Cirkulacija 2 Stroj za izboljšanje sveta; Skupno dobro / World Improvement Machine; Common Wealth

Cirkulacija 2

Stroj za izboljšanje sveta; Skupno dobro / World Improvement Machine; Common Wealth

Instalacija in performans / Installation and performance Avtorji / Authors: Iva Tratnik, Tatiana Kocmur, Ryuzo Fukuhara, Stefan Doepner, Borut Savski

http://www.cirkulacija2.org/?p=8090

Stroj za izboljšanje sveta (weltverbesserungsmaschine, world improvement machine) izhaja iz časa, ko je bil metaforični pomen besede stroj še zelo mlad. To je čas nastajajočih evropskih imperijev 16. in 17. stoletja (weltverbesserungsmaschine izhaja iz nemškega okolja) in kasneje čas nastavkov moderne države. S tem skoraj sovpada tudi čas razsvetljenstva, ki pa je vendarle že posledica delovanja Stroja. Stroj kot metafora za moderno državo je domislek razsvetljenih absolutističnih vladarjev, ki so na ta način omogočili trajno/sistemsko rast države, reprodukcijo njenega celostnega »aparata« – predvsem prek sistema davkov: seveda na prvem mestu stalno vojsko, vzpostavitev javne infrastrukture – povečanih možnosti tržnih izmenjav/cestnih povezav, izobraževalnega sistema itd. To se je v anglosaškem okolju pozitivno ovrednotilo z besedno zvezo common wealth, skupno dobro.

Tak stroj/sistem, ki se kljub občasnim zablodam vseeno premika od slabšega k boljšemu, se je v naslednjih stoletjih neprestano spreminjal, vendar je njegova razsvetljenska pozitivistična vloga vse do nedavnega obstala. V zadnjem času je marsikaj napovedalo njegov morebitni kolaps: najprej teza o koncu zgodovine, nato vzpon neokonservativnih in neoliberalističnih idej, ki preizprašujejo skupno dobro in socialne vidike demokracij.

Stroj za izboljšanje sveta je modularna situacijska pojavna oblika, kjer sodelujoči umetniki prek raznolikosti svojih pristopov ustvarjajo dinamičen skupni prostor. Na zunaj je to dokaj abstraktna estetska forma – mozaična sestavljanka. V bistveni zasnovi kolektivnega organizma pa je predvsem etična pozicija.

Članstvo Stroja za izboljšanje sveta imenujemo Cirkulacija 2 in se menjuje, zato so tudi pojavne oblike zelo različne. Do zdaj so bili vedno prisotni Borut Savski (video, zvok), Stefan Doepner (stroji, zvok) in Ryuzo Fukuhara (gib, glas), v zadnjih dveh letih tudi Iva Tratnik (gib, glas, zvok, slika), tokrat pa prvič Tatiana Kocmur (gib, zvok, slika). 23

Pred tem so bili sodelujoči še Boštjan Leskovšek (zvok), Freya Edmondes (gib, glas, zvok) in Milan Kristl (zvok). Gre za kolektivističen pristop s polnim upoštevanjem individualnosti vseh sodelujočih – to je naša sugestija Stroja. Estetski rezultat se ne ukvarja s podajanjem odgovorov, ampak iz nabora 400-letne zgodovine raznolikih idej in praks razsvetljenstva le jemlje podobe, sugerira občutke – postavlja simbolne sestavine Stroja v različne opozicije, ki so na koncu le abstraktne lepljenke vseh teh fragmentov – realnosti današnjega časa. To vedno proizvede zelo konsistentno in široko estetsko obliko.

The World Improvement Machine dates to a time when the metaphorical meaning of this expression was still very young. This was a time of emergent European empires in the 16th and 17th centuries (the term comes from the German weltverbesserungsmaschine), later followed by the outlines of the modern state taking shape. It almost coincides with the Enlightenment, but that period is already a consequence of the operation of the Machine. The Machine as a metaphor for the modern state is a brainchild of enlightened absolutist rulers that facilitated the sustainable/systemic growth of the state and the reproduction of the entire “apparatus” of such a state – mostly via the system of taxation; this made it possible to have a standing army and to build public infrastructure, which in turn facilitated commerce, the educational system, etc. In the Anglo-Saxon world, this notion received the positivist designation of commonwealth.

