SPOOR

 Klipkring, work in progress, mixed media on wood.

I came accross this blog post by Sue Lawty sometime during the weekend, and it resonated with where I'm headed with my art at the moment: Concealed, Discovered, Revealed. 

Her following phrases contain some the essence of what my new body of work will embody:

"Whether a line of quartz splitting a rock face or a huge folded mountain range, the structure of rock talks of the structure of our planet. It is like a map of time - the earth drawing itself on a massive scale."

"To pick up a rock, is to touch base. Touching stones gives us a primal, spiritual connection with the earth. When we handle a stone, we hold in our hands a small drawing, a tiny piece of the map; we are holding time."

Go and read Sue Lawty's full post here, on read on about the concept behind my new body of work: 

SPORE

A new body of work by Janet Botes is inspired by the marks left on the landscape. We leave marks on the landscape, whether we want to or not, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. We leave footprints, a track, a spoor. Too often scars, blemishes, stains. Similar or so much different, so much less or more permanent, than the indentations and marks left by water, insects, animals, the wind, and plant life? Can any mark left ever be permanent if everything in nature seems rather transient and always in a state of flux?

Interrelatedness exist between organisms, no matter how small or large, sentient or not. This connection and interrelation is explored specifically as it relates to surfaces: skin, crust, shell. One of the works of the new body of work is a performance art piece, entitled SAND(SPOOR], and integrates contemporary dance movement, drawing, poetry, video/projection and sculpture/installation art. It also involves the use of natural materials like rocks, leaves, wood and sand, and music and sound created and compiled by Janet Botes and Pierre Bezuidenhout.

SAND(SPOOR] will be performed on 1, 3 and 5 July 2012 at 1pm, at the Arts Lounge at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. SAND(SPOOR] also forms part of the SCAPES arts project.

HumanEarth at Conradie Care Centre

  

On Sunday 22 January 2012; using the materials available to us, 4 artists entered and altered the state of the space inside a vacant building once used as part of the Conradie Hospital. The discarded, vacated space have been ravaged by desperate souls attacking the structure to take anything that they could sell or use - even digging into walls to steal the pipes.  Rubble, sand, dust, discarded medical supplies, remnants from the days that this building was used to treat and nurture patients: used to give expression to our ideas and feelings about the space, and to create patterns, textures and bring new energy into the building.


This is part of HumanEarth - an art project and series of exhibitions led by Nastasha  Daniels, centred around human-environment interaction. See more at www.humanearth.withtank.com and HumanEarth Exhibitions on Facebook

   

No healing in the absence of water

Symbolizing the cracks on a dried lake in the dessert where water has become absent, the tiles also refer to broken, dry skin. The rocks around the drain outlet transforms it into a well, inviting water to return to the surface, while the dried leaf is a reference to dried-out organs. No healing or life can exist where there is no water.

Materials: broken tiles, rubble, burglar bar found in a room, dried leaf, 1 unbroken tile

Pathway: inside|outside

Uninhabited by patients, doctors, nurses or humans, the space have become a haven for a variety of creatures. Window's glass that usually provide us with a means to view 'outside' from within a building while still keeping 'outside' and 'inside' separate, are absent from the window panes. Thus providing animals, birds and insects the opportunity to enter and leave the structure as they please. During our art installation session I came across about 5 different species/types of spiders and several other small insects.

Materials: Leaves found inside the building, broken glass, dead insects found in the rooms

   

Dust sun

Dust & sand manipulated by a broom

"Grass spiral" - watercolour on paper

Limited Edition prints now for sale

Land Art prints 
Limited Edition. Only 5 prints available for each




Root Crossing 
December 2011.
Photographic Documentation of Land Art: Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa.





Weave into Today 
 December 2011.
Photographic Documentation of Land Art: Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa.


Photograhy prints 
Limited Edition. Only 3 prints available for each




Karoo Koker Trees 
Northern Cape, South Africa


 

Trees In The Mist
Cape Town, South Africa


Now available on www.StateoftheArt.co.za

COMPETITION

WIN a limited edition photographic artwork valued at R3,500 at www.StateoftheArt.co.za

Street Walking by Bettie Coetzee-Lamprecht Edition Size: 15

To enter, log onto www.StateoftheArt.co.za, subscribe to the newsletter and 'LIKE' your favourite artwork. The draw will take place on the 31st of January.

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www.StateoftheArt.co.za is a curated online art gallery of original and affordable artwork created by selected Fine Arts students and graduates emerging from South Africa's most prestigious art schools. With an extensive selection of styles and genres to reflect your taste, budget and requirements, and a range of services to support your choices, buying art couldn’t be any simpler. See my work at www.stateoftheart.co.za/Art-by-Janet-Botes/42.

LAND ART: Upington, 21-26 December 2011

Playing with leaves, rocks and reeds around Christmas time:

 

White rocks collected, moved/carried to the tree, before being arranged alongside the lines of the roots growing from the trunk and into the sand. 

 

Rocks collected and placed to form a circular shape on the sand of a dune.

 

Rocks collected and found on a dune, placed in a line to create shadow shapes.

 

Grass stalks places into red Kalahari sand, in the late afternoon sun just before sunset. 

 

Young reed stalk - small slits made in order to fit pieces of reed at angles into the main stalk. 

Shadow play onto slate/rock.  

 

Leaves from a reed, braided together. 

Leaves from riverside reeds, staked together with a piece of young reed stalk, and placed into a crack in the wood of a 'stoep' pole.

 

Dried reed structure floating, and dis-tangling on the Orange River

Small white rocks collected on one side of farm house, carried around to other side of farm house, and then placed in a line

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Upington, Northern Cape
December 2011

Letters to thyself

Empty/used glue stick containers, 35mm developed film, pages from incomplete fictional book, thread, found paper clips.