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
Wow Janet, beautiful, I love urban decay and how the little creatures and plants take over in the absence of human presence. Looking at these pictures was especially poignant though because my late aunt Beryl was head-matron at Conradie for many, many years, and brings her back to me in memories as I admire your wonderful art!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracy! Since you've got a personal connection to the space in memory of your aunt, I'd like to invite you to join us when we go back. It'll be on the 4th of February, let me know if you'd like to!
ReplyDeleteYou must have had fun:)
ReplyDeleteYes, we did! The resulting photographs, installations and a video will be exhibited at the University of Stellenbosch gallery from 5 to 27 March 2012.
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