editorial
Foreword
The present book examines the reception of artistic avantgarde in (ex) Yugoslavia and Russia from the 80s to the present day. It identifies a paradigmatic shift in the artistic reception of historical avantgarde, which originates from an altered relation toward the notion of (political and artistic) utopia. Both in the Soviet Union and in Yugoslavia the 80s was the time when the relation of different artists toward the notion of utopia– and thus toward the notion of historical avantgarde as well – ranged from critical to rejecting, as they identified in both the tendencies towards the totalitarian (retroavantgarde and postutopianism). This view changes fundamentally with the younger generation of artists in the 90s. Paradigmatic shift in the reception of the avantgarde can be described as a moving away from the “generally suspicious utopia” and approaching the “new notion of the utopian”. In a rough outline, this change in belief or point of view takes place simultaneously with political changes and reversals in the beginning of the 90s. With the transformation of the overtly repressive political systems into democratic ones in the 90s the narrow fixation on totalitarian tendencies, which has already been attributed to the avantgarde, gets more or less lost. In contradistinction to this, the 90s see as possible the pluralism of possible artistic standpoints toward the legacy of historical avantgarde. In comparison with Russian neoutopianism, retroutopianism, as I have termed it, proves to be a wholly new way of reception of the avantgarde and its utopias. Although Russian neoutopianism employs the immediacy and physical suddenness of the avantgarde (“utopian”) strategies, its relation toward the historical avantgarde adheres more to the relation of the Russian postutopianism of the 80s. In contrast, retroutopianism is characterized by – especially in the area of ex Yugoslavia – a media-archaeological interest in the re-activation of the media and technological utopias of the historical (primarily East European) avantgarde. With this it formulates, in the sphere of art history, that which science has yet to discover – media archaeology of Eastern Europe.
The book is a reworked version of the dissertation, submitted on May 2 2003 and defended on February 20 2004 at the University of Humboldt in Berlin. Here, I would like to express my thanks to my colleagues and friends, who helped and supported me throughout my research. First of all I would like to thank Prof. Georg Witte PhD from the University of Humboldt in Berlin, whose support encouraged me and filled me with enthusiasm. I thank the participants of the doctoral colloquium at the Institute for Slavic Studies of the University of Humboldt in Berlin for lively discussions and many critical suggestions. The second mentor of the dissertation was Prof. Sven Spieker PhD from the University of California in Santa Barbara.
I would also like to express my gratitude for their support to: Ursula and Manfred Arns (Berlin); Eda Èufer (Ljubljana); Prof. Dieter Daniels PhD (Leipzig); Volker Grassmuck PhD (Berlin); the group Irwin: Miran Mohar, Roman Uranjek, Andrej Savski, Dušan Mandiæ, Borut Vogelnik (Ljubljana); Sabina Mester (Berlin); Lena Nowak (Berlin); Bojana Pejiæ PhD (Berlin); Gregor Podnar (Ljubljana); Jelena Radovic (Berlin); Regina Rapp (Berlin); Sylvia Sasse PhD (Berlin); Frank Stühlmeyer (Hamburg); Ute Vorkoeper PhD (Hamburg) and Claudia Wahjudi (Berlin).
The work was financed with the scholarship for the dissertation (NaFöG, 1998-2000) of the Berlin County and with the employment as a research assistant at the University of Humboldt in Berlin (2000-2001). I express my thanks to Emil Hrvatin for his trust, enthusiasm over the subject of my book and his patience. The translation into Slovenian was made possible by Maska (Ljubljana). I am deeply honoured that the translation will be published at the same time as the German edition.
Inke Arns
The present book examines the reception of artistic avantgarde in (ex) Yugoslavia and Russia from the 80s to the present day. It identifies a paradigmatic shift in the artistic reception of historical avantgarde, which originates from an altered relation toward the notion of (political and artistic) utopia. Both in the Soviet Union and in Yugoslavia the 80s was the time when the relation of different artists toward the notion of utopia– and thus toward the notion of historical avantgarde as well – ranged from critical to rejecting, as they identified in both the tendencies towards the totalitarian (retroavantgarde and postutopianism). This view changes fundamentally with the younger generation of artists in the 90s. Paradigmatic shift in the reception of the avantgarde can be described as a moving away from the “generally suspicious utopia” and approaching the “new notion of the utopian”. In a rough outline, this change in belief or point of view takes place simultaneously with political changes and reversals in the beginning of the 90s. With the transformation of the overtly repressive political systems into democratic ones in the 90s the narrow fixation on totalitarian tendencies, which has already been attributed to the avantgarde, gets more or less lost. In contradistinction to this, the 90s see as possible the pluralism of possible artistic standpoints toward the legacy of historical avantgarde. In comparison with Russian neoutopianism, retroutopianism, as I have termed it, proves to be a wholly new way of reception of the avantgarde and its utopias. Although Russian neoutopianism employs the immediacy and physical suddenness of the avantgarde (“utopian”) strategies, its relation toward the historical avantgarde adheres more to the relation of the Russian postutopianism of the 80s. In contrast, retroutopianism is characterized by – especially in the area of ex Yugoslavia – a media-archaeological interest in the re-activation of the media and technological utopias of the historical (primarily East European) avantgarde. With this it formulates, in the sphere of art history, that which science has yet to discover – media archaeology of Eastern Europe.
The book is a reworked version of the dissertation, submitted on May 2 2003 and defended on February 20 2004 at the University of Humboldt in Berlin. Here, I would like to express my thanks to my colleagues and friends, who helped and supported me throughout my research. First of all I would like to thank Prof. Georg Witte PhD from the University of Humboldt in Berlin, whose support encouraged me and filled me with enthusiasm. I thank the participants of the doctoral colloquium at the Institute for Slavic Studies of the University of Humboldt in Berlin for lively discussions and many critical suggestions. The second mentor of the dissertation was Prof. Sven Spieker PhD from the University of California in Santa Barbara.
I would also like to express my gratitude for their support to: Ursula and Manfred Arns (Berlin); Eda Èufer (Ljubljana); Prof. Dieter Daniels PhD (Leipzig); Volker Grassmuck PhD (Berlin); the group Irwin: Miran Mohar, Roman Uranjek, Andrej Savski, Dušan Mandiæ, Borut Vogelnik (Ljubljana); Sabina Mester (Berlin); Lena Nowak (Berlin); Bojana Pejiæ PhD (Berlin); Gregor Podnar (Ljubljana); Jelena Radovic (Berlin); Regina Rapp (Berlin); Sylvia Sasse PhD (Berlin); Frank Stühlmeyer (Hamburg); Ute Vorkoeper PhD (Hamburg) and Claudia Wahjudi (Berlin).
The work was financed with the scholarship for the dissertation (NaFöG, 1998-2000) of the Berlin County and with the employment as a research assistant at the University of Humboldt in Berlin (2000-2001). I express my thanks to Emil Hrvatin for his trust, enthusiasm over the subject of my book and his patience. The translation into Slovenian was made possible by Maska (Ljubljana). I am deeply honoured that the translation will be published at the same time as the German edition.
Inke Arns
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