THE LAKE #017 by THE LAKE MAGAZINE

THE LAKE

THE LAKE WE ARE FOOLISHLY Ambitious

#17 / 151017 “A lot of people believe that if everybody just did what they were told ‘obeyed’ everything would be fine. But that’s not what life is all about. That’s not real. It’s never going to happen.” - Matt Groening

CONTENTS REGULARS: News Print Run Plimsoll

04 74 76

ART: Precarious Bricoleurs On Repeat

24 60

PHOTOGRAPHY: Stalker Give ‘Em the Boot Aberration Oh, Superman

16 30 40 54

37 48 68

LIFESTYLE: Getafix

cONTENTS PHOTO Jacqui Van Staden

Advertising / MARKETING

THE LAKE MAGAZINE PTY LTD info@thelake.co

Brett Bellairs brett@thelake.co

Editor / Art Direction

COPY EDITING

Stefan Naude’ stefan@thelake.co

Christine Stewart

Existential ADVISOR

Brendan Body brendan@thelake.co

Submissions

COVER

info@thelake.co

Hayden Phipps Kalo Canterbury Luke Bell Doman Lighting Retouching

Photography King Pin Art Direction / Styling GLOW HIRE Naomi e’Camara

photography

contributors

Oliver Kruger Ian Gustav Engelbrecht Frantz Birkholtz Retha Ferguson Brilynn Ferguson Simphiwe Ndzube Erin Wulfsohn Justin Allart Antonia Steyn Rodger Bosch

Rick De La Ray Jacqueline Flint Xavier Nagel Dan Charles M. Neelika Jayawardane Anees Petersen Seraaj Semaar Dylan Scott Petersen Ruan Scott Roelof Petrus Van Wyk Ryan van Rooyen

“Head On” - 2017

The views and opinions expressed within the editorial and advertisements of THE LAKE do not necessarily reflect those of its staff, nor any of its associates.THE LAKE and anything contained within is copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, copied or stored electronically without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ONLINE / SOCIAL www.thelake.co.za

MUSIC: Aficionado Venom City Wax Junkie

PUBLISHER

PRINTING Tandym print Tel: +27 21 505 4200 Email: print@tandym.co.za

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NEWS Vans Presents - CAPITALE VANS has teamed up with French video Director Thibaut Grevet to document a day in Paris, France with Joseph Biais and Val Bauer. The video showcases some of the non-traditional skate spots of Paris all filmed on 16mm to bring back a sense of authenticity to this unique city. ft. Joseph Biais & Valentin Bauer, Directed & Edited by Thibaut Grevet Cinematographer : Zack Spieger, 1 AC : Just Aurel Meissonnier, Producer : Cedric Barus - Shot on 16mm Thanks to Julien Scheubel INFO: www.vans.com

BEN SHERMAN Now having existed for 5 decades the Ben Sherman shirt and brand have been adopted by almost every youth culture or style movement of the last 5 decades, from the mods, to 2 tone and ska, to brit pop and is today still worn by the current bands and style leaders of the current decade. Ben Sherman not only created clothing history with his Ben Sherman shirt, but he created a way of thinking that has helped create a global brand today. The Ben Sherman shirt is an icon. INFO: www.bensherman.com

HENDRICK’S GIN / ‘SECRET ORDER’ GIFT PACK Hendrick’s Gin has long guarded the mysteries of its most precious cucumber rituals, but today it is unlocking the doors to these secrets with the launch of its ‘Secret Order’ gift pack. Available at selected retailers, at an RRP of R399, this limited-edition gift pack contains everything individuals require to perform these peculiar customs. The Secret Order gift pack includes a 750ml bottle of Hendrick’s Gin and a delightful porcelain teacup and saucer. 04

With three different whimsical teacup designs available, curious individuals can collect a full set and enjoy a delightful infusion of flavours amongst friends. With this gift pack people can delight companions with an exquisite Hendrick’s Gin and Tonic, best served with a cucumber garnish of course, whilst enlightening them as to the accoutrements required to perform the most unusual cucumber rituals. INFO: www.hendricksgin.com THE LAKE

THE ‘SECRET ORDER’ GIFT PACK

UNION GINGHAM FINAL LARGE SCALE

NEWS ADIDAS ATRIC: EXPLORE THE OUTER LIMITS A shoe that isn’t satisfied with what’s on the horizon. For the Atric consumer, there’s no such thing as creative limits. Only a desire to go beyond and to and discover a unique outlook on the urban landscape. This inherent confidence is the driving force behind reaching the pinnacle of sartorial street style. Atric will empower creators who seek out a premium way of living. It will call upon the pioneering spirit of urban explorers at the forefront of a progressive aesthetic to go that extra mile. INFO: www.adidas.co.za

PALLADIUM Explorer footwear brand Palladium continues its 70th anniversary celebrations with the launch of its FW17 collection. Harking back to its origins following a recent move to hometown Lyon, where Palladium was born seven decades ago, the brand embraces its past to shape its future. With exploration at the heart of the brand, FW17 sees Palladium introduce three clearly-defined new product catagories: Urbanity, Elements & Heritage that act as the foundation for the product stories within the collection. Each category has been meticulously developed to reflect the diversity of modern daily life with each function-first style crafted to stay one step ahead of city exploration and beyond. Utility-inspired, technically-led and fashion-forward, the new Palladium collection is inspired by the ever-evolving ways we explore our surroundings with each new product story adapted to keep one step ahead of a diversity of environments. A call to exploration whatever the conditions, Palladium ’s FW17 collection embraces the open-minded approach of 21st Century explorers, encouraging them to look beyond the familiar, discover the uncharted, and embrace the unknown. INFO: www.palladiumboots.com

ASICS Tiger Apparel Our latest ASICS Tiger Apparel Collection is designed around versatility, premium materials, and an attention to detail. A high-grade midweight French terry fleece hoody and sweatshirt have you covered for warm or cool weather wear, and come equipped with both a drop tail and regular hem. A premium tee, graphic tee, and graphic tank are easy to pair up with any of our footwear; plus, just like the fleece collection, feature a premium, tailored fit and top of the line materials. INFO: www.asics.co.za 06

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NEWS Kabasa SHARP-FLAT has reissued the self-titled 1980 debut of South African super-group Kabasa. This release marks the start of an exciting archival catalogue from SHARPFLAT with Kabasa’s sophomore Searching as well as the killer 1985 Afro-synth maxi “It’s A Mess” b/w “Afro-Breakdance”.Straddling two decades their debut provides an Afrocentric manifesto that nods to the 1970s disco-rock of Harari as well as blazing a trail for the South African synth and bubblegum movements of the 1980s. INFO: www.sharp-flat.bandcamp.com INFO: www.permanentrecord.co.za

Herschel Supply Co. Herschel Supply Co. continues to establish itself as a global leader in lifestyle-driven products. Thoughtfully tailored and fit for travel, this season launches apparel offering a range of wind and rainwear essentials for men and women. Founded in 2009 by brothers Jamie and Lyndon Cormack, Herschel Supply adopted the name of the town where three generations of their family grew up. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Herschel Supply Co. is a design driven global accessories brand that produces quality products with a fine regard for detail. INFO: www.herschelsupply.com

Herschel Supply Co.,Gibson Messenger

Herschel Supply Co.,Sutton Mid-Volume Duffle

Herschel Supply Co.,Lawson Backpack / Apex Dayton Backpack

New Balance 574 'Sport' Pack One of the brand’s all-time best selling models, the 574 initially launched in the late 1980’s and has since become a mainstay in the New Balance retro runner catalog. This new update features the sneaker you know and love with a few significant upgrades designed to bridge the gap between lifestyle and performance, including a slip-on bootie upper and Fresh Foam cushioning for reduced weight and added comfort. The extremely limited edition will only be given to select friends of New Balance, and include a retro 1990s-style shoe box. INFO: www.newbalance.co.za 08

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NEWS SHELFLIFE Celebrating 10 years of Shelflife with the third local artist collaboration of 2017 we looked to long time associate Dr Zulu AKA DrZ. Drawing inspiration from the golden era of BMX culture in the 80’s and 90’s and a key time that later influenced DrZ’s career. From graphics, colour and silhouettes Shelflife and DrZ worked together building up a full range of graphic tees, 90’s bold stripe long sleeve tees and the 5 panel light weight caps, as well as a full matching 90s inspired tracksuits. All items are available exclusively to Shelflife stores. INFO: www.shelflife.co.za

DIESEL / SKB Innovation remastered. Diesel is proud to present the SKB sneakers’ family, where fashion meets innovation. Rich texture, Diesel details. Adding pure style to our sneaker lineup, this group includes the S-KBY. S-KBY is a clean slip-on style, made for everyday wear. It features a featherweight, flexible, breathable camoknit that wraps the foot for a second-skin fit, mixed with suede inserts. The multi-component, philon outsole is developed to guarantee a soft, effortless sensation underfoot and provides flexibility, comfort and improved durability. INFO: www.global.diesel.com

PATAGONIA Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. These are all silent sports. None require a motor; none deliver the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature.Our values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach we take towards product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility.

