Tag: African

Multimedia artist Sondra Perry on technology and identity

Multimedia artist Sondra Perry‘s most recent exhibition at the Bridget Donahue Gallery speaks to the larger thematic explorations that tie all her work together – the exploration of digital technology and identity. The installation titled IT’S IN THE GAME ‘17 or Mirror Gag for Vitrine and Projection, 2017 is centred around the projection of a video within a room painted Rosco Chroma Key Blue.

The video begins with blurry images of Sondra and her twin brother when they were young. Rotating in the middle are what look like a 3D scans of alternating sculptures coloured in blue. A distorted version of the song ‘You Are Everything’ by the Stylistics plays, creating a somber, mournful mood. Two minutes in, a paused moment in a basketball videogame appears on the screen. The screen rotates around the players in the game, and two smaller videos come to view. The one video shows Sondra’s brother looking at “artefacts” in a museum’s collection of African, Oceanic, and American art. The other video shows the museum from Sondra’s perspective. The fast-paced beating of drums switch the mood to one of urgency. Sondra and her brother are seen taking photographs from a close range, and scrolling through information on their phones, as if taking notes for a strategic operation. A revolutionary one perhaps.

Photography by Constance Mensh

Suddenly what sounds like a computer generated voice breaks the sound of the music. It tells the history of the “objects” housed in the glass cases seen in the museum. This digitized narrator echoes the cold, detached and uncontexualized manner in which these “objects” have been displayed, mimicking the way in which they were taken from their places of origin.

During this commentary we see Sondra photographing her brother on a basketball court. This references the way in which people of colour and their cultures have been objectified, quite literally. It also references the fact that her brother, an NCAA basketball player, discovered that a videogame was created and included him as a player without his knowledge or consent.

Photography by Constance Mensh

The colour of the walls plays a significant role in the installation. Rosco Chroma Key Blue is the colour often used on TV sets and in the production of special effects for movies and videogames. Due to the fact that the colour contrasts so strongly with most skin tones, it is used as a kind of negative on which a context for a body can be constructed. This can be interpreted as referencing the videogame, or as a way to make audiences feel as if they are in a space where their own images are being taken involuntarily for the manufacturing of a digital body within a manufactured context.

Smaller video screens within the installation show digital constructions of Sondra’s brother show uncomfortably intimate views into his nose and mouth, replicating a kind of internal medical scan.

Photography by Constance Mensh

This installation connects to her other work in that it is a continuation of her critical engagement with technology. Viewing digital technology as a medium used to monitor and contain people of colour, a lot of her work unpacks the systematic oppression and exclusion of people of colour within this. On the other hand, her work attempts to operate as a kind of reclaiming of digital space by her use of this technology and putting a stamp on how blackness shapes and shifts these technologies. Often taking her personal history and that of her family as a point of departure, she emphasises how CGIs (computer generated images) must not be divorced from the politics of representation and identity formation.

Image from the Bridget Donahue Gallery

In this installation she combines visual vocabularies from the past, present and future to make a comment about digital identity theft. Reflecting on the fact that basketball video game fanatics will be able to insert a disc into their consoles and control a computer generated construction of her brother, the insertion of time spent at the museum produces a parallel between these two experiences. This highlights the horrors of data mining and the possibility of someone else creating a digital profile, and then serving it back to the person from whom it was stolen. The video game itself, like most others, offers a form of identity tourism (Nakamura 1995).

This work points to how an imagined future of digital technology as an equalizer and a path to the removal of erasure is a myth. Instead, it widens the conversations about race, gender, class, ownership and identity that are happening already.

Click here to watch the full video.

Reference:

Nakamura, L. (1995). “Race in/for cyberspace: Identity tourism and racial passing on the Internet” in Work and Days.

