south african art

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05 August 2007 by nathaniel

performative digital prints

I went and updated the Compressionism documentation video a bit, and put it up on YouTube. These are performative prints made by strapping on a scanner, computer and battery pack, then traversing the landscape – sometimes printing digitally, other times transforming the images with hand-made / traditional techniques. The video shows some work, and how it was made, from my Call and Response solo show earlier this year; new digital work is now showing at Haydn Shaughnessy, and here are some new prints (both digital and traditional) I just finished producing for Art on Paper Gallery (Johannesburg).

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19 July 2007 by nathaniel

more Compressionist tales


in, and around
lambda print on metallic paper, 380 x 1080 mm (with small white border)

Just finishing up at the Frans Masereel, having completed 5 new digital and 6 new hand-made Compressionist prints (the latter inspired by the former, made by performances with scanners) for Art on Paper Gallery in Johannesburg (their site is finally up, content forthcoming). Check out the prints and some process pics here.

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17 July 2007 by nathaniel

the ‘market’

Not to again mention Winkleman’s appearance on the US telly about the big Warhol sale a few weeks ago, but there are quite a few good reads about the art market on the web as of late. Not gonna list all the ones I’ve seen (one reason being that it’s not really a focus of mine), but I enjoyed quite a few, if for no other reason than their critical eyes on how “the market” effects production, what it means for art now and in the near future. A few:

The Reality of the Collector-Driven Art World (blog post, Ed Winkleman);
Bursting art’s bubble (The Times, South Africa);
The problem with a collector driven market (The Art Newspaper, NYC-based writer);
and shorter, and more outside (and contrary to a few of the points above), Is That a Hirst?, by newcomer Irish gallerist, Haydn Shaughnessy. I thought this last piece also went well with Haydn’s Irish Times article on Digital Art a few weeks ago: Beyond Art and Design.

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12 July 2007 by nathaniel

Frans Masereel Centre residency

stone litho
litho stone in progress, piece will be 1080 x 380 mm

Am on residence at the Frans Masereel Centre in Belgium at the moment, working on a new series that is being printed by printmaker and artist Zhane Warren, and published by Art on Paper Gallery (Johannesburg). It’s an extension of my Compressionist works, and my last solo show at AOP, Call and Response.

Compressionism is a “digital performance and analog archive.” I traverse bodies, spaces and objects with my scanner face, while its head is in motion. After being Compressed into digital images the size of a small sheet of paper, the files are then stretched, cropped and colored by hand, then printed as editioned, archival works. Later pieces in the series further transform details of these prints into hand-made art objects: etchings, engravings, aquatints, planographs, carborundum, monotype and more.

Compressionism is an exploration of media and perception, a transfiguration in time and seeing.

I’ve done some new performative scans since my show with Haydn Shaughnessy (these will be printed on metallic paper through photographic processes), and am amidst working in stone litho, silk screen, wood cut and dry point. We’re playing up the bands of light and color that Brenton Maart remarked on in Art South Africa, a relic of the digital scanning performances, by creating manufactured spaces on our stones and screens. Will post links to images of the finished works in a little over a week!

LINK: the flickr set in progress :)

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11 July 2007 by nathaniel

Opening of The pre-Crapalites at David Krut Projects

belated re-blog about upcoming Top Billing feature:

Robert_Johan.jpg _MG_4704.JPG

Artists, celebrities, fashionistas, various creative types and practically anyone swarmed to The pre-Crapalite opening at David Krut Projects this past weekend. Artists Johan Engels and Robert Whitehead have transformed the space into their own pre-Crapalite universe that includes various flamboyant installations; their combined Tele-Pathetic Conception; Engels’ extraordinary Word of Mouth cover designs; Whitehead’s enigmatic monotypes and range of limited edition prints and art works. The enormous crowd that gathered at David Krut Projects on Saturday appeared to be overwhelmed not only by the art works but also by the theatrical antics that were arranged by the pre-Crapalite duo. Such antics included “Daphne de la Rey” perched on a strawberry-decorated pedestal with an outfit to match at the entrance to the space; opening presentations by both Grethe Fox and The Right Honourable Pamela, The Lady Harlech and custom-made hors d’œuvre designed by the pre-Crapalites themselves.

For those that missed the event or are fascinated by this creative duo, The pre-Crapalites will feature on Top Billing Thursday the 28th of June at 19:30 on SABC 3

Continue reading →

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06 July 2007 by nathaniel

greetings from Belgium

Yo.

Brussels was fun. I saw good art and Zhane Warren and Simon Gush, among others (my new friends Ivan Durt and Jean Hoffman, for example). Currently working my ass off in Kasterlee, at the Frans Masereel Centre, a printmaking residency: Compressionist images as silk screen, litho, wood cut, engraving and dry point…. Pix soon (my camera broke).

Been Kasterlee? The weather is even worse than Dublin, apparently….

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