Proof of life, talent and potential

Natasha Norman took upon herself the hugely daunting task of sifting through the studios of the Michaelis School of Fine Art undergraduate students to compile an exhibition not only showing talent and artistic skill, but integrity, insight and originality.  The result seems to be a striking combination of quirkiness, seriousness and absurdity. With water made from wood, a landscape wall in several shades and tones, and a person hanging onto the edge of the door outside the gallery, the students and curator succeeds in creating a viewing experience in quite a little bit of space.

The smallish space in VANSA’s Spin Space was packed full of excited students, parents, avid gallery goers and VANSA supporters on the opening night – with at least 4 red SOLD spots within the first half hour. Each work delivers its own unique impact and message with the authenticity that some artists seem to sometimes lose after years of art production and artistic self management. Traditional media such as bronze, acrylic, Photography and etching is juxtaposed with more contemporary or unconventional methods, and used in new ways.

One work that immediately caught my eye was ‘Wood Water Work?’ by Daniella Mooney. Mooney used Jelutong, an ideal carving or sculpture wood, to make “water” poured into a bucket (found object) from a brass tap. The wordplay in the title might suggest that the artwork was done as a playful accident after finding the bucket, and may then seem somewhat flippant. However, further interpretation could associate the work with the availability of natural resources in terms of a lack of fresh running water in rural communities – the wooden water is dry and undrinkable but comes from a tap which is used in more affluent communities, the city and suburbs. Electricity supply to townships is also never guaranteed and one could easily connect the title to the concept ‘would water work in generating electricity through hydro power?’.

Another work that stands out is Sarah Ferguson-Brown’s work that comments subtly on labour, as the clothing worn by a soldier, car guard and worker is used as material for pressure prints and twine balls. And almost across from this in the exhibition space is ‘Vader’ by David Brits, who created a huge portraiture print by using a stamp – simple in execution, striking in its visual impact. As with any artwork, one could read much meaning and implied connotations to the visual matter used by an artist – and this bids true of every artwork chosen by Natasha for the exhibition. A wooden barstool is drilled to half its original weight by Tamarin Phillips, a wall is covered by prints of a landscape made on recycled paper by Michele Rolstone, a dead dove’s wing is attached to the end of a red string that shapes a constellation resembling a bird in Danelle Malan’s painting, and kitchen objects rarely deemed as inherently artistic are cast in bronze and resin by Caroline Vincent. The students participating in Proof of Life brought life to their artwork that acts as proof of their own vision and ideologies – drawing inspiration from concepts as personal as heritage and relationships to concepts as expansive and fundamental than time, gender, memory, and meaning.

The artists who participated in this undergraduate exhibition is, in no particular order: Tamryn Kirby, Caroline Vincent, Leigh Tuckniss, George Chapman, Frith Carlisle, Sarah Ferguson-Brown, Tony East, Sigourney Smuts, Tatum Paulsen, David Brits, Danelle Malan, Janodien January, Matthew Alexander King, Tamarin Phillips, Michele Rolstone, Kitty Dorje, Megan Twine, Samantha McCulloch, and Daniella Mooney.  The future awaits these talented artists and Natasha Norman, with many opportunities still to come for them to inspire, create, express and immerse.

Proof of life is on exhibit until 16 October 2009 at VANSA’s Spin Space at 8 Spin Street, Cape Town.

 

A flight of money and debt

Review of Wessel Snyman’s “The Birds”
By Janet Botes

Exhibited 6 July to 24 July 2009 at the Association for Visual Arts Gallery, 35 Church Street, Cape Town, South Africa.

Hovering above your head in the exhibition space is a great flock of paper birds. At closer inspection you notice the distinctive detail on the paper, identifying the birds as ATM slip birds. The amount of time it took to meticulously fold each ATM bank slip into an origami bird, greatly outweighs the time it takes you to move from the one end of Snyman’s installation to the other. On both of these end walls you will find a framed print relating to the installation.

One of the framed prints is a view of the installation printed onto an ATM bank slip and framed similarly than the first. The result of this print is an amplification of the exhibited work and its character, while also giving a slight digitalized impression that further connects to the current climate of economic affairs in the world.

In this current economic climate, Snyman’s work is not only fitted and timely, but also shows insight and proves to be quirky and catchy. One of the framed prints, “This is not an ATM slip”, not only refers back to the art and practice of artists from the 1960’s and 70’s, but also comments on our consumer lifestyle. This is illustrated quite effectively through the image integrated into the frame of women eating processed foods. We pay substantial amounts of money for luxury, comfort and things we think we need. Debt accumulates as we continue to attain more and more material possessions.

