A critical reassessment of the explorer artist Charles Davidson Bell’s (1813-1882) "Cattle Boers' Outspan" (n.d)

This article investigates the depiction of Afrikaner ancestry in Charles Davidson Bell’s (1813-1882) "Cattle boers’ outspan" (s.a.) (fig. 1) within the genre of explorer art. This critical revisiting of Bell – better known to philatelists as the designer of the much sought-after Cape triangular stamp – is regarded as important because it give[s] rise to questions such as how Bell and his contemporaries employed critical devices and visual codes that served to entrench and naturalise debasing perceptions of the subjects of their depictions. It is argued that Bell’s work within the genre [of] explorer art generally falls distinctly within the category of social documentation, which served the purpose of illustrating the curious and exotic within a South African historical context for a European audience. We also suggest that in the light of the scientific bias during the Victorian age that underpinned the depiction of colonised peoples, the notion of persuasive imaging is not only confined to the depiction of landscape but also to colonial depictions of Lacanian notions of O/others and O/otherness.’n Kritiese herbesoek van die ontdekkerskunstenaar Charles Davidson Bell (1813-1882). Hierdie artikel ondersoek die uitbeelding van Afrikan[e]rvoorgeslagte in Charles Davidson Bell (1813-1882) se "Trekboere wat uitspan" ("Cattle Boers’ Oustpan") (s.a.) binne die ontdekkerskunsgenre. Hierdie kritiese herbesoek van Bell – beter bekend as die ontwerper van die gesogte Kaapse driehoekseël – word as belangrik geag omdat dit vrae ontlok oor hoe Bell en sy tydgenote gebruik gemaak het van piktorale ontwerp en visuele kodes om verskansde en “vernatuurliking” van persepsies van minderwaardigheid van subjekte wat uitgebeeld is, te versterk. Ons argumenteer dat Bell se werk binne die genre van Ontdekkerskuns terselfdertyd geplaas kan word binne die kategorie [van] sosiale dokumentasie ten einde die eienaardige en die eksotiese binne die Suid-Afrikaanse historiese en koloniale konteks aan ’n Europese gehoor te bied. Terselfdertyd is ons van mening dat in die lig van die wetenskaplike vooropingesteldheid van die Victoriaanse era wat onderliggend was aan die uitbeelding van die gekoloniseerdes, nie net betrekking het op die uitbeelding van landskappe nie, maar ook op die koloniale uitbeelding van Lacan se beskouing van A/ander en A/andersheid

Vervreemding in Leora Farber se <i>The futility of writing 24-page letters (2009)</i>

Hierdie artikel ondersoek die konsep vervreemding in Leora Farber se The futility of writing 24-page letters (as uitbreiding van die werk getiteld Between Cup and Lip, wat deel gevorm het van die Dis-Location/Re-Location,2007/2008-uitstalling). Dit is gedoen vanuit ’n feministies-postkoloniale raamwerk om ondersoek in te stel na die kompleksiteite wat ontstaan met betrekking tot vervreemding wanneer gemarginaliseerdes onderdruk word. Die postkoloniale teoretiese diskoers met sy klem op die ander en die psigiese vervreemding van die gemarginaliseerde beïnvloed die feministiese diskoers rakende die vervreemding van die vrou. In feministiese diskoerse verwys vervreemding na die marginalisering wat vroue in ’n patriargale samelewing ervaar. Ons argumenteer dat hierdie briewe aanduidend is van onderdrukte psigiese vervreemding en selfvervreemding wat die gevolg is van stereotipering, kulturele oorheersing en seksuele objektivering. Ons voer voorts aan dat Farber se The futility of writing 24-page letters komplekse lae van vervreemding openbaar

Oor die einders van die bladsy as konseptuele kuns

This article offers a philosophical overview of conceptual art. I argue that, since the project Transgressions and boundaries of the page transgresses and conceptually extends the boundaries of the concept of the book, it can be viewed in its entirety as a language-based installation art, consisting of various components, viz. artists’ books. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, this conceptual art installation challenges the boundaries of conceptual art. The project and exhibitions confirm that artists’ books constitute an ideal medium to involve artists from divergent disciplines in the play with and discovery of the possibilities of the book. The project as a whole can be categorised as conceptual art, as it reconsiders, reinvents and theorises the concept bookhttp://www.literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/viewPDFInterstitial/31/403http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/lit.v33i1.3

