Signalism
Signalism - an avant-garde creative movement
born in Yugoslavia, with aspiration to include
into art creative work the exact way of thinking,
in harmony with today’s science and its methods.
Especially insists on application of mathematics
and on computers as instruments suitable for
inspiration and realization of artistic planes.
In the literature besides experimentation with
a word (stochastic poetry, tehnological poetry,
computer poetry and others kinds of poetry’s)
insists on including visual, touchables and
others elements (signalist visual poetry, signalist
scientific poetry, gestual poetry and ecc.).
Born earlier, at the end of the sixties, it
was formed especially by the merit of Belgrade
signalist group headed by the poet Miroljub
Todorovic. The voice of the movement was the
review Signal.
(Little Encyclopedia Prosveta - The Universal
Encyclopedia - fourth edition, volume 3, Prosveta,
Belgrade 1986, pag. 357.)
SIGNALISM - interdisciplinary
art movement of international character, born
in Yugoslavia around 1960. The founder and theoretician
of the movement is Miroljub Todorovic. The members
were poets, painters, historians of art, scientists
and designers. Signalism supports the exact
way of thinking and extreme experiments (Conceptual
Art, Concetre Poetry, Mail Art). In some researches
they use computers as a creative instrument.
The manifestos of signalism were published in
1968, 1969, 1970. The members of the movement
published the review Signal (1970 - 1973) and
established Signalist Documentation Centre in
Belgrade. Five signalist exhibitions were held
(Milan 1971; Zagreb 1974; Belgrade 1975; 1982;
Odzaci 1981). Following yugoslav artists took
part in the movement: Marina Abramovic, Nesa
Paripovic, Zoran Popovic, Milivoje Pavlovic,
Ljubisa Jocic, Spasoje Vlajic, Jaroslav Supek
and Vlada Stojiljkovic.
(The Universal Encyclopedia - complementary
volume, Yugoslav Lexicography department, Zagreb,
1988, pag. 588.)
SIGNALISM is a new artistic
movement, with the aspiration to apply exact
method of thought in art. It’s inspiration and
support is found in the civilization of technology
and sciences: physics, biology, astrophysics,
and especially mathematics. Besides experiments
in the verbal domain in literature, it insists
on introducing visual. vocal, tactile and other
elements. poetry is inspired by Appolinaire’s
calligrammes and Einsteine’s theory of relativity
is considered the best poem of the modern era.
At the time of it’s beginning (1959) it’s name
was Scientism. It has achieved greater zeal
in 1968 when Manifesto of Poetical Sciences
was published, in 1969 when Regulae Poesis (Manifesto
of Signalism) appeared and in 1970 when the
Third Manifesto of Signalism was published.
Cybernetic methods were emphasized in this second
period, and then a stronger development of visual
poetry occurred. Letters are used not as sound
but as visual elements and the writer “does
not write about a certain subject, he represents
it, or represents it’s essence by different
arrangements of letters and symbols”. The movement
obtains it’s journal Signal in 1970. The program
of the journal is the recognition of signalist
ideas in literature and art in general. The
first anthology of Signalism appeared in 1971
in Novi Sad in Hungarian and Serbo-Croatian
language, in the scope of Hungarian journal
Uj Symposion. In 1971 signalist artists organized
an exhibition of their works in the Gallery
of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, and had a few
exhibitions abroad.The founder and theoretician
of Signalism is Serbian poet Miroljub Todorovic.
He is also the editor of the journal Signal.
(YUGOSLAV LITERARY LEXICON, Second revised
edition, Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1984, pp 740-741.)
