Our services
Riding through the raindrops on yet another damp Arnhem June evening, we negotiated the small passageways in the Centre to find ourselves on the top floor of a Varkenstraat apartment-cum-studio space.
The space is the headquarters for a global artist-in-residence programme called the Thamgidi Studio Foundation: a not-for-profit Private Foundation and artist-led organization based in the Netherlands that supports the belief in the reciprocity of cultural exchange in developing mutual respect among artists and societies.
Sithabile Mlotshwa, Thamgidi’s charming founding director and native of Zimbabwe, gave us a tour of the place upon entering the low ceilinged foyer. A functional kitchen, small makeshift office and study, bedroom, and a larger space for working marked the extent of flat. In addition, there was an under-construction atelier that would be the logical place for a proper studio workspace as the programme expands.
We were there on the invitation of Sithabile to witness the presentation of the work of current Spier Contemporary artist-in-residence award winner, Mr. Johann van der Schijff -- an affable and sociable visual artist and senior lecturer in digital arts and new media at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town, South Africa. Mr. van der Schijff is the product of white-Dutch settlers in South Africa dating back to the mid-1600s, and who grew up during the country’s apartheid era (1948-1994). He has staged well-received exhibitions in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Benin, Algiers, Dakar, Arnhem, Berlin, and Stuttgart.
The Spier Contemporary residency award is a fully Thamgidi-funded residency prize, which was given for his poignant work called “Heartbreaker.” “ Heartbreaker” is a shiny demolition hammer elevated on a garish black trolley, complete with white pin stripes and chrome wheel caps, lures the viewer to engage with it. As the viewer moves towards the sculpture for closer inspection, a motor sensor triggers Heartbreaker into pulsating action. The noise of the chisel blade, reminiscent of machine gun fire, beats away into thin air, as the trembling demolition hammer lies strapped down onto red leather cushions. In the artist’s words, “It is a sight of the absurd: repulsive yet exhilarating.”
Mr. van der Schijff amply used multimedia to give us a real-life perspective on “Heartbreaker.” Otherwise, its influence would have been culled, and its power completely washed away. The work captured the imagination and made a clear statement of Mr. van der Schijff’s intention to convey questions of power relations from a violent and ever-shifting society.
He also touched on his extant “Community Punching Bag” CPB project. Grotesque punching bag heads are designed to give viewers the opportunity to deign their natural reactions to issues of power and rage. One side of a punching bag is coloured and the other is left white. They are given hair and odd shaped eyes reminiscent of voodoo dolls. Viewers are hesitant upon approaching the bags, but once settled they begin punching. They punch the side of the bag that gives them the most fulfillment, depending upon a range of deeply rooted social sensibilities.
Mr. van der Schijff’s work is exceptional, but it is not for everyone. I got the sense that it can be downright repugnant to some, and awe-inspiring to others. Yet, to others, fodder for head scratching. We must therefore return to the eternal question, “who is art made for?” – the artist or the audience? It is easy to see art particularly through the lens of haute couture, and then sometimes as irrelevant and frivolous. Ergo, should art strike a certain aesthetic mode for us as an audience to enjoy it? Or is it for the artist to make a statement with their work, and to not give a hoot about what an audience thinks or feels? Are there gray areas? Appreciation must be subjective, no? Mr. van der Schijff makes bold statements with his work, no doubt. It is cutting-edge and contemporary, but is it art? Surely, subjectively. But, I really think Mr. van der Schijff’s work should be witnessed firsthand to fully appreciate its puissance.
If this article has piqued your interest, please go to http://www.johannvds.com/, to read more on Mr. van der Schijff’s work and to interact with it through multimedia.
By Sam Yellen
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