Toromiro 22L Backpack / Navy

Torrentshell Jacket / Yellow

Toromiro 22L Backpack / Navy

For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide. Staying true to our core values during thirty-plus years in business has helped us create a company we’re proud to run and work for. INFO: www.goneoutdoor.com 10

P-6 Logo Cotton T-Shirt / White

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Baggies Jacket / Navy Blue

Nano Puff Vest / Black

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> WORDS - Rick de la ray

PHOTOGRAPHY - OLIVER KRUGER

GETAFIX TSEPO JEAN-PAUL ANOH The aim of Oakley’s New One Obsession campaign is to highlight, inspire and encourage professional, amateur and everyday athletes. The mission is to invite and bring together athletes and fans who share the same obsession and mindset. No matter where you are in your journey, nothing stands in between you and your goals. In this feature we look into the mind of global citizen and urban cycling maverick Tsepo Anoh as he shares the obsession mindset of his #CantStop moments. How did you end up living in Cape Town and how long have you been here now? I’m aware that I sound like a foreigner but deep inside I’m South African. I’m a quarter South African from my mother’s side and my South African relatives all live in the eastern side of the country (Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal). Growing up, we would come to South Africa during long holidays to visit family in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Pietermaritzburg as well as Maseru, Lesotho. Anyway, when I was in the UK I really wanted to return to the African continent. I already knew a few countries in West Africa and I had lived for many years in Côte d’Ivoire, where my father is from. I was not keen on returning to West Africa and I needed a new experience. Monotony and comfort zones make me angtsy. South Africa seemed to be the obvious choice and the place to go since I had never really lived there. Cape Town is a city by the sea which has a fantastic mountain in it’s back yard. I hate long commutes and I love the outdoors. I can walk, ride my skateboard and cycle practically everywhere in town. In addition to that, it reminds me a lot of the Bay Area in California. I lived in Los Angeles for 10 years and moving to Cape Town is like moving to the west coast, Africa style. I have now been here for over a year and half and I love it. What is your earliest memory of cycling and when did it become a bit more of an obsession with you? My earliest memory of cycling is from when I was 3 years old riding around my parents’ house on my tricycle and I have never stopped riding since. I went from my tricycle to a bicycle with training wheels then BMX, mountain bike, road bike and finally track bike. I love outdoor activities and cycling is a big part of it. I’ve always lived in an urban environment and my obsession with track bikes started when I was living in Los Angeles, California. I was very involved in LA Critical Mass and most of my pals then were riding track bikes. When I moved to Cape Town I was fortunate to be introduced to a rad urban cyclist group (Cycles) and I had my first ride with Angela Harwood (Angie) and since then cycling in Cape Town has been full of amazing and new

experiences. I would describe cycling as an obsession but I’ve been in love with riding since I was a toddler. Once I was able to ride two wheels, I could not stop myself from it. In short, the joy started as far back as I can remember. Legend has it that you were born in Russia. How did you end up there and could you elaborate on your journey so far? LOL… The Russian story is a classic… I have even been called a Russian spy. Anyway, since I do not want to take you down into a rabbit hole, I’m going to try to keep a very long and fragmented story, concise. Both my parents received scholarships to study in Moscow, Russia. My father came from Bongouanou, Côte d’Ivoire to study architecture and civil engineering. My mother came from Maseru, Lesotho to study medicine. They both met at Patrice Lumumba University of Friendship in Moscow during the time of the Cold War when it was part of the Soviet Union. They eventually fell in love, got married and I, Tsepo Anoh became the first fruit of their union. We left the Soviet Union after they’d both completed their studies and moved to Maseru, Lesotho where we spent a little over a year. We then moved to Johannesburg for a short period of time and finally settled in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. Yamous-

soukro is the capital city of Côte d’Ivoire and my father was stationed there for a few years. We then moved to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire where I stayed for a few years. After high school, I moved by myself to Atlanta, Georgia with a scholarship to study Finance at Georgia State University. After I graduated from university with a degree in finance, I moved to Los Angeles, California. I lived and worked in Los Angeles for ten years and in 2013, I took a sabbatical and moved to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. My mother was stationed there with the UN/WHO. It was my first time in the country and I immediately fell in love with the people. I stayed in West Africa for 9 months and had the opportunity to spend some time in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. There’s no need for me to elaborate on my time there. I moved to the UK shortly after and travelled through Europe. I finally arrived in Cape Town in November 2015. You spend a lot of time on your bicycle in the city; what would you say is needed to enhance the safety of cyclists in Cape Town? Cape Town needs more dedicated cycle lanes. It is progressively becoming cyclist-friendly with dedicated cycle lanes in the CBD, taking you to the Waterfront, Green Point and Sea Point. The city also has cycle lanes that can take you from downtown to the North-

HIGH FIVES Alpha Blondy

the Beatles

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis

Jérusalem

HELP

Armstrong

A Tribe Called Quest

BEST OF ON VERVE

Midnight Marauders

Jamiroquai Travelling Without Moving

1986

1965

1997

1993

1996

EMI

Parlophone

Verve Records

Jive

Sony Soho Square

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ern Suburbs. The neighbourhood of Woodstock also has dedicated cycle lanes. There are a few other dedicated cycle lanes throughout Cape Town but they are discontinued after a certain point and cyclists are then forced to share the road with motorists.Anyway, if you apply the safety first rule, riding through the city of Cape Town is fantastic and my friends and I really enjoy it.

My track bike has a steel Motobecane frame. I bought my track bike when I was in Los Angeles and that was in 2010. I changed everything on it and all I have left from when I bought it is the frame. It was a progressive transformation and it happened over the years. I love the process of customizing my bicycle and I’m still doing work on it and changing parts. My bike is a living organism transforming and maturing over the years.

tive cycling. Shortly after I moved here, I heard about this race and I registered for the Cape Town Cycle Tour as a challenge. I basically challenged myself to go around the Peninsula on my track bike as is, which means without brakes and no freewheel. In March 2016 I rode 109km in 4 hours around the Peninsula on my track bike. It’s was simply amazing. I would say that it was one of the most beautiful rides I had ever had.

What do you enjoy the most about urban cycling and riding through the city? Urban cycling gives me a sense of freedom. The freedom to go from point A to point B without worrying about traffic or finding a parking space once you get to your destination. You are free to roam around the city and go wherever you want, whenever you want. At night especially, you get that rush since the streets are more or less cleared. When I ride through the city in the evening, it gives me that feeling of owning the streets. The biggest joy I get from urban cycling is discovering new places like restaurants, bars and local shops that I would have otherwise not spotted if I was driving. Urban cycling is magic especially on a track bike… but maybe I’m biased:)

When did you get into fixed gear cycling and which do you prefer? Do you own any other bikes? I got into fixed gear cycling when I started getting involved with LA Critical Mass. I met lots of people with track bikes and got curious. One day a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to try it and I fell in love. I bought my own track bike shortly after and the rest is history.I do have another bike and it’s a Swift road bike that I only use to exercise.On a daily basis, I prefer riding my track bike. I’ll only use my other bike if my track bike has a technical problem.

You must have had some seriously close calls on the road – are there any that stand out or that could have been potentially life-threatening? I’ve had many close calls but none of them were life-threatening. Being a pedestrian in Cape Town is life-threatening with cars making left turns without looking to see if there’s anyone crossing. On my bike, I stay on the road and share it with cars. I never ride on the sidewalk. Because I ride a track bike I’m much more aware of my surroundings. I do not have brakes and the only way to stop is to stop pedalling. As a result, I do not try to stop before the obstacle. I always anticipate and attempt to avoid any obstacles.

Speaking of your bike, what make is it and when did you acquire it? have you had a lot of work done on it over the years.

Have you competed in any cycling races over the years? The Cape Town Cycle Tour formerly known as the Argus is the one and only cycling race I have taken part in. Remember that I’m an urban cyclist and my pals and I generally do not associate ourselves with competiTHE LAKE

#oakley #Cantstop #oneobsession INFO: www.oakley.com 15

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> INTERVIEW - RICK DE LA RAY

PHOTOGRAPHY - Retha Ferguson

STALKER Retha Ferguson

“Going from staged photos to documentary photos was a big shift from my previous work, and I haven’t really looked back since. The hard-drives those photos were stored on have been stolen, so there is a clean break between those works and my subsequent work.”

Where did it all start for you? What is your earliest memory of a camera? When I was about four my dad took a photo of me washing dishes. I’m standing on a bucket to give me extra height so that I can reach the basin. My head is tilted back with an expression of slight surprise, but also curiosity. I think that’s my earliest memory of a camera, and because I liked the photo the memory stands out for me. Later on I loved borrowing my dad’s Pentax and remember the thrill of photographing a dolphin mid-leap (I wanted to be a marine biologist at the time). When I was studying Fine Art at varsity, Diane Victor saw my photos and she told me I don’t have to draw any more, I should focus exclusively on my photography. This meant I didn’t have to go to figure drawing classes any more. Where did you grow up and do you feel it has influenced your work in any way? I grew up in Pretoria, an extremely patriarchal space where women should be effeminate and short hair was frowned upon. I think this history has partly influenced my drag racing project, as an attempt to figure out and consider the phenomenon of hyper masculinity. Are you shooting full-time now or do you have other interests that take up your time? For the past seven years I’ve been occupied as a freelance lifestyle photographer. I say freelance, but it’s pretty much been a full-time job. This year I started my Masters degree in Visual History at The Centre for Humanities Research at UWC. So at the moment I’m freelancing part-time and studying fulltime, meaning I don’t have a lot of time for myself. Yet it’s been fantastic balancing my freelance work with my creative pursuits in a more structured way.

