Tag: residency

Chris Soal’s First Solo Exhibition – ‘Orbits of Relating’ Opens at NO END Contemporary

“We think we are liberated by individualism, but in reality we’ve given up so much power. People are so caught up in the nuances of their own personal realm that they’ve lost real civic relationships with one another. We’ve lost that collective power.” – Andrea Zittel

Recent PPC Imaginarium winner Chris Soal is back from his residency and presents to Johannesburg art lovers his latest body of work in the form of a solo exhibition. Orbits of Relating is Chris’s first solo exhibition as well as his first participation in a show since graduating with an Honours degree in Fine Art from the University of the Witwatersrand.

‘Climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it’

His journey with NO END Contemporary began early in 2017 when the gallery invited him to be a part of the group show, What’s In It For You. Since this initial opportunity Chris has exhibited in three other group shows by the gallery and was one of their featured artist at the 2017 Turbine Art Fair.

Orbits of Relating has been in stages of development for over a year and a half, the artist shares with me. The show’s artworks which consists in its near entirety of thousands of toothpicks strategically packed to morph into shape, texture and sculptural works were all born from an initial idea that was formulated in a restaurant.

‘To know that one is dreaming is to be no longer perfectly asleep’

“I was sitting at a restaurant with some friends and picked up the toothpick container at the end of the meal, and the pattern in which the toothpicks had arranged themselves, fascinated me and I took a photo.” Albeit his initial fascination by the pattern the toothpicks fell into that day in the restaurant, Chris dismissed toothpicks as a material to create art with. This early dismissal stemmed from the disposable life of a toothpick, usually serving one purpose in our society and thereafter immediately discarded – “…that little voice said, “no one cares about toothpicks.”

Using the group show 2K with NO END, as a platform for early experimentation with the medium he created two small toothpick based works. Impressed by what the medium had to offer, Chris continued creating with toothpicks.

“It’s ironic because my initial intention was to replicate the specific pattern which I saw that day in the restaurant, however I failed. I couldn’t get the toothpicks to sit the way I wanted and in that failure something spectacular emerged.”

The works in the exhibition were created during Chris’ recent residency hosted by the Southern African Foundation For Contemporary Art (SAFFCA) held in Knysna.

‘If only we could suspend disbelief’

Chris’ words to eager art supporters wanting to attend the exhibition is that they should not come with expectations because “If they come expecting grandeur they’ll leave disappointed. My work utilises debris and objects on the margins of our society, and it hinges on the fact that these objects have become invisible to our eyes once they serve their purpose.”

Chris’ work relies on audience engagements, conceptual and methodological cornerstones to his practise. In a world of much superficiality and impersonal interaction he saw an opportunity to create work that was visceral, engaging and acts to affirm his viewer’s presence and existence.

On the topic of the titles for his artworks Chris explains that his aim was to give the abstract or formal work that he creates a relatable nature. He regards his titles as windows and/or entry points into his work. It acts as an opening for his viewer into something more than what the eye can perceive.

‘Awkward moments in a potentially romantic encounter’

Chris’ work which has been called political in nature can be regarded as such as it addresses “polis” derived from politics and meaning citizenry. His work acts as an affirmation to his viewers that they exist and have value. This is communicated through the use of materials and titles in particular, that they exist in relation to others. Chris explains this as being a part of a complex system of aesthetic producers and consumers.

Aesthetic and political value for the works are derived from Chris’ deliberate use of capitalism driven debris. The point of relation that is encouraged with his work exists between his viewers and themselves to the work of art, and through material transcendence that goes beyond its singular shape. “These are simply inroads for further critical contemplation, not a message which can be written down in literary form…”.

Orbits of Relating will be on display at NO END Contemporary from 24 May – 23 June 2018.

Have a look at the Facebook event for more info.

‘The Viscosity of Light’

23 May 2018
1.1 – create platforms over galleries

A few days ago American art critic and recent-Pulitzer Prize Winner Jerry Saltz published an article criticising the current art fair structure, the domination of mega-galleries, and highlighting the necessity for emerging, more “edgy” galleries. (So basically everything wrong with the art world). It’s good to know that these issues are being addressed on that level, but this isn’t a new critique. Having now introduced this debate, I’m not going to launch into a lengthy criticism ending with a passionate plea for change, but rather look at but one example of an arts platform doing things a little differently.

