This short art analysis paper accompanies an original video presentation produced by UTC undergraduate students, dedicated to the work of a contemporary artist and developed as part of ART 4190r: Global Contemporary Art course in Spring 2021.https://scholar.utc.edu/global-contemporary-artists/1024/thumbnail.jp

Howe, Jonathan

UTC Scholar

GLOBAL CONTEMPORARY ARTIST ANALYSISARCHIVE PROJECTBERNI SEARLE: Heritage & Cultural IdentityJonathan Howe, Photography & Media Art Major, 2021Berni Searle, Colour Me, 1998, color photograph, © Berni SearleThis short art analysis paper accompanies an original video presentation produced by UTCundergraduate students, dedicated to the work of a contemporary artist and developed as part of ART4190r: Global Contemporary Art course in Spring 2021.BiographyThe work of Berni Searle is a direct reflection of her life experiences. Born andraised in South Africa in 1964, much of Searle’s adolescence was impacted by herexperiences with Apartheid and systematic oppression. Throughout her work sheutilizes her body as a means for challenging notions regarding conceptions of identity.Due to her own awareness of the sociopolitical implications of her own body, Searleattempts to form her own sense of identity by reclaiming it.Searle’s work corresponds to the complex issue of colonization and theimplications it has on her African identity. Her artistic process frequently utilizestraditional spices that reflect the relationship between Africa and the spice trade. Infact, Apartheid was one of the resulting factors of the colonization of Africa. Searlespeaks to the resulting impact that colonization has on her multracial background andexperiences with Apartheid. The artist speaks from a place of personal experience withidentity but also frequently engages with cultural and political events that reflectnotions of self-representation and history.Though from a sculptural background, most of Searle’s practice is lens-based.She frequently utilizes multi-channel videos that are performative in nature. Herphotographs also reflect her unique experience with identity through her use of herbody in relationship with nature. Searle often utilizes symbolism and the natural worldas a means for tackling issues regarded to heritage and oppression. South Africa’scomplex history becomes a reflection of Searle’s struggle with personal identity.Heritage and Cultural IdentitySouth African born artist Berni Searle seeks to challenge limited perceptions ofidentity. Through her lens-based practice she advocates for the idea ofself-conception: identity should be self-proclaimed rather than unwittingly accepted.This idea reflects many contemporary theorist’s views on concepts of identity andheritage. In his essay “Cultural Identity and Diaspora,” Stuart Hall advocates for a moredynamic and constructed perception of identity. Much of Searle’s earlier work retorts asimilar claim through her use of symbolic socio-economic materials. Historian DavidJoselit is in conversation with these ideas due to his advocacy for a reclamation ofcultural heritage. He suggests this as a method for combatting the destructive effectsof colonialism. In essence, Berni Searle’s artistic practice echoes contemporarytheorists in its call for a self-constructed view of identity in order to confront the effectsof colonization.Much of the argument surrounding identity is related to its definition. In “CulturalIdentity and Diaspora,” Stuart Hall defines identity as a, “‘production’ which is nevercomplete, always in process.” (Hall, 222). By this definition, identity is never acompletely solidified form that is unable to be altered by an individual. Furthermore,Hall purports that identity should essentialize past and present experiences andheritage in order to fully establish a fuller sense of identity. His text specificallyreferences colonialism when discussing the impact that past cultural history has onidentities of the present. Hall uses the Black community as a relevant example of, “thetraumatic character of the colonial experience,” citing that, “black people, blackexperiences, were positioned and subject-ed in the dominant regimes of representationwere the effect of a critical exercise of cultural power and normalization.” (Hall, 225).Essentially, colonization was used as a tool for “othering” any individual ofnon-European descent, specifically Black people. Therefore, the entirety of Blackidentity and culture has been reduced by colonization. In order to combat the effects ofcolonization, the idea of culture as a stagnant and immovable concept must evolve.Identity acknowledges and retains the cultural past but still advances towards thefuture. This advancement is propelled by the reclamation and reconstruction of one’sown identity.Identity formation is a major thematic element to Searle’s artistic practice. In2001 the artist exhibited a two-channel video installation entitled Snow White. Thepiece consisted of two nine minute DVD projections displaying two separate shots ofSearle. In one video her naked body is being showered with flour. In the second, waterpours over her head as she begins to knead the flour and water into a dough. Thisinstallation reflects much of Hall’s argument on self-construction. The flour