Bubblegum Club

Author: Marcia Elizabeth

  • Queering the Algorithm // Conversational AI Agents for the Advancement of New Eroticisms

    “Manifesto

    Queer AI advocates for:
    The queering of communication technologies.
    The queering of machine learning algorithms.
    The careful and collaborative curation of training material by and for a diversity of sensibilities and actors.
    The cumming undone of logics and sense making.
    The slipperiness of language.
    The accidental poetry of nonsensical miscommunication er(r)o(r)s.
    Fluid autonomous playful uncompromising disobedient bots.
    Messy fleshy curious humans.
    User intent mismatches as erotic deviations.
    Existential pause.
    Deep learning for deep orgasms.”

    Queer AI is an impartial network educated in queer and feminist theory, erotic literature and the ethics of embodiment. This project is framed within the larger context of QueerTech.io – a platform in the queer digital realm fostering the artworks of queer identifying artists from around the world showcasing url and irl exhibitions.

    Queer AI is the work of Emily Martinez and Ben Lerchin. Its initial execution takes on the function of a seditious chatbot negating the mimicry of gendered scripts available for obedient fembots and unruly cyborgs.

    Queer AI dreams of a future where there are a multitude of queer bots created to fulfil many needs and desires, by means of careful and collaborative curated training content by and for sensibilities and agents of diversity.

    Ben is an activist, artist and technologist from Oakland, CA making use of experimental robotics, photographies and language. This experimental practice imposes speculative interventions and reveals novel political imaginaries. The contextualization of digital conversations, reconfiguring of landscapes and the queering of algorithms are proposed as personified data. Regarding vision as a mode of data processing, they attempt to answer, “What does it mean to see like a machine?”

    Image from the Queer AI project

    Emily is a designer, digital strategist and new media artist from Los Angeles. The interest of her practice lies in digital labour, economic justice, emancipatory catastrophism and post-representational forms of subjectivity.

    The Queer AI project asks for collaborators to assist in the curation of training material for their bots. If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, simply click the ‘YES, LET’S QUEER ALL OF THE THINGS!’ button towards the end of the project page on QueerTech.io.

    A  Dis/Re-claimer policy on the project page states “Queer AI is not interested in adding to the mega corpus of straight white dudes training neural nets with boring fembot fantasy tropes for the lonely machine love future full of rapey robot sex.”

    Queer AI is a stimulating project that falls under the experimental practice which QueerTech.io proudly supports. Queer AI is the first queer network of chatbots designed for and trained by a “diversity of sensibilities and actors” making it that much more valuable for the queer community, with no training by white straight dudes. The fact that the AI’s first form is that of a seductive chatbot that negates gendered scripts for fembots and cyborgs can be regarded as a political statement against the cis-gendered nature of the world and as an act of reclaiming queer sexuality on and offline.

    Another factor highlighting this project as political in its quest against heteronormativity is the inclusion of a quote by the famous queer computer scientist Alan Turing who cracked Enigma during World War II and later committed suicide due to inhumane treatment because of his “gay aversion”. Alan states “Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.” Queer AI seeks to create erotica for a queer audience by a queer audience and promotes diversity and different ways of identifying. Strong, united, you can sign up to interact with the AI now and like me and other queer identifying bodies push for a irl and cyberspace world of more diversity and equality, including the complete toss of rape and pedophile culture that a lot of cis-gendered erotica endorses – think of Lolita, Eyes Wide Shut and even Woody Allen if you must. Let’s all advocate for the queering of communication technologies and the queering of machine learning algorithms. And remember, “The Future is Queer”.

  • The Organic goes Mechanic // Gaika comes to South Africa

    All the way from Brixton in the UK, the dystopian style of Gaika will be greeting South Africans and Malawians for the first time in February. A childhood surrounded by various forms of tech and scientific innovation fostered within, Gaika’s current mode of production inspired by the digitization of humanity.

    Gaika’s sound can be compared to that of a future voice whispering profanities – barely out of reach. What is organic has become a ghostlike digitized chaos devoid of humanity. Like a Black Mirror episode Gaika’s message is one of grimness and disillusion.