1.1 not only occupies a dynamic and category-evading space within the art world, but its inception was unconventional as well. Starting out of Deborah Joyce Holman’s studio, 1.1 began as an exhibition by Roberto Ronzani in October 2015. When asked about what inspired its conception, Deborah stated, “In the beginning, we were very interested in offering the space for very young artists, who in some way or another seemed to work with Social Media, or who we came across through Instagram, and who don’t necessarily situate themselves in the context of contemporary art, for example: a residency we did with Soto. Gang, a tattoo artist, or the Launch of three new Zines published by Popup Press. We always also put a strong emphasis on the space’s fluidity. It is important to define ourselves through the activities rather than formulating a very restrictive concept.”

‘Trust’ (2018) by Gala Vincensini, installation view. Photography by Gina Folly

1.1 is different from a typical gallery structure as all their funding comes through grants and public institutions. This flexibility according to Deborah is counted as one of the space’s strengths, “as with 1.1 not depending on the art market and funding through sales, we have more liberty in our choice of artists, and in the media we show.” The idea that 1.1 functions more as a platform helps “to distance ourselves from the idea that all our activities happen in the exhibition space in Basel. The exhibitions are one very present part of our output, but it is not the only one. We also engage in the field of music, and organise concerts and other events in collaboration with venues across Switzerland and a few throughout Europe.”

As a platform, 1.1 places an emphasis on engaging young people in the arts, making it accessible to a broad public who may not have much knowledge of the arts. Deborah claims, “This can be very challenging, as it forces us to really look at how and where we promote events, shows, and where we aim for visibility of the space as itself. We use Instagram very heavily, as a sort of alternative exhibition space. This means, prior to exhibitions, the artists are free to use them as a residency, and it obviously allows to reach a whole other audience than those that are based in Basel and surroundings.” Funding is always another challenge that requires year by year evaluation.

‘Baby Bar’ by Claire van Lubeek, installation view. Photography by James Bantone

As a platform with a passion for engaging new voices, Deborah and Tuula Rasmussen (who joined 1.1 recently) are always looking out for emerging artists with it being “a very intuitive process. It’s about keeping our eyes open, on Instagram and in more traditional ways, like through blogs, openings, our surroundings, etc. It has also happened a couple times that we were sent a portfolio or a recommendation and everything worked out to offer them a platform to show.”

It’s exciting that new art spaces are (seemingly) always opening up, but unfortunately it’s the case that while they begin as a challenge to existing institutions, inevitably they become institutions themselves. And so it was encouraging to hear from Deborah, as we ended off our email interview correspondence, that, “1.1 is in steady movement, and always changing, so we’re continuously re-evaluating everything and hoping to constantly adjust our values to the needs and demands of the artists, musicians and the public.”

‘Money Cyant Fool Them Again’ (2017) by Ashley Holmes, installation view. Photography by James Bantone

8 May 2018
Artist Florine Demosthene on the Black Heroine

“Would you be willing to suspend all your preconceived notions of what a heroine is supposed to be?”

This question was directed at Nigerian writer Ayodeji Rotinwa by artist Florine Demosthene. The Haitian-American artist is exhibiting her new show titled “The Stories I Tell Myself” at Gallery 1957 in Accra. This exhibition is comprised of work created during her four month residency with the gallery.

Demosthene’s painted and collaged black heroine projects a strong yet calming presence, possessing contemplative poses with a divine gaze. She appears to be floating, while still enjoying a full form.

Florine Demosthene, ‘Untitled Wound #1’, 2018

Demosthene points to the fact the black heroine is nothing new. Heroines with mythological characteristics, goddesses, all-women armies and warriors have occupied real life and the imaginaries of cultures throughout past and present history. Demosthene’s work simply channels the spirit and energy of women past, present and future who have the ability to protect, bring life and divine the future. Her work speaks to the necessity of presenting narratives of black heroines as valuable, valid and true in and of themselves, detached from the visual and discursive constructions that relate them to men and whiteness.

This gesture present in the execution of her concept is powerful in that it encourages viewers to question who they are when prejudices and outside projections absorbed by their skin and methods of identity construction are removed. Demosthene’s heroine suggests that perfection is not heroic, and that the necessity of removal and breaking down for a more self appreciating and celebratory being is a kind of power too.

