implicit art

via atjoburg:

Upgrade! Johannesburg is proud to present:

The Art of Sound - James Webb presents his major gallery installations and
radio projects

James Webb is a leading South African sound artist with a growing
international reputation. He will discuss the challenges of his large-scale
sound installations including Prayer (2002); The Black Passage (2006) and
Autohagiography (2007); his collaborative radio projects including A
Compendium of Imaginary Wavelengths (2004) and works in progress such as
Beau Diable (2007).

The Digital Soiree
Friday 16 March 15:00 - 17:00
Convent Seminar Room
University of the Witswatersrand
Johannesburg
All Welcome!

Read the profile of James Webb by Carinne Zaayman on Artthrob.

^{diane victor @ fried contemporary}

Made it to the Roles/Robes opening at Fried in P-town a few nights ago, and it was a strong show - I can’t believe that place has been around for an entire year now, and it is really going strong (huge turn out, for a starving audience of Cont-Art lovers up thar).  Check out my flickr for pix of works by Wilma Cruise, Carinne Zaayman and Diane Victor. Diane’s works (detail pictured) really stole the show - extremely rich and textured, not to mention fragile, drawings she produced using the smoke from lit candles. Not only did these blow me away, but according to her, these were a rush job, and her Goodman exhibition (opening this Saturday) puts these works to shame. Maybe see you there….

^{RC2 by Jose Ferreira}

As covered by Carine Zaayman on Artthrob, the Very Real Time project launched its second phase at the Drill Hall (Point Blank Gallery, downtown Jozi) this past weekend, hosting, "Two panels of selected speakers… chaired by Gregg Smith and … an intervention by Johannesburg based artist, Jose Ferreira."

Ferreira’s RC2 (courtesy of the artist):

This work consists of a series of journeys and a garment. Appearing to be an ordinary overall, it unfolds and translates into various forms, provoking unusual relationships. It is at once a vessel for shelter, a protective unit, and gatherer of ephemera. … The focal point of the work is to extricate new readings of social interactions in this urban context that may have become accepted, habitual and even suspicious. The work is an exploration of urban survival, self-preservation, and a dreaming of possibilities. … My intention is to make a work that embraces the multiplicity of an urban Johannesburg experience.

 

Read and see more.

am down in the mother city again,
i have given up on hassling and flowing and have to sit my ass down.
oh yes before i forget i will become a Joburg later this month, please people bring me a cake and red wine to make me feel welcomed.
so to the dudes in Jozi, whats up?

it seems that heads are heading to cape town this weekend for the sessions ekapa.
will be coming out from my hide out to join the masses this summer and will try to get some pics whilst there.
i don’t know about the Jozi dudes but cape town seems to be getting a lot of slices of the art world of mzantsi.
is cape town the new big thing and are cape town artist now the big deal? Are cape town artists and galleries in?all eyes on ekapa!!

Nice li’l article on p-comp in South Africa by Carine Zaayman in Artthrob this month. Granted, I’m more than biased, since it’s mostly about Ralphy Borland and me, but it’s really cool to see such a staple arts publication making a statement like that. Must read if you have no idea what the title of this post means….

With regards to finding info on p-comp in SA, Ralphy Borland’s site has way more than mine, but I gotta give props to Tom Igoe, and the book he wrote with Dan O’Sullivan for getting started. If in Natal, no need to feel left out — Colleen Alborough has a beautiful p-comp installation up at KZNSA for another few weeks! She used the aforementioned book (with a little help from Borland) to teach herself how to hook up alarm-based motion sensors to her computer , and use them as triggers for projected animations and sonic treats.

And speaking of community, I am still taking guest bloggers on: contact me if you are interested in writing on this site. No restrictions on anything other than image sizes! Oh, and no porn or torrentz (I’m not The Man, please be reasonable)…. Would love to get some SA peops outside of the Gauteng area for a change (tho am still accepting writers IN that area).

w00+

(and the blog me)

Nathaniel arrived in Cape Town on Friday for a week of lectures at Michaelis. We are looking forward to his lectures very much, but its not all work! Yesterday, I took him for the obligatory drive tour of the peninsula.

Images from Nathaniel’s trip in Cape Town:

Nath stares at the Sentinel, and the Sentinel stares back

Nathaniel and the non-aggressive whale, part I

Nathaniel and the non-aggressive whale part II: “I shall call him squidgy and he shall be mine!” (OK, Nath!)’

Thanks Nathaniel, Cape Town is your friend.

OK, so artthrob has been slacking a bit lately, I know; they’ve been late on releases, and this time, are even missing a few of their regular features. And web geeks like me have been giving them a hard time (at least in our heads - and a much harder time than they deserve). But we have to remember that it’s free, it’s great, it was started as a one woman show, and it fosters the arts in ways that other SA institutions should (and often do) bow to.

So, as they try to find ways of working without their talented ex-editor, Sean O’Toole, let’s give them some space for the holiday season. Next year is, well, a new year.

In the meanwhile, read about the standard bank young artists of the year, including the very deserving Wim Botha and PJ Sabbagha (not that the others are not deserving, but moreover that I can’t say so, as I do not know their work).

And of course, we hear loads from Carine Zaayman, but the best is this little number: Five steps to holiday bliss. Its premise is the question, “Can you say that being a ‘new media practitioner’ today is analogous to being single? ” OK, so sometimes it (as in, the analogy) works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but at least it’s really funny, and she gives you some places to surf n’ shop (and I mean web not ocean)….

This month’s artthrob is Mos Def one you will not want to give a miss. Aside from the usual array of tidbits, there’s not a bad overview of new media work at the Kebbles, by Charles Maggs; he does more describing and explaining than critical discussion, but that’s still way ahead of the curve, so I’m pleased.

Then there’s Jay Pather’s Fragments from a remembered diary: my stay in New York City for the ‘Personal Affects’ exhibition, September 2004. Is it just me, or does he get cooler by the day? Jeez, he’s smart.

Finally, Carine Zaayman gives us another few websites to check out, this time straying a bit further into unchartered territory (tho I did admittedly like that time she featured this blog).

Nice.