Bubblegum Club

Tag: Lex Trickett

  • Creative Sisterhood

    If you’re looking for young womxn who personify the young, creative spirit lingering in Johannesburg, you don’t need to look much further than multidisciplinary artists Jemma Rose and Anne-Marie Kalumbu. They are able to transfer this personification into their work, demonstrating the sense of evolutionary motion that Joburg invokes in creative practitioners.

    Anne-Marie is a well-traveled creative born in Zimbabwe and currently calls Johannesburg her home. Her practice has revolved around mysticism and more recently she has become invested in the memory as an integral theme. Her memories of personal experiences take the physical form of negative film that she burns in order to suggest the power time has to alter memories. She expresses that Johannesburg cannot be removed from her practice as all things are holistic.

    Photography by Marcia Elizabeth

    Jemma grew up in the suburbs of Johannesburg and as a result she was sheltered from the harsher realities of South Africa. She takes photographs in an attempt to understand the world around her and to understand herself. Her work often speaks about queer identity and mental health. She aims to make people question certain realities of living within the city and the world as a whole.

    With the streets as a backdrop, we chatted to them about their city, their work and their plans for 2018.

    Credits:

    DOP & Stylist: Jamal Nxedlana

    Edit & Motion Design: Lex Trickett 

    Sound: Tokyo Black (trashgodd)

    Production & Styling Assistant: Marcia Elizabeth

  • 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.”

  • Fully Automated Luxury Influencer a film by Cuss Group // The Centre for the Less Good Idea

    Cuss Group was founded in 2011 by Ravi Govender, Jamal Nxedlana and Zamani Xolo. Standing out as one of the first South African arts collective focussing on digital technologies, they don’t need much of an introduction. Since their formation they have gone viral and infiltrated a variety of spaces such as Internet cafes and hair salons in South Africa, car booths in Zimbabwe, MoMa in Poland and gallery and project spaces in Switzerland, Australia and London. Over time the collective has expanded to include Lex Trickett and Christopher McMichael. Their most recent project, ‘Fully Automated Luxury Influencer’ is an immersive film experience and will be showcased as a part of Season 2 by the Centre of the Less Good Idea, co-curated by our co-founder Jamal Nxedlana. “Fully Automated Luxury Influencer uses the genre tropes of science fiction and horror to map the surreal and baroque dimensions of influence”.

    “Our conceptual focus is on the rise of ‘influencer culture’, a contemporary corporate strategy in which a brand symbiotically attaches itself to an existent consumer group. Marketing discourse presents this as a mutually beneficial relationship but we can’t help but see the darker, and parasitic ramifications of such attachment.” Cuss Group explains further that influencer culture materializes from fast paced media evolution, technology and commodity.

    “Politically, individual influencers and small groups can increasingly mobilize extremist sentiments to leverage themselves into power, as more saliently evidenced in the rise of Donald Trump.” They continue to say that this influence is mediated across esoteric assemblies of secret algorithms, corporate lobbying, government psychological operations, and emotional engineering. Cuss Group expresses that the concept of the influencer is vague and functionally endless. They state that the influencer seems to be a strategy of power that is flawlessly aligned for the era of augmented reality which is mediated through social media experiences as well as the Internet.

    Their aim however is not to create a literal, sociological treatise but to examine the various facets found in contemporary influence through the use of an extended metaphor. “We want to use the genre tropes of science fiction and horror to map the surreal and baroque dimensions of influence.” ‘Fully Automated Luxury Influencer’ focuses on the parasitic aspects of influencer culture, of a cognitive virus infestation, that distorts and re-creates a new reality in perverse ways. Their approach to this project was influenced by the tradition of pulp films with a political narrative. Specifically they list ‘They Live to Get Out’ a film depicting monstrosity that functions as grotesque commentary on a twisted reality as inspiration.

    ‘Fully Automated Luxury Influencer’ is set in a postcolonial Johannesburg metropolis, embodying the extremes of late capitalism. Decaying slums are towered over with menace by shiny corporate headquarters, threatening over the site like large unwelcome spaceships. Toxic mine dumps frame paranoid suburbs and the noiseless streets are fortified by military grade technology. The film shows however, that the city is also a cultural hub and the home of the latest mutations in style and sound. “With the help of the production network we already have in the city, we will tap into this aesthetic to produce a story of influence running amok.” It is a natural step for Cuss Group to move into influencer culture as their practice has always been deeply rooted in Internet culture and digital technology.

    Made up of three chapters, the film will be presented as a multiple screen installation from the 11th to the 14th October 2017 at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Maboneng. The Cuss film experience will consist of live music, performances and DJ sets transporting sonic and visual narrative into real life. After each screening there will be an after party with musicians who formed a part of the film such as Zamani Xolo and Desire Marea from FAKA.

