The Unbearable Ease of Depoliticization

 

 Monuments are structures that were explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which have become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, I bet we all know that. I also bet that all of us would translate the Serbian word "spomenik" as "monument", since it means exactly that, a part of people's remembrance of historic times. But Jan Kempenaers decided not to do so. For him, Yugoslavian monuments, or as he calls them, spomeniks do not serve as emblems of war, death, suffering, for him they bare artistic value. Jan Kempenaers made a sort of brand out of something that should not be branded. This peculiar name "spomeniks" surely sounds peculiar to any foreigner, but it is not at all peculiar to us. Yugoslavian monuments are robbed of their intrinsic meaning and function, and given a new, futuristic, mysterious, alienesque dimension. This new label served as a base for many other attempts at capitalizing out of Yugoslavian harsh history. In the article "The unbearable ease of depolicization" Sonja Leboš discusses many instances in which various companies tried to resemiotisize, resemantisize, depolitisize and eventually exploit important parts of Yugoslavian cultural heritage. 

 One instance of a brand trying to exploit Yugoslavian monuments that the author Sonja Leboš mentions is called "Yunicorns". This brand, using the strategy of profit maximization called synergy, sells "spomenik-themed" merchandize. I suppose, that most consumers of "yunicorns" do not actually know the true symbolism of objects they buy. This is no excuse, since, in the 21st century, all common knowledge is just one klick away, right? However, I completely understand the hype, since the name "yunicorns" sounds original and tempting, and it basically labels Yugoslavian monuments not just as something mythical, surreal or other-worldly, but even more as something out-of-this-worldly, while in fact, it is very real to anyone living in some of the former Yugoslavian countries. 

 I agree that monuments have artistic value, they are created by artists after all. However, being "pretty" is not their prime function. This is exactly why CNN’s list of world’s ugliest monuments is problematic to me.  We are allowed to appreciate or even criticize artist's work, but bearing in mind their historical dimension and not taking them out of context, which I think CNN dismissed in their article. When it comes to the Secret Mapping Experiment, while reading the Leboš's article, I felt that it is yet another attempt at creating some sort of spectacle out of a monument previously labeled as "ugly", which is yet another horizontally integrated strategy of profit maximization. Although many people were supportive of this project, since it “shed a new light” to an almost “forgotten” monument, I do not think it was done in a right way. Having in mind monument’s intrinsic purpose (commemorating the Revolution of people of Moslavina) projecting any pictures on it is kitsch and completely ethically non-justified. 

 Final, but certainly the most shocking example is the attempt of the Australian eyewear company to use the "Kameni cvijet" by Bogdan Bogdanović for their photoshoot. What is especially troubling in this scenario is the fact that "Kameni cvijet"  was built in order to commemorate the victims of Jasenovac concentration camp. To make matters worse, the very monument is situated in Jasanovac itself. At the beginning of this year, I had a chance to visit Auschwitz, and not once did I perceive it as something that bares any aesthetic value. That experience was disturbing, grief-striking and melancholy, so I truly do not understand why Jasenovac concentration camp should be perceived any differently. The same goes for any monument dedicated to the hideous parts of human history. Taking monuments (especially those related to war, grief and loss) out of their context, branding them and trying to gain profit off of them is not only unsettling but ethically and morally wrong. 

 To conclude, companies use different strategies for profit maximization to attract as much consumers as possible and, since we live in capitalist society, tend to exploit all resources possible, disregarding one’s historical and cultural heritage, moral and ethics. It is our duty to educate ourselves in order to prevent them from doing so.