Florine Demosthene, ‘Untitled Wound #2’, 2018

11 April 2018
ANY BODY ZINE // writings on dance, movement and embodied politics

“I think it’s high time we start to address that dance, movement and embodied politics all form part of re-imagining and re-defining where, how and why bodies can occupy space.”

This quote is from an interview with co-founder of ANY BODY ZINE (ABZ), Nicola van Straaten. She, along with Kopano Maroga and Julia de Rosenwerth, started the online and print publication with the desire to bring more cultural and social attention to artistic work that is rooted in the body, “but also a desire to expand ideas around what kind of bodies are dancing bodies.” The intention is to emphasize that every body is a potential site for “creative self-actualization” and “open understandings of dance”.

Having met during their time at the then UCT School of Dance, Nicola proposed the idea of the publication to Kopano and Julia. Since then they have released 10 issues, all dealing with varied aspects of dance, choreography, movement, and bodies through written contributions and interviews with people from different aspects of their industry. Every issue has a central theme that offers guidance to contributors, and a direction for the curation of each issue. Kopnano explains that the themes are based on their interests at different moments, making each issue a reflection a way of thinking at a particular moment in time. Volume 2, comprised of four issues so far, is focused on verbs that relate to dance and movement – Marching, Falling, Jumping and Hanging. Nicola explains that they chose verbs because they were interested in the intersection between language and movement, action and motion.

Previous issues from Volume 1 have included conversations about semantics, emotions, body politics and taboo subjects, offering a wide variety of entry points for conversations. The issue titled “Space/Place” tackles the semantic and political differences invoked in the use of “space” versus “place”, and connects to the act of curation and place making. The issue, “Rhythm” looks at sound and music makers within their community, and includes features on the Phillipi Music Project, a computer engineered rhythm making program by Mohato Lekena and performer and musician Coila-Leah Enderstein who features a lot in their issues, and who Kopano describes as a “kind of ad hoc, fourth member of ABZ”. The issue, “Sex”, arose from an interest in interrogating perceptions of the naked body in performance, specifically how it is always read through sexual references even when the intention of a performance has nothing to do with this. Other issues have explored topics such as race, colour, subjectivity, objectivity, the personal and the political.

“There are so few opportunities for people to share their creative work that isn’t easily consumable or sellable, which I think is why folks are always really keen to contribute,” Kopano explains while reflecting on how they ask people in their community to contribute to the publication. The publication is also a platform to bolster the profile of practitioners who are a large part of the growth and development of dance and movement and related practices in Southern Africa. They have conducted interviews with dancer and choreographer Rudi Smit, strange and intellectual performance artist Gavin Krastin and filmmaker Jenna Bass just to mention a few.

Julia, Kopano and Nicola each contribute in different and important ways to the project. “Julia’s incredible choreographic eye for detail (and the fact that she basically taught herself web design) make her the boss of the website. Kopano’s amazing relational qualities and ability to hold spaces have resulted in him doing a lot of the liasioning with our contributors, stockists and general public, lately he’s also been directing the kind of ‘business’ development of the zine. And my passion for books and print mean I head up the layout and printing aspect of the work. We all edit together, make decisions together, essentially ‘lead’ the project together,” Nicola explains.

Connected to the online and print publication is the third wing of ABZ, the performative platforms. ANY BODY ZINE has collaborated with NEW DANCE LAB, to create the ANY BODY DANCE LAB – a 6 week dance and performance residency for Cape Town-based artists. Teaming up with Theatre Arts Admin Collective and the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, the residency comprises of a series of dance, composition, writing and performance workshops that culminate in a series of public performances by the 10 participants on the residency. The content from the writing workshops will be compiled to form a publication produced by ANY BODY ZINE. “We wanted to include a writing component to the ANY BODY DANCE LAB and thought that it would be very special if we curated a publication to contextualise and archive the project, but that also provides a platform for the residents to publish some of their work. As ANY BODY ZINE, we are also interested in the processes of content creation and saw this as a good opportunity to explore that question further,” Julia explains. What connects all three aspects of their work is the desire to make space for and to support independent artists.

