7/31/2019 Sustensistan Europa a R v01

1/2

Sustensistan Europa A-RSocial Sculpture (Poetic-Philosophical Laboratory)

BackgroundIn the same time as the more and more serious crises that Europe is going through, financialbreakdown, environmental threat in exponential development, and branching out to otherfields such as politics, citizenship, business, etc, it is crucial not to accept the separation ofculture from the rescue of societies and their economies. If we do so, we will have closed thecircle of the loss ofsavoir-vivre installed with the rise of industrialization and closing ingeneration by generation. When I watch the youngest generation, I see a gap wideningbetween the numbed consumption of drugs, entertainment and violence on the one side andthe rejection of established (cultural) institutions and forging of alternative collectives on theother. Many other forms of life exist, of course, but there is a pattern of disconnection ofsubcultures, stemming from the loss of common vision for the future of our societies and forEurope. Crises are eroding the collective affective consciousness. The base of culturally

motivated innovation of our models and values is growing thinner, presenting a need formoves, events, projects that reconnect and recollect.Sustensistan-Europa is designed to meet with this particular need. One does not change theworld through a social-sculptural process of poetic philosophy. But the first experiences withartists performing creative reflection on the immanent Stofflichkeitof the world as well as thehighest principles upon which we base our lives have been that it gave a feeling of sincerityand intimacy with a very strong effect. Connecting this feeling to a collective working processand connecting this to peers in other places is fundamental. From Wall Street to Rome todaythe indignation movement expresses hope and desperation. But we need to go to the heartof matters and use the potentially radical character of philosophy and art to create across theabyss of dystopia. Sustensistan-Europa builds on that radical call.

As one of the countries to lead the process of decomposition of the Eastern bloc, Sloveniaknows the double condition of having broken away from a past and moving into a form whichis crumbling under its feet. I am convinced that the only way to make the comingtransformation a culturally sustainable one is a participatory way. But the invitation goesthrough breaking down the limitations of art, culture, philosophy, disciplines, and everythingwe think we know. Such a radical move may however be easier for Slovenians than forSwedes or Danes in our relative smugness and humble piety. I would love it if Mariborbecame the first city where this work will start from, becoming the epicenter of the forming ofnew cultures of sustainability.

Sustensistan Europa A/Ris a work aimed at exploring the in-between space of the futurewe are about to lose and the past we have yet to regain, forming a (sus)tension zone

reconnecting Europeans to our own transformation and giving this zone a physicalexpression for all to explore further. After filling a space in Maribor with these tensions, theproject is turned mobile and sent to Guimaraes to continue its journey.The project invites artists and others searching at the heart of the matters of the deepchanges that our continent is going through to make a collective move into an in-betweenchronotope called Sustensistan. Its function is to stimulate the expressions of the mostfundamental aspects of our present state and our loss of historical wisdom. The collectivebrings its impressions back to Europe and invites Europes cultural cities to participate.[Phase 1 October 2011 February 2012] Connecting and aligningwith artists and otherimportant figures in order to align a common if diverse understanding of the culturalfundamentals of Maribor looking at the past, the present and the future // sharing anddeveloping the blueprint of the project and balancing the infinity of ambitions with the harsh

reality of defeatism // developing the practical action in terms of the space, the encounters,

7/31/2019 Sustensistan Europa a R v01

2/2

and the collaboration processes across disciplines and across cultures // carrying out web-based exchanges of ideas // connections taking place in parallel with artists in Guimaraes;[Phase 2 10-15 days in March 2012] First residency period // Conversations and workshopsin Maribor in order to move to the next level of understanding and collaboration, based on apoetic philosophical approach finding and enlarging fields of intervention (cultural triggerpoints) that will be able to make a difference both for cultural life and for the future of the cityof Maribor // conception of forms of expression that can fit into the installation space,coordination of the different elements and how they can invigorate a reconnection process //[Phase 3 20 days in May-June 2012] Second residency period // collective expression,materialization, crystallization of the installation Sustensistan-Europa Maribor2012 in thedesignated space // local artists create the contents of the space in collaboration with theother participants from the city, and with invited artists and researchers from across Europeand from Guimaraes // finalization of the space for opening in June 2012 // as the final step,the chronotope of Maribor is turned mobile and makes the physical move from Maribor toGuimaraes, taken home by artists from Guimaraes to their city to continue the process asrelay.

Short CV:Oleg Koefoed, Ph.D., Action-Philosopher2007- Co-founder of Cultura21 Int. network for cultures of sustainabilityProjects:

TOUCH (2011) (w. artists and designers from Bulgaria and Spain): tactile art laboratories withblind and sight impaired and around blindness and tactility in art

Flowers of Sustainability (2007-2011) (w. Insa Winkler): events, workshops, installations,residencies, in Venice, Hamburg, Kirgizia, Beijing, Seoul, Kiel, Copenhagen, involving citizens;design students, artists, scientists, etc, through the use of flowers as artistic tools for enablingdialogue and lateral understanding

Embassies of Sustensistan (2009-2010): social sculpture project before and during COP15 inCopenhagen, involving citizens from neighborhoods of Copenhagen and artists from Europe

and the U.S.; ASSiST (2010) First International Summer School for Arts & Sciences for Sustainability in

Social Transformation, involving artists, researchers, and activists from 21 different countries, inGabrovo, Bulgaria

CultureFutures culture for an ecological age (2009-). Articles, performances, lectures,courses, poetry, creating sharing of visions and experiences among cities such as Sao Paolo,Toronto, Copenhagen, Milano, etc.

2006- Co-founder of Center for Action PhilosophyProjects:

Venten, glemslen (Waiting for Oblivion) (2011) (w. sound artists Beautiful Burning World):performance about the role of memory, matter, and oblivion based on the works of MauriceBlanchot and my own lyrics

No One Creates Alone (2006-2007) (Painting, Poetry, Installation, Publications, with visualartist Lars Ravn)Other project (through Center for Creative Encounters, Copenhagen Business School):

EDUFashion / OpenWear (2010-2011) (w CBS, University of Ljubljana, University of Milano,Fashion/Textile School of Ljubljana, a.o.): creation of collaborative platform and brand for ethical/ sustainable fashion designers

2004: Ph.D. in philosophy and cultural theory with the dissertation Sketches of a Poetic Philosophy //1997: Candidate in Communication and HistoryAuthor of numerous publications in the field of cultural theory, cultures of sustainability, art and society,action-philosophy and poetic philosophy, masculinities, inter- and transcultivation, as well as poeticwork; published in Danish, English, Italian, and French