(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Van Vuuren, Chris J.
The ruin of the homestead represents place making and an understanding of the layered landscape where
former labour tenants resided. Ruins comprehend narratives which deal with the socio-political circumstances
of the time, such as displacement and the subsequent loss of house in the case of former labour tenants.
Presently labour tenants and their descendants who registered land claims activate life histories through the
mnemotechnic capacity of the ruin of the homestead, graves, and domestic and agricultural space. Ruins also
carry sentiments of kinship and identity. The degree to which the ruination of house and homestead has taken
place impacts directly on the quality of memory. Case studies will illustrate how this affects the calling up of
the past.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Proimos, Constantinos V.
In this paper I examine two texts by Jacques Derrida, written at the beginning of 1990s, his “Force of
Law: The Mystical Foundation of Authority” and Memoirs of the Blind: The Self Portrait and Other
Ruins written on the occasion of the exhibition Derrida curated at the Louvre. In the first text Derrida
claims that deconstruction is justice because it is associated with the quest for reinterpretation of all
criteriology, including all rules, associated with law. He goes on to explain how implementing the
law in the name of justice is a violent procedure and necessarily entails at times a reinterpretation at
other times a suspension or even destruction of law. I analyze his reading of Memoirs of the Blind:
The Self Portrait and Other Ruins in the context of the preceding arguments about the force of law.
Placing blindness at the origin of all drawing, favoring memory and not perception and arguing
that sight and eyes are meant for crying, rather than seeing, Derrida promotes a violent reversal of
values in art theory, in the name of justice. Promoting the marginal and the repressed is a result of
an interpretative violence: Derrida puts at the highest rank of values criteria which are in a state of
ruin, after years of repression and marginalization. Our filiations with them are consequently impure,
contaminating, negotiated, bastard and violent. However, the ruin is not meant as a negative thing but
as an index of mortality and an object of love.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Steenkamp, Alta
In Gerhard Moerdyk’s communications, both orally and in writing, on the origin and importance
of the design of the Voortrekker Monument (1949, Pretoria, South Africa) he often associated this
monument with various other monuments across the world. These references fall in two groups:
the first concerns a statement that developed and changed over time, wherein the Voortrekker
Monument is placed in a scale relationship to well-known world monuments. These include the
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Dom des Invalides, the
Taj Mahal, an Egyptian pyramid, the Great Wall of China and the Völkerslacht Denkmal. The
second concerns the relationship of the design of the Voortrekker Monument to Great Zimbabwe,
and explores the different views that Moerdyk expressed of this monument. The article shows
how Afrikaner sentiment and ideology directed and shifted Moerdyk’s own personal views and
comments on the tension that arose between his personal interest as an architect and his public
views as a representative of Afrikaner ideals.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Steyn, Gerald
Contemporary authors on African urbanism regularly repeat reports by early European travellers
of large Tswana settlements with populations of approximately 20,000, apparently the same size
as Cape Town at that time. These settlements, called agro-towns, unlike Mapungubwe and Great
Zimbabwe, are mostly described in academic publications, while very few architects know what
they really looked like. This article applies quantitative analysis to the plans of the ruins of certain
distinctive Tswana stone-walled homesteads and villages by exploring the physical attributes such
as size, shape, geometries, spatial patterns and land-use intensities. Sizes are subsequently compared
with those of pertinent frontier towns of that period, as well as those of Great Zimbabwe, which
are widely recognised and undisputed as urban entities. The purpose of the investigation is simply
to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Tswana settlements, vis-à-vis contemporaneous
European towns and those of the Shona some time earlier.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Steele, John
Ceramic pots which once were whole and in use by peoples many centuries ago have, in most instances
along the Eastern Cape coast of southern Africa, become fragmented and buried below consecutive
layers of sand, soil, vegetation, and leftovers of people’s lives. Yet, such potshards also pop up and
become revealed as coverings move and peoples disturb resting places. Their omnipresence in parts
of the archaeological landscape of this region has led several writers to record their presence and
speculate as to various significances during the past century. This article, with reference to some
ideas of ruination, takes a look at ceramic artifacts excavated at Zig-Zag and Umgazana caves in
and near Port St Johns [with contextualization mainly from the likes of PW Laidler (1929), as well