Julia also informed me that after a fantastic Thundafund Campaign [Thundafund is a crowdfunding platform in South Africa], they were able to print their 2016 and 2017 content which will be available at the Book Lounge in Cape Town on Roeland street and Bibliophilia in Woodstock. ANY BODY ZINE will also be available for purchase at the Association for Visual Arts (35 Church street, Cape Town) during their Comics Focus zine and comics festival taking place from the 21st of June to the 19th of July.

Reflecting on their intentions for the publication, Nicola expressed that they hope it will allow people to think about their bodies differently and perhaps see dance as a more accessible medium. The publication presents itself as an archive of South African performance and movement practices, showcasing an image of the contemporary history of dance and beginning the documentation of SA’s dance lineage. The platform also offers validation for those already deeply involved in the industry and the possibility for opportunities for emerging artists.

Check out their website to find out more about their upcoming projects.

“In our current neoliberal context, dance really doesn’t get as much support as fine art or even film, because it isn’t necessarily a ‘sellable’ product. But that’s also why it’s such a powerful tool, because dance is an experience and has the potential to be internally transformative in that way.” – Nicola van Straaten

2016’s Vol 1 content (Photo by Nicola van Straaten)

9 April 2018
Multimedia artist Ruth Angel Edwards on tracing and revealing the “sub” in culture.

Ruth Angel Edwards is a multimedia artist whose work explores the communication of ideology through pop culture, drawing from mainstream and subcultural youth movements both past and present. Within these, she looks at the ways audio and visual content are used to manipulate an audience and to disseminate information. This is especially apparent in her exhibition High Life/Petrification shown at the À CÔTÉ DU 69, which marked the end of her residency in Los Angeles, CA. In this exhibition, social detritus collected from the location reveals a mythologised Venice Beach as a “ritual site of pilgrimage, a space where diverse subcultural histories continue to make it a mecca for fans of alternative histories as well as touristic voyeurs.”

Feminism, gender, collectivity and commodification are recurring themes. In particular, this brings to mind Edwards’ exhibition Enema Salvatore, held in Turin at the end of another art residency, showing new work at the Almanac Inn. The work questions the binary structures of western culture, the duality of good and bad. A cycle of ingestion, consumption, digestion, purification – and then finally – release, all explored through and within her own female body, whilst drawing external parallels to the “wellness/feel good” food industry. Hedonism, spectacle and rebellion are deconstructed and re-formed to create communicative and insightful immersive works.

Edwards has been expanding on these themes in her most recent exhibition Wheel of the Year! EFFLUENT PROFUNDAL ZONE! commissioned by the Bonington Gallery as the first exhibition of 2018. An immersive installation invited the viewer to consider the inescapable cycles of waste and decay, a by-product of all our consumption, personal or material. Drawing clever parallels between overlapping ecologies – “from the futile pursuit of personal purification and ‘clean living’ to the increasingly rapid turnover of cultural content in the media and popular consciousness, to the wider perspective of the waste which is polluting our oceans, and threatening our very existence”– Edward’s makes the observation that the only difference is that of differing scale, and utilises art’s ability to evoke empathy and re-orient our often very narrow-minded subjectivities.

Using video, audio, sculpture, performance and printed media, subcultures and social debris are historicised, tracing their trajectories and examining the wider socio-economic environments which give rise to them. Edwards traces the complex symbiotic relationship between the underground and the mainstream, while exposing their failures and flaws as well as any under-celebrated histories and latent positive potential. Edwards continues to explore personal cycles of consumption and waste, natural functions that are transformed and inescapably politicised as they connect with global capitalist economies.

Ruth Angel Edwards studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins and currently lives and works in London. Her work has been exhibited in the UK and internationally at Arcadia Missa Auto Italia South East, Tate Modern (London), FACT, Royal Standard (Liverpool), Human Resources, (Los Angeles) and MEYOHAS Gallery, (New York).

Be sure to check out her website to see more of her work.

1 March 2018
Naye Ayla wants her music to articulate your emotions

“‘Dude, this is what you want to do with your life, you need to get the ball rolling!’ and literally within a month I recorded and released my first song” explains Naye Ayla of her decision to focus on music at the age of 18, although the Joburg based singer and songwriter has always been attracted to music and performance. “Since before primary school I used to sing in church, I’d go with my grandmother and I’d always be the lead singer in the children’s choir.”

