Art
Autonomous Cultural center Metelkova is a sizeable squat consisting of 7 main buildings in the center of Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana, created in the former military headquarters of the Yugoslav National Army. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, it got empty and was squatted in September 1993. Now they do not have to ‘take their water and electricity anymore, but are able to pay for it through the variety of cultural and creative activities they unfold within their Freetown of Metelkova.
A place worth visiting for real as well online !
Swedish video link aimed at getting us to look about the size, nature/style and footprint of our living spaces and dwellings. Some ‘wow’ factor examples from a range of architects and artists.
This is only the ‘taster’ video. The full film includes some nomadic examples too. If you google, there are sites offering the full 52 minute version if you register.
The Mutoid Waste Company are an important and influential counter culture group. Here are links to two site. As Mutate Britain site says: “Still alive and kicking after 25 years thanks to the continued stewardship of Joe Rush, their apocalyptic vision, born from the chaos of rejected military and industrial scrap metal, laid foundation stones for rave, warehouse and festival culture.”
A pioneering Slovenian art collective, the NSK originated in Slovenia in the early 1980s. The NSK exhibited at the 2017 International Art Exhibition in Venice (the 57th). They created a sloping installation that celebrates the shaky foundations of their imaginary country, and offers a ‘passport’ for the dispossessed. The NSK State was formed in 1992.
It explores the meaning of states, nations and statelessness. Here’s a link to an interesting BBC article about the NSK. And a link to their official site.
See also the World Passport site.
Uniquely disturbing Australian artist, visionary, theatre performer and musician. Inhabits the outer hemispheres of the brain and the occult. An alternative-festival cult, but not for the squeamish!
A couple of links to start you off into his diverse, wild worlds.
Facebook community site celebrating the vibes and music and images of the 60s, especially the festival scene. Woodstock, Isle of Wight, Monterey and Altamont and more. And the couple from the Woodstock cover are still together all these years on. Awesome and all probably highly illegal!
This is the link to the albums and there is a separate set of photos too.
A bit like postmodernism, R50 Baugruppen Co-housing in Berlin offers a radical architect-led post-squat and post-commune take on reality.
Links to an interesting article about ordinary people working together with architects to become developers and residents, plus a video in German with English subtitles. It’s about space and form as will as housing.
Rainbow Dreaming
Described as a photo documentary about the area around Byron Bay and Nimbin – home of the original tribes of hippies in OZ. It links to a book of the same name and the Bodhi Farm community and the history of local festivals.
Lots of pics of Rainbow Gatherings, when they happened for the first time in Europe in the early ‘80s in the Swiss alps.
Renowned architect and father of geodesic domes and Spaceship Earth. He was known to many as ‘Bucky’.
As it says on the official BFI site:
“R. Buckminster Fuller was a 20th century inventor and visionary who did not limit himself to one field but worked as a ‘comprehensive anticipatory design scientist’ to solve global problems. Fuller’s ideas and work continue to influence new generations of designers, architects, scientists and artists working to create a sustainable planet.”
Links to the official site and a compilation of videos.