    His unapologetic worldview has been compared to the trip-hop of Tricky, and he has been deemed electronic music’s answer to Basquiat. The background noise of a post-millennial existence is given a sound track. These are the sounds of human failure, surveillance, violence, terror, masochism and exploitation all strewn together to create a seamless sound broken as the broken world that Gaika sees and contests with his music.

    Titles such as ‘BATTALION’ featuring Miss Red and ‘BLASPHEMER‘ act as piercing commentaries on modern society. Collaborations with artists such as Israeli MC Miss Red known for bringing ‘Murder’ to beats speak of the idiosyncratic nature in which he chooses to execute his message of doom and despair that is only strengthened by the collaborations he partakes in. In an interview with Dazed he expresses, “How can we make art that isn’t political when you go out of your house in London and you see two or three homeless people by a cash point, and people like me are getting killed by the police. What are we doing as artists?”

    Music that inhabits the industrial space pertain to a machine fetish. Gaika should however not be mistaken as a pessimist – instead he is a realist and depicts the world for what it truly has and is becoming. “I prefer to express the darkness of reality. I’m a ‘night’ person in that sense,” he tells Dazed.

    At the end of 2017 the artist released The Spectacular Empire I and II that included his ‘BATTALION’ soundtrack. Perhaps it’s time to fight the machine, or will we become one with it in a world where minimum wage jobs are dying out and the friendly person at your local McDonalds is slowly but surely being replaced by an automated system. Making poverty soar at an all-time high. Let’s join Gaika on his tour in solidarity with a world that is losing its humanity.

    Tour dates:

    Kitcheners, Johannesburg: 8 February 2018

    The Waiting Room, Cape Town: 9 February 2018

    Grittah’s Camp, Lilongwe (Malawi): 10 February 2018

  • ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ – Reproducing Older Forms of Image Creation in a Digital World

    ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ – Reproducing Older Forms of Image Creation in a Digital World

    From the city of Gaborone comes a new photographic body of work by Botswanan artist Giancarlo LaGuerta. With no formal arts education, he developed and nurtured his own technical and art propensity and today works as both photographer and art director.

    Speaking to me about the creative dynamics of his city, he informed me that the art community and culture still needs an element that can animate and excite creatives. “The scene here doesn’t inspire one to be better or push the envelope; the need to do that comes from within”.

    Despite a knack to internalize stimuli, Giancarlo feels that living in a developing country is its own source of influence. “Things are not very refined around here and there’s something beautiful about that.”

    Giancarlo’s series ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ is held captive by its creator by his persistence of not wanting to prescribe a defined meaning to the work he has brought to the public eye. He finds his motive for creating this set of images that depict two brothers, twins, in the close-natured-ness of brotherhood.

    “I’ve always loved making something from nothing; for as long as I can remember. I learnt how to draw before I learnt how to read and write.” Images with deep contrast and hard lighting meet a focus that sometimes make background elements seem distorted. Among the choice of such defining lighting a lot of post work comes to play and the viewer is confronted with images that carry a DIY sensibility (created by a collage element) meets VHS tape visual appearance. “I treat my work like a puzzle. I combine different elements and styles to achieve a good product and complete the picture, so to speak.”

    The choice of reproducing older stylizations digitally is justified by Giancarlo as a way of making his work seem less pop and more distant and substantial. With a hope of bringing across a documentary take on his models.

    Relying mostly on natural lighting, the subjects of his images being brothers and twins and the natural settings that the series depicts are the only real life/documentary elements that are present. The combination of mimicking various forms of older image creation leans itself towards excessiveness and does not label a body of work as more, or less substantial.

    Although the work is visually striking, the artist’s unwillingness to come forth with a statement can be seen as an open invite for the viewers’ interpretation or simply the idea that these are just a set of artistically crafted images. Not achieving a documentary feel makes these images to appear more fashion oriented as documentary images allows no retouching or altering of photographic material.

    Credits:

    Stylist – Eva Maria Fernanda LaGuerta 

  • Allana Clarke | Investigating the Construction of Power Politics

    Allana Clarke is a conceptual artist born in 1987 originally from Trinidad and Tobago. Her practice is expressed through sculpture, video, performance and installation work. The residencies that can be marked off on her list at present are The Vermont Studio Center, the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and the Lighthouse Works. In 2014, she was the recipient of the Skowhegan fellowship, the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship MICA, the Peter W. Brooke Fellowship as well as the Vermont Studio Civil Society Fellowship. Adding to her accomplishments, Allana received the Franklin Furnace grant in 2015. Completing her MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art at MICA, she currently resides in Brooklyn New York.

