a project with Emil Hrvatin and Peter Senk
January-March 2006
The camp can be seen as a state of exception related to extreme situations, but it could also be considered to be an integral feature of our society, a state of emergency upon which the entire political and legal systems of the First World are built. The camp is always a parallel system, an exterritorialized site, where the usual systems do not apply. And yet, exactly as such, it is a place or even a non-place that the regular system can turn to any time.
First World Camp is an interdisciplinary artistic research project dealing with voluntary and involuntary isolation and capsularity in Western society. It looks at spatial, cultural, economical and political mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. It raises the question: Can the concept of a “camp” serve as a model for every form of capsularity we encounter?
First World Camp is a long-term collaborative research project, initiated by Hrvatin and Šenk. Previous and current FWC projects looked for example at tourism, malls, refugee camps, military bases, churches and museums. The PZI project focused on capsularity and mobility.
MOBILE CAPSULE
In a society in which mobility is praised as a feature of freedom, mobile devices becomes living devices, enclosed units containing comfort and communication within a protective infrastructure. The car, for instance, is no longer just a transportation device, but a mobile office, home, communication and entertainment unit. The car might be seen as the manifestation of an object characteristic of neoliberal societies because it is based on being “more” than what it is. Luxurious cruising ships (such as “The World”) are floating cities, which offer inhabitants a total living environment. Here economic prosperity is the basic criteria of inclusion/exclusion. To be free doesn’t necessary mean to be mobile. Freedom is much more related to the possibility of being away, in conditions which are regulated by oneself. The more one can pay, the more freedom one can enjoy!?
MOBILITY – FREEDOM – ISOLATION
The projects proposed the idea of the Mobile Capsule as a mode of isolation, capsularity and exterritoriality related to any kind of mobile situation. It can include means of private or public transportation, but it can also be related to temporary moving dwellings. By starting from this notion, this project will raise a range of issues related to mobility, isolation, capsularity and exterritoriality, such as: mobility as the ultimate freedom, mobility vs. connection and mobility as a loss of physical distance.
RESEARCH
The project participants developed their own research within the framework of the project. Research and art works are presented on the First World Camp website.
Guests for this project included philosopher Lieven de Cauter (Belgium), architect Blaz Kriznik (Slovenia), and writer/performer/curator Marten Spangberg (Sweden).
Emil Hrvatin (Slovenia) is a theatre director, editor and performance artist based in Ljubljana. His performances include Miss Mobile (2001), Collect-if (2003), and We are all Marlene Dietrich FOR; Performance for soldiers in peace keeping missions (2005). He is director of Maska, institute for publishing, production and education in Ljubljana, and editor of Maska performing arts journal.
Peter Senk (Slovenia) is an architect based in Ljubljana. After studying at the University of Ljubljana and the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, he established Studio Stratum for research and design in the fields of architecture and urbanism.