Conceptual artist Willem Boshoff’s secret letters to Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (gebore 1918) word wêreldwyd gerespekteer as politieke vryheidsikoon en ‘n geliefde leier bekend as Madiba. Mandela was 27 jaar in die tronk op Robbeneiland, in Pollsmoor en Victor Verster nadat hy en ander ANC-versetleiers tydens die Rivoniaverhoor in 1964 aan hoogverraad teen die voormalige apartheidsregering skuldig bevind is en tot lewenslange tronkstraf gevonnis is. Hy is in 1990 vrygelaat en in 1994 verkies tot Suid-Afrika se eerste demokraties-verkose staatspresident (1994-1999). Die probleemstelling van hierdie artikel wentel rondom twee vrae: eerstens op watter manier die Suid-Afrikaanse konseptuele kunstenaar Willem Boshoff (gebore 1951) in sy installasie Secret Letters (2003) wêreldgebeure vanaf 1964 tot 1990, die tydperk wat Mandela in die tronk was, aan hom “vertel” en tweedens hoe die kunstenaar daarin slaag om die abstrakte begrip van eensaamheid van Mandela tydens aanhouding visueel tot vergestalting te bring. Die ondersoek word onderneem vanuit ‘n postkoloniale teoretiese raamwerk met toespitsing op die invloed van die rassebegrip en die ontwikkeling van die begrip Christelik gedurende die apartheidsera. Albei hierdie aspekte se wortels kan gevind word in Britse kolonialisme in Suid-Afrika.Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 1918) is all over the world respected as a political freedom icon, and a beloved leader affectionately known as Madiba. He served 27 years in prison on Robben Island, in Pollsmoor and Victor Verster prison after he and other ANC resistance leaders were found guilty of high treason against the former apartheid regime during the Rivonia trials in 1964. They were sentenced to life-long imprisonment. Mandela was released in 1990. In 1994 he became the first democratically elected president (1994-1999) of South-Africa. The problem statement for this article is centred around two questions: Firstly, how does the South-African conceptual artist Willem Boshoff (born 1951) in his installation Secret Letters (2003) “tell” Mandela what happened in the world from 1964 to 1990, the time that he spent in prison, and secondly, how does the artist succeed in portraying a visual representation of the abstract notion of lonliness during Mandela’s imprisonment. Postcolonial critique forms the theoretical framework of this article with a focus on the influence of the race concept and the development of the idea of Christianity during the apartheid era. The roots of both of these concepts can be found in British colonialism in South Africa.http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication/saja

Willem Boshoff and materiality according to Adorno

This article presents a reading of South African artist Willem Boshoff’s installation Writing that fell off the wall (1997) to illustrate how he used his material to expose colonialism and apartheid as inhuman ideologies. Adorno’s views on materiality serves as a theoretical framework. According to Adorno history is sedimented in the artist’s material and form elements. He distinguished between the Inhalt (material content) and Gehalt (social truth content) in artworks. Adorno claims that works of art do not explicitly need to have a historical content because they exercise their critique through the way in which they configure material that already contains history. The artwork’s meaning is revealed through the dialectical relation between the Inhalt and the Gehalt. I argue that Boshoff exposed the bankrupt ideologies of colonialism and apartheid by conceptually scattering ideologically laden concepts in eight different and previously “superior” languages during colonialism and apartheid, on the floorhttp://www.sajah.co.za/index.phphttp://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/sajah/sajah_v28_n2_a17.pd

Konseptuele kunstenaar Willem Boshoff se geheime briewe aan Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 1918) is all over the world respected as a political freedom icon, and a beloved leader affectionately known as Madiba. He served 27 years in prison on Robben Island, in Pollsmoor and Victor Verster prison after he and other ANC resistance leaders were found guilty of high treason against the former apartheid regime during the Rivonia trials in 1964. They were sentenced to life-long imprisonment. Mandela was released in 1990. In 1994 he became the first democratically elected president (1994-1999) of South-Africa. The problem statement for this article is centred around two questions: Firstly, how does the South-African conceptual artist Willem Boshoff (born 1951) in his installation Secret Letters (2003) “tell” Mandela what happened in the world from 1964 to 1990, the time that he spent in prison, and secondly, how does the artist succeed in portraying a visual representation of the abstract notion of lonliness during Mandela’s imprisonment. Postcolonial critique forms the theoretical framework of this article with a focus on the influence of the race concept and the development of the idea of Christianity during the apartheid era. The roots of both of these concepts can be found in British colonialism in South Africa.http://www.sajah.co.za/thejournal.phphttp://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/sajah/sajah_v28_n3_a10.pd