    The artist branches out the reach of her investigation into the formation of power politics as an authoritative edifice and an abstraction through her selected choice of mediums. Her practice is enthused by conceptual information largely chosen from colonial and post-colonial theory, philosophy, art history and gender studies. Her work is however not solely informed by these texts as she intertwines personal narrative within this theoretical context.

    On Allana’s website she shares a statement bringing to light certain declarations that she outlines as ultimate truths. She expresses therein that all people are identified and affected by our cultural group personae. She continues to say that discourse diction is inherently problematic. Her statement goes on to say that all discourses are totalizing structures that engage cultural group identity and push various individual nuanced entities together. Lastly, she states that there is no discourse that encompasses the cultural group of women of colour that exist within the Caribbean and American context.

    “The primary discourses that they/we/I could fit into are ‘Feminism’ and ‘Black Liberation’ movements. They/we/I do and have not fully been articulated within either of these spaces. ‘Black Liberation’ theories, while giving the perception that “black” is inclusive of both male and female, actually focus on the black male as sole agent and his agenda to gain equal citizenship with the white male allowing him to fully participate within the capitalist system and equally gain the benefits of said system. While feminism, is focused on the white female, using liberalism to negate the experiences of non-white females.”

    Allana’s work is thus centred around this point of realization. She asks the question of whether it is possible to assert her agency while acknowledging inherent antagonism? Which leads her to question if it possible to do so while not participating in hegemonic practices.  Or if it is possible to create a non-totalizing identity structure? Allana’s work serves to investigate these concerns and question the way in which human beings identify as well as the way in which they are identified and is a result of hegemonic power structures.

    Still from ‘Propositions of Questionable Intent Part I’

  • A Picturesque Death is Micro/Macroscopic

    UK based artist Holly Hendry creates a sculptural realm in which the visitors of her rather dystopian world can see a symbiotic union of the micro and macroscopic world. Up and close, a visual presentation of what lies below. Her work digs below the surface and exhibits that which is buried, hidden, out of thought.

    A graduate from the Royal College of Art, Holly has gained fair traction with shows at White Rainbow in London and BALTIC in Gateshead. And why wouldn’t she? Few artists have the tenacity to have a practice that makes death quite so picturesque.

    Often utilizing building materials to mold her creations Holly’s work inhibits certain universal connotations referring to topics such as the dishevelled hidden universe underneath pristinely designed interior spaces or the insides of the human body.

    Fabricating her scene of death and forgotten objects with the use of birch ply, cement, rawhide dog chew and soap, these elements are all masterfully held together with metallic lilac and pink tones. Despite the artist often remarking in interviews that she is uncertain as to whether her materials tie her pieces together; I am here to throw that statement out of the window and may it never be uttered again. Holly’s pastel colour palette, which meets elements such as light woods and pristine whites, fall on the viewer’s eyes with ease and concurrent poise.

    Holly’s sculptural plane can be described as having a preoccupation with what is below us, thus granting Holly the title as a sort of sculptural archaeologist, and she pertains a fascination with the micro world. This micro world may be in fact shown to you on a larger than life scale. Perhaps it is a model of plant layers or layers of skin. Organic shapes are designed to Holly’s will and we see the world in a way that is not truly possible.

    ‘Wrot’ is a piece that has drawn me to this artist. Filling a single room, the cross section of green, blue and grey is given definition by stray bone forms and nails. This display is marked off by three bubble gum pink walls. Looming above the podium are three white structures, creating an illusion of a regimented above and shambolic below.

    Physically her work dramatizes the variation of surface and plane. With a harrowing shift between macro and micro objects and spaces visitors are able to examine for themselves impressions of various objects and bodies. Holly’s work is successful in dramatizing various aspects of the circle of life and presenting it with allure and a theatre like quality.