When I did my Honours in Fine Arts in 2007, I used installation and photography together in order to create self-portraits of myself interacting with the installations. I was very into Jung at the time and the photos were surreal and meant to invoke the unconscious. After I graduated I got a bit tired of staged photos and entered into a limbo mode where I wasn’t sure how to go forward. During my arts residency in Paris I took my first documentary photographs, and although I didn’t realise it at the time, those photos would later draw me to pursue documentary photography more seriously. If you look at your earlier images and compare them to now what would you say the key difference is between them? Going from staged photos to documentary photos was a big shift from my previous work, and I haven’t really looked back since. The hard-drives those photos were stored on have been stolen, so there is a clean break between those works and my subsequent work. There is something about the thrill of making a photo of a spontaneous moment that is unlike anything else I’ve experienced.

What drives you to capture an image? What type of situation appeals to you? When I make an image of someone, there is always some sort of recognition in the other person that draws me. So that connection with my subject is key. I don’t take a photograph unless there is something in the facial expression of the person that makes me think of something I have experienced. Do you find it difficult to approach your subjects? How do you decide whether to shoot from the hip or approach them for a portrait? I do find it difficult, but the more you do it the more you realise someone can either say yes or no, and both are ok. Even if someone doesn’t want to be photographed, you can probably still talk to them and have a positive encounter. I don’t ever shoot from the hip. I am very forthright in the way I work with my camera, and if someone seems to get uncomfortable by the presence of the camera, I move away and give them their space. If someone is more than four metres away, I would not necessarily ask them permission beforehand, but I would make it apparent that I’m taking a photo, and if they get

HIGH FIVES PJ Harvey

Blood Orange

Anouar Brahem

Neo Muyanga

Talking Heads

Is this Desire?

Cupid Deluxe

Le Pas du Chat Noir

DIPALO / audio cd supplement

Stop Making Sense

1998

2013

2002

2008

Island

Domino

ECM

Chimurenga Chronicle

1984 Sire/Warner Bros

When you first started taking pictures what was your original approach and are you still focussing on similar subjects? THE LAKE

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is more than four metres away, I would not necessarily ask them permission beforehand, but I would make it apparent that I’m taking a photo, and if they get uncomfortable I would stop. Sometimes consent is given with a nod, I love those unspoken communications. If I’m closer to the subject I always ask for permission beforehand. What camera are you using at the moment and what makes it relevant to the type of photography you focus on? Fuji XT10, It’s small and unintimidating. It’s perfect for street photography. For portraits and documentary film I use a Sony 7ARii. Which photographer would you say has had the most influence on you as person? It’s hard to narrow it down to one photographer. But probably Tanya Habjouqa. She has a project called Occupied Pleasures, which is all about how Palestinians spend their free time and the small understated moments in the midst of the occupation. I think the media tends to focus only on the iconic photos of violence, but there is a whole other world of minute gestures that reveal the everyday moments, and portrays how people laugh and build their lives in spite of all the efforts from outside to demolish it.

What is the most uncomfortable moment you have encountered so far while shooting? Hands down was when my camera got stolen. It was while I was photographing in Voortrekker Road, and after it happened it took me a year to go back to that space. Are you busy with any projects at the moment? I have been photographing Voortrekker Road for more than five years, and I’m still very far from done. Currently I’m working on my Master’s thesis dealing with the history of Voortrekker Road, and I’m just starting my film work to make a documentary film about the road. I’m interested in taking the storytelling aspect of the project further, and specifically in using photos and film in a way where the two mediums can overlap and draw on each other. The road encompasses a fragmented and layered history, so photography will be an important aspect of the film to emphasise the fragmentary nature of the space. I’m lucky to be in a wonderful, supportive space at the university which gives me a lot of creative freedom and the opportunity to work with film and history in a distinctly free and innovative way. INFO: Instagram: @rethaferguson INFO: www.rehaferguson.com

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\\ WORDS - RGBC

PHOTOGRAPHY - Brilynn Ferguson

Teacup in the sky HENDRICKS GIN Hendrick’s Gin has long guarded the mysteries of its most precious cucumber rituals, but today it is unlocking the doors to these secrets with the launch of its ‘Secret Order’ gift pack. The Secret Order gift pack includes a 750ml bottle of Hendrick’s Gin and a delightful porcelain teacup and saucer. With three different whimsical teacup designs available, curious individuals can collect a full set and enjoy a delightful infusion of flavours amongst friends. Available at leading liquor stores.

Hendricks Canadian Brand Ambassador Alvin P. Ramchurn is featured here in the Boudoir Room at the Darling Mansion in Toronto. Located steps away from “West Queen West “, deemed by Vogue Magazine as the second hippest district in the World, The Darling Mansion is The Home & Surreal Manifesto of Tanya Grossi whose Joie De Vivre , Style & Passion made her Bar Salvador Darling a Toronto Treasure. The Mansion is an Airbnb & a place to inspire & network with the Creative Community The Cheetah was created by internationally renowned street artist BIRDO. www.hendricksgin.com

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> ALL IMAGES - Simphiwe Ndzube WHATIFTHEWORLD & Nicodim Gallery

WORDS - M. Neelika Jayawardane

Precarious Bricoleurs Simphiwe Ndzube

South African artist Simphiwe Ndzube’s carnivalesque portraits catch figures in the midst of movement, in the process of becoming. His theatrical landscapes are peopled by characters who are learning how to be subjects of their own making. They observe others and analyse situations, emulating, educating and transforming themselves.

Rather than remaining still, his figures mobilise themselves into their futures, raucous and uncontained by physical boundaries, economic barriers, or legal structures and attendant gatekeepers meant to prohibit their existence and maintain them out of sight. We watch as they step into unfamiliar worlds, finding their own place in this brave, and sometimes compromised new freedom. We see them reading the iconography of power, finding ways to access formidable structures, shaping their public identities and personas in order to ease their way into structures that were previously shut off to them. But we also understand that they are not slavish imitators or simple mimics.

Whilst Ndzube’s characters may analyse the new worlds in which they find themselves, identifying conventions and discerning what is acceptable, they also riotously flout the usual rules of projecting power, class and arrival. Ndzube’s work is characterised by his use of multiplicitous materials, artistic techniques, and stylistic choices – including painting, collage and assemblage – reflecting the equally multiplicitous and contentious socio-political landscape of South Africa. The performative stages and figures he assembles are created out of roadside construction site material and castoff clothing – thrown-away objects that the “nobility” of South Africa have discarded. His fantastical leaps of imagination and practicality mirror the techniques common to the bricoleur; like the figures in his carnivalesque processionals, he welds together both home grown and borrowed aesthetic principles, philosophies, and cultural theories. Through these bricoleurs’ bodies, Ndzube reflects on the ways in which South

Africans struggle to face the impact of colonial and apartheid history on their fragmented families and communities, and how they attempt to heal the woundedness of their present. In employing a range of objects or ideas, Ndzube shows us that necessity forces him – and his performing figures – to appropriate and cast objects in new roles, subverting their intended and original social roles by giving them new meaning and uses. Through improvisation and tinkering, they make the most of what is available, despite the limitations of their material circumstances. Disjointed as their persons, bodies, and psyches may be, he – and his figures – attempt to fashion futures of their own making in the dystopian fringes of discarded-urban landscapes. The bodies that Ndzube fashions are covered by clothing from a past that we would sooner leave behind. This clothing – once fashionable and current – was quickly discarded by those who initially invested in them and wore them to decorate and conceal their bodies. Today, they have become charity shop suits that students might gleefully try on for a costume party. But the garish, paisley pat-

terned double-breasted coats, the moss-green velvet blazers, the wine-coloured suits, multi-hued ties, and the gentleman’s hats – still cocky as they were in a bygone era – are clothing that the ordinary poor of South Africa wear everyday; it is the clothing that they treasure for their Friday night out and iron for their Sunday best. Despite all their careful attempts at costuming – using discarded suits and ties, gentlemanly hats and polished slip-on shoes – the figures peopling Ndzube’s landscapes mirror the precarity of their present situations. The clothing is ill-fitting on the new wearers, and their bodies and historical baggage spill out of these constraining costumes designed for others. At times, the men’s limbs and bodies are positioned perilously – as if they are on a drunken walk, or if they are falling backwards from a precipice – tripped up by history, by impossible circumstances that prevent them from moving forwards to secure futures. They are laden with beer-bellies, and growths that mushroom out of hips, shoulders and backs, spilling out from beneath the hems of jackets and suit coats. Sometimes the figures car

