south african art | implicit art

failed Compressionist imagery

scanning the water lilies at Emmarentia in Johannesburg; ah, Monet!’ (photo by Colleen Alborough)

I did some outdoor scanning tests for my Compressionism project today, which failed pretty miserably. I considered the last tests and scans to be hugely successful, but this one was going to be a huge step – I was using a new scanner, powered through the USB port, so that I could be freed from power cords, and run through Joburg with the laptop/scanner combo as my fanfab appendage. I was thinking some barbed wire and fences for a bit of the ole’ Joburg Boogie Woogie, and maybe Lilies @ Daytime (one attempt pictured) for a bit more of an obvious reference (etc). But alas, I had no idea how lucky I was with Jackson (the original scanner I used for the first Compressionist works). The new CanoScan I was so excited about was waaaay too sensitive – even after recalibrating several times, and testing in various settings, I could never get it to "see" any images more than 1/2 a centimeter from its surface; everything came out almost completely white. This will not do for Compressionism!

Next steps? Well, Colleen Alborough (who took the above photo) recommended looking into a generator, so that I could use Jackson (the old scanner) anywhere I please. Great idea, but it also feels like a bit of a hassle to lug around (not to mention monetary constraints); it turns out, however, that Jackson only needs 1.25 Amps and 12 Volts of power – so 10 hi-amp AA’s in series should do the trick; or even some other combination of batteries in serial and parallel (whatever works out cheapest, and is, hopefully, rechargeable). *Non geeks: if we put batteries in serial, we add their voltage together for the new power we get out of them; if we put them in parallel, we can add the current (amplitude) together.* Or maybe I can find one rechargeable that’ll do the trick, even… Then, I’d just need the right adapter head to plug into Jackson, and Voila! I’m guessing that the cats over at Communica will help me out with this, even if their web site sucks and I can’t find a current phone number for them anywhere. You think they are open this time of year? Ooooh, and after I get this working, it may be time to develop a Compressionist suit, for housing the laptop and scanner more easily… Yeh, that’s hot (this was Catherine D’Ignazio’s idea – from the very cool Art Interactive gallery, in Cambridge).

PS – was having some issues with the "email to friend" function for the last few days, as I updated my blog’s linking structure. It should be working fine now.

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19 December 2005 by kaganof

c.j.

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16 December 2005 by nathaniel

gallery hopping, SA

Happy Day of Reconciliation everyone!

Had a very nice dinner with Colleen Alborough, Matthew Townshend, Richard Kilpert and his sister (whose name I forget), and The Best Person Ever (Nicole Ridgway) last night. I passed out at around 9 on Coll’s couch (can you believe I’m still jet-lagged, plus slightly ill?), but not after her delici (pronounced “delish,” as in delicious) dessert…

Anyhow, she and I also hit a few art spots the other day, and I thought I’d mention.

abrie fourie, end of the world at the Johannesburg Art Gallery
At the fore of this image is one of Abrie’s unmarked light-boxes that I will, for now, call untitled (crushed chairs), and the back displays 2/3rds of a triptych entitled yellow

First, we swung by the Johannesburg Art Gallery, specifically, to see Abrie Fourie’s end of the world. Actually, I helped Abrie set up an incarnation of this exhibition at The Museum for African Art in New York in July 2004, and it was nice to see what had changed. Both of the works pictured above are new: at the fore is one of Abrie’s unmarked light-boxes that I will, for now, call untitled (crushed chairs), and the back displays 2/3rds of a triptych entitled yellow. He had also turned several of his framed broken chair snaps into floor-placed light boxes, making pristine plastic and lights a big feature of the show. The king of making onlookers stare at banal images in wonder, Abrie carries on in his tradition of broken beauties and light emptiness. Also different from the NYC show, he removed his videos and net.art piece, to be replaced with small, framed prints from the two. This was probably because of the JAG’s space downtown being renowned for losing, or not taking care of, equipment; in fact, only 6 of the 20 or so light-boxes in his floor installation were still functional….

Also at the JAG was a show of black and white photographs from the permanent collection (we didn’t spend much time here; the newly painted walls were giving me a headache and the rigid structure of the way the exhibition was hung made me slightly claustrophobic), and Pitso Chinzima’s 32 dimensions. I had heard nothing about the latter show until my arrival, but it was a very nice demonstration of some interesting, sculptural-like wall-hangings that the JAG has purchased in recent years. Hat tip to Pitso for his selection of works.