Although she has fond memories of her mother playing the likes of Sade, there was never a strong musical influence in her life. “The music thing was something that was my own”. Writing her first song in Grade 1, it developed into a favourite creative outlet of hers. “Writing’s just always been my thing. Writing poems, writing short stories, writing plays, things like that.“

Having released two EPs thus far, the most recent being Exi(s)t which featured YoungstaCPT as well as her Culture Cartel band mate, Una Rams, she is currently working on her follow up EP, although a single in collaboration with Langa Mavuso and Una Rams is to be released soon. “The cool thing about the song is that it has all three of our vibes. That’s another thing I want to do in music, I don’t want to become a different person, because I’m doing another person’s vibe. But we can create a song that gives people three different feelings, that puts people in three different spaces and to me that was the most exciting part.”

In comparison to Exi(s)t she feels her upcoming release is a lot lighter. “I feel like my transition into music made me go through a lot of things in my own mind that made me see things in a darker perspective, not like emo, just very honest and very raw. Now I’m in a lighter place, I’m in a more celebratory place and even the introspection isn’t very dark. So I think it’s a lot more relatable and it’s a bit more fun.”

Apart from the upcoming EP, Naye’s current projects include a video for last year’s single ‘Waves’ and a residency at Hard Rock Cafe Sandton starting in mid-March, and a performance at the We Are One festival, something she wants to do more of. “I want to be on world stages, like festivals. I really enjoy the festival feel. Oppikoppi, Rocking the Daisies, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Red Bull Stages, that kind of vibe. I really like things that make you share spaces with artists that are completely different from you.”

When it comes to her music, Naye Ayla hopes that she can connect with her listeners and help them articulate things they otherwise couldn’t. “I’ve always said that people don’t have to understand what I’m saying but if it evokes some kind of feeling, that’s all I want. I wanna speak for people who don’t know how to put their thoughts together. I’ve listened to so much music where I’m just like ‘aw that’s exactly what I wanted to say that’s what I’ve been trying to say my whole life’ and I couldn’t get it together and someone else did. I want to be able to do that, even if it’s just one person. Then my job is done.”

15 February 2018
South Africa, What’s Up? Residency at ANTiGEL Festival

Over the last 8 years ANTiGEL Festival has grown to become one of the largest cultural events in Geneva. By bringing artistic experience to parts of the city that are detached from this kind of engagement, the festival aims to be a reminder of the importance of making spaces for arts and culture. Africa What’s Up is a residency that falls within the festival. Artists from South Africa and Egypt have been invited to put together an evening dedicated to cultural music and cultural production on their countries.

Photography by Chris Saunders

Throughout the week-long residency, South African and Egyptian artist have been interacting with cultural producers from Mali, Nigeria and Switzerland. It has also provided a moment of pause and refection. In addition to the time spent networking and teasing out performance plans, artists have been able to engage with one another and the residency organisers in daily roundtable discussions. This expands the purpose of the residency to that of a space for conversations that directly affect artists. These include conversations around womxn’s access to performance time and how this is connected to networks, resources and development. Discussions also included the larger question of access for artists in general with regards to visa applications and funding to sustain their practices.

Photography by Viviane Sassen

Even though the residency has a focus on music, it also embraces the importance of cross-disciplinary pollination. This can be seen by the performance element.

South Africa’s CUSS Group and the Swiss cultural organisation Shap Shap co-curated the South Africa What’s Up lineup, which includes performances by FAKA, DJ Prie Nkosazana, Dirty Paraffin and DJ Lag. Choreographer Manthe Ribane and Swiss electro-soul duo Kami Awori will be presenting their collaborative effort. Having met in Johannesburg, they have combined music, choreography and a visual display to present a full sensory experience.

Photography by Kent Andreasen

What is particularly important about the residency is how it encourages cross-disciplinary pollination and has opened up discussion around what it necessary to facilitate easier access to gigs and spaces for African artists. It has also provided a space to draw out how these kinds of conversations need to be translated into pragmatic steps for action.