Photography by Constance Mensh

Photography by Constance Mensh

Photography by Constance Mensh

9 March 2018
AFROPUNK Joburg as the showground for outfits as declarations of self-love and self-expression

The first AFROPUNK festival in Africa took place over the weekend of the 30 and 31 December. Fashion, art and music was shared in a collective embrace with all attendees. As with every AFROPUNK festival, the outfits worn by those in attendance can attract as much attention and celebration as the artists on the lineup. With all the people I interviewed at AFROPUNK, they shared with me descriptions their outfits and reasons for wearing particular items. With this they all unconsciously shared with me short, punchy phrases or words in their descriptions which can be viewed collectively as the beginnings of a manifesto or mottos to live by.

Maga Moura

Blogger and influencer Maga Moura has been attending all the AFROPUNK festivals held in 2017, and felt it necessary to come to the final one in Johannesburg. “I am also in love with see-through fabrics,” she expressed to me when asked about her outfit. Her full body overthrow is a clear demonstration of this as the fabric looks like a hybrid between chiffon and fishnet. She also shared her love for shiny objects, and so added elements of sparkle into her outfit with sequence and accessories. In Brazil she is affectionately known as the queen of braids because of her colourful and out-of-the-box designs she chooses for her braids. This has led her to inspiring young girls in her home country to feel free to express themselves more freely and creatively through their hair. Maga took the opportunity to make her outfit a physical manifestation of her blog; a liberated expression of black culture and black hair. Making sure not to leave without sharing the connection between her style, her blog and AFROPUNK, Maga stated that, “AFROPUNK is more than the lineup. It is culture, inspiration, force. Be yourself. Be free in your own personality or outfit.”

Khaya Ngubane

Taking my hand with confidence, Khaya Ngubane was ready to be in front of the camera. Moving from one power pose to another, it was as if he was in communication with the spirit of the cultures that inspired his look. “My outfit is inspired by an Ndebele/Egyptian look,” he explained. A gold neckpiece is paired with a small bullring septum piercing, and an open shirt to let the melanin glow. The combination of fabrics and accessories was all connected to Khaya’s grounding concept that drives his style. “Unapologetically gay and free-spirited. African all the way.”

Amonge Sinxoto

Amonge Sinxoto, while not consciously trying to make a statement with her outfit, she wanted to make sure that she wore all South African artists and designers. With her hair done by well-known hair stylist Mimi (@urban_mimz) to her pants and shirt being made by well-established fashion label House Of Ole. “Carefree, local and just being me. Being comfortable.” This was the motto that guided Amonge. By wearing all local she has made herself a walking everyday model for the talent that South African creatives from across the fashion and design spectrum have to offer.

Loyiso Ntwanambi and Likhaya Hanise

Loyiso Ntwanambi and Likhaya Hanise carried the spirit of Loyiso’s mother with them to AFROPUNK as they were wearing creations that her mother put together. “Bright. Free. Young. Happy.” These are the four word that Loyiso shared with me as the statement she was trying to make with her outfit. A recipe for a joyful living that has been shared through fabric and her mother’s labour. “Free. Hip. Not scared to be different. All of that,” Likhaya expressed, almost as a confirmation of Loyiso’s words.

Kim Barendse

Dressed by the designer for the label Jigga en Vogue and applying her own makeup. Kim Barendse become the South African version of Janet Jackson from the early 90s. When asked about the statement she was trying to make with her outfit, she expressed that she wanted to look as if she landed from another planet. The blue makeup over her eyes, coupled with thin, yellow lenses from her glasses created a green colour where the makeup and glasses met on her face. Drawing attention with her bundles of curly hair on her head and the jewels travelling down her forehead, she could be described as a celestial queen. “Life inspires my style. I am an artist as well so I draw inspiration from everything around me.”

Laverne Maart

As one of the many travelers from Cape Town to Johannesburg for AFROPUNK, Laverne Maart came to share her hair dye and laidback sense of style at the festival. With her bright green hair freshly applied by one of the other people displaying their work at the market stalls, Laverne let her hair play with the wind, mimicking the movement on her colourful dress. “Normally I wear a headwrap with my curls and dreads sticking out. That’s my look,” she explained. Her dress by Gordon House of Six was made specifically for her attendance at the festival. “I just wanted to be colourful,” Laverne expressed about the statement she was making with her look. “Colourful energy. I like colour especially green so there are a lot of greens in what I am wearing.”