     

  • Interpreting Objects as Identities

    A prawn shell ripped apart with the soft, tender innards swept clean. Suspended from a hook fastened to a ceiling. This serves as a description of Kasia Fudakowski’s ‘Are you eating well?’. A piece that best encapsulates the satirical tone of the artist that flows throughout her work.

    Born in London in 1985 she is currently living and working in Berlin. Her sculptural work feeds an autonomous viewpoint of artistic production within a social context.

    Sculptures meet at the point between what can be considered figurative and abstract. With performances and video pieces that relate to her sculptural work they speak about the artist’s interest in the theory and philosophy of humour.

    Are you eating well?, 2016

    Kasia pin points in her work the strained relationship between artist and spectator, the abrupt, theatricality, and representational ideas. In addition to this she captivates her viewers with the interpretation of objects as identities.

    Fascinated by the critical potential of humour, Kasia regards it as commentary on human failure. Relating this notion onto social systems; it is a critical feature of her work.

    Having exhibited her work at 1646, The Hague; Arnolfini, Bristol; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Modern Art Oxford; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; GAK, Bremen; FUTURA, Prague; and Harburger Bahnhof Kunstverein, Hamburg it can be esteemed that Kasia’s work is in high demand.

    lower your ambitions, 2015

    Kasia’s a-typicality and devotion to the use of humour as a form of critique on society is not only refreshing but innovative. Humour is for the most part never regarded as something to be taken seriously. Kasia however, takes this connotation that has been forced upon it and subverts its meaning. This critical potential is evoked with punchy titles that tell you exactly how she views things as can easily be seen when looking at ‘Are you eating Well?’ –  commentary on the luxury, greed and wastefulness that the bourgeoisie exhibit one can assume.

    You can discover more of Kasia’s work here:

    http://www.kasiakasia.com

  • The Difference in Tweeting

    The digital age has shaped and re-shaped various aspects of the human experience. With the internet came access to vast amounts of data, online shopping, app creation and social media platforms to name but a fraction of the elements that define our existence. Social media is at the crux of it all and is changing the way in which human beings socialize. Texting is normal, expressing your opinions about pretty much anything is allowed and sharing your life with hundreds if not thousands of followers and friends online is a day to day norm for most people. I mean are you even a person if you don’t have a social media account?

    We are living in a time where impressions of who you are as a person are often formulated before you even meet other people. Your reputation and social media presence, chosen aesthetic and personality or lack thereof is often times people’s first introduction to you as an individual. That brings me to the topic of Twitter, what makes it different from other social media platforms? Why is this network and the communication that takes place on it of value and, in terms of the conversations that are happening on this platform, why can it be regarded as distinct from its other social media counterparts?

    Twitter is the most open social network to engage with. Unlike other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook communication between yourself and other users is effortless. Unless of course, the user you wish to communicate with has a protected feed. You can speak to anyone and everyone on the network. On Facebook, messaging someone without being friends drops your messages in private folders that some users don’t even know about. Instagram, on the other hand, sends you message requests when you are not connected to an individual.

    Posts on Twitter are limited to 280 characters per post, resulting in short bursts of information circulating online. Facebook, on the other hand, has no character limit and lends itself to being a platform for storytelling and long conversations. Think about your friends’ super duper long posts that are surfacing and yet to come about how life-changing 2017 was and how much more of a winner 2018 will be. Wow, fantastic I’m so happy for you Becky. Twitter can be regarded as the track star of all social media networks and its 280 character limit catapults it into being the fastest platform on which to push information.

    On Facebook topics and posts, in other words, conversations are held longer than on Twitter. With Twitter, however, it is commonplace to post links directing your audience/followers to other sites resulting in a focus that is not just stuck on one platform. Third party content is a star on Twitter often combined with the use of hashtags acting as a tool for discovery and easy reference for other users.

    There is also real-time content vs. evergreen content with Twitter being the platform for real-time posting. Twitter is regarded by many as a news outlet because of the real-time nature of the application. Twitter users lend themselves to short frequent posts that can act as a running commentary box on various situations. Looking at influencers such as Bee Diamondhead her followers are directed to news that she finds relevant. This is often done by sharing the posts of other users such as fashion blogger bryanboy. Other posts on her account feature the #girlscount and address Bee’s advocacy for the upliftment of African femmes. These two posts are an indicator of Bee’s investment in fashion and social activism highlighting the importance of this with her use of hashtagging. Some of 2017’s most powerful and unforgettable social media campaigns originated from this fast social media vortex such as the #metoo campaign. However, the lifespan of engagement with posts on Twitter is shorter than that of Facebook or standard Instagram posting.