Photography by Chris Saunders

9 February 2018
OneBeat – Heard Around the World

South African musicians are enjoying more hard-earned international exposure than ever. After getting an email from Drake’s camp, DJ Black Coffee was featured on the superstar’s More Life project. A Twitter DM, brought Petite Noir’s magisterial voice to Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition. But the actual grind of getting passports, tickets and winning fans through touring is made harder by fluctuating exchanges rates and sheer physical distance.

For the last seven years, the OneBeat fellowship has been offering some redress by bringing talented young musicians, from around the world, to the U.S for residency and performance. Organised by the U.S State Department in collaboration with the Found Sound Nation Collective, it offers emerging professional musicians a period to produce original music and to plan projects in their home countries. This is followed by a national tour, with public performances from small jazz clubs to huge street festivals.

Jeremy Thal, one of the founders, explained the vision behind it as one of communication: ” one of our earliest slogans was ‘ musical collaboration across the world and across the block’. Often the most difficult cultural barriers are not dividing people in Chicago from folks in the Congo, but dividing folks in Chicago and the Congo from their neighbors. Collaborative music-making, when approached with the right spirit, can serve to bridge these divides”. For him, “music is a very visceral and quick way to communicate. And the key elements to bridging these cultural gaps is participation and co-creation”. And so, the fellowship encourages participants to continue engagement in their home countries, with one of the alumni bands performing at next month’s Cape Town Jazz Festival.

The fellowship is open to musicians, aged 19-35, in any genre. Previous years have promoted a rich variety of homegrown talent. An early recipient was Mpumelelo Mcata, the fiercely innovative guitarist of BLK JKS, followed by violinist Kyla-Rose Smith, bassist Benjamin Jephta and folk singer Bongeziwe Mabandla. Most recently, it hosted unique voices Nonku Phiri and Mandla Mlageni.

The applications for this year are open until the 9th of February, 5 PM (Eastern Standard Time, USA). Successful candidates will start with a three week residency at the Atlantic Centre for the Arts, followed by a tour of New York, Baltimore, Charleston SC and Washington DC. More information and applications can be found at 1beat.org.

7 February 2018
Denise Bertschi // State Fiction and the Fallacy of Neutrality
Stacks of time-stained pages – riffled and rummaged through. Transactions marked only by an undiscovered paper trail. Complicit in ink. Characters emerge from oblique connections, layered in relations as narratives spill forth as the archive bears its secrets.

Denise Bertschi engages with a research-centric art practice. Often her extensive research process is initially sparked by a specific geographical location as well as the role of ‘neutral’ Switzerland in other countries. The concept of neutrality seems to still be enshrined as part of Swiss identity – it is often perceived as being impartial and without position. However, there is a deeply political underlying positionality within neutrality.

In her project, State Fiction, Denise explores and investigates the influence of Switzerland and how aspects of neutrality manifest in reality. “This neutral position is like a fictional thought, I’m interested in that discrepancy”. Through her work she has witnessed how often time neutrality acts as an agent and an active force, sometimes working covertly. Bertschi probes these dynamic relationships – tracing political situations through historical research.

Integral to her practice is the presence of the archive. In the traditional sense, the archive is a collection of artifacts and documents that an individual deemed important enough to preserve. However, Bertschi approaches this system more widely, including less formal research elements. On this residency she has worked with both the National Archives of South Africa in Pretoria and the National Library in Cape Town. State Fiction hones in on Switzerland’s involvement in South Africa during the Apartheid Era. The State did not participate in the global sanctions against South Africa. Nevertheless Swiss banks were very active at the time and protected by the government – many of which put loans into government institutions like Eskom to support the Apartheid state.

“There is a long tradition of Switzerland buying Johannesburg gold.” Part of expanding the archive has included engaging with space on a physical level like wandering through the city’s CBD. “I was interested in where these offices were, the physical presence for example of UBS, the Union Bank of Switzerland.” She traced the historical addresses, looking to see how they exist in the contemporary moment. “Most of them were in the mining district in town. The office of one of the first UBS agents is now a multi-storey parking lot of Anglo American.” Another building where another former agent of the gold trade was located, the ‚Precious Metals Development LTD‘ is now, “completely hijacked. I just look at this architecture which becomes the pretext to tell my story.” These buildings become a scaffolding for the semi-visible narratives and transactions that took place.

