Slovenian Art Research Articles

State, Transnational Citizenship and the Transformative Power of Art: The NSK State in Time

This article deals with one of the most intriguing art projects at the intersection of art and social experiment—The NSK State in Time. This is a paradigmatic transnational state that does not have a territory and whose citizenship can be obtained regardless of one’s nationality, citizenship, race, religion or political convictions. It was established in 1992 by the Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst—the NSK, and has seen continuous manifestations in various sociopolitical contexts worldwide. The most prominent one in recent time took place in 2017, when the NSK State opened its own pavilion at the Venice Biennale—a nationally conceptualized fine art event—to exhibit its art next to other countries of the world. This case study analyses the development of The NSK State in Time through the 28 years of its existence, shedding light on the state-formative role of culture and art in the shaping of communities and their identities in the globalized world. The author argues that the NSK State has established a utopian political space that has the power of transcending the ideological limitations of the existing (spatial) states. She demonstrates that this transformative power derives from its liminal position and relentless pursuit of in-betweenness as opposed to the social and political order of the localities where the manifestations of the NSK State take place.

Competence of Slovenian art teachers in working with pupils with special educational needs

ABSTRACT Comparisons of performance in the Slovenian national assessment of knowledge at the end of primary school show lower results for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in all school subjects and in arts education. Several authors highlight the hardships teachers face when working with pupils with SEN. Therefore, in the study we analysed the self-evaluation of competence for working with pupils with SEN among Slovenian art teachers in primary and secondary schools. The results show that the biggest challenges for Slovenian art teachers are the blind and visually impaired pupils and pupils with autistic disorders. They often offer the pupils adjustment in terms of achieving psychomotor goals. However, they are less able to identify pupils’ problems in the socio-emotional sphere and to use adjustment in relation to specific groups of pupils with SEN. Our research provides an insight into practice and thus a basis for further research in this area.

Between New Sensibility and Transgression: Slovenian Alternative Artistic Practices – OHO and NSK

The article conducts a comparative discussion on the strategic poetic and political similarities/differences between the respective contexts of neo-avant-garde and retro-avant-garde practices in relation to aesthetic, artistic, and cultural revolutions. I juxtapose two revolutionary potentials and effects of their actualisation: the utopias and projections of the international revolution relating to the “new sensibility” and the unity of “art and life” of 1968, and several projects and practices that undermine totalitarian systems, from punk cynicism to the national revolutions of 1989 that overthrew real socialism in the Eastern and Central Europe. In my comparative discussion I focus on two specific cases in Slovenian art and alternative cultures, highlighting the position of “experimental poetry,” “new sensibility,” and “conceptual art” of the OHO group, active between 1966 and 1971, and the position of “political cynicism” and “retro-avant-garde art” in the Neue Slowenische Kunst movement founded in 1984.

The Slovenian Art History Textbook in Comparison to Polish Textbooks: Authorship and Content, Didactic Structure and Publishing Circumstances

The paper analyses two concepts of art history textbooks for secondary schools. It discusses their role in the learning and teaching process of art history and related school subjects within the formal educational programmes in Slovenia and their didactic structure. The comparison between one Slovenian and two Polish textbooks might contribute to better understanding of the present situation regarding art history textbook production in Slovenia, which is a result of several factors: the historical continuity of textbook writing and research in textbook didactics, the current school policy and fi nancial competition on the textbook market. Its intention is also to clarify the idea of didactic transformation of the art history contents from the challenging scientifi c texts to a form suitable for secondary school students who are textbooks’ main target audience.

France Stele in raziskovanje slovenske arhitekture

Category: 1.01 Original scientific paper Language: Original in Slovene (Abstract in Slovene and English, Summary in English) Key words: France Stele, art history, architecture, middle ages, Jože Plečnik Abstract: The versatile pioneer of Slovenian art history France Stele (1886–1972) is commonly known as a researcher of medieval wall paintings in Slovenia, although his research oeuvre is considerably more extensive. The present contribution evaluates his scientific, professional and popular texts on (Slovenian) architecture. In those, Stele appears as an expert on historical and contemporary architecture. He is the author of several seminal studies on historical (especially medieval) architectural heritage in the territory of Slovenia, as well as on the architect Jože Plečnik, whose promotor and proponent he was. Architecture also makes up a substantial part of Stele's overviews of fine arts, at the same time his articles, published in daily newspapers and periodicals, played a crucial role in the process of informing the general public on the importance of selected architectural monuments and their preservation.

Voeslav Mole and Yuri Verkhovsky. Double portrait on the background of the Civil War

The article focuses on the friendly and creative relations between the Slovenian art historian, poet and essayist Vojeslav Mole (1886– 1973) and the Russian prominent poet, interpreter, literary historian and theorist Yuriy Verhovskiy (1878–1956). Being recruited to army in 1914 Mole got captured almost at once and spent practically six years in Siberia. In 1919 in Tomsk he met Verhovskiy, who translated several of his poems and published them in his book «Sun in captivity» (1922). One of the Mole’s poems in «Tristia ex Siberia» (1922) is devoted «To the friend ― poet Yuriy Nik. Verhovskiy».

