April 1, 2011

Laibach: Divided States of America

So Laibach is a band from a nation that no longer exists: Yugoslavia

They are part of the Neue Slowenische Kunst or NSK artistic movement, which uses a retrospective avant-garde aesthetic, borrowing from and combining conflicting ideologies to create an aesthetic both authentic feeling, and nonsensical.

They toured the USA just after the 2004 election, and while here, they documented the political, social, and psychological climate here.

It's interesting to watch this now, hearing people's critiques of Bush at the time, the critiques of the wars at the time, etc.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm actually watching a documentary on the fall of the Soviet Empire. But there it is, it's us. It's our empire that's crumbling now.

What becomes really apparent for me, is how the duopoly of two corporate, pro-war political parties, have deeply divided our nation politically into two opposing camps that fight essentially for the same team.

Until we get beyond this illusion that we have two different political parties that serve different masters, we're going to keep driving America into the same corporatocratic ditch every two years.

Below is their documentary: Divided States of America, in which a friend of mine makes a cameo.

I personally feel that this film's message culminates in section 6 with a reading by NSK luminary Peter Mlakar.















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