as from EC Chubb, G Burnam King and MA Mogg (1934); and from J Schofield’s researches in
the 1930s] as part of a process aimed at further establishing a setting for the visual arts milieu of
contemporary rural potter Alice Gqa Nongebeza, who works in that area.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Van der Vyver, Yolanda
When choosing a site for their colonial towns the Greeks favoured places that resembled the
geological context of their native country, because they could adapt their familiar water management
and town-planning practices to the suit these conditions. This paper proposes that when the Romans
annexed these settlements, they often built on the ruins of the earlier Greek settlements and that
the same can be observed in Greek and Roman settlements in what is today Provence-Alpes-Côte
d’Azur. When Roman authority crumbled (476AD) and the region was invaded by Barbarians, only
the more massive Roman monuments withstood ruination and subsequent Provençal architecture
was designed to resist attack. This paper further investigates how some towns and structures were
built on the ruins of Roman ramparts and how in others the geology was used to determine the
position of settlement. It contributes to the existing body of knowledge of Roman ruins in Provence
by suggesting geology and ruin as settlement generators
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Crous, Marius
This article examines the textual relationship between the paintings of Adriaan van Zyl and the novel
Memorandum: a story with paintings (2006) by Marlene van Niekerk. The traditional assumptions
about what constitutes the narrative as genre are subverted by the inclusion of the so-called Hospital
Series 2004-2006 by Van Zyl. The novel should not be read as a commentary on the paintings as
such but rather as an accompaniment to the paintings – as suggested by the author herself. From the
interaction between painting and novel the reader/viewer has to rely on certain codes and conventions
to analyse the text under discussion. Genette’s notion of transtextuality and in particular his notion of
the architext assists the reader in deconstructing the meaning of this collaborative project on human
suffering.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Schoeman, Gerhard
The departure point for this article is photographer Roger Ballen’s series Boarding house (2008),
which is explored partly in terms of the antediluvian creature, Odradek, in Franz Kafka’s short story
“Troubles of a householder” (1919) and in terms of melancholia. Odradek, as the Thing that outlives
us and illuminates obscurely, is an allegory of ruin. Incomplete, ambiguous, and mortifying like a
photograph; it is also intricately related to the dialectics of melancholia (meaning both heaviness and
inspiration). In Ballen’s geologically petrified photographs, the piling up of fragments and ornaments
produces the grim heaviness of mythic fate and guilt. I want to open up the possibility of the
elucidation and reversal of myth in Ballen’s work by contrasting a strain of ambiguous photographic
stereotypes (including by August Sander, Diane Arbus, Pieter Hugo and Zwelethu Mthethwa) with
examples of critically inflected photography and with a found image.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Mare, Estelle Alma
This article is introduced with a statement about the author’s involvement with El Greco studies and
her attempts to understand the manifestation of mysticism in his art. The research focusses on the
visual experience of two different kinds of beholders in El Greco’s oeuvre: the virtual backturned
figures in paintings beholding a vision as part of the representations, and the beholders in real space
viewing the complete paintings. The presentation in each of the seven works discussed is mediated
by an internal backturned beholder, forming a nodal figure in the composition, who views a mystical
vision as the main theme presented in the painting, while the beholder in real space views the
beholding backturned figure, his vision and the total composition.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) De Villiers-Human, Suzanne
The current renewed interest in the phenomenon of iconoclasm (a form of ruination) is a symptom of
the re-thinking of the image in a medium-aware milieu. When the medium is attacked in iconoclastic
acts, images endure and circulate more vigorously. In this article the focus is on the ambiguous
historical moment of destruction; on the impending blow; on the hammer or sword in mid-swing – on
the breaking of images as a moment of the dissemination and endurance of historical meaning. The
metaphorical power of the ruin to evoke not only loss, but also completion or fulfilment, is exploited
here to intimate a systematic distinction between allegory and symbol. Through the performative
interpretation of a number of art works which stage ruination, destruction, deterioration or violence,
the historical processes of the emancipation, transformation, translation and re-mediation of images
is related to conflicted understandings of the meaning of history. I endeavour to show how diverse
beliefs about the mystery of the meaning of history are related to the ways in which the world is made
to signify in nuanced artistic ways, either allegorically or symbolically.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Lauterbach, Thorsten
The agenda for current discussion in copyright law has largely been set by digital technology.
