IRWIN is an artists’ collective established in 1983 in Ljubljana (SI). Along with the music group Laibach and Scipion Našice Sisters Theater, IRWIN is an original founding member of NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst or New Slovenian Art) that was formed in 1984.

NSK Volk Art, 2008 (ongoing)

All three core groups of NSK explore similar areas in various media. Their main interests are the relationship between art and ideology, the functioning of ideology and totalitarianism, in which the idea of the state plays a key role. The point of departure for all NSK’s activities is a reflection on the experience of Slovenian history.

In 1991, NSK declared itself a “State in Time,” without territory or national borders. The NSK State is a “spiritual, virtual state” that issues real original passports in accordance with international standards. Anybody can obtain a passport of the “first global state of the universe” and thus acquire the status of one of its citizen. The passports are documents “of subversive nature and unique value” and take NSK reprocessing of state motifs to the extreme. They bear witness to the artistic appropriation of state power. NSK has opened embassies and consular offices throughout the world in the form of creative institutions. The organization of congresses and rendezvous may serve as further examples of their activities.

The fundamentals of NSK “statist aesthetics” is a sort of retrospective manipulation and “recycling” of the images and symbols of the avant-garde, “Nazi Art”, and Socialist Realism. The NSK insignia, the emblem of the “retro-avant-garde”, is typical of the eclectic visual language of the organization. The NSK State currently includes several thousand citizens from all over the world. In collaboration with NSKSTATE.COM, IRWIN has collected a number of artworks created by NSK citizens that reflect on different aspects of the NSK project and are executed in its style. (DM)

NSK Volk Art, 2008 (ongoing)