Projective Temporality

The autumn issue of Maska focuses on three se – lected art projects and actions in which artists (again) deal with the present moment in a pronouncedly active, contextual and critical manner; some do it to such an extent as to transcend the borders of the given and established art system, thus questioning and broadening the notion of the political in contemporary art: with a reading marathon of Cankar’s play Hlapci [Servants] in front of the Sloveni – an parliament, students of the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television staged a clear protest against finan – cial cutbacks in tertiary education, or against the so-called austerity measures of those in power; through online po – etry publications, the art team Word Is A Weapon, Draw It From Your Mouth [Beseda je orožje, vzemi jo iz ust], which took over the virtual spaces of Slovenian media, exposes the apolitical quality of the incomprehensible and incom – prehensive mass of online comments and forums and opens the possibilities for numerous emancipative effects of their performative readings; the reading performance of the play They Live [Oni žive] by Maja Pelević and Milan Markovič has shown how artists can occupy the spaces of politics regardless of the cramped production condi – tions and turn them into a first-class theatre experience.

You will also find in this issue of Maska a comprehensive themed section entitled Projective Temporality, edited by Dr. Bojana Kunst, who commissioned a series of contribu – tions focusing on the relationship between artists’ work and time, especially on the issue of the temporal condi – tions of contemporary artists’ work and their influence on the contemporary production of art. This jubilee double is – sue of Maska was produced in cooperation with the French centre of artistic research Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers in Paris; hence the trilingual themed section.