As Bertschi sifted through archival material, it became apparent that often these political relationships were constructed under the hand of one man or agent of a bank. “And all of a sudden when I’m in the archive, the story becomes very lively and quite personal. I like to break these big topics down to a person and see, who was this man – where did he live?” Working with characters – a narrative comes to life. Often working under the guise of diplomacy, these agents take on the role of mediators. Their complex stories are gradually illuminated though letters, documents and other correspondent – illustrative of how one person’s agenda can affect policy.

Bertschi believes that, “when you have a broad and experimental approach to the archive then things will appear to you in the right time.” Through her research she has unearthed various narratives and truths. “I have this information now and maybe people haven’t looked at this for years.” As an investigative art-practitioner she also interrogates her own position and power as a custodian of information. “What is my responsibility with this now?” Misconceptions around history and historical narratives is that there never is just one singular overarching story. “It’s not one clear story, it’s many minor stories.”

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
- Desmond Tutu
27 December 2017
Georg Gatsas – Exploring Cities Through Portraiture

The work of Swiss photographer Georg Gatsas has been published by magazines such as Wire, Dazed, i-D and Beat. Georg has been operating between London and Zurich for the past couple of years. He recently spent some time in Johannesburg as part of an artist residency organized by Pro Helvetia. I caught up with him to find out about his work and his time in SA.

Georg shot his first series called “The Process” (2002-2007) in New York which ended up in several exhibitions, magazines and publications. Currently, he mainly works as an analogue photographer. Shooting on film has allowed him to develop a particular attitude towards the shots he takes. Thinking about the cost of film rolls and that each closing of the shutter has a feeling of finality to it, Georg tries to focus and capture the right moment, taking less shots than he would with a digital camera. And often he finds it easier to carry around an analogue camera. In mentioning his creative process, Georg emphasized how he enjoys working organically and tries not to force any part of his work.

Tube Station

Georg’s first series were mainly portraits of musicians, visual artists, performance artists and designers which he shot at night. The people he was shooting were living mostly parallel to mainstream society; they had created their own hub. Through taking their portraits he got into their sleeping rhythms and started shooting nighttime streetscapes and the environment of the people in his portraits. The combination of these pictures became a portrayal of New York City and particular kinds of people who lived there. While residing in London for an exhibition in 2008, he started shooting the UK base music scene, which over an eight-year period has developed into a series called “Signal The Future”.”The portraits as part of the series become a portrayal of a certain environment, but also of the times we live in.” Georg explained that his work can be looked at in different ways, bringing to the fore questions on global sound, migration politics, cultural production in a hyper-capitalist city such as London, new aesthetics, new instruments of the underground, and how the mainstream reacts to it.

Having only spent time in Europe and the States before, he was initially quite thrown by the different rhythms and ways of being in Johannesburg. But soon his desire to learn about the flow of the city became stronger. His photographs from SA will follow a similar creative starting point to his previous work – capturing artists best representing their city. He has been photographing some of South Africa’s most interesting producers, musicians, artists and performers of 2016, including Fela Gucci, Mante Ribane and Dear Ribane, DJ Lag, DJ Doowap and Moonchild Sanelly. In his comment on how he selected people to photograph he explained that “it has to be a fan boy thing. So I am first of all a fan [of their work].” He explained that his choices were based on people doing important work, but work that was not quite defined yet. “I don’t like defined stuff. I like surprises…I like when people try out new things, things that move forward.”The photographs from Georg’s Johannesburg series will also be linked and combined with the images from his previous series as some of the artists in all these series know each other personally, are communicating and collaborating with each other.

Manthe Ribane

Georg’s experiences in Johannesburg and the people he has met have influenced the way in which he thinks about his work. “I have learned a lot politically, work wise, rhythmically. And a lot on the history of photography coming out of Africa and South Africa which is heavy, complex and difficult.”

Georg will be back in April for the second part of his residency. His first solo museum exhibition will take place at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland in November 2017, and parts of it will hopefully lead into partnership exhibitions in London and Johannesburg.

