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WHAT IS NSK?
Very often, basic information on what NSK is,
when it was founded, what the NSK
philosophy is and the like are required. To
put it in a nutshell, NSK in its structure is a
simple and yet complex mechanism which
makes any precise explanation in a few
words practically impossible. NSK began
operating in 1984 as a large collective, an
organisation, a union of various groups
brought together by their shared way of
thinking and similar style of expression
through different media. The main NSK
groups are: Laibach, Irwin, Noordung, New
Collectivism Studio and Department of Pure
and Applied Philosophy. There are also a
number of flexible subdivisions which emerge
as the needs arise and dissolve under their
own inertia. Each of the groups primarily
works within its medium, nevertheless their
bonds are firm and fruitful. Members of the
groups meet on a regular basis, they talk,
discuss and plan major common campaigns,
test aesthetic and other preferences,
exchange ideas and contexts, travel together,
etc.
Laibach began working in 1980 and was
mainly oriented to popular music media,
although it was associated with different levels
of work from the beginning, including gallery
and theatre installations. The resume and
chronology of Laibach are diversified, as well
as its records, and its philosophy is a
complex one and may be easily called
untranslatable, which of course means that it
is understood by those who understand it and
which can be interpreted in a number of
ways. We could assume despite this that
Laibach was the ideological foundation of
NSK, while the Irwin artists group formed
themselves within the function of NSK
biographers, recording NSK archetypes on
canvas and in history. The Noordung Theatre
(formerly Red Pilot, and the Scipion Nasice
Sisters Theatre before that) assumes
ritualistic NSK contexts and operates through
religious patterns above all.
Besides these three groups the most active
within NSK are the New Collectivism Design
Studio and the Department of Pure and
Applied Philosophy. The former obviously
works with design (posters, record covers,
books, etc.), and the latter mainly with critical
aspects of classic philosophy. The
Department treats philosophy as its subject
matter and medium, which does not imply that
this philosophy is entirely relevant to other
NSK groups or to NSK as a whole.
In spite of links each of the group works
according to its internal logic, its rules and
principles of work, whereas they are
connected by a certain contextual and formal
aspect, and this aspect is what forms NSK.
 Please send your comments to Andreas Agiorgitis. This document was updated 5/4/2003.
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