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.

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. Exhibited at "Walk This Earth Alone". Don't miss it!

 

Entangled

Entangled
Found object & rope installation: work in progress - anyone can add to it and/or change it
Arts Lounge, Grahamstown
July 2012

Grahamstown: Day 3

Sand(Spoor] at the Arts Lounge

Photos from the interactive part of my performance/interactive-installation: These were the contributions and creations of the audience, who were invited to express or create a representation, track, mark or spoor of their interpretation, thoughts or insights about the marks we leave on the land.

You can support this project by donating to the Treasure the Karoo Action Group on my GivenGain page: http://www.givengain.com/activist/70796/projects/2603

Organic installation at HumanEarth: Conversation

My artist statement for the exhibition:

My art is heavily inspired by nature in some way or another, whether in response to environmental issues and land degradation, or as a tribute and representation of my appreciation for the balance, peace and beauty of the landscape. The artworks “Choking Tree”, “Our Legacy” and “Peinsend oor More” are all works done a year or more ago and can be seen as quite literal reflections on what is happening in our environment. A dead tree - drowned by polluted groundwater and air pollution from factories. A barren landscape with dead trees flanking it. A man worried about the future of our planet, our species, our children and the legacy we are leaving...

“Organic: death or life, or something inbetween” and “Fingers vs. branches” , more recent works, are leaning towards being 'abstract' in the sense that I don't do literal representations or renderings, but rather focus on form, shape and the way that it interacts with things around it, including the viewer – depending on when or which angle you view it from. Playing with organic shapes and the shapes of trees I am allowing the sculptures to almost shape themselves with me only being the facilitating force - very much in the way that dunes are shaped and moved in a desert by the wind. These installations allow for more personal reflection and subjective interpretation in contrast to the more representational works, landscape paintings and drawings.

Lately my focus has once again turned to land art, using naturally occurring materials in the landscape to create transient, temporary art pieces documented photographically, these latest installations being inspired by that time spent outdoors. The natural materials used in the installations were found, however, not only in the forests, beaches, and mountain trails around Cape Town, but also in urban areas where we can still walk among the trees and catch fleeting glimpses of sunlight through their leaves. I think one of the biggest challenges and goals that we have at the moment is to reconnect with nature, no matter who/where we are.

Growing, living and learning

"Growing and Living"
Wood and mixed media - my poems and images laser cut and engraved onto discarded wood found in Woodstock and other Cape Town areas.
Variable sizes
2010

the rush of the wind through the leaves
with the sound of your heart underneath
the warmth of the sun on your skin
with the grass growing wildly at your feet

the season changes swiftly in the mountain
while the rock lies peacefully in the stream
and the colours burn orange in the forest
while we drift along in the flurry of life

These were created for the Great Walk and More Arts Festival, hosted by Greatmore Art Studios. The Festival was held on 25 and 26 June in the entire Greatmore Street in Woodstock and featured more than 30 artists, performers, groups and intiatives. I also did a simple performance on the Friday night, carrying two lanterns while dressed in white, and doing movements that enforces concepts or ideas of searching, following the light, finding light in the darkness, and shining a light for other people to follow in order to find their own light. The performance was meant to communicate or inspire 'peace' (a dove's feather was hanging from a rope tied around my waist and neck) and spirituality - whether linked to religion (I was wearing Christian crosses around my neck) or just compassion and respect for all life and life forms.

Small land art projects: Upington

Sand Bridge

Tree bark on sand

Upington

Grass Nests

Upington