DancerII

Sky H1

Bill Kouligas

2 January 2017
Naadira Patel: Imagining Invisible Cities

“Traveling, you realize that differences are lost: each city takes to resembling all cities, places exchange their form, order, distances, a shapeless dust cloud invades the continents” – Italo Calvino

Subtle grey lines form an urban landscape, bending to the contours of buildings. Collective pockets of rectangular forms build silhouettes of the cityscape, steeped in personal memory of both the familiar and the strange. Tehran and Johannesburg are artfully articulated through subjective experience, made manifest on paper pages.

Multi-disciplinary Johannesburg based artist, Naadira Patel, recently returned from a collaborative residency and exchange between the Bag Factory and their partnering institute, Kooshk Residency. The dual month-long exchange programme allowed for an immersive experience and exploration of the two geographically located spaces – separated by 10 828,6 km the cities are in many ways, worlds apart.

Tehran boasts a population of 16 million people, and where Johannesburg is relatively flat and sprawling, this city is filled with high-rise apartments. Patel navigated architectural landscapes, punctuated by fortuitous friendships made in cafés, neon highways, amusement parks and a resident cat called Gonbad – “dome” in Persian. She was intrigued by the “ways in which people operate in space, according to or against certain rules and frameworks, a constant negotiation of forms of control.”

For the first part of the residency, Patel was based between Newtown and Fordsburg at the Bag Factory. These two suburbs of Johannesburg are separated by an iconic overpass. Located in the familiar space, already imbued with personal history and memory, “I began looking at the city afresh, and I wanted to create something that would reflect that sense of understanding of place, but that also becomes a translation of how I understand the city.”

During the first part of the residency she created Daydream – a book of architectural experiences expressing the conflicting narratives of the City of Gold. A place often associated with hope and prosperity, juxtaposed with a reality of realized struggle. “[Johannesburg] is a hard city, a rollercoaster city, one that tests you and knocks you around, it makes you work, and despite its sometimes cold and concrete embrace, it leaves you wanting more, it asks you to dream and imagine more.”

Her time in Tehran was spent maneuvering through far less familiar terrain. “Tehran is a city of ambiguities and contradictions, it never quite gives you an answer, it never lets you in on the secret.” The lack of aesthetic cohesion between marketplaces, mosques and LED billboards is implicit of a transitionary space in the midst of transformation of discord.

The twin project Tehran, Jaan! is a manifestation of the enveloping experience. ‘Jaan’ is a very common term of endearment but also roughly translates to “the essence of being alive.” The project is an “interpretation of curious elements in architectural design, engineering, and patterns that decorate the many surfaces of the city’s important buildings.” Artistic intervention took the form of two ‘colouring books’ – influenced by a childhood experience. This allowed for the works to operate on a participatory platform. During the respective public programming in the two cities, local audiences were encouraged to intervene and collaborate on the pages. “The conversations that I’ve had with people at both open studio events have been crucial to my understanding of the project.” Strangers were able to share in the communal experience – drawing on their own memories.

“For me, the two interactions were also a testing ground, to see how people would respond to these translations of the city they live in. The drawings in the books are my translations of the city, extractions even. They operate, in my mind, as a record of an experience of space and time.”

15 August 2016
Watch Fight Master, the surreal video from Agord Lean’s collaborative EP “WU”

Agord Lean spent Feburary recording his upcoming EP in the Bubblegum Club project space at Workshop Newtown. He describes the residency as, “strenuous but fruitful” and provides insight into the creative process, emphasising the importance of, “making work and cultivating your own voice”. And realising the incredible scope of creative expression while embracing the changes that come from creating and collaborating.

From an exhibition of zines and paintings, Lean has taken a creative journey through his residency in the space. Through collaboration with other creatives and a mindful, open attitude to art marking an EP, WU, has been produced. Fight Master is the first taste from WU and it is a glimpse into Lean’s esoteric and ethereal soundscape, reflecting space and time of this age and beyond.

WU will be available online this month, it features production from Uncle Party Time, with some creative luminaries on the mic including Dokta Sypzee, Boogy and KillSmith. Lean was kind enough to let me jump on as well; my debut as a recording artist.

Cava the tracklist below, WU drops later this month.

1- Intro,in time (Ft Boogy x Viva)

2- Iyanishiya Ft Dokta Spyzee x KillSmith

3- Find me

4- Illumination prod Uncle Party time

5- Interlude

6- Fight Master

7- Outro

7 March 2016