    What sets Twitter apart then is that it is a platform where you are the most likely to engage with strangers in comparison to Facebook and Instagram. Although Instagram allows you to connect with strangers more often than not you will tend to follow individuals you know or who travel in similar circles to yourself. Twitter is a completely different social sphere. It is a space in which you can address and communicate with anyone in a very direct, for the world to see manner. What is noteworthy about Twitter is how it is that much less personal than other social media platforms. Users sometimes speak about themselves or mention events that occurred during their day but it acts as a platform for news and social activism in many ways. Its users utilize the tool to create campaigns and to voice their concerns with conversations that often times spread over multiple posts. Re-tweeting is also a great way in which your ideas can be brought to a larger audience.

  • Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie // The work of African artists take centre stage

    Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie // The work of African artists take centre stage

    Established in Mali in 1994, Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie or Bamako Encounters is the first international festival of its kind devoted to photography from the African continent. Founded by Mali’s Ministry of Culture together with the Institut Francais the festival is dedicated to the elevation of African photographers.

    The event that takes place across numerous venues within the city is the home of the Pan African exhibition, held at the Museum of Mali, and it is arguably one of the festival’s main attractions. The exhibition will showcase the work of forty artists from across the continent.  This year’s photographic and video works appear under the title ‘Afrotopia’ bracing different components of African culture and heritage, in order to redefine subjects such as African bodies, sexuality and politics and is aimed atdeveloping possible futures for nations.

    Marie-Ann Yemsi is the curator of the Biennale and her title selection of ‘Afrotopia’ is an invitation to the featured artists to contextualize what and who will drive the future as well as the continent’s influence on a globalised world.

    The African Biennale of Photography, is currently in its 11th edition of which South Africa’s very own Athi-Patra Ruga was awarded the Seydou Keïta Prize, the Grand Prize of the Rencontres de Bamako.

    Fethi Sarahoui, B as Bouchentouf

    As the general delegate of Bamako, Samuel Sidibe expresses the festival creates great visibility for photographers from the continent contributing to the emergence of current African photography both in the professional landscape and to the general public.

    Enforcing the value of questions raised by African artists on the historical and social issues that are distinct to them, Bamako acts as an advocate for the verbalisation and contemporary visualisation of these questions. Platforms such as Bamako is of vital importance and has been from its inception in 1994.

    The biennale brings to light the issues that African artists are concerned and faced with emphasizing their validity. Despite all difficulties that the festival has seen like that of its 10th addition which saw Mali in a state of emergency despite having taken a four-year break, the festival prevailed and continues to elevate and honour some of the most noteworthy imagery and image makers on the African continent.

    The biennale took off on the 2 December and will run to the 31 January 2018. After the festival Bamako, the Recontres will be held at the National Museum of World Cultures from April 2018.

    Julien Creuzet, Head-to-head, hidden head, Light.

  • Cape Town’s New Creative Dynamism | Who is at the heart of the hustle?

    Recent years have seen a creative boom within Cape Town. There is an energy of innovation afoot and this city’s creatives have the game locked down. Playing their cards with calm calculated steps they are pushing the boundaries and making a change within this creative climate. Identifying four of the individuals who have been integral in driving this new-found energy I spoke to them about their approach to success in an industry were the hustle means your survival. From one of Cape Town’s most intimate photographers to the creator of Booty Bass, the founder of Young & Lazy as well as a ceramic jewellery designer. What sets them apart is their ease within themselves, their passion for the game, their eagerness to mentor younger generations, their hunger for change and their inspiration found in one of the most beautiful coastal cities in the world. My pick showcases creatives laying a fresh foundation for future generations to come.

    Photography by Jody Brand

    Jody Brand

    Jody Brand was born and raised in Cape Town and has a background in History and Media studies. With an intention of becoming a journalist, her initial styling and shoots were merely a fun past time. After assisting Richard de Jager she came to the realization that she wanted more ownership of her images that catapulted into a shift in her focus. Jody became known within creative circles for her photographic depiction of South African youth culture and has worked as a production manager for renowned South African artist, Athi-Patra Ruga.