pouringover Searle’s head becomes representative of an identity and series of perceptions thatwas placed upon her. At the same time, the artist utilizes the same material to make asecondary form on her own. This piece is representative of Searle’s own struggles withher experiences growing up in South Africa under Apartheid. Searle is challenging theviewer to both deconstruct and reconstruct their notions regarding race, as evidentthrough symbolism of her own experience.Perceptions of race are largely based upon ideologies of colonization. DavidJoselit argues that European colonization suppressed traditional cultural ideologies ofthe peoples they conquered. In order to re-adjust the effects of colonization, Joselitstates that, “the West ‘regains’ its heritage as a particular rather than universal set oftraditions, while the Global South reasserts its dynamic traditions as contemporary.”(Joselit, 141). This would redefine perceptions of non-Western cultures that were oftenoverlooked and demonized for their own traditional histories, beliefs, and sharedvalues. Joselit argues that Eurocentric-Westernized culture should only be recognizedas a particular region’s view of culture rather than the universal culture. As a result,contemporary artists should, “re-temporalize heritage in order to imagine new andmore just futures.” (Joselit, 141).Reconceptualizing the effects of colonization is a prominent tactic in Searle’searly work. In her 1998 photographic series Colour Me, Searle used material symbolicto African history and her heritage. Similar to Snow White, the series consisted ofportraits of the artist covered in various spices. She uses these materials to referencethe Dutch East India Trading Company which had a profound influence on the historyof South Africa in relation to colonization. The spices hold reference to notions of race,which had a profound effect on the artist’s mixed-racial heritage. The same spices alsoreflect African ritual body painting, in an exploration of her own African heritage. Thematerials themselves are relatively simple but provide a significant symbolicbackground for interpreting Searle’s South African Identity and experience withreclamation.Berni Searle’s artistic practice becomes an exploration of the re-construction ofidentity. Much in tune with contemporary historians and theorists, like Hall and Joselit,the artist uses visual media to convey her views on identity and heritage. Colonizationcan only be confronted through a re-association of culture and a reformation ofpersonal identity. Identity is built from the past but continually advances alongsideculture; it is always being reconstructed.BibliographyDaimler Art Collection. “Snow White, Berni Searle 2001.” Accessed May 2, 2021.https://art.daimler.com/en/artwork/snow-white-berni-searle-2001-2/de Beer, Este. "Spicing South Africa: exploring the role of food and spices in BerniSearle's conceptual art." Journal of Literary Studies 28, no. 1, 2012 (accessedMay 2, 2021).https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A295058329/AONE?u=tel_a_utc&sid=AONE&xid=e79b4bf5.Farrell, Laurie Ann. “BERNI SEARLE’S: Soliloquies on Strength and Solitude.” Nka 1,2009. Accessed May 2, 2021.https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utc.edu/10.1215/10757163-24-1-150Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity andDiaspora. United States: Duke University Press, 2018. Accessed May 2, 2021.https://app.perusall.com/courses/sp21-art_-4190-23209/hallstuart-culturalidentityanddiasporaJoselit, David. “Heritage and Debt.” Heritage and Debt: Art in Globalization. UnitedKingdom: MIT Press, 2020. Accessed May 2, 2021.https://app.perusall.com/courses/sp21-art_-4190-23209/joselit-heritage-and-debtLewis, Desiree. "The Conceptual Art of Berni Searle." Agenda: Empowering Women forGender Equity, no. 50 (2001): 108-17. Accessed May 2, 2021.http://www.jstor.org/stable/4066413.Manchester Art Gallery. “Berni Searle: New Acquisitions.” Accessed May 2, 2021.https://manchesterartgallery.org/news/berni-searle-new-acquisitions/Paulhan, Camille. “Berni Searle: South African Visual Artist.” Accessed May 2, 2021.https://awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/berni-searle/Richard Saltoun Gallery. “Berni Searle.” Accessed May 2, 2021.https://www.richardsaltoun.com/artists/281-berni-searle/biography/Searle, Berni . “Sites of Refuge: A Photo-essay from Three Works.” South AtlanticQuarterly, 2010. Accessed May 2, 2021.https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utc.edu/10.1215/00382876-2010-005Strauss, Helene. “Spectacles of Promise and Disappointment: Political Emotionand Quotidian Aesthetics in Video Installations by Berni Searle and ZaneleMuholi.” 2014. Accessed May 2, 2021.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17533171.2014.926196?scroll=top&needAccess=trueZavistovski, Katia. “There’s No Place Like Home.” 2010. Accessed May 2, 2021.http://magazine.art21.org/2010/11/12/there’s-no-place-like-home/#.YJDony2ZOYU

Berni Searle: Heritage and Cultural Identity

https://scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&amp;context=global-contemporary-artists

Berni Searle: Heritage and Cultural Identity

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UTC Scholar