Mariah Matthews

Coupling bargain thrift store buys with her favourite items, sprinkled with African elements – that is the look that Mariah Matthews was serving at AFROPUNK Joburg. Wearing two gold bracelets on top of each other, Mariah created a hair accessory that makes her hair tower above her head. “I wanted to see how high my hair can go today. There are a lot of times when I just want to see how far I can go. I realize even coming to South Africa from New Jersey that I can go wherever I want to go, as far as I want to go, as long as I just want to,” she exclaimed, “I just wanted to be my own art today.” I noticed she had the badge from Very Black pinned to her chest, and asked what this meant to her. “I follow Very Black. I was them at a talk curated by AFROPUNK. I love this pin because I feel like it really describes how I am as well. I like to be unapologetically Black, and unapologetically art.”

Lamlela Plaatjie

Interrogating what being African means for an African person living in Africa, Lamlela Plaatjie used her outfit to unpack that for herself. “Essentially, everything we do do is punk just by the virtue of being an African person,” she expressed. Wanting to keep everything close to home, all of the items she wore, beside her Dr. Martins, were handed to her by the women in her family and represent her Xhosa heritage. “My inspiration was using things that have been used before. The fact that it makes a statement and looks the way that it does is a bonus. But I obviously wanted to celebrate my South African heritage, trying to upstage all the other people from previous AFROPUNK festivals and show them what we are working with in South Africa!”

Zandile Makombe

A simple black dress with denim vintage pants that were ripped and turned into a jacket. Zandile Makombe fully embraced the punk, DIY element at AFROPUNK. “I guess [with my outfit] I was just trying to be me, because I am a fashion design student.” Her rope braids are a staple for her style, this time choosing to rock the turquoise-green colour. “I usually just wear what I want,” she expressed. Taking inspiration from Japanese designers and the anime scene, she construcs looks that connect these with comfort and being a woman of colour on the continent.

Toby and Adrian DGA

As two of the many international visitors who came to Johannesburg specifically for the festival Toby and Adrian DGA flew all the way from London. When asked about her outfit Toby explained that she is half Ghanaian and half Nigerian. “I was looking for something that was similar to kente cloth,” she explained. This was in the hopes of being able to echo her heritage through fabric and being part of the first AFROPUNK to be held in Africa. Adrian was on a similar wave length, and chose to wear a traditional Nigerian piece of clothing which he received from his brother-in-law. “This is me connecting,” he expressed while showing me the fabric the shirt is made from. “I think I just wanted something quite colourful, with my hair and my nails and everything. I just wanted to be really vibrant to kind of match being in Johannesburg,” Toby shared. “I like feeling opulent. I like feeling gold. So this is my Sunday best.”

Kabelo

Friends with the guys from TCYF, Kabelo came to show his friends some support. However, he did not forget the fire that continues to burn in his heart. He has been part of the protests at UCT calling for free, decolonised education (Fees Must Fall protests), and feels that this approach to education needs to be filtered into his style and the other situations he finds himself in. “The general look [of my outfit] comes from the cross-punk scene. Very politically and ideologically charged subgenre from street punk. This is more intersectional which goes with the Fallist politics.” The back of his jacket is adorned with the Fallist logo and the gun symbol is an expression of the three pillars of Fallism – Pan-Africanism, Black Radical Feminism and Black Consciousness. Black Radical Feminism is so crucial to this as this is where the terms positionality and intersectionality were coined from.

Abongwe Qokela

Sporting the design of a young designer named Afro Grunge, Abongwe Qokela oozed all the confidence that makes people stare out of admiration and celebration. “I am a low-key, but high-key show pony. That means I don’t just go to events in jeans and a t-shirt. No. People must know I am here. During the week I have a 9-5. So when I am out, I unleash.” When asked about the statement she wanted to make with her outfit she expressed that she wanted to be, “unapologetically loud. The whole aesthetic of AFROPUNK where you are like ‘I am here!’.”