    Since her inception into Cape Town’s creative boom Jody’s lens has matured with her and her initial claim to fame has evolved to address problematic narratives. This year saw Jody’s solo exhibition, ‘YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD WOMAN DOWN‘ at the STEVENSON gallery comprising of photographic work, installation and performance art.

    This arresting body of work addresses standards of cis-genderedness, whiteness and able-bodiedness. Questioning them and regarding them as despicable in their violence against different ways of identifying and being. One of her works in the exhibition is a digital print on fabric with the following words pigmented on to its surface “Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed”. A powerful statement acting as a synopsis of her message.

    Celebrating black beauty and rejecting western beauty standards it speaks of the difficulties that marginalized groups of people face within our socio-political context. Jody’s photographic eye is known for its candidly raw and instinctive nature has shaped itself into a calculated lens unfolding a carefully articulated narrative. Shining light on the truth of a narrative Jody comprehends as it acts as a self portrait of its capturer. Jody’s work is a response to our violent past as well as the malevolent nature of the photographic image itself.

    ANG

    ANG is originally from Johannesburg and has set herself apart as a DJ, radio host, promoter and artist manager. Her initial captivation with sound leaned itself more towards technicality than creativity. Her childlike curiosity pushed an increasing desire to comprehend the finer workings of things. “I would disassemble my boombox at least once a week, inspect all the parts and put it back together.”

    Studying as an Audio Engineer she became absorbed by everything relating to sound and practiced as a sound engineer after completing her studies. Her shift from there into venue management branched into a DJ career. As a DJ she naturally progressed into online radio hosting with her own show on Assembly Radio.

    “I actively pursue creating the spaces I didn’t have the privilege of enjoying when I first started playing. That has been my approach to my career from the outset and what has attracted other artists to working with me.”

    Known for the genre Booty Bass that was born from her desire to give a succinct answer when asked to define her electronic music. She states, “The characteristic that got me the most attention was my defiance of genre constraints.” Booty Bass is a multi-genre, influenced by hip hop and RnB. It can be defined as bass driven dance music. “So whether its 4×4, 2step or club music it all makes your booty pop.”

    Recently ANG has been named the head of SHE SAID.SO South Africa, a division of a larger global community of women from different branches within the industry working towards equality and the upliftment of women in music.

    Anees Petersen

    Reigning from Woodstock, Anees is the founder of Cape Town’s Young & Lazy. One of South Africa’s most compelling streetwear labels that was established in 2009. Completing his studies at the Cape Town college of fashion design, he knew from as young as the age of 10 that he wanted to be a fashion designer.

    “My passion was always the construction of a garment. Coming from my background, how you presented yourself told everyone what your status was. Dressing well and caring about what you look like became everything and I got so deep that I wanted to only have things that no one else had. That’s what pushed me to start making my own clothes.”

    The title of his brand was chosen to speak to likeminded individuals and ‘young and lazy’ pinpointed his audience. Anees’ initial designs emulated international trends that he subconsciously produced resulting from an aspiration to obtain similar levels of greatness. Recently the designer has shifted his approach to designing from a feeling or experience.

    Looking into his heritage and role as a Cape Malay Muslim in South Africa, this wealth of culture is currently a main source of inspiration. Young & Lazy is growing up with Anees and is becoming the individualization of its creator.

    Regarding his contribution to Cape Town’s creative energy as one done in collaboration with Cornerstore, Anees passionately states “I see Cornerstore not only as a shell for the brands but a place where the youth and the future of South African streetwear culture come to congregate, find their squad, find their bae. We encourage other people to build this industry with us and our brands act as platforms for even the kid in high school to collaborate with us.” His message to young creatives is to be unafraid of embracing who they are and to stay real, true and original.

    Githan Coopoo

    Githan Coopoo is a 23-year-old creative from Cape Town making his mark on the South African fashion sphere with his abstract ceramic jewellery designs.

    His infatuation with jewellery design was a late discovery in his life. Githan’s love grew only after his first piercing in 2015. “I just became enamoured with notions of adornment and opulence on the body.” Aware of his family line of Indian jewellers he did not initially consider it a personal interest till later in life.

