Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship - autonomous ...
Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship - autonomous ...
Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship - autonomous ...
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<strong>the</strong> social under socialism<br />
II. Slovakia: Permanent Manifestations<br />
The provocative forms <strong>of</strong> witting <strong>and</strong> unwitting participation initiated by<br />
Knížák in Prague can be contrasted with artistic events in Bratislava during<br />
<strong>the</strong> same period. If Knížák’s early work was resolutely avant- garde, seeking<br />
disruption as a means to higher consciousness <strong>of</strong> everyday experience,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Slovakian artist Alex Mlynárčik was more interested in consensual,<br />
optimistic <strong>and</strong> vernacular forms <strong>of</strong> collective activity that had <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
roots in rural tradition. 34 The documentation <strong>of</strong> his works bear a striking<br />
resemblance to recent socially engaged art, although today Mlynárčik is<br />
something <strong>of</strong> a controversial fi gure (as is Knížák, but for different reasons). 35<br />
He is also overlooked historically, as a younger generation <strong>of</strong> Slovakian<br />
artists have found a greater affi nity with his contemporaries Stano Filko<br />
(b.1937) <strong>and</strong> Július Koller (1939– 2007). 36<br />
Mlynárčik began working in <strong>the</strong> early ’60s, making unremarkable<br />
mixed- media compositions on wood. On first visiting Paris in 1964 he<br />
found an immediate affi nity with Nouveau Réalisme (César, Arman, Saint<br />
Phalle, Christo), <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> which can be seen in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> his<br />
‘permanent manifestations’ (1965 onwards), three- dimensional assemblages<br />
overlaid with public graffi ti as a kind <strong>of</strong> consumer palimpsest. 37 It<br />
can also be seen in Happsoc I (a neologism <strong>of</strong> ‘happenings’, ‘happy’, ‘society’<br />
<strong>and</strong> ‘socialism’) by Mlynárčik, Stano Filko <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>orist Zita<br />
Kostrová. The trio announced a series <strong>of</strong> ‘realities’ to take place in Bratislava<br />
during <strong>the</strong> week <strong>of</strong> 2– 9 May 1965. On 1 May, <strong>the</strong> three members<br />
wrote a manifesto explaining <strong>the</strong>ir planned artistic action <strong>and</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> art,<br />
which was founded upon <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n current vogue for nominalism, that is,<br />
excising an experience or event from <strong>the</strong> fl ow <strong>of</strong> everyday life <strong>and</strong> declaring<br />
it to be a work <strong>of</strong> art. 38 In this particular instance, it was <strong>the</strong> whole city<br />
<strong>of</strong> Bratislava <strong>and</strong> its society that was announced as an exhibition. However,<br />
<strong>the</strong> manifesto also went beyond <strong>the</strong> reductiveness <strong>of</strong> neo- Duchampian<br />
nominalism by including a parody <strong>of</strong> a national census that had taken<br />
place <strong>the</strong> previous month, listing twenty- three types <strong>of</strong> object <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
number to be found in Bratislava: one castle, one Danube, 142,090 lampposts,<br />
128,729 television aerials, six cemeteries, 138,936 females, 128,727<br />
males, 49,991 dogs, <strong>and</strong> so on. The manifesto <strong>and</strong> data were sent to 400<br />
people in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> a printed invitation to Happsoc I, which designated<br />
<strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Bratislava during <strong>the</strong> week <strong>of</strong> 1– 9 May as a work <strong>of</strong> art. This<br />
period was framed by two public holidays: Workers’ Day, a key event in<br />
<strong>the</strong> socialist calendar, <strong>and</strong> 9 May, which commemorated <strong>the</strong> liberation <strong>of</strong><br />
Slovakia by <strong>the</strong> Soviet Army in 1945. 39 It seems evident that this framing<br />
sought to draw attention to two types <strong>of</strong> participation: <strong>of</strong>fi cial parades, on<br />
<strong>the</strong> one h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> artists’ creation <strong>of</strong> an invisible, involuntary <strong>and</strong><br />
imaginary participation, on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Interpretations <strong>of</strong> Happsoc I somewhat depend upon one’s translation <strong>of</strong><br />
141