    Book Now For This Immersive Film Experience

    Credits

    Christopher McMichael – screenwriter

    Ravi Govender – Director/editor

    Jamal Nxedlana– art direction/director

    Lex Trickett – DIT/visual effects

    Zamani Xolo – sound design

    Allison Swank – Producer

    Mandisi Msingaphantsi – art direction

    Kutlwano Makgalemele– cinematographer

    Liezl Durand – sound

    Orli Meiri – make up

    Marchay Linderoth – hair

    Mimi Duma – hair

    Ndivhuwo Mokono – gaffer

    Nomxolisi Masango – camera assistant

    Sibusiso Mazibuko (CamChild) – camera assistant

    Ronewa Nekhambele – spark

    Vusani Mphepo – spark

    Wandisile (Wander) Boo – Production assistant

    Bobby Kamnga – Production Assitant

    Marcia Elizabeth – Art Asst./wardrobe

    Lebo Ramfate – art asst.

    Alex Higgins – drone operator

    actors:

    Amanda – Lisle Collins

    Oliver – Zenzelisphesihle “Sparky” Xulu

    Stakka – Langa Mavuso

    Felix – Jordan Major

    Security Official – Gerard Bester

    Security Official – Patricia Boyer

    Scientist – Haleigh Evans

    Syringe Scientist – Ayanda Nhlapo

    Nguni Security Guard (driver) – Nhlanhla

    Nguni Guard 2 – Cornwell Zulu

    Nguni Gaurd 3 – Thulani Zwane

    Robber – Desire Marea

    Street Vendor – Sparks

    Party extras:

    Themba Mashele

    Siya Myaka

    Barney Modise

  • Recovered Files – Bogosi Sekhukhuni

    Recovered Files is a series where we share throwback footage of creatives and their work. This gives the opportunity to see these creatives at a point in their lives and make connections to how their work has evolved technically and conceptually. As a continuation of a collaboration between Bubblegum Club co-founders Jamal Nxedlana and Lex Trickett, the recovering of footage they thought was lost speaks to themes on the overloading and crashing of technology. This series reflects that through its filtered and glitchy aesthetic.

    In this episode of Recovered Files we feature Bogosi Sekhukhuni and the show he put together for his graduation. Here we see the beginning of his interest in the connection between biology and technology through genetics, as well as his reflections on being a black man in South Africa. With Bogosi having his first solo exhibition titled Simunye Summit 2010 at the Stevenson in Johannesburg on the 2nd of February, this episode offers an opportunity to see him come full circle. His new work critically examines South Africa’s history and the imaginary of the rainbow nation through the creation of a parallel world, cosmic references and playing with temporal realities.

  • Adidas releases a unique multi-media content collaboration featuring local style tribes and digital artists

    The forward-tilting trio of sleek bands, arch and encompass the iconic sneaker. A subtle zig-zag of a perforated edge is punctuated by straight stitching. Its rounded tongue, branded with the trefoil logo, peers out from a series of crisscrossing laces. Parallel to the classic three stripes, an uppercase text articulates this particular form of the Adidas Originals – the Gazelle.

    Born out the 1960’s, the Gazelle has been manifested in various forms. “Gazelle’s history is made from the fabric of re-appropriation; a legacy carried through style tribes from mod scenesters to the reggae crowd, from the brit-pop crew to the 90’s minimalists. At each space in time, it marked a change in creative ownership.” This season will experience a resurgence of the archival ’90s style.

    I am because we are.

    Remember the future.

    A unique multi-media content collaboration featuring local style tribes and digital artists.

    Local artists have been tasked to collectively create a visual remix. Lindiwe Ngubeni and Lulama Wolf alongside Dustin Van Wyk created a nostalgic pastel dream. A pink outline extends the curvature of Lindiwe and Lulama, perched across the page. Faded magazine cut-outs pay homage to the history of the sneaker.

    collage-2-i-instagram-1

    FAKA – the performance pair were partnered with digital artist Aart Verrips. Visually enticing eclectic imagery emerged from these collaboration clusters. Shades of lavender to cobalt form a feint zebra hide, layered over a multiplicity of sneaker side views. Foregrounded by the art duo, FAKA. Donning dark Adidas-branded wear: bucket hats, exposed socks and the iconic Gazelles.

    _mg_0940055011 _mg_0940055036

    Lex Trickett collaborated with image maker Gabrielle Kannemeyer and Clint Sylvester. City-scape apartments pepper an ombré background. Silhouettes are deconstructed into fuchsian sneaker motifs – overlaid by chalky elevation plans. Each image is entirely different. However, cohesion does exist throughout.

    lex-trickett

    The campaign embraces the humanist philosophy that originated in southern Africa: Ubuntu. Often articulated as the essence of humanity – drawing from a notion of connectedness and unity. Individuals operate out of a sense of collectivity rather than isolated individualism. This principle of collaboration is at the crux of the campaign.