This Machine/system kept changing over the following centuries, and yet the enlightened positivist role of the machine, which progressed from worse to better, despite the occasional delusions, remained standing until recently. Lately, there have been multiple harbingers of a possible collapse of the Machine: first the notion as to the end of history, then the rise of neoconservative and neoliberalist ideas that question the ‘commonwealth and the social aspects of democracies.

The World Improvement Machine is a modular situational manifestation that involves the participating artists creating a dynamic common space through the variety of their approaches. From the outside, it is a fairly abstract aesthetic form – a mosaic puzzle. But in its essence of a collective organism, its main role is that of an ethical position.

The members of the World Improvement Machine, called Cirkulacija 2, is changeable and its manifestations are very different. Thus far, Borut Savski (video, sound), Stefan Doepner (machines, sound), and Ryuzo Fukuhara (movement, voice) have always been involved. In the last two years, they have been joined by Iva Tratnik (movement, voice, sound, image), and for the latest iteration Tatiana Kocmur (movement, sound, image) also participated for the first time. Previous participants included Boštjan 26

Leskovšek (sound), Freya Edmondes (movement, voice, sound), and Milan Kristl (sound). They nurture a collectivist approach that fully considers the individuality of all participants – that is their take on the Machine. The aesthetic result does not attempt to provide answers, rather it draws on the 400 years of history of the diverse ideas and practices of the Enlightenment and picks out images and suggests feelings, putting the symbolic components of the Machine into various juxtapositions, which end up being abstract patchworks of all these fragments – the reality of the present day. This always produces a very consistent and broad aesthetic form.

Cirkulacija 2 je neodvisna umetniška iniciativa s sedežem v Ljubljani od leta 2007 dalje. Naša osnovna motivacija je »hiša umetnikov« – interdisciplinarna, neodvisna umetniška produkcija in predstavitveni prostor, ki vključuje raznoliko rabo tehnologij in estetskih izrazov. Ti segajo od abstraktnega zvoka, interaktivnosti in algoritmike, robotike, raznolikih medijev, interneta do raziskovanja nenehno spreminjajočih se performativnih pristopov. In še posebej: vključuje socialno koheziven pristop na način kombiniranja skupnega in posameznega. V zadnjih sedmih letih – odkar delujemo v velikih predstavitvenih prostorih in imamo dolgoročnejša finančna sredstva iz javnih virov – delujemo tudi kot producenti različnim generacijam umetnikov. Vsako leto predstavimo več kot 30 posameznih dogodkov z več kot 60 različnimi umetniki. Za naš program na področju eksperimentalnih, raziskovalnih in sodelovalnih pristopov v zvočni umetnosti smo leta 2010 prejeli nagrado zlata ptica – lokalno zelo pomembno simbolno dejstvo (prej so ga prejeli NSK, Irwin, Laibach itd.). Za program na področju eksperimentalnih in raziskovalnih pristopov ter promocijo le-teh v umetnosti v preteklih letih je iniciativa leta 2020 od Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije prejela status javnega interesa.

Cirkulacija 2 is an independent Ljubljana-based artistic initiative launched in 2007. The group’s principal motivating embodiment is their “house of artists” – an interdisciplinary, independent, artistic production and exhibition space that involves the diverse use of technologies and aesthetic expressions. They range from abstract sound, interactivity, and algorithms, to robotics, diverse media, and the internet – and the exploration of ever-changing performative approaches. And most importantly, a socially cohesive approach that combines the common with the individual. Over the last seven years – since the group started working in large exhibition spaces and have had more long-term public funding – they have been working as producers for different generations of artists. Every year, the group showcase over thirty individual events with more than sixty artists. In 2010, the group received the Golden Bird award for their programme of experimental, investigative, and collaborative approaches, a very important accolade nationally, whose previous recipients include NSK, Irwin, Laibach, and others. In 2020 the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia designated the group as an organisation operating in the public interest for their programme of experimental and investigative approaches.