Birds are usually a symbol of freedom, but the sheer amount of birds that hover above the viewer’s head brings to mind a cacophony, should they all start screeching and cawing. This lends the work an unsettling ambiance that suits the anxiety that millions of people feel about the economy, money and their dwindling bank balance. As installation piece, Snyman's work proves effective, striking and relevant.

Social consciousness expressed through art

The art of Ernestine White

Child and human abuse are two main issues that our society deals with today. We see headlines of horror in newspapers, but maybe we become oblivious to the wrongness of abuse. Maybe we become desensitized by all the horror we see and hear in the news, or maybe we just need to be confronted by the truth in a different format again. The truth is that we should do something about child abuse and protect children from any harm – and this is what Ernestine White aims to communicate through her work.

Ernestine participates in social art through her work that marries traditional media and contemporary media in a very effective way to express a message of injustice and shame in child abuse and our apparent acceptance of it. Child abuse is not only inhumane and cruel, but should not be tolerated by our society. However, as the newspaper headlines used in her work suggests, child abuse and rape is a part of our society, one of the daily happenings in our country.

Ernestine’s work brings together aesthetics with social activism to bring awareness to the brutality of the injustices against children. A series of works created for the exhibition “Africa South” combines silkscreen and hand painting on glass, while her work for an exhibition at ‘Bell-Roberts Gallery’ were created through silkscreen and lithography.  Ernestine also did a collaborative project with Chantel Erfort for ‘Arts for Humanity’ with the theme “Women for Children”. Through the effective and expressive use of colour, shape, pattern, graphic elements and strong imagery Ernestine brings new life to art that raises awareness.

Ernestine’s work can currently be seen as part of “Innovative Women”, an exhibition curated by Bongi Bengu, at Jeanette Unite Studio at 151 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town, until 3 November after which it will travel to the Kizo Gallery in Durban.

Discussing Art Making

Review of Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation
Screened at the Encounters Documentary Festival at the Nu Metro, V&A Waterfront, Tuesday, 7 July 2009
By Janet Botes

This documentary gives insight into the production and thinking processes behind the artwork of two of the most renowned South African artists today. William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas share their working methods, techniques and studios with each other and the viewer. Their art differs in a wide variety of ways, with widely opposing styles and approaches, which proves greatly successful in defining each artist’s work. Scenes of the two artists working in their respective studios, scenes of their work and scenes from an exhibition of each artist’s work were integrated almost seamlessly into the prevailing conversation.

During the conversation, controversial taboos in art were touched slightly, but both artists seemed a bit reluctant to address deeper issues of context and meaning in their work. They were also not encouraged to talk about their thoughts on South African Art at present and how they perceive it, which could have proved insightful and increased the depth of the discussion. Another possible and valuable question would have been to explore how, or if, either artist contributes to supporting new talent and in this way advancing contemporary art into new heights and ventures. Being established and influential, they are essential players in the field, and what they do could have great repercussions.

Even when keeping the above in mind, however, one does realize that these were not issues or themes for the conversation, which was in fact geared toward their art and how they create it. Should the above questions or issues be included in the documentary, it would have lost its focus on artistic production and rather moved its focus into the sphere of artist community examination. This could be another avenue of exploration for the director, Catherine Meyburg, who could prove to be a very successful forerunner in promoting art practice and art discussion through documentary film-making.

Pop culture meets surrealism

Review of Originalé, solo exhibition of Louis Minnaar's work
by Janet Botes

Exhibited 30 June 209 – 27 July 2009 at
Salon 91, 91 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town.

At first glance the viewer is transported into a fantasy world in black and white - flying birds, wrinkled men and spider creatures share a space with arrows thrown through the sky and into people, birds and pictures. Dynamic images on screens, as well as recordings in a streetlamp and owl-resembling recorder/player, further enhanced the surreal quality of Louis work in the small space of Salon 91.

His stylised illustration style, the simplity of the imagery and the diversity in form are some of the characteristics making the collection of work a unity without losing the viewer’s interest. Surreal combinations of misformed human bodies and animalistic forms create a phantasmorical undercurrent – and thus creating an own visual language with metaphors that could possibly represent a pursuit of sanity. This is further enhanced by the use of his digital motion manipulations or footage displayed on screens, of which imagery includes sea creatures. The innovative use of audio further expands the tangible manifestation of Minnaar’s ideas.