Willem Boshoff en materialiteit volgens Adorno

This article presents a reading of South African artist Willem Boshoff’s installation Writing that fell off the wall (1997) to illustrate how he used his material to expose colonialism and apartheid as inhuman ideologies. Adorno’s views on materiality serves as a theoretical framework. According to Adorno history is sedimented in the artist’s material and form elements. He distinguished between the Inhalt (material content) and Gehalt (social truth content) in artworks. Adorno claims that works of art do not explicitly need to have a historical content because they exercise their critique through the way in which they configure material that already contains history. The artwork’s meaning is revealed through the dialectical relation between the Inhalt and the Gehalt. I argue that Boshoff exposed the bankrupt ideologies of colonialism and apartheid by conceptually scattering ideologically laden concepts in eight different and previously “superior” languages during colonialism and apartheid, on the floor.Hierdie artikel bied ‘n interpretasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar Willem Boshoff se installasie, Writing that fell off the wall (1997) om te illustreer hoe hy sy materiaal gebruik om kolonialisme en apartheid te ontmasker as onmenslike ideologieë. Adorno se beskouinge oor materialiteit dien as ‘n teoretiese raamwerk. Volgens Adorno is geskiedenis gesedimenteer in die kunstenaar se materaal en vormelemente. Hy onderskei tussen die Inhalt (materiaalinhoud) en Gehalt (sosiale waarheidsinhoud) in kunswerke. Adorno stel dat kunswerke nie eksplisiete historiese inhoud hoef te bevat nie, omdat kunswerke hul kritiek uitspreek deur die manier waarop die materiaal waarvan die kunswerk gemaak is, reeds geskiedenis bevat. Die kunswerk se betekenis word geopenbaar deur die dialektiese verhouding tussen die Inhalt en die Gehalt. Ek argumenteer dat Boshoff die bankrot ideologieë kolonialisme en apartheid ontmasker deur konseptueel ideologies-gelade konsepte in agt verskillende voormalige “superieure” tale gedurende kolonialisme en apartheid, op die vloer te strooi.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_sajah.htm

Vervreemding in Leora Farber se The futility of writing 24-page letters (2009)

This article investigates the concept of alienation in Leora Farber’s The futility of writing 24-page letters (as an extension of a work titled Between Cup and Lip as part of the Dis-Location/Re-Location, 2007/2008 exhibition). This is done from a feminist-postcolonial framework in order to investigate the layered complexities surrounding alienation that arise during the oppression of the marginalised. The postcolonial theoretical discourse with its emphasis on the ’other’ and the psychic alienation of the marginalised influences the feminist discourse regarding the estrangement of the woman. In feminist discourses, ‘alienation’ refers to the estrangement women experience in a patriarchal society. We argue that these letters indicate oppressed psychic alienation and self alienation which are the result of stereotyping, cultural domination and sexual objectification. We further argue that Farber’s The futility of writing 24-page letters reveals complex layers of alienationhttp://www.literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/viewPDFInterstitial/28/404http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/lit.v33i1.2

The Tambani project: a computer animation of The greedy hippo

This article presented an investigation of and reflection on the techniques and production processes used to transform a traditional Ngano Venda folktale, The Greedy Hippo, from embroideries into a digitally animated film. The article was guided by a method derived from a practice-based research model for creative production which describes ways in which creative outputs can be regarded as a viable research option. The method comprised the documentation of and reflection on the project in three phases, namely pre-production, production and postproduction. The Tambani embroidery project is a community outreach initiative launched by Ina le Roux. Ngano is the collective noun for traditional Venda folklore. In this article, we argued that computer animation techniques could be implemented successfully in the digital transformation of a Venda folktale that was originally part of an oral tradition. We demonstrated this argument by means of Christiaan van der Westhuizen’s transformation of The Greedy Hippo folktale into a computer animation formathttp://www.literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/viewPDFInterstitial/27/39

Die Tambaniprojek: ’n rekenaaranimasie van <i>Die hebsugtige seekoei</i>

Hierdie artikel bied ’n ondersoek na en refleksie op die tegnieke en die produksieprosesse wat gebruik is in die omskakeling van ’n tradisionele Ngano-Venda-volksverhaal, Die hebsugtige seekoei, vanaf borduurwerk in ’n digitale animasiefilm. Die artikel word gerig deur ’n metode wat afgelei is uit ’n praktykgebaseerde navorsingsmodel vir skeppende uitsette. Hierdie navorsingsmodel omskryf wyses waarvolgens skeppende uitsette as geldige navorsingsopsies gereken kan word. Die metode bestaan uit die dokumentering van en refleksie ten opsigte van die projek in drie fases, naamlik pre-produksie, produksie en post-produksie. Die Tambani-borduurwerkprojek is ’n gemeenskapsuitreikingsinisiatief wat deur Ina le Roux van stapel laat loop is. Ngano is die versamelwoord vir tradisionele Vendavolksverhale. In hierdie artikel argumenteer ons dat rekenaaranimasietegnieke wel suksesvol geïmplementeer word in die digitale omskakeling van ’n Venda-volksverhaal wat oorspronklik uit ’n mondelinge tradisie stam. Ons demonstreer hierdie argument aan die hand van Christiaan van der Westhuizen se omskakeling van Die hebsugtige seekoei in ’n rekenaaranimasie