I had a look on youtube at some of the group's music videos such as 'Life is Life' and my immediate interpretation of their uniform-wearing totalitarianism was that they were parodying the "enemy" in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. Further reading up on the group proved my interpretation to be right on the money. However, their intention is seemingly misconstrued by many people to the point where they have even been labelled as "fascists". When confronted with this accusation, Laibach were quoted as responding, "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter."
It's a shame that Laibach's work is/has been terribly misinterpreted by some. However, their almost humorous and sarcastic responses to such claims makes me think that perhaps they feel they have been taken too seriously. At least it's making people talk though, right?
Okay, so, since class I have realised that my initial interpretation is just one of many that could be considered correct. Although I'm now aware (as a result of Zizek's writings on the group) that Laibach are far too dangerous and controversial to be considered as simply ironic. Hence, I'm now contradicting my first post. I guess if you look at the group through the Roland Barthes concept of 'death of the author', one can understand that it is up to Laibach's diverse following to decide what they stand for.
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