Congress as well as the accompanying NSK Folk Art and Congress Poster Competition exhibition, as well as documentation of the first post-Congress citizen-organised events. Also included are a range of eye-witness accounts from delegates, facilitators, observers and others, giving multiple perspectives on the events. In addition, there are essays on the Congress and the NSK State from a range of theorists including Eda Cufer (NSK founding member & international curator), Regina Roemhild (Institute for European Anthropology, Humboldt University Berlin), Yannis Stavrakakis and Kostis Stafylakis.
 As is the case with many of NSK’s works, the true meanings and significances of the Congress may not be clear for some time, but “...