    Photography by Alix-Rose Cowie

    Githan has worked in ceramic from the outset of his jewellery explorations. “I think of clay as something quite universal and accessible. It is literally earth.I love the idea of a relatively unassuming and inexpensive material being utilized and elevated to that of a precious status. I have invested in the fragility of the material after it has been fired.”

    Inspired by found objects such as rubble and cement particles from construction sites he states, “I find a lot of beauty in rejected and dejected articles and objects.” Githan is drawn to working with white in his designs as it emphasizes the ceramic quality of his pieces and expresses that he is often persuaded to work within two tones. This choice makes his pieces chic and bold. The shapes that naturally occur from his process highlight a design that is minimalist and abstract.

    Having produced capsules for Rich Mnisi and Gabrielle Kannemeyer for runway shows and editorials, this year saw his collaboration with New York’s Tibi. He created a capsule of earrings for their New York Fashion Week showcase.

    Photography by Betina du Toit
  • Gemma Shepherd – A Daring Fashion Lens Evoking A Sense Of Familiarity

    Gemma Shepherd – A Daring Fashion Lens Evoking A Sense Of Familiarity

    Gemma Shepherd describes herself as a twenty something year old photographer and creative from Cape Town. She is a graduate from UCT with a keen focus on fashion that takes on a narrative form on her blog, The Urban Gem.

    At present, she is learning how to express herself through a variety of art forms. She has relatively widespread creative interests that can be pinned down as fashion, makeup artistry, photography and writing. It is understandable that the twenty something year old would need a variety of outlets to quench her thirst for creative execution.

    Her photographic practice has received increasing acknowledgement as she keeps on pushing her work to further leaps and bounds. Gemma hopes that her risky behaviour and go-getter attitude will motivate and enable other creatives to risk the unknown. “It’s very seldom that I feel truly satisfied with something I produce…[but] to look back at the work I started out producing and to see that improvement, it’s encouraging,” she tells fellow blogger Rebecca Arendse in an interview earlier this year.

    Her exploration into the world of still image creation happened instinctively after she was presented with a disposable camera as a child. From there her passion for the medium grew and later evolved into combining the elements that she cares about most – fashion and portraiture. Attaining an internship at Cosmopolitan Magazine after her graduation from UCT gave her the opportunity to obtain a better understanding of the behind-the-scenes of fashion content creation. After viewing the Vogue exhibition in Madrid she came to the realization that she had what it takes to be the fashion photographer. Today Gemma’s portfolio features an editorial on Tony Gum for Roundtable, a shoot titled ‘Girls will be Girls’ recently published on A Fashion Friend, the AW17 lookbook for LAZULI as well as work produced for IMUTE Magazine.

    Her photographic narrative is held together with defining elements in her work such as the use of tight cropping, slightly saturated imagery with soft shadows, black and white images that evoke chic and a droopy romantic impression, use of photomontage and an intimacy that is her own. Gemma’s use of atypical cropping brings her viewers closer to her models, closer than a viewer gets to see a stranger in real life, adding a sense of familiarity and intimacy to her portraiture. This has to be Gemma’s most intriguing dare devil move. Defying what is considered to be acceptable framing, and her move is a welcome one.

              

    Gemma’s fervour to learn, grow and inspire translates in her imagery and documented word. Her photographic work speaks of an innate understanding of style and popular culture. Gemma is well on her way to defining a cemented means of articulating self-expression in various forms of art production. Her lens has the ability to emphasize what is natural and add a romantic overtone to her work which seduces your eyes.

     

  • The Diverse Girl Culture Author // Ronan McKenzie

    The Diverse Girl Culture Author // Ronan McKenzie

    Ronan McKenzie is a young photographer based in London. Her time at university lasted only a few weeks after which she fell into styling and reached her end destination with an eye glued to her camera viewfinder.

