Mladen Stilinovic - The Praise of Laziness
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THE PRAISE OF LAZINESS Mladen Stilinovid As an artist,I learned from both East (socialism) and West (capitalism). Of course, now when the borders and political systems have changed, suchan experience will be no longer possible. But what I have leamedfrom that dialogue stays with me. My observation and knowledge of Western art has lately led me to a conclusion that art cannot exist...any more in the West. This is not to say that there isn't any. Why cannotart exist any more in the West? The answer is simple. Artists in the West are notlazy. Artists frorrrthe Eastare lazy; whether they will stay lazy now when they are no longer Eastern artists, remainsto be seen. Laziness is the absence of movement and thought, dumb time - total amnesia. It is also indifference, staringat nothing, non-activity, impotence. It is sheer stupidity,a time of pain, futile concentration. Those virtues of laziness are important factors in art. Knowing about laziness is not enough,it must be practiced and perfected. Artists in the West are not lazy and therefore not artists but ratherproducers of something... Their involvement with matters of no importance, suchasproduction, promotion,gallerysystem, museurn system, competition system (who is first), their preoccupation with objects,all that drives them away form laziness, from art. Justas money is paper, so a gallery is a room. Artistsfrom the Eastwere lazy andpoor because the entiresystem of insignificantfactorsdid not exist.Therefore they had time enough to concentrate on art and laziness. Even when they did produce art, they knew it was in vain, it was nothing. Artistsfrom the West could leam aboutlaziness, but they didn't. Two major 20th century artists treated the question of laziness, in both practical and theoreticalterms: Ducharnp ar:d Malevich. Ducharnp neverreally discussed laziness, but rather indifference and non-work. When asked by PieneCabanne what had broughthim mostpleasure in life, Duchampsaid: "First, having been lucky. Because basically I've neverworked for a living. I consider working for a living slightly imbecilic from an economic point of view. I hopethat someday we'll be able to live withoutbeing obliged to work. Thanks to my luck, I was ableto manage without gettingwet". Malevichwrote a text entitled "Laziness - the real truth of mankind" (1921).ln it he criticized capitalism because it enabled only a small numberof capitalists to belazy, but also socialism because the entiremovementwas based on work instead of laziness. To quote:"People are scared of laziness and persecute thosewho accept it, and it alwayshappens because no one realizes laziness is the truth; it hasbeen branded asthe motherof all vices,but it is in fact the mother of life. Socialism brings liberationin the unconscious, it scorns laziness without realizing it was laziness that gavebirth to it; in his folly, the son scorns his motheras a mother of all vicesand would not removethe brand;in this brief note I want to removethe brandof shame from laziness and to pronounce it not the motherof all vices,but the motherof perfection". Finally, tobelazy and conclude: thereis no art without laziness. WORKIS A DISEASE. Karl Marx WORKIS A SHAME. Vlado Martek
description
Mladen Stilinović's liminal essay on laziness.
Transcript of Mladen Stilinovic - The Praise of Laziness
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THE PRAISE OF LAZINESSMladen Stilinovid
As an artist, I learned from both East (socialism) and West (capitalism). Of course, now whenthe borders and political systems have changed, such an experience will be no longer possible.But what I have leamed from that dialogue stays with me. My observation and knowledge ofWestern art has lately led me to a conclusion that art cannot exist... any more in the West.This is not to say that there isn't any. Why cannot art exist any more in the West? The answeris simple. Artists in the West are notlazy. Artists frorrr the East are lazy; whether they willstay lazy now when they are no longer Eastern artists, remains to be seen.Laziness is the absence of movement and thought, dumb time - total amnesia. It is alsoindifference, staring at nothing, non-activity, impotence. It is sheer stupidity, a time of pain,futile concentration. Those virtues of laziness are important factors in art. Knowing aboutlaziness is not enough, it must be practiced and perfected. Artists in the West are not lazy andtherefore not artists but rather producers of something... Their involvement with matters of noimportance, such as production, promotion, gallery system, museurn system, competitionsystem (who is first), their preoccupation with objects, all that drives them away formlaziness, from art. Just as money is paper, so a gallery is a room.Artists from the East were lazy and poor because the entire system of insignificant factors didnot exist. Therefore they had time enough to concentrate on art and laziness. Even when theydid produce art, they knew it was in vain, it was nothing.Artists from the West could leam about laziness, but they didn't. Two major 20th centuryartists treated the question of laziness, in both practical and theoreticalterms: Ducharnp ar:dMalevich.Ducharnp never really discussed laziness, but rather indifference and non-work. When askedby Piene Cabanne what had brought him most pleasure in life, Duchamp said: "First, havingbeen lucky. Because basically I've never worked for a living. I consider working for a livingslightly imbecilic from an economic point of view. I hope that some day we'll be able to livewithout being obliged to work. Thanks to my luck, I was able to manage without getting wet".Malevich wrote a text entitled "Laziness - the real truth of mankind" (1921).ln it he criticizedcapitalism because it enabled only a small number of capitalists to belazy, but also socialismbecause the entire movement was based on work instead of laziness. To quote: "People arescared of laziness and persecute those who accept it, and it always happens because no onerealizes laziness is the truth; it has been branded as the mother of all vices, but it is in fact themother of life. Socialism brings liberation in the unconscious, it scorns laziness withoutrealizing it was laziness that gave birth to it; in his folly, the son scorns his mother as a motherof all vices and would not remove the brand; in this brief note I want to remove the brand ofshame from laziness and to pronounce it not the mother of all vices, but the mother ofperfection". Finally, tobelazy and conclude: there is no art without laziness.