Post-Modern, Post-National, Post-Gender? Suggestions for a Consideration of Gender Identities in the Visual Artworks and Moving Images of Neue Slowenische Kunst

AbstractActive since 1980, the multidisciplinary Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK, New Slovenian Art) and its branches, the fine arts group IRWIN, industrial music band Laibach and theatre troupe Gledališče Sester Scipion Nasice (The Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre), have seen their works widely and often controversially discussed, most often in the context of subversion and over affirmation of totalitarian imagery, as well as the contemporary nation-state and nationalism. Gender, as another often essentialist category, has not figured prominently in the analysis of NSK’s output and impact. This paper proposes some areas (participation, representation) for investigation, as well as points of departure for a theoretical framework starting with key texts on gender by Judith Butler and R. W. Connell to analyse the moving images, performing and fine art produced within NSK in terms of the role gender plays therein, as well as its relationship to the construction of other defining categories such as nation and class.

“How the East Sees the East”

As the Slovenian art collective Neue Slowenische Kunst appropriates artefacts from different sources, the following paper attempts to clarify the significance of appropriation in relation to Russia. Three different artistic moments from different decades are chosen as starting points and key moments in order to examine nsk’s artistic approach.

The Metamorphosis of Polyphemus's Gaze in Marij Pregelj's Painting (1913-1967)

In 1949-1951 Marij Pregelj, one of the most interesting Slovenian modernist painters, illustrated his version of Homer's Iliad and Odsssey. His illustrations were presented in the time of socialist realist aesthetics announce a reintegration of Slovenian art into the global (Western) context. Among the illustrations is the figure of Cyclops devouring Odysseus' comrades. The image of the one-eyed giant Polyphemus is one which concerned Pregelj all his life: the painter, whose vocation is most dependent on the gaze, can show one eye in profile. And the profiles of others' faces and of his own face interested Pregelj his whole life through. Not only people but also objects were one-eyed: the rosette of a cathedral, which changes into a human figure, a washing machine door, a meat grinder's orifice, a blind “windeye” or window, and so on. The themes of his final two paintings, which he, already more than a year before his boding senseless death at the age of 54, executed but did not complete, are Polyphemus and the Portrait of His Son Vasko. In the first, blood flows from the pricked-out eye towards a stylized camera, in the second, the gaze of the son, an enthusiastic filmmaker, extends to the camera that will displace the father's brush.

The Metamorphosis of Polyphemus's Gaze in Marij Pregelj's Painting (1913-1967)

In 1949-1951 Marij Pregelj, one of the most interesting Slovenian modernist painters, illustrated his version of Homer's Iliad and Odsssey. His illustrations were presented in the time of socialist realist aesthetics announce a reintegration of Slovenian art into the global (Western) context. Among the illustrations is the figure of Cyclops devouring Odysseus' comrades. The image of the one-eyed giant Polyphemus is one which concerned Pregelj all his life: the painter, whose vocation is most dependent on the gaze, can show one eye in profile. And the profiles of others' faces and of his own face interested Pregelj his whole life through. Not only people but also objects were one-eyed: the rosette of a cathedral, which changes into a human figure, a washing machine door, a meat grinder's orifice, a blind “windeye” or window, and so on. The themes of his final two paintings, which he, already more than a year before his boding senseless death at the age of 54, executed but did not complete, are Polyphemus and the Portrait of His Son Vasko. In the first, blood flows from the pricked-out eye towards a stylized camera, in the second, the gaze of the son, an enthusiastic filmmaker, extends to the camera that will displace the father's brush.

Musical Symbols: The Symbiosis of Religious and Secular Themes in Art Heritage

The interpretation of musical symbols the frescos, paintings and architectural details could explain the spiritual dimension of the symbolism. Some examples from the Slovenian art heritage of churches and palaces from the 16th to 18th century demonstrate the interplay between religious and secular content, which suggests that the symbolic value of the depictions is a priority, while the selection of themes which could be more or less spiritual or/and secular are not of the greatest significance

Vzklitje slovenskega umetnostnozgodovinskega izrazja: terminološka podoba Flisovih Stavbinskih slogov

The formation of professional terminology is a prerequisite for the consolidation and development of any scientific discipline. It represents an essential tool for the dissemination of theoretical knowledge. The very first efforts to create the terminology of Slovenian art history can be traced back to the last quarter of the 19th century. The groundbreaking work Building Styles) (Stavbinski slogi) was accomplished by priest and art historian Janez Flis. It contains a comprehensive overview of the development of architecture, while at the same time offering a wide range of Slovenian terminological expressions related to the field, accompanied by the established terms from foreign languages, mainly German. An analysis of the vocabulary relating to gothic vaulting systems reveals the state of terminology in Slovenian art history in the initial phase of its development, before it became established as an academic discipline and was formally acknowledged by the opening of a new department at the University of Ljubljana in 1919.