HIGH FIVES Fela Kuti

Anderson Paak

Kanye West

Penny Penny

ASa

Finding Fela

Malibu

The Life of Pablo

Shaka Bundu

Bed of Stone

2014

2016

Knitting Factory

Empire

Def Jam

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2013 Awesome Tapes From Africa

2014 Naive Records

Simphiwe Ndzube - Waiting for Mlungu 3, 2017 / acrylic, spray paint, duct tape, and found objects on canvas 240h x 400w cm / 94.49h x 157.48w in

ry unwieldy cloth laundry bags, stuffed to the brim, on their shoulders. At other times, these lumpy bags take the place of a male figure’s head. Ndzube often accessorises his “men” with vintage ties – skinny ones from the ’60s, and broad shouldered ones from the ’70s. Sometimes, he stuffs these ties and twists them into cobra-like shapes. These “snakes,” enchanted and animated by vibrations, respond to the same music that moblises his human figures. But though they appear charming and comical, they also signal the venom and danger carried by the moving figures. Once they have been animated, and once they have come out of their restrictive containers, they may not act as the snake charmer – and his audiences – wish for them to. We fear them, yet find ourselves mesmerised by the thrill of watching their movements. These contradictory elements – the playful and the carnivalesque, as well as the hints of danger inherent in the uncontrollable and self-mobilised bodies of 26

the Other – mirror the desires and fears surrounding freedom in South Africa. In a similar vein, in repurposing orange plastic cones from construction sites – functional, ubiquitous objects around which we typically navigate – Ndzube creates unease by the simple act of defamiliarisation. In his landscapes, the cones we are so used to seeing at road-works are not simply markers of danger or hazard. Instead, here, their function is doubled – they are megaphones or vuvuzelas, broadcasting a different message. They sound out a joyful – if sometimes ear-splitting and irritating – noise. Ndzube reminds us that the freedom we craved will come with elements we may resent and even fear. It may organise interventions on our ordered and lawns of privilege, and disrupt our quiet. And whether the bearers of the megaphones are welcomed and embraced, or regarded as intruders in locations that would rather keep them out, they will assert their arrival. THE LAKE

Simphiwe Ndzube grew up in a community called Masiphumelele. It is situated between the picturesque surfing villages of Kommetjie, Capri Village and Noorhoek – each of which was reserved exclusively for whites, and still remains that way, owing to economic conditions and social exclusion. Initially known as Site 5, the township was renamed Masiphumelele – “we will succeed” – by its residents. Site 5’s purpose was to serve as a “spillage area” for the growing population of Khayelitsha – the sprawling township outside Cape Town designated for black South Africans during the Group Areas Acts, laws that were designed to completely segregate South Africa’s urban centres. Masiphumelele’s residents were never meant to be mobile; their purpose was to be removed from sight; the most they could hope to do – if they were lucky enough to find employment as a cleaner – was to be in the service of maintaining the “prettiness” of the surfing villages. But Masiphumelele’s residents did not remain still; it has been the site of numerous protests against ex

Simphiwe Ndzube - Finding Voice Finding Feet 2017 / Oil and mixed media on canvas / 240 x 200 cm

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Simphiwe Ndzube - Waiting for Mlungu (III) 2017 / Oil and mixed media on canvas / 240 x 200 cm

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Simphiwe Ndzube - Bhabharosi, 2017 / mixed media / 130h x 180w x 115d cm 51.18h x 70.87w x 45.28d in

isting conditions – lack of access to basic sanitation and healthcare, and failures by the present government to deliver housing projects as promised. The artist has often said that it is important that his work is relevant and accessible to the people from communities like his own, that it is reflective of the political, intellectual, and geographical journeys they have attempted to make, despite inheriting conditions meant to lock them away from even dreaming of escape. In this season of university student protests – young men and women who, over the past two years, have insistently placed their bodies at risk in order to demand the right to an accessible education, as well as living wages for those labourers and cleaners without whose daily presence the well-ordered lawns and buildings of universities would not function – Ndzube’s work is especially relevant. His work reminds us that the labouring bodies of South Africa’s invisible – the domestic labourer, the construction

worker, the urban and rural unemployed – have dreams for themselves and their children. And to bring those dreams to fruition, they have come to life. Although these are the bodies around which South Africa has mostly steered around, in Ndzube’s carnivals, they challenge the order of things, turning the world upside-down. They announce themselves to the world no longer content with being invisible, quiet, functional objects. Today, they are animated, with voices that will jar you out of easy complicity with privilege. Laden though they may be by history and circumstance, disenfranchised by the memories of evictions, forced migrations, as well as the inevitable addictions that came with those ruptures in their lives, Ndzube’s figures still aspire to forge futures worth dreaming about. On the performative stages that he creates, men high step and shimmy confidently, moving to rhythms only they can hear. They slip-slide into a world that once almost THE LAKE

succeeded in erasing their existence – through illegalising their bodies through the Group Areas Acts, Pass Laws, and everyday brutality – using their repurposed hazard cones to broadcast, “I, too, am here! See me, South Africa! See me, World!” The world they call out to may wish to remove them from memory, to relegate their experiences, history, and present to a shameful chapter. Yet their dynamic excesses, and their present-ness that wills them into the current landscape of South Africa will not allow that erasure. Having survived a past not of their making, still uncomfortable in and restricted by the borders and boundaries that do not fit their needs, the inhabitants of Ndzube’s landscapes stride proudly into the present. INFO: www.whatiftheworld.com INFO: www.nicodimgallery.com INFO: www.simphiwendzube.com 29

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Give 'Em the Boot

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Styling and direction:

Anees Petersen Seraaj Semaar Dylan Scott Petersen

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Ian Gustav Engelbrecht

MODELS:

Sara Lagardien Abduragmaan Fagodien Luke Bell Doman Maddy Williams yazeed Davids

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> WORDS - DAN CHARLES

PHOTOGRAPHY - OLIVER KRUGER

aficionado Kalo Canterbury / K-$

“I think that it started with wanting to push that core of playing funk, classic soul, disco and RnB but what I always try to recreate is a house party – how I remember a proper jol used to be. When I was growing up, that was the music that set the proper tone and made a good paati.”

When listening to Kalo Canterbury describe the roots of his signature style of throwback track selection that has led him behind the decks of some of South Africa’s most high-calibre music events under the guise of his slick, braggadocios alter ego, K-$, I’m reminded of how David Chase, creator of the masterful mobster series The Sopranos, elaborated on the choice of song for the series’ final scene in a shot-by-shot analysis given to the Director’s Guild of America in 2015. Five minutes before one of the most jarring finale scenes in television history, we see Tony Soprano flipping past Heart’s “Who Will You Run To” and Tony Bennet’s “I’ve Got To Be Me” on the jukebox of the diner that he’s sitting in, before settling on the barroom-standard power ballad “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. “It’s almost like the soundtrack of [Tony’s] life, because he sees various songs. No matter what song we picked, I wanted it to be a song that would have been from Tony’s high school years, or his youth. That’s what he would have played.” Obviously, this connection comes to mind because of Canterbury’s affinity for the playboy-boss mentality of the show’s conflicted protagonist (this much is illustrated in the photoshoot accompanying this article). However, that sense of finding comfort in celebrating the soundtrack of one’s youth is unmistakable in a K-$ set - much like it is in Tony’s jukebox selection.

is also very well aware of the significance that this sound has within the country’s black and coloured communities and the history that these songs hold.

“That style of music was like a method of escape for my parents and their parents and people of colour in general in this country during Apartheid. No matter what you were going through, you could throw on some Kool and the Gang and chill on your stoep and things can seem okay.” “It’s feel-good music that’s mostly made by people of colour and this is something that is very important to me. This is music that speaks about love, peace, happiness, friendship and having a good time. You can get lost in it and forget about the shit for five minutes.” But before Canterbury made a name for himself as an aficionado of old-school sounds, the K-$ brand

began as an online persona. What started as a nickname given to him in 2013 when he was working at Smith & Abrahams (which then later became Corner Store, the streetwear capital of Cape Town), soon turned into something of an icon amongst a swarm of Instagram followers. “It wasn’t really a conscious decision to make myself into this larger-than-life persona - it was just me being me while talking shit on social media and being like, ‘Yoh, this is fun!’. I was just drawn to the idea of taking a nice picture of myself, looking good and saying whatever the fuck I wanted and having it there forever for people to find. I’m just trying to encourage that idea of self-love.” As a prominent member of Cape Town’s LGBTQ community, with a dedicated following garnered from both his DJ career and his days of flexing his Corner Store threads online, Canterbury has built up something of a platform with which he is able to voice concerns over issues that he finds within his community.

HIGH FIVES TKZee

D’Angelo

Fleetwood Mac

Michael Jackson

Abra

Halloween

Voodoo

Rumours

Off the Wall

Rose

1998

2000

1977

1979

2015

BMG Africa

Virgin

Warner Bros

CBS

Awful

Since Canterbury started taking his DJ career more seriously just over a year ago, that throwback style of track selection has gradually expanded into a more prominent aspect of Cape Town night life - influencing selectas that can be found DJing at Yaadt Parties or events thrown by the LIT collective (of which Canterbury is the youngest member). But Canterbury THE LAKE

“This is confidence that you find from going through the process of actively being like ‘I’m going to love myself’ and encouraging that self-love. But, you know, you go through shit as a teenager and you go through that crisis of struggling to find who you are, what you stand for and how you want to use your voice.”

