An archive of my, Ruth and Marc’s networked_performance between Joburg, Derby and London is now online @ http://www.visitorsstudio.org/session.pl?id=38 – pretty cool medium, and I hope to play with it again in public sometime. It was also really great to use so much South African content! Thanks to everyone who sent me, or uploaded, their work.
More info, via The Upgrade! Johannesburg:
TECHNOGRAFFI: Drawing the pixel curtain
In /*technoGraffi* – drawing the pixel curtain/, André SC will show and discuss some of his recent ‘stuff’ involving generative procedures, pseudo neuro-biological theory, ridiculous amounts of pornography, ‘post-digital abstraction’ as well as ‘netVerse’ – the current interactive online project that N. Stern describes as “a noteworthy feat …a cross between fridge magnet poetry, geeky guy gluttony, snot flinging, and surrealist games…”
New media manipulator (read pixel-maniac), André SC a.k.a. Clements completed a BA at the University of Pretoria in ‘95. Since then he has been a designer, corporate consultant, experimental artist, studied some more stuff and lectures in Media Design Technology. He is the web-editor/developer of davidkrutpublishing.com and keeps a personal blog site at pixelplexus.co.za. also see his net.art project, netverse.
links:
http://www.davidkrutpublishing.com
http://www.pixelplexus.co.za
http://netverse.andresc.net
Sorry for the lack of posting lately, everybody. As promised a few weeks ago, things are crazy with the big move, and finishing up all the things I need do here in Joburg. It looks like, however, I may have a couple of takers for my blog, which means Joburg coverage can carry on while I’m overseas. We’ll see if that pans out.
jeremy wafer @ sasol wax (left one highlighted by gerhard marx)
As promised, a bit more on Sasol Wax. A beautifully subtle and personal piece by Jeremy Wafer, which used polished floors, a beehive, prints and polar coordinates to explores his home-places through his lifetime. At left is gerhard marx showing us where Jeremy polished the floors in the shape of the house he grew up in, just in front of a video of a beehive two houses down from his current residence.
diane victor @ sasol wax
Another favorite of the exhibition was Diane Victor’s smoke drawings, and many thought she should have taken the prize – such is life. To me, one of the most important aspects of the show – besides appreciating art and artists in a way only South African mining criminals have before – was its nod to those who have played a role socially, as teachers, mentors, and facilitators, as well as producers. Kim Berman, Andrew Tshabangu, and Kagiso Pat Mautloa were the other finalists, and all certainly fit into that spectrum just as much as Diane and Jeremy.
zhane warren @ art on paper – i fear missing the point
Also worth checking out is Joburger (now living with her husband in Belgium) Zhane Warren’s exhibition at Art on Paper. I’m trading one of my Compressionist works for the above lithograph, actually ;)
Dorothee Kreutzfeldt @ Parking Gallery
Update: oops, almost forgot to metnion Dorothee Kreutzfeldt @ Parking Gallery – both hilarious, and a total m9ndf@ck. I’m writing a short review on that one for Art South Africa magazine, so you’ll have to wait on it a bit…
I worked in this department (at the top University in Africa) as the part-time core lecturer for over 3 years, but it seems timing has worked against me – now that they have a full-time position, I’m about to pursue my own advanced degree in Ireland. I HIGHLY recommend considering this job – even if, rather than looking to settle here, it’s just an adventure in Africa for a couple of years (or if you want some tenure-track, full-time experience). It’s a very small department – three full-time posts – and the interactive MA degree would be yours to control, with about only 10 grad students per year (the undergrad courses are new, so I’m not sure how those would run). Christo, head of the division, is game for all types of experimentation in practice and curricula, and a master at cutting through red tape, alternative methods of presentation, and finding funding and equipment – especially considering this is third world.
I’ve put a pdf of the post ad at http://atjoburg.net/wits-post.pdf – and note that if you know any 3D-ers, there is also a post for them (separate MA degree, in same department) ;)
Contact Christo, email address below, with any q’s (and unofficial ones can come to me, should you want a scoop).
PS note that application deadline is a bit tight – 29 September
WITS UNIVERSITY, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DIGITAL ARTS (FULL-TIME LECTURESHIP)
LECTURESHIP IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA DESIGN
The successful candidate will be a producing artist working in the area of interactive/digital arts.
Qualifications: MA, MFA, MPS, MSc or equivalent qualification. Experienced with at least one interactive development environment and qualified to teach creative web design and at least two of the following: multimedia performance, video art, sound art or net.art.
Duties: Teach both production and theory to postgraduate and undergraduate classes. Supervise postgraduate research projects, collaborative exhibitions and assist with course administration.
For further information contact Professor Christo Doherty, Head of Digital Arts, christo.doherty@wits.ac.za or visit www.wits.ac.za/artworks
Renumeration: This is a tenure track position or can be a short-term (two year) contract. A competitive package with excellent benefits will be offered, dependent on qualifications and experience. Appointment: Incumbents will be required to assume duty in January 2007, or as soon as possible.
To apply: Submit a covering letter and detailed CV with names addresses and e-mail addresses of 3 referees, as well as certified copies of degrees and identity document to:
Molly Orr, Human Resources Manager
Faculty of Humanities, University of the
Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, 2050, South Africa.
Tel: +27 11 717 1411
Email: orrmg@hse.wits.ac.za
Closing Date: 29 September 2006
via atjoburg and Christo Doherty:
I’m wary of rushing to proclaim South African firsts, but the networked art event at Premises on Saturday 2 September certainly felt like an authentically new thing. Digital Artists from South Africa and different parts of Britain were collaborating in real-time to create a networked video art event.
Trinity hosted a live collaborative performance by Nathaniel Stern (on site in Johannesburg), Marc Garrett from Q Arts (in Derby, UK) and Ruth Catlow from HTTP, London. They engaged in thirty minutes of live audio-video performance by uploading, manipulating and collaging images, video clips and sound via the VisitorsStudio database.
According to VisitorsStudio, the idea behind their service is "to encourage audiences new to media arts to get actively involved in the creative process by providing an easy-to-use, experimental production space live online, which was also a playful social space." This definitely happened on Saturday. The small but enthusiastic audience watched the three headline artists interact and then sat down behind the provided laptops to experiment with the network themselves.
Fueled by the sponsored Red Bulls (look closely at the debris on the tables) even participants new to the process quickly got the hang of the VisitorsStudio interface, which is written in Flash 8. The system allows a form of participatory doodling which, at times when real interaction occurs, bursts into moments of visual delight. I hope this is just the first of such networked performancens and intercontinental collaborations through the WWW.
Will have to blog more about this later in the week (probably weekend), as it was such a commendable show of great work by some of SA’s best, and sometimes underappreciated, artists – but that’s for when my time winds down a bit. In the meanwhile, you heard it here first. Without the Kebbles, this is SA’s biggest contemporary art award, and the only one geared towards long-time/mid-career artists, whose contributions to the community in this country matter almost as much as their art. Congratulations Jeremy – you deserve this and so much more.
w00+