The Monarchic Cult of the Emperor Franz Joseph I in the Slovenian Art and Literature

This paper probes the cult of Franz Joseph I from the perspective of the Slovenian painting, sculpture and contemporary literature. The deification of the living ruler in the Western World, where a universal benefactor and saviour is portrayed as a god-made man, one who participates in divinity and exercises a divine kingship on Earth, has origins in the Roman period. In visual art as well as in literature, the motifs with its specific meaning implicitly supported the cult of Franz Joseph. While painters and sculptors were using his physical appearance to immortalize him through portraits and monuments, writers and poets focused on syntax and metaphorical meanings wrapped in rhymes and stories to express his charismatic personality. Austrian court artists, writers and historians represented a high-profile public figure as a military hero, as a father of the nation having emphasized political symbolism (insignias), having referred to his Habsburg ancestors and to other European rulers. On the basis of less known examples of portraits, monuments and texts dedicated to Franz Joseph, this survey analyses iconographic context, function of different types of depictions and also demonstrates the analogies between the centre and the periphery.

Vagabundske figure v slovenski likovni umetnosti in literaturi na začetku 20. stoletja

The article explores the relationship between visual and literary motifs in Slovenian painting (and illustration, graphics, and drawing) and literature (both prose and poetry) at the beginning of the twentieth century. It uses examples to show the popularity and rich variety of vagabond figures and their transformations and reciprocity at the level of the painting/text. However, a distinctive feature of this article is that it places the subject within the context of hermeneutics, a method that has not been used in Slovenian art history. In addition, it also reveals the symbolic complexity of the vagabond figure in the context of writers, other works, and social-historical circumstances. The emphasis is placed on artists that showed enthusiasm for this figure as a subject during the Belle Époque and also those that followed the very popular bohemian lifestyle in their everyday lives. The reception of Slovenian folk and traditional motifs from the past produced visual and semantic oscillation in which the phenomena of vagabond figures were systematized and interpreted. Many painters (e.g., Gvidon Birolla, and Maksim Gaspari) and writers (e.g., Oton Župančič, Cvetko Golar, and Ivan Cankar) clung to the Slovenian tradition with romantic overtones and, in line with their artistic atmosphere, integrated vagabond figures into typical Slovenian landscapes or environments. Some of them followed Symbolism and modernized the figures with autobiographical references (e.g., Fran Tratnik). The situation among the youngest generation of artists in particular showed that they managed to “escape” from copying traditional motifs and instead used them in a modern form in the “here and now” (e.g., Ivan Cankar). The discrepancy between the lack of the vagabond theme in oil painting and strong diversification in illustration, drawing, graphics, and literature could be explained by consumers’ perceived difference between “high” and “popular” art.

Vagabundske figure v slovenski likovni umetnosti in literaturi na začetku 20. stoletja

The article explores the relationship between visual and literary motifs in Slovenian painting (and illustration, graphics, and drawing) and literature (both prose and poetry) at the beginning of the twentieth century. It uses examples to show the popularity and rich variety of vagabond figures and their transformations and reciprocity at the level of the painting/text. However, a distinctive feature of this article is that it places the subject within the context of hermeneutics, a method that has not been used in Slovenian art history. In addition, it also reveals the symbolic complexity of the vagabond figure in the context of writers, other works, and social-historical circumstances. The emphasis is placed on artists that showed enthusiasm for this figure as a subject during the Belle Époque and also those that followed the very popular bohemian lifestyle in their everyday lives. The reception of Slovenian folk and traditional motifs from the past produced visual and semantic oscillation in which the phenomena of vagabond figures were systematized and interpreted. Many painters (e.g., Gvidon Birolla, and Maksim Gaspari) and writers (e.g., Oton Župančič, Cvetko Golar, and Ivan Cankar) clung to the Slovenian tradition with romantic overtones and, in line with their artistic atmosphere, integrated vagabond figures into typical Slovenian landscapes or environments. Some of them followed Symbolism and modernized the figures with autobiographical references (e.g., Fran Tratnik). The situation among the youngest generation of artists in particular showed that they managed to “escape” from copying traditional motifs and instead used them in a modern form in the “here and now” (e.g., Ivan Cankar). The discrepancy between the lack of the vagabond theme in oil painting and strong diversification in illustration, drawing, graphics, and literature could be explained by consumers’ perceived difference between “high” and “popular” art.

East Art Map: Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe. Ed. Irwin [a group of five artists who make up the visual-arts component of the Slovenian art collective, NSK, based in Ljubljana]. London: Afterall Books, 2006. Dist. MIT Press. 527 pp. Notes. Index. Illustrations. Plates. Photographs. $45.00, paper.

East Art Map: Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe. Ed. Irwin [a group of five artists who make up the visual-arts component of the Slovenian art collective, NSK, based in Ljubljana]. London: Afterall Books, 2006. Dist. MIT Press. 527 pp. Notes. Index. Illustrations. Plates. Photographs. $45.00, paper. - Volume 67 Issue 2