Miles Greenburg

Embracing the foundations of a minimalist aesthetic, and elevating it with his blonde cornrows and badass boots, Miles Greenburg brought a Canadian spice all the way to Johannesburg. “This is my comfort,” he shared with me while discussing his style choices. “I don’t think this [his outfit] is about a statement. I think it is about a silhouette that makes me feel good in my body. Something I really like about the AFROPUNK vibe is this celebration of the black body.” As a way to pay tribute to this, Miles went straight to his comfort zone, and allowed himself to show as much or as little as he wanted to.

Lara Fischer

Lara Fischer saw the two days of AFROPUNK as an opportunity to unpack what it means to be punk on the first day PUNK. “I see a lot of things on Instagram but I do not necessarily like to follow trends. A lot of clothes get given to me from family and friends so I like to take that and use that as a challenge to style myself,” she expressed. Upcycling and pushing what feels right is what influences the way she chooses to present herself to the world, and everything about her AFROPUNK outfit is a demonstration of this. “I have noticed the people are really scared to explore their fashion sense…but I never feel like that about anything.”

5 January 2018
AFROPUNK // A culturally significant global movement

AFROPUNK. A movement that has multiple branches, from its online platform to the festival to a series of collaborative projects. A seed was planted 13 years ago in the mind of Matthew Morgan, the co-founder of AFROPUNK, when the screening of the documentary Afro-punk gathered an intimate group of black kids who shared an interest in punk rock culture. Reflecting on this moment Morgan expressed, “The large portion of them wanted to exist in a space that catered for their music choices and their lifestyle choices but with other black people, which was not available to them for the most part.” The AFROPUNK identity and what it stands for has been translated into a reach of 40 million a week in digital space, and an incredible following of its festival and connected events.

Describing the AFROPUNK audience as global, African and diasporic, Morgan recognizes that their audience is shifting every day. This shifting audience is what allows AFROPUNK to be relevant in Brooklyn, Atlanta, London, Paris, and now Johannesburg. However, the core of the movement never changes – to be a platform for people of colour to see more alternative versions of themselves, and to celebrate black excellence. This is a sentiment that is shared in South Africa and across the globe more generally, which can be seen through social media posts that embrace a similar thinking to the founding pillars of AFROPUNK. The desire to promote and make political and physical space for alternative black culture has resulted in AFROPUNK being a welcomed breath of fresh air in the digital and festival spheres.

This connects with the evolving nature of Johannesburg and the people who inhabit it. From kids who are fresh out of high school moshing at a tightly packed hip hop party, to those who reject western beauty standards by embracing their natural hair, to those who are calling for free, decolonised education. The kinetic energy that is fostered through the networking and collaboration related to AFROPUNK is what provides connection for people of colour. Morgan expressed that it is important for significance of this connection to be acknowledged, and the festival is a way in which this connection can manifest physically. Allowing a moment of self-expression among people of colour who might share similar experiences, or who have to navigate the world in a similar way. It allows for an interrogation of that experience, as well as a moment to exhale.

No Sexism, No Racism, No Ableism, No Ageism, No Homophobia, No Fatphobia, No Transphobia and No Hatefulness. These slogans have become tied to the AFROPUNK identity and present an intersectional understanding of identity politics. They also come from the aspiration for AFROPUNK to create a sense of coming together, and a practicing ground for leaving prejudice behind.

Reflecting on his visits to Johannesburg that led up to the festival being hosted in the city, Morgan expressed that he “spent significant amounts of time on every visit, and feel[s] the music, the fashion, the style, the politics, are incredible, and if we can be part of helping to share that and then bring people in, that again shares, and connects the diaspora in a more meaningful way.”

The festival will be on 30-31 December at Constitution Hill. Tickets available at http://afropunkfest.com/johannesburg/

15 December 2017