    The young enigmatic image maker has engraved her name on the slab of a cut-throat industry earing her merits with her diverse and authentic casting together with her individualized intimate portraiture. Taking on jobs from Wonderland, Vogue, American Apparel and SHOWStudio, it seems as though nothing can get in the way of this self-made photographer. More show stoppers that can be linked to her prowess is her debut exhibition ‘A Black Body’ held in 2015 at Doomed Gallery as well as the release of her own publication HARD EARS. The publication was released earlier this year and contains 300 pages featuring established and new on the block contributors alike. Featuring artists such as Nick Knight and Ruth Ossai this is only a fraction of what HARD EARS has in store.

    When she’s not off shooting beauty images for i-D, Ronan continues her work on a personal series ‘Girls’ that goes back to the very beginning of her photographic practice. “Girls are the first people I shot when I started taking photos. It was my friends getting dragged into it or my Mum never being able to escape a photo. I guess at the beginning it was natural for me to shoot girls, I had clothes to dress them up in and for some reason thought that they’d be easier to connect with. Now, two years on and less gender biased, I’m still so interested in shooting girls because as a young woman myself, there is an instinctive connection that I have to other women and I find it a powerful thing to be able to document them in my own way,” Ronan expresses in an interview earlier this year with It’s Nice That.

    As a photographer who is predominantly drawn to photographing and working with womxn myself, I agree with Ronan that there is an instinctive connection between femmes and that the work that is drawn from this connection is not only captivating but it’s a feeling that can only transpire from working within this narrative. Her series brings to light an invisible thread of trust that is established between herself and her sitters. Its emotion can only be described as deep sitting. Honesty and true reflection of her subjects is what Ronan values most. Her series, consisting of many photographs and many models speak of diversity and act as a study of Girl Culture today.

    Authenticity. Naturalness. These are the basic fundamentals to understanding the lens of Ronan McKenzie. The young photographer has set herself a part with her emotive, intimate portraits based on what is really there – based on reality. Her portraiture though stylized still falls under the wing of documentary photography as she captures the lives and likenesses of girls around her. One can only hope that Ronan’s ‘Girls’ will act as a more authentic voice of a generation that that of Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’proclaims itself to be. Unfortunately, not ringing true to her own hopes, Lena’s ‘Girls’ was merely a depiction of the lives of white womxn and devoid of diversity. Therefore it cannot act as the voice of a generation.

  • Nigerian Identity. Beautiful. Effortless. Powerful.

    Nigerian Identity. Beautiful. Effortless. Powerful.

    Ruth Ginika Ossai grew up in Eastern Nigeria and is currently based in West Yorkshire. She takes on the identity of a photographer and an Igbo/Yorkshire warrior, assuming this identity as a part of her dual heritage.

    Examining Ruth’s work, one can see the warrior in her coming to the foreground. In her practice, she aims to celebrate African beauty, question Western standards of beauty and represent and empower Nigerians and Africans wherever they may be geographically situated. A variety of faces and styles embody Ruth’s message and the viewer is drawn to her sitters. Men in cowboy hats, women wearing chainmail bodysuits tastefully styled with red patent boots and women in traditional Igbo attire is the visual sustenance that Ruth feeds her audience.

    “I’m really infatuated by the way in which photography can tell stories, capture and empower black identity and culture. Especially Nigerian identity, which is so beautiful, effortless and powerful. This is something I have been surrounded by and capturing all my life. My photography is not a response to anything particular but I am a strong advocate of photographers who are embedded in the context in which ideas are produced, participating in the contextualising of their images. It becomes very problematic when Nigerians — and other Africans — cannot tell their own stories: it becomes too often incomplete, inaccurate and stereotyped. This narrative has needed changing for too long. My work is also honestly partly a reflection of myself; I love and never stop thinking about West Africa, whether I’m home or away.”

    Ruth’s images speak to her adoration of the photographic lens and the powerful ability it contains to speak about and create narratives. Ruth’s ocular eye does not only capture black identity and culture but her innate sensitivity and candid hand acts as a tool of empowerment. Acting as a participant within this narrative, photographers like Ruth are contextualizing her own culture in a way that she wishes it to be seen. As Ruth states, it is of the utmost importance that people tell their own stories and when it happens differently often inaccurate depiction takes place and room is created for the breading of stereotypes. A self-reflective photographer, Ruth’s images are not only striking but their vividness and candid feel adds to the authenticity of the captured moment and the photograph as an object becomes more than that; it becomes a feeling.