“I would always identify as queer but over the past year I was going through my little identity crisis trying to figure out where I fitted in and how I identify. This has been the year where I’ve been active and open about being transgender and asserting my pronouns properly. I’ve always been very open about what I stand for but I know that there’s a lot of ignorance in the world. Maybe even some of the people that come to my shows are ignorant or they don’t understand LGBTQ issues so it’s my job to kind of be a voice for those who aren’t as recognised as me. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed and if I have an online presence and a following that I can speak to and maybe change someone’s mind through or give people the real facts then I’m happy to do that.” Although Canterbury seems to effortlessly project an infectious air of confidence in the way that he carries himself online 38

and IRL, he assures me that this mindset only came with a lot of practice. “This is confidence that you find from going through the process of actively being like ‘I’m going to love myself’ and encouraging that selflove. But, you know, you go through shit as a teenager and you go through that crisis of struggling to find who you are, what you stand for and how you want to use your voice. It was just a decision where I was like: ‘regardless of how you feel about yourself, you’re going to love yourself and see how far that gets you.’ And from there it was like: this is who I am and I’m going to be unapologetic about it”. After spending an hour talking to K-$, or after an hour of checking out one of his sets, there’s no THE LAKE

doubt that big things are going to come his way soon. More importantly though, you want them to happen. As something of a testament to the power of self-love, Canterbury is also someone that seeks to share that love. He will make you want to see yourself the same way that he sees himself. And that’s not a mark of conceitedness on his part - only a mark of greatness. “What I always try to do is make people forget and have a good time, dance and enjoy the music. Whether you know the tracks or not, it’s still a sound that you just can’t deny - it’s too good! That kick, that bass and just that feeling.” INFO: www.soundcloud.com/k-dollahz INSTA: k.dollahz

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ABERRATION Justin Allart LIGHT

I’ve always liked the ‘4AD’ label album art - especially the Cocteau Twins’. There’s something mysterious about it. I could never quite figure out what it was I was seeing, but it didn’t really matter. It resonated with me and pulled me into their world...much like the music itself. The mystery was part of the attraction. It’s a gut feeling when an image works for me. I mostly use an old Pentax digital camera and filters, but I’ve also used crudely made pinhole cameras, scanners and generative computer programs to make images. My favourite images are mostly the result of accidents, chance and mistakes. I like the surprise of an unexpected result. My Pentax is more than 10 years old now and with long exposures I’ve started noticing hundreds of dead pixels, which is just fine. The night skies have stars now. www.flickr.com/photos/justinallart

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> WORDS - RUAN SCOTT

PHOTOGRAPHY - FRANTZ BIRKHOLTZ PHOTOGRAPHY LIVE - JACQUI VAN STADEN

Venom City THE VALLEY Bliss. The epitome of my reverie. A colorful abyss. The sound track to my perceptual foray: The Valley. Cape Town-based cosmic-psyche-desert-doom-rock band. I soar to unknown heights. Reverb envelops my reality. Searching for meaning in the message. This trip is self-induced by digestible cultural commodities. I’m lost. Alone. Materializing from the abandonments of consciousness, where reality once stood firm, Anton Louw appears. Planetary disarray abound but Anton’s’ presence confers a celestial calm amidst the chaos. Hair wafting in the supernatural wind. He reaches down from his magical and mechanical yet alien stallion. A turquoise electric guitar - his broad shoulders offer no resistance as he rides this guitar like a mad man with gold fever. I cower in the shadow of his burly body, built from being raised a farmer’s child in Ludtzville, Western Cape. With his slightly blemished Afrikaans English accent, “Come with me, the others are waiting.” In one swooping motion, I’m saddled behind Louw. The guitars twang and the ride starts. A buffet of guitar pedals. Anton clicks between them seamlessly. My periphery bleeds as we pick up speed. I notice two other riders steering their instruments like vehicles. Navigating the soundscape with tremendous ease. The music builds, holds a melody and breaks down into a galloping march. Le Roux Hofmeyer drives the bass line like the rider of an extraterrestrial motorcycle. He pulls up next to the leading colt, smiles and canters steadily on in a psychedelic haze, “I am in total ‘aweh’”. Charl Stemmet’s drum beats hold the procession together. A durable tempo. Like a long-haul truck from outer space. He swerves in towards us. “We’re not a psych rock band”, he proclaims calmly. His voice audible as if we were in silence. He trucks on. Driving The Valley forward. This unlikely cavalcade presses on. Breaking bad and going against the grain of traditional genres. Defying Doom with a “fuck it, pick it up” attitude by shortening songs and adding many melodies and harmonies.

of the sand. It resonates through his soul. Stepping over rotting carcasses he squeezes through the slithering crack and into the open cavity at the back. A sight to induce sore eyes. The remnants of life. The unquestionable bone structure of a human. We are sitting in a shallow grave of a domestic murder. The residue of a solitary killer. Inside their minds and hearts confusion and concern. To leave is the sensible thing. The Cave is born.

DISCOGRAPHY The Valley Obelisk 2017 - EP / 7” LP NOW NOW JUST NOW DOWNLOAD / BANDCAMP

An unsavory local appears on the scene as the cave is left in the shadows of the day. He has a nosey nose and knows his business is none of theirs and neither is there business his.

The Valley Siren / 2016 - SINGLE

They took the Poison and have to take this ride. They dip in and out of varying states of disbelief. Their encounter with the local leaves a suspicious aftertaste. They call the Police to investigate.

DOWNLOAD / BANDCAMP

The Valley Levitation 2016 - SINGLE

Lyrics are found among these strangest of encounters and experiences. This weekend away in search of the lyrical content gave rise to the lines in many of The Val

DOWNLOAD / BANDCAMP

HIGH FIVES Night Beats

The Black Angels

Jimi Hendrix

The Dead Weather

Black Sabbath

Sonic Bloom

Phosphene Dream

Band of Gypsys

Sea of Cowards

Black Sabbath

2013

2010

1970

2010

1970

Blue Horizon

Capitol

Third Man

Vertigo

The Reverberation Appreciation Society

Into the unknown up the wild West Coast for a breakaway weekend in search of lyrical musings. Arrival at a secluded beach at Strandfontein is met with grey skies and a red tide. The locals are nowhere. Rotting marine life everywhere. A walk among the decay, an unknown energy beckons Louw towards a crack in a rockface by the edge THE LAKE

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ley’s songs. Songs like Twist the Knife, Cave and Revelation all grew from the experience on the beach that day.

“There was no rush to get music out. The creation process is such an organic one for us. Growth took a long time too”

The band, who have been going since 2013, admits the process of cutting music and adding vocals has been a journey. A journey through a valley of the macabre. Even though their content is dark – like Hammerhead who deal with Austrian madman Josep Fritzl, they feel strong that making music is the height of positivity. “It’s the way we release the anger of the day”, says Louw. “There was no rush to get music out. The creation process is such an organic one for us. Growth took a long time too”, they say. “Throughout the process we were THE LAKE

discovering our sound”, says Hofmeyer. “Hell, we are still developing our sound but we have molded a distinctive ‘Valley’ feel”, Stemmet interjects. “The same goes for the name. Our sound is endless like a valley. We’re open-ended and we will adapt, bend and blend however and wherever we feel”, he ends off. Their first physical release ‘Obelisk’ released on local record company Now Now Just Now is a power trip of all elements considered. A gem of a 7” Really it is. Pressed on clear vinyl with a beautiful cover design by Simon Berndt. As Louw said, “This is our Obelisk. Our first mark and broadcast to the world”. INFO: www.thevalleybandsa.bandcamp.com INFO: www.nownowjustnow.com 51

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> WORDS - ROELOF PETRUS VAN WYK

PHOTOGRAPHY - ANTONIA STEYN

Oh, Superman Gill Rall / SPIRIT The Joker/ Dotard/ Reality TV Star has become the Cheetos King of the Divided States of Paranoiamerica, while another man-child, half Rocket Man/half Daddy’s Dictator Baby, is throwing hydrogen darts at the White House’s White Supremacist Twitter Twat. A slippery flip-flop between brute force and stupidity keeps us glued to our world of glowing screens. A looming battle between evil and evil seems to want to rip the globe apart, and everyone ends up a loser. If these cartoon villains don’t start the end of the world, then Harvey, Irma, Jose, Mary or on any weekday, a Mexican earthquake, could wreak the great apocalypse on us first. But it’s this posturing of masculinity, the ongoing performance of men being watched, of men knowing that they are being watched while in conflict, a conflict that arises from our historical moment. Whose vision of the world will eventually win out? Mark Singer wrote in reflecting on the narcissistic property mogul: this was “an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul.” Where is Superman’s superhuman abilities and sense of righteousness when we need him most? In this pessimistic moment, we ask ourselves, what makes us human? Are we inherently kindhearted and caring? Or just selfish and mean-spirited? Or do we have a spirited consciousness that lifts us into a higher star of being? I’d like to believe the spirit of Superman lives in all of us. Weren’t we supposed to identify with the superhero with superhuman qualities from Krypton, an ordinary spectacle-wearing Joe, who wrote humdrum newspaper columns by day and saved the city and its ordinary citizens, spectacularly under cover of the night? Hey, don’t we all want to be saved by Superman, have Superman’s abilities or perhaps get latexed-up into a Superman character ourselves? Yet Superman is but a lonely alien life-form in a tight-fitting latex suit who regularly saves humankind, just in time. ‘Superman’ is simply an identity to make him ‘human,’ to make him agreeable to the stinking, fighting, barely surviving human race hurtling to The Bitter End, or at least to The End of the Natural World as We Know It, as unworldly deep-sea creatures and waves of blue-bottled Man O’War Cnidaria wash up in unprecedented numbers on rotting seashores.

