Dirt is Good at THAT ART FAIR

Dirt is Good Process-based, time-based soil installation 27 February – 1 March 2015 Created on the first day of THAT ART FAIR, in Salt River, I created this drawing/design by pouring soil from my garden into lines and neatening each line with a paint brush.

I invited Fair goers to add drawings and thoughts onto paper, which I then integrated into the drawing. Over the next two days of the Fair the installation changed as people walked over and through it. Passers-by thus collaborated by giving their thoughts as well as changing the soil drawing with their feet.

Passers-by collaborated by giving their thoughts as well as changing the soil drawing

So often we only value art that would last, and even outlast us. But how much more valuable is art and expression that captures our own fleeting nature and the impermanence of everything we experience. It is in the fleeing and present moment that we find real value – not in dwelling in the past, not in worrying about the future.

We have been conditioned to believe that dust and dirt is ‘bad’, and kids are now kept from playing the mud in the way that I used to play in the mud. We forget that the most nutritious and healthy foods come from the soil, and not a fridge, lab or factory.

I think it’s time to rethink and relook how we feel about the world around us.

Work in progress: Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis I: Nature Changes - work in progress

My new body of work, Metamorphosis, is inspired by the metamorphosis of insects, and also personal and spiritual transformation. It follows from the research and visual work that I did for my SAND(SPOOR] performance at the Arts Lounge during the 2012 National Arts Festival, which focused on tracks and marks left on the landscape by human, animal, insect alike.

Tesame met hierdie, maar ook as 'n eie, aparte projek, maak ek tans "kokonne" uit papier, plastiek en 'foil' - dis die geboorte van 'n nuwe projek, wat groei uit die vorige gestalte van honderde sakkies, gebruik vir die Waterboom of "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil III" wat by die 2013 Woordfees in Stellenbosch geskep en fasiliteer is deur Anni Snyman en Site_Specific Events. Hou hierdie spasie dop vir meer nuus en foto's van hierdie projek, tans getiteld "Fruits of the Spirit". Dit vorm deel van my Metamorphosis werke aangesien weggooi-materiaal in die vorm van tjoklit-papiertjies, plastiek en foelie wat gebruik word om kokonne te vorm wat later saam 'n kunswerk skep, en daardeur visueel getransformeer en verander word.

Siklus: ritme in dood en groei

This is the artwork that I created and finished for the Hiernamaals | Hereafter exhibition at Slee Gallery, Stellenbosch. It will be on exhibit from 1-10 March 2013, don't miss it! For more information about the exhibition, view this blog post, the Facebook event page or the Site_Specific website

Siklus: ritme in dood en groei

Artist's Statement/ Description: 
There exists a complex and intricate balance and rhythm in death and growth - the process of death, decay and rejuvenation. Decayed matter in nature gives sustenance and feeds new growth, in nature there is no 'waste'. In this artwork natural materials, objects, organisms are used in juxtaposition with man-made and discarded/found material - the latter perceived as 'waste' by the general public, but as a source or substrate for creation for artists like us. The bronze/golden thread that helps to tie and entwine it together, holding the depicted process together, aims to evoke the image of the proverbial heavenly golden streets, and a spider's web. These hinting at the beauty, perfection and holiness - sacredness - of natural processes of life, death, decay and regrowth. 

Medium: Natural & Found material assemblage 2013
Dimensions: 350 x 380 x 75mm'
Year: 2013

Tread Upon

TREAD UPON, as part of "Walk This Earth Alone" art exhibition, hosted by the Gallery @ Grande Provence, Franschhoek, 12 August - 26 September 2012

This work is focused on sand as material, medium and inspiration - sand representing the dust of our existence, the kernels resulting from ancient rocks' erosion, and thus a symbol of time and also place. The installation is a metaphor for the marks we leave behind as we tread upon the landscape, the spoor we leave in the sand. It is inspired by the Karoo 2052 exhibition, which I saw during the National Arts Festival in July 2012, as well as earlier work that I've done as part of HumanEarth and my SCAPES project. It is a continuation of the work I did as part of SAND(SPOOR], performed at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July 2012.

As part of the art installation, I specifically did not put poles and ropes up to keep people away from the artwork - the intention was for people to accidentally walk unto the artwork and destroy the stylized images of insects and foliage, as symbol of the way we destroy insects and plant life in the "real" landscapes, whether intentionally or unintentionally through the choices we make and the products we buy. Fracking in the Karoo is only possible if we as the public and as tax payers keep silent about our opposition against it. Renewable energy is viable as an energy solution for our country, but the government will only invest in it if we demand it. If we do nothing, we are allowing the destruction of our planet through coal mining, nuclear waste and fracking, and we are treading upon the landscape very harshly and mindlessly.

Beautiful addition(s) by one of the gallery goers or viewers

Look Upon

LOOK UPON
as part of "Walk This Earth Alone" art exhibition, hosted by the Gallery @ Grande Provence, Franschhoek, 12 August - 26 September 2012

We as humans display, explore and examine the natural world, trying to understand it, sometimes taking advantage of it and also ultimately conserving and protecting it, or pieces of it. There is a beauty to be seen, appreciated and respected in everything that surrounds us.  When we realize this, and experience it constantly, it might awaken the need and desire to protect living creatures so that museums don't end up being the only place where we can view creatures, plants and 'specimens' from nature.