Next up, we hit The Premises, for Disposables – a book by Brett Morris with an exhibition of limited edition prints. Here, the artist gave out disposable cameras to various people who “live on the fringe of privileged society,” and paid them for using up, then returning, the roll of film inside. Some very moving work, and Morris continues to give back to the contributors whenever books or images are sold.

Finally, we hit the David Krut exhibition – not at his space, but of prints made in his workshop – a final bow from Lara Rivera before franchise dies. But don’t worry, it will be reborn as the new art on paper (it looks like they are also about to make a web site at the linked address…), moving from their Melville spot, with, ostensibly, some changes to their schedule. “Included [in this final show] are: Colbert Mashile, Deborah Bell, Claudette Schreuders, Bonita Alice, Jeremy Wafer, Sandile Zulu, William Kentridge, Wim Botha and more….” – with special mention from me of rising star Trasi Henen. Mostly, a showing of important SA artists in the vein of “who’s who,” but with a few works that do indeed catch the eye. Still, you’ll have to take my word for it, cuz the show is down and franchise/art on paper is closed for the upcoming renovation.

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11 December 2005 by nathaniel

the daily show and the new artthrob

Still jet-lagged, and slightly sick now (again?), I woke up at four this morning and began reading The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, a little thank you gift from Simon Gush and Bronwyn Lace, for opening up my (parent’s) home to them, on Staten Island. The Daily Show, “the fake news that delivers the truth,” has become the most powerful and influential satire in the history of the US, and has over a million viewers each night (screened Monday through Thursday). Now, I’m that kind of annoying, loud-mouthed idiot that screams “inconsistent with the character!” or “that would never happen!” and also laughs loudly and claps in the movie theatre, but I rarely do that without an audience to offend (like, say, at home at 4 in the morning while reading a book). But I did find myself giggling often over this read (sorry to wake you, Nicky), a mock stolen textbook from a NY library….

But in more serious news (does that qualify as satire? just kidding….), the new artthrob is out, and has some great stuff. First up, good buddy, and amazingly talented teacher and artist, Ralph Borland stars in the artbio this month. We love him. Let’s see, there is also a review of Marina Abramovic at Performa05, which starts off OK, makes a really great argument, then ends up pretty wishy washy. Oh, and I wrote it (please ignore the typos and grammatical errors that mysteriously appeared between when I hit the send button, and when they published; oh, and note that self-deprecation is meant to get you to like me more, cuz they cut out all my jokes, which were meant to accomplish that feat for me, but obviously failed miserably; insert more deprecation here). Other great reviews include (all shows I did not see, as I was not here) Aggenbach, Kentridge, Siopis and Botha, among others.

The news of Nathi Gumede as KZNSA Gallery’s new curator has hit, as has Gavin Jantjes’ as Artistic Director for the Proposed Cape Biennale. The highlight, tho, is Linda Stupart’s cover of sessions eKapa, a fair and provocative piece on the non-foregrounding of the upcoming ‘non-Bienalle.’

Sue Williamson’s diary also assures us that Ed Young is doing OK after being mugged while overseas, and links us to some nice coverage of his show in ArtForum. It sounds a pretty dreadful experience, and props to Ed for his high spirits.

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10 December 2005 by nathaniel

those crazy capers

So, there was that ekapa conference in cape town this last week. I, unfortunately, didn’t make it – was overseas – but heard some interesting things about it. The ballot seemed to have a lot more non-SA Africans on it, rather than the usual suspects, but I also heard there were a few no-shows, and a whole lot of gripes – by the usuals – to be sorted out. At minimum, I’m hoping some of the cats got the necessary bitching off their chests, and can move towards a great exhibition next year – they’ve got 9 months, and 2 years worth of work to do before then. There’s some amazing potential here – great artists, hard workers, interesting topics and organizers – so we’re all holding our breath and hoping that this will fill the BKAA void (among others), and then some.

Some articles here and here.

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10 December 2005 by nathaniel

ed young attacked and injured

Did you hear about this? It’s really terrible.

Ed Young, 27, a conceptual artist, is due to undergo surgery in an Italian hospital on Wednesday.

Elize Young, his mother, said two Italian men overpowered her son shortly after he had sent an e-mail from an internet cafe and drawing money at an ATM in Ceunen.

“They not only robbed him of all his money and personal belongings, but also badly assaulted him…. They nearly killed my child.”