SIGNALISM (lat. signum - sign)
-An experimental creative movement, originated
in Serbian poetry in the middle of the sixthies,
which acquired its followers in a wider Yugoslav
space by the end of the sixth and the beginning
of the seventh decade of this century. Its beginnings
are being linked with the year 1959, when the
founder and theorist of this movement M. Todorović
began with experiments in language, convinced
that there was not revolution in poetry unless
it was performed in the basic medium of the
latter - in language. The birth of Signalism
in Serbian literature and culture and its strivings
for the other arts (fine arts, theatrical, music
and film) also to be revolutionized, resulted
from a need to negate the worn models preserved
by poetical and cultural tradition in general
and to respond creatively to the demands and
“spiritual situation” of modern technological
and electronic civilisation. In the program
texts (manifests and other texts of special
purpose) and in concrete art works of S. a determined
break with the “principles of Neoromantism and
late Symbolism” is expressed, which still rule
in Serbian poetry, as well as an endevour to
change the code of Serbian poetry by radical
operations both on the level of objectness (contents)
and on that of expression (form), and to bring
it into accord with the modern time. The revolutioning
of the poetry language was begun by its scientiation
- by entering symbols, formulas, lexemes and
qreater lingual statements from exact sciences
(physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, biochemistry,
astrophysics) and by visualisation of text (graphical
disassembling of words, sintagms and statements
into syllables and letters as signs and their
spreading on the space of a page; entering non
- verbal signs in text, like drawings, graphs,
photographs and other elements that are being
collaged), so that the first phase of S. is
marked by the term scientism, and it is illustrated
best by the books of M. Todorović Planet (1965)
and The Travel to Astroland (1971) and the cycles
of poems Protein, Oxigen, Hothouse as well as
others, in which the boundaries of the object’s
field are set by the categories of Space, Time,
Matter. To the constitutioning of S. as an experimental
movement which, negating the poetical and cultural
heritage of the poetical and esthetic convention
and canonized form-making actions, insists on
experiment in realisation of the new, a remarkable
contribution was made by three manifests: The
manifest of poetical science, 1968, The manifest
of Signalism (Requlae Poesis), 1969, and Signalism,
1970, as well as the starting of the journal
Signal (1970). The journal Signal was published
in nine issues in period 1970-73; in it, besides
the supplements of domestic and foreign artists,
also bibliographic data about the experimental
publications in the world were published.The
works of our S. have been represented in several
anthologies of concrete and visual poetry throughout
the world; two domestic antologies were also
published: Signalist Poetry (1971) and Concrete,
visual and signalist poetry (1975). The poetical
principles of S. were accepted also by numerous
poets, artists of fine arts, playwrights, mathematicians
and physicists, respecting them even after S.
as a movement ceased to act. Besides the founder
M. Todorović (Kyberno, 1970, Pig is an excellent
swimmer, Fool puts on airs, 1974, Insect on
template, 1978, Algol, 1980, Textum, 1981, Chinese
erotism, 1983, Knockout, 1984, J am mounting
Rocinante again, 1987, Water snake drinks rainwater,
1988, Diary of avant-garde, 1990), significant
contributions to the theory and practice were
given by: M. Abramović, S. Pavićević (Silicates
of flower, 1973, Works on roads, 1984), Z. Roshulj
(Typosignalist variations, 1973), S. Vukanović
(Star feathers, 1975, The snapshot of the ship
diary casette, 1978, The space migration Montenegro,
1985. Boat, spoon, 1990), M. Pavlović (White
book, 1974), M. Kesheljević (Ship X, 1982),
N. Paripović, Lj, Jocić (Moonlight in tetrapack,
1975, What is the time, 1976), S. Vlajić (Light
formula, 1984), J. Supek and others. Lit. M.
Todorović, Signalism, 1979; J. Kornhauser, Sygnalizm
- Propozycja serbskiej poezji eksperymentalnej,
1981; Signalism - an experimental creative movement,
coll., 1984; M. B. Shijaković, Signalism in
the world, 1984; Ž.S. Živković. The orbits of
signalism, 1985; M. Todorović, The cock from
the Bailon Square, 1986; Signalism - Poectics
of signalism, Koraci, 1-2, 1976; The fragments
about signalism, Književna reč, 55, 26.IV 1976;
The postwar Serbian avan-garde, Gradina, 8,
1980; L’avant-garde en Yugoslavie, Doc(k)s,
12, 1978; Signalism - guestions and answers,
Koraci, 1-2, 1982; Signalism, Književna reč
184, 19.III 1982; Signalism, Književne novine
641, 4, II 1982; Signalism Književna kritika
2, 1984; Signalism - a Yugoslavian creative
movement, Tok, 13-14, 1985/86; Ars poetica (Signalism),
Povelja, 3-4, 1987; 1-2, 1988; The signalist
controversies, Književnost, 1-2, 1989; The fragments
about Signalism, Polja, 363-364, May-June, 1989
Ž. Živković, The genres in Signalism, Knjizevna
kritika, 4, 1989; Signalism, Savremenik, 1-2-3,
1990. Signalism after three decades, Stremljenja,
2-3, 1990; Signalism, Gradina, 5, 1990.
(The Dictionary of literary terms 2 nd amended
addition, The Institute for Literature and Art
in Belgrade, Nolit, Belgrade, 1992 p.p. 766-767.)
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