Can we talk about Superman’s suit, please? There’s something that I have always been too shy to ask, maybe being a little bit ashamed by my own sexy thoughts: what exactly is between him and the weatherproof ‘gum-elastic’ material, accidentally invented by Mr Charles Goodyear, ‘The Invincible Rubber Man,’ marrying material and mind. Mr Goodyear regularly wore rubber from head to toe; hats, vests, ties and shoes in order to demonstrate its useful qualities. Unsurprisingly, with such commitment and dedication to fashion, success came in the production of rubberised riffled shirtfronts so desired by the dandies of the time, who elevated aesthetics to a living religion. Charles Baudelaire: “Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality.” “Yet Superman is but a lonely alien life-form in a tight-fitting latex suit who regularly saves humankind, just in time. ‘Superman’ is simply an identity to make him ‘human,’ to make him agreeable to the stinking, fighting, barely surviving human race hurtling to The Bitter End...”

“There is probably no other inert substance,” Goodyear said, “which so excites the mind.” So, what excites the mind of a retired white heterosexual male, and auto-mechanic, from Edenvale, Johannesburg on any given weekday? Well, you should be able to guess by now. A rubberised latex suit. An exquisite, meticulously self-made ‘Rubber Doll,’ which transforms Gill Rall’s 77-year-old body into his alter ego, Spirit. Rall is part of a global subculture and growing community of so-called ‘female maskers’ who wear latex or silicone masks, torsos and body suits to make them look like the female of the species. With mostly THE LAKE

immobile or ‘doll-like’ faces, these costumes seem to be closer to female mannequins than real women. These transformations take place mostly in the private, domestic setting of Rall’s home, safely out of sight of a moralistic and conservative society that would not necessarily understand or be able to accept this kind of orientation, or otherworldly way, of being in the world. This is about to change with an exhibition at the Kalashnikov Gallery in Johannesburg. A startlingly beautiful set of photographs taken by Antonia Steyn over a period of four years, will also open with a single transformative sensory deprivation performance by Rall. A selection of the valved, belted, zippered and studded costumes will also be on display. Looking at the photographs, I wish, some days, that I could just slip into one of Rall’s Spirit suits and disappear into another world. Even if just for the morning until the kids get home from school, like Lucy Jordan. Getting out of the suit in time might be a challenge, especially if one gets a surprise visit, as you need a warm bath to peel the latex suit off your powder-coated body. (Ha! Powder. That’s what Superman wears between him and his red suit with extra padding, sewn by his earth mother.) The fluidity of Rall’s transformations between worlds, identities and gender is a kind of hopeful gesture for our times. What if we all had the superhuman ability to flow between worlds unbounded by identity politics? Or capital P, Politics? Spirit is the Superman we all need. And, by the way, the ’S’ on Superman’s suit stands for ‘hope’ in Kryptonian. Spirit opens on the 26th of October 2017 at the Kalashnikov gallery in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. INFO: www.antonia.co.za INFO: www.kalashnikovv.co.za 55

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Rall is part of a global subculture and growing community of so-called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;female maskersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; who wear latex or silicone masks, torsos and body suits to make them look like the female of the species.

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> WORDS - Jacqueline Flint

PHOTOGRAPHY - OLIVER KRUGER

ON REPEAT GEORGINA GRATRIX Georgina Gratrix was born in Mexico City and grew up in Durban. Now she lives in Cape Town and shows her work there, as well as other places such as Milan and Jo’burg, where her solo show, On Repeat, is currently adorning the walls of the SMAC Gallery in the Keyes Art Mile Precinct (except for that one day when it had to be taken down for Antonio Banderas’ charity gig). On Repeat serves up the same fare that Gratrix’s audience has come to love – over the top. Over the moon. Overly heavy, sickly thick swooning swathes. The lovechild of Maggie Laubser and Francis Bacon. Bubblegum blue and kitschy pink have made an appearance on some of the walls. The pink echoes the carpet that bedecked Gratrix’s booth with SMAC at the Miart art fair in Milan earlier this year. Appropriately, the pink that started out like freshly chewed Chappies was grungy and grubby with the footprints of smart Italian shoes by the end of the opening night. There are a few watercolours in this body of work, that float like ethereal fairies above the fray, and some small paintings in black and white that echo the witty and cutting cartoons that keep Gratrix’s Instagram followers chuckling. However, Gratrix’s use of impasto truly underwrites her practice. Layer upon layer of oozing squelching oil paint, sometimes applied with thick brushes and palette knives, sometimes squeezed right out of the expensive tube. Gratrix’s engagement with the materiality of her medium is reminiscent of Penny Siopis’ early series of cake paintings. The cake paintings were founded on Siopis’ memories of her mother baking and icing pretty cakes in her family’s bakery. For these paintings, Siopis worked with tiers of paint and cakey tones – which are also fleshy tones – building up deposits until the cakes departed altogether from the world of two dimensions and entered the world of sculpture on canvas. Siopis was interested, among other things, in the potential for paint to become object. Gratrix has pursued this experiment through her sculptures, which are like three-dimensional paintings – at times also of cakes, so decadent and heavily iced that they tempt the viewer to tuck in and fracture a crown. Her 2016 solo show, Puppy Love, featured a whole banquet table laden heavy with cupcakes and tarts and bowls of fruit, small sweet puppies waiting

patiently for the go-ahead to gobble, and overflowing ashtrays. On Repeat also features a smorgasbord of ceramic work: snacks and pets and small paintings laid out on a custom-made pink shelving unit. It feels like drinking tea with your granny while tripping on acid.

“The world she creates is at first glance one of a larger-than-life lady of leisure, but the opulence of the oil paint turns on itself. The over-the-top application begins to suggest decay, the rot of excess – like pancake make-up on a corpse – which is the scornful twist that undercuts the pop, the whimsy and the bling.” Some of the paintings in the show make use of a large scale – A Lover’s Discourse, for instance, measuring an impressive 4.5m across three panels of gaudy chattering parrots in blue-skied tropical jungle. Twilsharp Flowers also features over-sized hibiscus and tulips and lilies and trailing blooms, in

a vase like a swimming pool. However, most of the paintings are much smaller, and hung in such a way as to emphasise that, which is an age-old curatorial trick that forces the viewer in. And once you’re in, it’s easy enough to get lost in the ample folds. Like Siopis, her painterly predecessor, Gratrix is also determined to establish her feminine presence – not only via the pink and puppy dogs, daisies and rainbows, but also through the voluptuous fleshiness of her use of her medium. The world she creates is at first glance one of a larger-than-life lady of leisure, but the opulence of the oil paint turns on itself. The over-the-top application begins to suggest decay, the rot of excess – like pancake make-up on a corpse – which is the scornful twist that undercuts the pop, the whimsy and the bling. Even though Gratrix quips about paint being useful for making a mess, her pursuit within the medium is grimly sobering. In terms of subject matter, nothing is too lofty or too low. Motifs are trawled perhaps all the way from Mexico City, through childhood memories, the bouncing multiplicity of the artist’s tastes and

HIGH FIVES Fleetwood Mac Rumours

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds The Boatman’s Call

Yo La Tengo

Otis Redding

Mac DeMarco

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

Otis Blue

1977

1997

2000

1965

2012

Warner Bros

Mute/Reprise

Matador

Volt/Atco

Captured Tracks

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Georgina Gratrix, Twilsharp Flowers, 2017. Oil on Canvas. 180 x 150 cm

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Georgina Gratrix, A Lover’s Discourse (Part 1 of 3), 2017. Oil on Canvas. 180 x 150 cm

Georgina Gratrix, A Lover’s Discourse (Part 3 of 3), 2017. Oil on Canvas. 180 x 150 cm

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Georgina Gratrix, Mrs Wenta, 2017. Oil on Canvas. 90 x 70 cm

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Georgina Gratrix, GG, 2017. Oil on Canvas. 70 x 55 cm