WORK IS A DISEASE.Karl Marx
WORK IS A SHAME.Vlado Martek
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POHVALA LIJENOSTIMladen Stilinovii
Kao umjetnik udio sam i od Istoka (socijalizma) i od Zapada (kapitalizma). Naravno, sadakada su se granice i politidki sistemi promijenili, takvo iskustvo vi5e neie biti mogu6e. Aliono Sto sam ja naudio iz tog dijaloga ostaje mi. Gledanje i poznavanje umjetnosti Zapadanavelo me je ovih dana na misao danaZapadu ne moZe biti vi5e umjetnosti. Ne tvrdim da jenema. Zalto ne moZe biti umjetnosti na zapadu? Odgovor je vrlo jednostavan. UmjetniciZapada nisu lijeni. Umjetnici s Istoka su lijeni, a ho6e li oni sada kada viSe nisu umjetniciIstoka ostati lijeni, to 6emo vidjeti.
Lijenost je odsustvo pokreta i misli, samo tupo vrijeme - potpuna amnezija. Ona je takoderravnrdu5nopt, pu!enje niSta, ne-aktivnost, nemoc. Ona je dista glupost, vrijeme bola,uzaludne kon'centradije. Sve te vrline lijenosti vaZni su dinioci umjetnosti. Nije dovoljno znatio lijenosti, ona se mora prakticirati i usavrSavati.
Umjetnici Zapadanisu lijeni i zato viSe nisu umjetnici, vei proizvocladi nedega.... Potpunazaokupljenost umjetnikaZapada nevaZnim stvarima, kao Sto su proizvodnja, promocija,sistem galerija, sistem muzeja, sistem natjedaja (tko je prvi), zaigranost predmetima, sve toudaljilo ih je od lijenosti, od umjetnosti. Kao Sto je novac papir, tako je i galerija soba.
Umjetnici s Istoka bili su lijeni i siromaSni, jer cijeli sistem nevaZnih dinilaca nije postojao.Zato su imali vremena koncetrirati se i baviti umjetno5iu i lijeno5iu. Ali kada su i proizvodiliumjetnost, znali su da je to uzaludno, da je to niSta.
Pouku o lijenosti umjetnici Zapada imaii su od koga nauciti, aii nisu. D..,a najvaZni-iaumjetnika 20. stoljeia bavila su se pitanjem lijenosti, praktidki i teoretski: Duchamp iMalevid.
Duchamp nikad nije govorio o lijenosti, vei o ravnodu5nosti i ne-radu. Na pitanje PierreCabannea - Sto mu je donijelo najvi5e zadovoljstva u Zivotu, Marcel Duchamp je odgovorio:"Kao prvo imao sam sreie. Jer nikada nisam morao raditr za Zivot. Smatram da je raditi zaZivot pomalo imbecilno s ekonomske todke gledi5ta. Nadam se da cemo jednog dana moiiZivjeti bez obaveze da radimo. Zahvaljujuii svojoj sreii, mogao sam se provudi Woz Livotbezposla".
'Malevid je napisao tekst pod naslovom "Lijenost - prava istina dovjedanstva" (1921.). U tomtekstu on je kritizirao kapitalizam zato Sto omoguiuje samo malom broju kapitalista lijenost,ali i socijalizam,jer je cijeli svoj pokret bazirao na radu, Citiram: "Narodi se plaSe lijenosti iprogone one koji je prihvaiaju, sve se dogada na taj nadin, jer nitko je nije shvatio kao istinu,budu6i da su je Zigosali kao "majku svih poroka", a ona je majka Zivota. Socijalizam nosioslobodenje u nesvjesnom, on Zigo5e lijenost ne znaju6i da ga je ona rodila i njen sin je usvojoj ludosti Zigo5e kao majku poroka, ali on joS nije sin koji 6e skinuti Zig, i stoga u ovojkratkoj bilje5ci, ja Zelim skinuti Zig srama s njenog dela i da je udinim ne majkom svihporoka, vec majkom savt5enstva".
I da budem lijen i da zakljudim. Nema umjetnosti bez lijenosti.
RAD JE BOLEST - KARL MARXMladen Stilinovii
RAD JE SRAMOTAVlado Martek
