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KOW ISSUE 3: Detroits' Post-Fordism

, Michael E. Smith

Mar 27 – Mar 29, 2009

DeutschEnglish

In the seventies, the Detroit Jazz Label ‘Tribe’ was one of the most significant political music communities of the black liberation movement in the US.

Das Detroiter Jazz-Label ‚Tribe‘ war eine der bedeutendsten politischen Musikgruppierungen der schwarzen Autonomiebewegung in den USA der Siebziger Jahre.

During three successive nights, Nikolaus Oberhuber plays a program out of the eight albums edited by the small label between 1972 and 1976. In parallel we show videos by Michael E. Smith (born 1977), as well as photos shot in Detroit within the past days. The images display the current degree of urban destruction, kicked off by the decline of the car industries and the riots of 1967, which continuously splits the city in black and white, rich and poor.

An drei Abenden spielt Nikolaus Oberhuber ein Programm aus den acht Alben, die das kleine Label zwischen 1972 und 1976 produzierte. Dazu zeigen wir Videos von Michael E. Smith (geb. 1977) und Fotos, die in den vergangenen Tagen in Detroit entstanden. Die Bilder zeigen den Grad der urbanen Zerstörung, die mit dem Niedergang der Automobilindustrie und den Rassenunruhen von 1967 einsetzte und die Stadt seither immer weiter in schwarz und weiß und reich und arm spaltet.

After the American civil rights movement and its achievements, ‘Tribe’ gave a voice to the new political self-consciousness of black US citizens and was exemplary for its social self organization – but it also mirrored battered hopes for social conciliation, only some years after the riots and the assassinations of J.F. Kennedy and M.L. King. Affirming African roots and tribe culture, ‘Tribe’ emancipated its community people from cultural and economic paternalism, at the same time, however, helped to increase social segregation. “Tribe was a band, a music company and a magazine publication. It was a movement of black pride and self-determination” (Phil Ranelin). Its Jazz was resistive, imaginative and resolute. It inspired more than a generation.

Nach den Errungenschaften der Bürgerrechtsbewegung war ‚Tribe‘ eine der Stimmen des neuen politischen Selbstbewusstseins der schwarzen US-Bevölkerung und beispielhaft für deren soziale Selbstorganisation - spiegelte aber wenige Jahre nach den Rassenunruhen und den Ermordungen J.F. Kennedys und M.L. Kings auch die zerschlagenen Hoffnungen auf soziale Aussöhnung. Mit ihrem Rückbezug auf afrikanische Wurzeln und Stammeskultur emanzipierte sich die ‚Tribe’ Community von kultureller und ökonomischer Bevormundung und verstärkte damit doch zugleich die soziale Segregation. ‚Tribe’ war eine Band, eine Plattenfirma und eine politische Zeitschrift. „It was a movement of black pride and self-determination” (Phil Ranelin). Der Jazz von ‚Tribe’ war widerständig, feurig und rauh. Er inspirierte mehr als eine Generation.

DeutschEnglish

„What we need“, „Where am I?”, “Time is Now”

„What we need“, „Where am I?”, “Time is Now”

In the thirties, American photographer Walker Evans gave shape to the image of poverty caused by the economic crisis of 1929. Michael E. Smith keeps record of the dark and shattered neighborhoods typical for the enduring crisis of Detroits’ Postfordism. The degenerated houses are ruins of the welfare state that ‘Fordism’ had promised. The state of the city recalls the unredeemed assurance that technical and economic progress would be for all. Apparently it is not. Detroit is a humanitarian disaster of the West. A monument of the cancelled social contract between workers and the capital, on which the ‚New Deal‘ was once agreed.

Smith considers his images from the very present as ‚blind spots‘: “Because the actual here becomes a force full on into darkness, doubt, and disbelief. This is in a way how all of this can be experienced as relief. You simply can’t speak/ you’re blank. We are not able to see these photos. They don’t exist.“ Smiths short videos (2007/2008) stress the psychosocial dimension of his artistic practice. They dramatize casual observations through filmic isolation, slowdown and repetition. Brief moments and gestures take an uneasy and threatening turn to recall the existential dimension of ‘the everyday’. So did the first ‘Tribe’ records, with titles like: „What we need“, „Where am I?” and “Time is Now”.

Concept and production: Alexander Koch and Nikolaus Oberhuber. Text and Photos: Alexander Koch
KOW ISSUE 3 was reinstalled at ABC BERLIN in September 2009 and at MÄRKISCHES MUSEUM WITTEN in the exhibition "Schach Matt", curated by Markus Draper and Aleksander Wawrzyniak, Jun 30–Aug 26, 2012

Walker Evans fotografierte in den dreißiger Jahren die Armut, die infolge der Weltwirtschaftskrise von 1929 in den USA um sich griff. Michael E. Smiths Fotos zeigen die verfallenden, dunklen Wohnviertel, die der auf Dauer gestellten Krise des Detroiter Postfordismus ihr Gesicht geben. Die zerrütteten Gebäude sind Ruinen des Wohlfahrtsstaates. Der Zustand der Stadt entspricht dem enttäuschten Versprechen des Fordismus, der technische und wirtschaftliche Fortschritt sei für alle da. Er ist es offenbar nicht. Detroit ist ein humanitäres Desaster des Westens. Ein Monument des gekündigten Sozialvertrages zwischen Arbeitern und Kapital, auf dem einst der ‚New Deal‘ beruhte. Ein Debakel des ökonomischen Modernismus.

Smith bezeichnet seine Bilder der letzten Tage als ‚Blinde Flecken‘: “Because the actual here becomes a force full on into darkness, doubt, and disbelief. This is in a way how all of this can be experienced as relief. You simply can’t speak/ you’re blank. We are not able to see these photos. They don‘t exist.“ Smiths Kurzvideos (2007/2008) zeigen das psychosoziale Standbein seiner Arbeitsweise. Sie dramatisieren beiläufige Beobachtungen durch filmische Isolierung, Verlangsamung und Repetition. Kurze Augenblicke und Gesten nehmen eine unangenehme, bedrückende Wendung und weisen auf die existentielle Dimension des ‚Alltäglichen‘ – wie es die ersten ‚Tribe‘-Platten mit Titeln wie „What we need“, „Where am I?” und “Time is Now” taten.

Konzept und Produktion: Alexander Koch and Nikolaus Oberhuber. Text und Fotos: Alexander Koch

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