Georgina Gratrix, Man with a Plan, 2017. Oil on Canvas. 70 x 55 cm

Georgina Gratrix, Still Life with Rat and Doves, 2017. Oil on Canvas. 90 x 70 cm

However, Gratrix embraces an art brut style, a term coined by Jean Dubuffet and ascribed to art created by those not formally trained, or existing outside of the traditional bounds of the art market – children, the mentally ill. internet behaviours, the latest pop songs, trending hashtags, jungles, designer nail art, sparkling sunglasses, heartbreaks, hangovers and out the other side as paintings and ceramic bric-à-brac. Some bling has also made it into the paintings themselves over the years – bedazzling beads, glitter and googly plastic eyes – most recently, for example, in the vicious teeth and teary cheeks of Emotional Man and the corpulent and glitzy mishmash of Sparkly Wounds. One of Gratrix’s favoured genres is portraiture, and it is in these works that the real complexity of her pursuit is most vivid. Mary Corrigall has suggested that Gratrix is ‘unable to settle on a single rendering of her subjects’ with ‘sometimes up to 30 different attempts…concealed beneath the surface.’ Never is

a face a straight-up eyes-nose-mouth affair for Gratrix. Multiple features, sometimes multiple faces (in the case of Mrs Wenta), or hardly any features at all (in the case of GG, a self-effacing self-portrait) present complex characters that are grappling with the multiple personalities and pressures that we are all familiar with in a social media world. However, Gratrix embraces an art brut style, a term coined by Jean Dubuffet and ascribed to art created by those not formally trained, or existing outside of the traditional bounds of the art market – children, the mentally ill. The deliberate naivety of this style is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it emphasises the intricacy of the identities she is depicting. On the other hand, combined with her cool, sometimes sarcastic, always dry titles it allows Gratrix to evade THE LAKE

too soppy or searching a reading of the work. The grotesqueness of the faces lies somewhere between poignant and hilarious, most often both simultaneously. Although she herself is most certainly operating in the central area of her market, her characters wander the mazes of their multiple selves, somewhere between the way they (really) woke up and their #bestlife. The world that Gratrix invites you into is one of frilly luxury, left out to rot in the tropical sun. Like the chipped red nail polish of an otherwise perfectly groomed woman, or the god-awful hangover after the best fun you ever had, or the pop song that makes you sick but you have it on repeat anyway. INFO:www.smacgallery.com 65

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> WORDS - RGBC

PHOTOGRAPHY - RGBC

Hori Smoku The legacy of Norman Collins / Sailor Jerry Sailor Jerry is not merely an expertly crafted spiced navy rum, but a celebration of the iconic tattoo artist that is still regarded as one of the biggest influencers of his industry. Much like the person it is named after, the rum is a celebration of being unconventional.

Sailor Jerry was born Norman Collins in 1911. In an era where people were expected to bow to convention, the young Norman was a square peg in a round hole from the outset, choosing to define himself on his own terms. Instead of completing his schooling and pursuing a conventional career, Collins left his home as a teenager to travel across the USA by hitchhiking and train hopping. He camped along the way and took on temporary jobs where he could find them. Like other free spirits of the time, he developed an interest in tattooing. His first tools were very primitive: a single needle and black ink. He painstakingly started to learn his craft by tattooing volunteers one painful poke at a time. Collins could have led the rest of his life in this fashion and died in obscurity, but two events changed his path. The first was a chance meeting with Chicago tattoo legend, Gib “Tatts” Thomas, who taught him to use a tattoo machine. Immediately, Collins became obsessed, he gained experience and developed his style by paying bums with cheap wine or a few cents in exchange for tattooing them. However, Collins’ thirst for adventure meant that he had to be on the move again. This led to the second important event, joining the navy. He immediately found his sea legs and developed a lifelong love of ships. He attacked his stint in the navy with exceptional vigour and earned master’s papers on every kind of vessel one could be tested for. Having seen many parts of the world, Collins settled in Honolulu, Hawaii after leaving the navy. In those days, the islands were relatively underpopulated and underdeveloped. This changed within a few short years, as the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour and sailors on military duty swarmed to the island. Many of those on shore leave swarmed to Honolulu’s Hotel Street, a seedy part of town comprised almost completely of bars, brothels and tattoo parlors. The Sailor Jerry legacy was about to start.

To escape the horrors of war, sailors filled their trips to Hotel Street with shenanigans and bravado. This meant that most sailors, a cosmopolitan blend of men from all layers of society, had to receive a tattoo as a war memento. Collins captured the zeitgeist with designs that were at once practical and elemental. The minimalist style found favour with the sailors, as war does not leave space for frills. This style, along with his deft touch with the tattoo needle, soon gained fame amongst the sailors, and his nickname, Sailor Jerry, was born.

Despite developing his unique style, Sailor Jerry remained a continuous student of the craft and became the first westerner to enter into regular correspondence with the famous tattoo masters (called Horis) of Japan to share techniques and experiences. By fusing American and Asian sensibilities, Jerry created his own style – iconic and artistic, irreverent THE LAKE

and soulful, radical and beautiful. Despite this correspondence, Sailor Jerry had ambivalent feelings towards the Japanese born from his fiercely patriotic nature and the attack on Pearl Harbour. He often employed mocking humor towards the Japanese, such as taking up the moniker Hori Smoku, to poke fun at the way the pronounce “holy smoke”. Sailor Jerry’s designs universal appeal ignited interest in tattooing and sparked a slew of imitations. He referred to these copycats as brain pickers and would routinely refuse to do pieces on customers who had tattoos by artists he did not respect. While constantly working to improve his craft, he also pursued his other varied interests, such as captaining his schooner on tours of the islands, playing saxaphone in a jazz band, and hosting his own radio show that consisted mainly of political rants and reading his own poetry. He was an iconic sight on the island, cruising around in his canary yellow Thunderbird or on his Harley Davidson. In 1973, at the age of 62, he was on the Harley when he suffered the heart attack that would claim his life. After collapsing in a cold sweat, he still managed to get back on the bike and drive it home before he expired. To capture and honour the spirit of Sailor Jerry, his protégés developed a Sailor Jerry Rum. Wanting to produce a navy rum to capture his essence, they conducted historical research into maritime rums and chose a unique blend of spices to produce a smooth rum with top notes of vanilla and cinnamon. The rum celebrates the tradition of sailors to improve their daily rum rations with a blend of spices. The higher alcohol percentage of the rum creates the right balance between the rum and its spices for a smoother flavour. Each bottle label can be peeled off to reveal a Sailor Jerry design, ensuring that his legacy is never forgotten. Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is now available in South Africa. Mix it with cola, your favourite mixer or just pour it over ice and let our work speak for itself. Recommended retail price is R200.00 www.sailorjerry.com 67

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> WORDS - Ryan van Rooyen

PHOTOGRAPHY - erin wulfsohn

WAX JUNKIE ryan van rooyen / FUEGO HEAT “I started collecting records almost reluctantly. I’m not quite sure when it was but my parents were wanting to throw out all their old records. I took some, and proceeded to carry around 500 or so shitty records with me from house to house as I moved for the next couple of years. Fast forward 10 years or so and I now actually have a record room, work at a record store and people sometimes give me money to play records I like. Here are some of the more memorable buys in my collection.” The Clash Combat Rock 1982 / CBS, Epic

Jimmy McGriff Electric Funk 1970 / Blue Note

My sister bought me this record in Prague. She messaged me to say that the store had anything so I frantically started texting her options. A little later she phoned me up and asked if The Eagles were OK because she had already left. Acting excited when I’m feeling underwhelmed has always been something I’ve struggled with and I’m guessing that my tone of disappointment travelled well over the phone line. I will always be grateful that she went back to the store. Thanks Danielle

Judging records by their cover has worked out pretty well for me. I didn’t know who Jimmy McGriff was but I felt like I knew what this would sound like from the moment I laid eyes on it. Maybe it was the lady in the blue, purple and red dress sitting cross-legged on the floor or the portrait of McGriff with a pencil moustache in a yellow polo neck and gold chain on the reverse. Mr McGriff and his electric organ sure do deliver on the jams.

The Gaslight Anthem Sink or Swim 2007 / XOXO

I-Shensound King Size Dub 1985 / Hypoxia Records

I have an unhealthy obsession with this band and Brian Fallon in particular. This was their first album and their punkiest but still adequately Springsteen-esque. Dirk hates this band though. Sink or Swim was the only music in my car for 6 months until “59 Sound” joined it for a further 6 months. Dirk didn’t have a car and had to travel everywhere with me. Dirk didn’t stand a chance. But fuck him, this record is great.

A lot of my records have come from the Car Boot Market and most of them are my shit ones. The one day there was an old punker selling his collection. I got some pretty good Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash and Burning Spears records. I bought this one just because the cover (another one) picture is of some dagga and it said King Size on it. I guessed it was going to be reggae but it turned out to be my formal introduction to dub.

Hank Crawford Tico Rico 1977 / Kudu

Medicine Boy Kinda Like Electricity 2016 / Medicine Boy

We got this record in as stock at the shop and I instantly fell in love with it. I played it every day for 3 weeks as I opened up the shop. Then I played it while customers were around and it got grabbed up quick smart. Luckily my GF’s dad is a fantastic man and gave me his copy when he heard how bummed I was. Also, Hank Crawford’s cover of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” is the best for romance dances with a little bump and grind at the end.

