If Pierre-Joseph Proudhon famous slogan ‘Property is theft’ was Anarchism’s answer to the 19th century rise of capital, then the 21st equivalent might well be ‘Identity is theft’. In 2007 three artists changed their names to ‘Janez Janša,’ the nickname of the dominant Slovene politician of the post-communist era. Legally the three artists may have more right to this name than the politician (whose legal name is ‘Ivan Janša’). Outside of Slovenia, they may even be more well known.
One of the three ‘true’ Janšas, born in Bergamo, Italy in 1970 is also a well known new media artist, having worked on such projects as Brain Score and problemarket.com, and is currently director of aksioma.org, a curatorial platform and project space based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
My Name is Janez Janša is a documentary film about names and name changes, their importance and fleeting nature.
