Willem Boshoff and materiality according to Adorno

Abstract

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 Adorno claims that works of art do not explicitly need to have a historical content because they exercise their critique through the way in which they configure material that already contains history.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

Hierdie artikel bied ‘n interpretasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar Willem Boshoff se installasie, Writing that fell off the wall (1997) om te illustreer hoe hy sy materiaal gebruik om kolonialisme en apartheid te ontmasker as onmenslike ideologieë. Adorno se beskouinge oor materialiteit dien as ‘n teoretiese raamwerk. Volgens Adorno is geskiedenis gesedimenteer in die kunstenaar se materaal en vormelemente. Hy onderskei tussen die Inhalt (materiaalinhoud) en Gehalt (sosiale waarheidsinhoud) in kunswerke. Adorno stel dat kunswerke nie eksplisiete historiese inhoud hoef te bevat nie, omdat kunswerke hul kritiek uitspreek deur die manier waarop die materiaal waarvan die kunswerk gemaak is, reeds geskiedenis bevat. Die kunswerk se betekenis word geopenbaar deur die dialektiese verhouding tussen die Inhalt en die Gehalt. Ek argumenteer dat Boshoff die bankrot ideologieë kolonialisme en apartheid ontmasker deur konseptueel ideologies-gelade konsepte in agt verskillende voormalige “superieure” tale gedurende kolonialisme en apartheid, op die vloer te strooi.