This album is very very good. This was the first contemporary local vinyl that I bought and it’s probably my favourite. This is probably going to sound super wanky but I like to sit in the dark, drinking red wine and looking out over the city lights while playing this record. I also like to listen to it at other times but mainly at that time. Yup, that sounded pretty wanky.

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> PHOTOGRAPHY - Rodger Bosch

IN TRANSIT myciti / Table View Alan Munro Table View station is a major hub on MyCiTi’s first route with a dedicated red lane for buses. Busy throughout the day and into the evening, it’s a transfer point for several local routes.

The graphic work by artist Alan Munro is called the “South-Easter Bunnys” (the spelling is deliberate and often commented on). It’s inspired by two separate elements – the strong south-east winds that are a familiar feature of life in Table View and news at the time about Robben Island being overrun by rabbits. These ideas came together as bunnies being blown about by the wind, rather like the passengers when the wind is strong. Graphic, comical, animated and endearing, this work has proved extremely popular with the public. Munro says he wanted to bring some lightness into the daily experience of the pasTHE LAKE

sengers. “That’s my aim, to bring some playfulness into the world around us. It can be mundane waiting for the bus, so bringing lightness and humour into that situation always helps.” The design also responds to its environment in another way, framing the view of Cape Town Stadium glimpsed across Table Bay. About the Artist Alan Munro is a designer, animator and illustrator who lives in Cape Town. INFO: www.myciti.org.za/en/myciti-art 71

myciti / Grey Rodan Hart The theme of urban experience and the way that South African cities have transformed and are transforming is a thread running through all of Rodan Hart’s work. For Grey station, he has designed three free-standing steel sculptures, about 2 by 1.5 m in size.

The artist describes them as “porous” in that they will comprise a series of vertical slats which can be seen through. They are inspired by the patterns in shutters and grates and other architectural elements within Cape Town’s city centre. The artist speaks of how the work will be connected to the site and will be activated by the people who inhabit the space. “The idea is that as an individual walks around them and engages with the work they’ll start to see a fragmented representation of the surrounding context.” 72

About the Artist Rodan Hart was born in 1988 and studied fine art at the universities of the Witwatersrand and Cape Town, specialising in sculpture. Since graduating, he has exhibited in many of South Africa’s major art institutions and his work can be found in numerous collections including the Nirox Sculpture Park at the Cradle of Humankind. INFO: www.myciti.org.za/en/myciti-art THE LAKE

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PRINT RUN REVIEWS - XAVIER NAGEL

SUPPLIED BY - BIBLIOPHILIA

Dandy Lion

Art Sex Music

A History of the Iziko

Suits that pop with loud colors and dazzling patterns, complete with a nearly ubiquitous bowtie, define the style of the new “dandy.” Described as “highstyled rebels” by author Shantrelle P. Lewis, black men with a penchant for color and refined fashion, both new and vintage, have gained popular attention in recent years, influencing mainstream fashion. Now, set against the backdrop of hip-hop culture, this iteration of dandies is redefining what it means to be black, masculine, and fashionable. Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style (R690) presents and celebrates individual dandy personalities, designers and tailors, movements and events that define contemporary dandyism.

Art Sex Music (R315) is the wise, shocking and elegant autobiography of Cosey Fanni Tutti, who, as a founding member of the avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and electronic pioneers Chris & Cosey, has consistently challenged the boundaries of music over the past four decades. It is the account of an artist whose Prostitution show at the ICA in 1976 caused the Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn to declare her and Throbbing Gristle ‘Wreckers of Civilisation’........ shortly before he was arrested for indecent exposure, and whose work continues to be held at the vanguard of contemporary art. And it is the story of her work as a pornographic model and striptease artiste which challenged assump-

In South Africa, with its highly contested and mutable understandings of national identity, its National Gallery is no less a contested space. A History of the Iziko South African National Gallery: Reflections on Art and National Identity (R290) explores how the gallery has understood its function and its public, as a ‘national’ gallery (from 1930) and, before that, the chief gallery of the Cape Colony. This question is investigated through a study of the gallery’s administration, collection and exhibition practices, and the works it bought and exhibited, as well as the public response to exhibitions, setting it in the context of national galleries worldwide and particularly in the former colonies.

South African National Gallery

Bit Rot Bit Rot (R320), the latest book by Douglas Coupland, explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland’s legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pattern recognition has powered his fiction, and his phrase-making. Every page of Bit Rot is full of wit, surprise and delight.

The Owl House Drain on Our Dignity As a photojournalist, Masixole Feni spends a lot of time photographing service delivery strikes and protest in the townships. Often the images that make it into the newspapers are only of the looting and burnings. Renting a backyard room in an informal settlement, Feni was troubled by this kind of portrayal of the lack of service delivery and the life of the marginalised. Drain on Our Dignity (R250) echoes the ground-breaking images produced by Ernest Cole in the early 1960s, showing black life under apartheid 74

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The Owl House (R320) is a visionary outsider art environment unlike any other, located in the small village of Nieu Bethesda in the isolated South African Karoo; what was once the childhood home of Helen Martins was transformed into a work of uncommon originality. During her lifetime, Helen was misunderstood and was widely regarded as being ‘crazy’. Living in seclusion on a meagre pension, she created the Owl House in the face of much adversity. Lacking any formal art training and using materials readily at hand – recycled glass bottles, builder’s cement, mirrors and wire – she created what is now internationally regarded as an outsider art environment of outstanding interest.

Sandton Eastgate Rosebank Mall of Africa Menlyn Gateway V&A Canal Walk

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PLIMSOLL

VANS - SK8-HI 38 DX (Anaheim Factory) OG Rust / Black

VANS - SK8-HI 46 MTE DX Black / Flannel

VANS - SK8-HI 46 MTE DX Glazed Ginger / Flannel

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VANS - AUTHENTIC Dusky Citron / True White

VANS - AUTHENTIC 44 DX (Anaheim Factory) Black / Check

VANS - SK8-HI REISSUE (Moto Leather) Black / Blanc De Blanc

VANS - SK8-HI Dusky Citron / True White

VANS - SK8-HI Goblin Blue / True White

VANS - OLD SKOOL Goblin Blue / True White

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ADIDAS - TUBULAR DOOM SOCK SESAME / SESAME / TALC S16

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PALLADIUM - Baggy Low LP Flower Black / Grey

PALLADIUM - Crushion of Camo BLACK

PALLADIUM - Pallabosse OFF CVS Black Camo

PALLADIUM - Pampa Lo Cuff Sue Black / French Metal

PALLADIUM - Pampa Lo Cuff Sue Brown Sugar / Slate Black

PALLADIUM - Pampa Lo Cuff Sue - Mahogany Rose / Marshmallow

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PLIMSOLL

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport white

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport BLACK

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport Red

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport metallic Black - Women’s

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport Rose Gold - Women’s

NEW BALANCE - 574 sport Silver - Women’s

ASICSTIGER - GEL-KAYANO TRAINER BLACK / MARTINI OLIVE

ASICSTIGER - GEL-LYTE III MARTINI OLIVE / MARTINI OLIVE

ASICSTIGER - GEL-Lyte White / White

ASICSTIGER - GEL-Lyte BLACK / BLACK

ASICSTIGER - Percussor TRS FEATHER GREY / FEATHER GREY

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Onitsuka Tiger Mexico Delegation Feather Grey / Navy Peony

Onitsuka Tiger Mexico Delegation Peacoat / Eggplant

Onitsuka Tiger Mexico Delegation Hampton Green / Black

Onitsuka Tiger - GSM Russet Brown / Russet Bro

Onitsuka Tiger - GSM Coffee / Coffee

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DIESEL - SKB H2442

DIESEL - SKB H2522

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PALLADIUM - Pallarue TRNG Camp Black / Black

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PALLADIUM - Pallarue TRNG Camp Indigo / Total Eclipse

PALLADIUM - Pallaslider Coated Mid Army Green / Black

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PALLADIUM - Pallaslider Coated Mid Indigo / Black / Indigo

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Souvenir Jacket ASICS Tiger A Collaborative Project With BEAMS & mita Sneakers

Asics Tiger announces its second collaborative project alongside BEAMS and mita sneakers, producing a capsule that includes apparel and footwear. The project, titled Souvenir Jacket, was inspired by the Yokosuka Jacket, created as a souvenir for the American military serving in Japan.

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The project, titled Souvenir Jacket, was inspired by the Yokosuka Jacket, created as a souvenir for the American military serving in Japan. This popular style served as the point of reference for the items within the collection, including a velour hoodie and pants, a long sleeve t-shirt, and the GEL-LYTE III. Asics GEL-LYTE III comes heavily detailed with iconic features such as a navy pigskin nubuck and velour upper, with an embroidered dragon face on the heel of the shoe. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is lettered along the side of the shoe in an original script, with the same styling being used for the dual branding towards the tongue.The insole includes graphic details, with a final dragon motif decorated with the outsole of the shoe.Apparel items in the collection include a similarly adorned long sleeve t-shirt, in both navy and white, and a full velour tracksuit that references the original materials of the Souvenir Jacket. INFO: www.asicstiger.com INFO: www.theadventuresof.com

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