Balance between the minimalist nature of the black and white imagery and a complexity of content is achieved by using a wide variety of forms, and subjects that include arrows, large eyes, birds, spiders, creatures, ligaments and morphed features. The strange juxtapositions and experimental nature of the work begs for classification as contemporary art, while the graphic quality and clarity of imagery makes it accessible and open to interpretation by a very wide audience.

Little in the work illustrates purely local content, and rather puts the work in a universal and global market. In a South African context, this might reflect on a need of artists to reach further than national borders to make a living or make a difference through their art. But it could also reflect a deeper dissatisfaction with supporting obvious association with Africa, South Africa and the sometimes hyped-up diasporas it create. Regardless of the many different opinions, views and interpretations his work will spark, Louis Minnaar seems to be one of the forerunners for a new state of visual expression in art.

 

Excerpt from my Afrikaans short story
“Kringe Rook & plasse verf”

Kringe rook geblaas deur ‘n gesoute pyproker verklap weer die oom se posisie op sy klein stoepie teen die straat. Geen mens sal weet watter wyse, filosofiese gedagtes nou weer vanoggend deur die ou oom met die lang baard se kop draai nie. Met sy grys hare, plooigesig, sonbrand-biltongvel en lang kierieloop lyf getuig sy hele wese van ‘n lewe van oormoed, hope avontuur en ondervinding. En glo my goed as ek sê dat hy heerlik vrygewig is met sy stories as jy tyd gee en luister. Middae na die skoolklok lui kom die kinders aangeryg met moddervoete en glimlaggesiggies om by Oubaas te kom storie hoor. Dan vertel hy hulle van skaap oppas onder die sterre in ‘n stil Kalahari veld of jakkals en rooikat in ‘n strik vang. Of hy vertel volkstories van diere, of avontuurverhale van oral in die land. Van kind of kroos vir Oubaas weet nugter een, dié oom het net eendag opgedaag geklee soos ‘n strandboemelaar met ‘n sak vol geld vir huiskoop. ‘n Huisie in ‘n nou straat met ‘n stoepuitsig oor die straatlewe.

 

Ownership of Integrity

This bit of writing is inspired and prompted by recent events regarding a national – and may I add – very prestigious art competition. There has been quite some debate and opposing opinions about how art is judged and perceived, but also about participant conduct.  What I’d like to explore here is the notion of ownership of creative work. Specifically, I’ll be looking at ethical consideration and proper conduct of the creative ownership of images depicting another human being. 

Throughout history artists, designers and photographer have used other people as models and main subjects in creative work. Many of these works have been challenging and even controversial. The European artists of the golden era of classical art depicted naked models and Michelangelo’s David sculpture is one of the most well-known and celebrated works of art from the Renaissance period. Sculptures and paintings like this could have, and may have, sparked issues of artistic integrity of the artists and their models. But, it probably didn’t. This may be because the works of art offered an idealist and humanistic image of man. It may also be because the artists made their intentions to the models clear and had a purpose for the artwork articulated right from the beginning of the creative process.

Nowadays we seem to have forgotten that everyone involved in the creation of an art piece or any other work is impacted by the way the finished product is used, distributed or presented. Usage rights; terms and conditions; competition rules; and copyright laws are systems created to protect creative- and intellectual property, but they are also there to try and ensure proper conduct of the creative process and the way that the property is used to impact viewers, society or users. Where and how do we integrate basic human rights and notions of integrity and personal protection into these systems? Because it does not seem to have been included to sufficiently aid or protect everyone involved in creating creative property.

Most people react negatively to an artwork when our ideal perceptions of ourselves and others are challenged. One of art’s purposes or social responsibilities is to challenge conventions and question accepted norms. Thus, I do not wish to propose that art should always be idealized views of humanity or pretty reproductions of life’s positive side. What I do want to emphasize is that if an artwork is made to challenge views and also be presented to a large audience, everyone involved in the creation of the piece should be fully aware of the extent to which the artwork could create reaction from the public. If the integrity or reputation of any participants – such as the models – could be damaged or influenced negatively in any way, they should be informed and their consent be attained. This, in my opinion, should especially apply to public work and any work that gets or could get published and made available to large audiences.

A lot could still be said on this subject and my viewpoint substantiated. However, I will conclude by saying that we are heading for an ongoing degradation of values in the creative world if artists, designer and photographers are allowed to create artwork, without regard of personal integrity and the rights of all living beings associated with the creation process.