Inke Arns Analyzes NSK's 1980s Retro-Principle and Over-Identification Strategy in Yugoslavia

Inke Arns' 2002 book published by Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie in Regensburg examines Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), a Slovene artists' collective formed in 1980s post-Tito Yugoslavia. The collective included sub-groups like the music group Laibach, painters' collective Irwin, performance group Gledališce sester Scipion Nasice (later Kozmokineticni kabinet Noordung), and design department Novi kolektivizem. NSK employed a 'retro-principle' using visual elements from 19th-20th century Western/Eastern European art, Socialist Realism, Third Reich art, avant-garde movements, and religious art. Their 1987 'Poster-Scandal' involved Novi kolektivizem winning first prize in a Yugoslav government competition with a modified Nazi-era motif, creating deliberate provocation. Arns connects NSK's strategy to Slavoj Žižek's concept of 'over-identification'—suspending system efficiency by embracing rather than ironically distancing from totalitarian ideology. Unlike Western Appropriation Art addressing originality or Russian Soz-art addressing post-socialism, NSK targeted totalitarianism generally. Arns also curates an exhibition 'Retro-principle' with Irwin opening September 25 at Haus Bethanien in Berlin. The book analyzes NSK's context within Yugoslavia's Self-Managing Socialism and references philosopher Peter Sloterdijk's views on ineffective contra-positioning.