Volume XXXVI., no. 205-206 (winter 2021)
Editors: Pia Brezavšček in Rok Bozovičar
Episodes of illness
Work, even the work of an artist, does not mean a continuous flow of production and creativity. This seemingly smooth process is more or less often interrupted by episodes of stagnation, depression, fatigue, feelings of meaninglessness, mental or physical illness. It is often the tragic dimension that is the real, constitutive dimension of existence, interrupted by rare episodes of inspiration and meaning in artistic production. Julie Reshe writes about this in her article on negative psychoanalysis, which she defines as “a collective practice or a theoretical and practical space within which tragedy is not stigmatised”, for this issue of the journal.
The capitalist mode of production seeks to extract the maximum from the human being, draining all their hidden potentials, energies and emotions at a relentless pace, and converting them into profit. The feelings they evoke make it much easier to capitalise on positive emotions, so there is a real tyranny of health and happiness, underpinned by a concern to increase productivity rather than care for fellow human beings. During the epidemic, which coincided with a grim political situation in our country, we also experienced first-hand how bodies can become infected with moods and emotions even more quickly than with viral diseases. We are living in a state of emergency that has not only brought about an interference in lives in the form of measures to contain the virus, but has also been used as a stage for the political spectacle of channelling one affective agenda or another to stir up divisions. On the other hand, some measures have also stifled the conventions of proximity that are essential for some kinds of live art to make sense.
Volume XXXVI., no. 205-206 (winter 2021)
Editors: Pia Brezavšček in Rok Bozovičar
In this issue, some of the authors explore the problems of the body and contagion, which they have already raised in their lectures in the discourse-theoretical seminar at the 2021 PARL programme, from several perspectives: Blaž Lukan writes about the possibility of performative practices during the COVID-19 epidemic in relation between the physical and the social body. Jasmina Založnik is searching for resistant conceptualisations in the metaphorical use of contagiousness, which seek to emphasise the community and non-sterile contacts that have emancipatory power and are present in some artistic practices. Jernej Markelj theorises through Deleuze that affects are also contagious, turning Western philosophy on its head and offering a different substrate to the performing arts. Independently of these reflections, Ivan Strelkin explores the theme of virality and contagiousness by examining »echoing choreographies«, in which the viewer repeats the dance or choreography without the participation of the author, which has proliferated with the role of online video hosting services and social networks.
In September, we launched the autumn semester of the Seminar of Contemporary Performing Arts at Maska Institute, following the publication of the Slovene translation of Capitalist Realism by cultural critic Mark Fisher, also known by his nickname and blog K-punk. Fisher’s own struggles are hard to separate from his critical and theoretical practice, and he often blogged about the relationship between mental health and the structure of contemporary life (he committed suicide in 2017). The expanded and in-depth seminar activities, based on a set of topics of Capitalist Realism, were conceived by our colleague Aleš Mendiževec. From this seminar series we are publishing a text by psychologist Ana Reberc, who does not see depression as a very common psychological condition in the present and a consequence of the individual’s psycho-physical constitution, but (above all) as a consequence of living in a capitalist system. Flexibility, mobility, precariousness, the indistinguishability between work and leisure are important stress factors of our times which are responsible for many psychological distresses, and therefore very typical for the theatre professions. Varja Hrvatin, Maša Radi Buh and Jakob Ribič, through interviews with actors and experts, identify the extent of the correlation between working conditions and the incidence of mental distress in the sector, which in most cases remain unaddressed and the individuals affected are left without support mechanisms. The link between illness and performance is not something that is unique to late capitalism, but constitutes the modern era and forms new autonomous artistic genres. Eva Smrekar places their connection in a historical context through the lens of the archive of pathological
choreography and the politics of the modern body.
Alongside our regular sections Neodvisni and Reading Club, we are particularly pleased to have been able to publish bits of poetry by the late British poet, Sean Bonney, in Crumbs from the Scene. Bonney lived in Berlin until his suicide in 2019, and his poetry, which has never been translated into Slovenian, is characterised by an intense compression of political (class) intuition and solidarity sensitivity, and perfectly articulates the feelings of the »episodes of illness« that we have tried to address in this issue.
Happy 2022, even if happiness is no doubt overrated.