But whereas issues like illegal file-sharing and fair dealing rightly occupy centre-stage, the issue
of moral or author’s rights has become increasingly important, particularly amongst architects of
commissioned works. Buildings, plans and sketches regularly attract copyright protection if they
comply with the minimum requirements of originality or individual creative contribution. Often,
author-architects find themselves required to take legal action against owners of their creations:
authors object to modifications of their works, arguing that these breach their integrity right, while
owners point to their property rights and the change of purpose or function which necessitates lawful
changes to buildings. This paper considers recent decisions in civilian jurisdictions in an analysis of
the breadth of the integrity right and available remedies.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Kwenaite, Sindi; Van Heerden, Ariana
Dress is integral to visual culture. Judges, cultural vigilantes and in some cases, females themselves,
have expressed or supported the notion that a woman deserves to be violated for her choice of
dress. Such choice of dress need not necessarily be deemed risqué - violence towards women has
been justified in incidents where women have worn short skirts, trousers, and even the traditional
kanga. It emerges that such punitive practices take place predominantly in patriarchal, conservative
communities, said to be influenced by cultural values. Various facets of South African law cause
tension in executing the law to protect victims of, for example rape, as there are conflicting approaches
to women’s rights under customary law, the constitution and international human rights laws. This
article aims to expand understanding of a complex and serious issue, namely, the perceived right to
violate women due to their choice of dress – in this case the art – and the laws that are in place to
protect victims.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Taub, Myer
This paper applies an appropriation of leveling, as a performance / performance art construct, in order
to contribute to the dialogue between art and authority in the post-apartheid city of Johannesburg.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Brink, Basil
Two important and original buildings in the respective oeuvres of the South African architects RS
Uytenbogaardt (1933-1998) and C Strauss Brink (1920-1992), viz. the Bonwit Clothing Factory (1967)
in Cape Town by the former, and the Peri Urban Areas Health Board Headquarters Building (1959) in
Pretoria by the latter, have been subjugated to conform with their surroundings. The article presents
these buildings as respective examples of two modern architectures, Brutalism and the International
Style. In symbolising the brutalisation of factory workers, essentialising the industrial aesthetic-astype,
introducing original forms, and using carefully considered materials, the Bonwit Factory is
positioned at the pinnacle of Uytenbogaardt’s architectural achievements. Strauss Brink’s carefully
considered combination of sparkling black banding, olive green, thin white stripes, decorative grille
blocks, and articulated façades made the Peri Urban building an original, striking, and aesthetically
pleasing building. The obliteration of one of South Africa’s most important Brutalist buildings as well
as one of its original International Style buildings is a loss to South Africa’s architectural heritage.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Olivier, Bert
This paper is an interpretation of the recent work of the Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth artist, Cleone
Cull, through what one might call a ‘close looking’ at the works in question (that would parallel
‘close reading’ of a literary text). Such a ‘looking’ yields an interpretive grasp of her works which
has the primary impression of a ‘dynamic equilibrium’ as its point of departure, which further lends
itself to being interpreted through what it itself suggests in the guise of visually and chromatically
instantiated markers. The preponderant, pervasive visual motif running through these works is that
of interconnectedness and process – a percept (perceptual counterpart of ‘concept’) which further
lends itself to a number of mutually resonating interpretations, framed in terms of familiar theoretical
complexes, such as alchemy, Tantra, Jungian depth psychology and Zen Buddhism. But the most
persuasive, and accommodating, philosophical-theoretical matrix suggested by the visual features of
Cull’s works is the philosophical ontology of Deleuze and Guattari, as articulated in Anti-Oedipus,
which therefore comprises the major thread of this interpretive essay.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Schmidt, Leoni
This article is based on a contribution to the Art & Law Symposium held at the Dunedin School of Art
at Otago Polytechnic, New Zeeland on 29 October, 2010. This symposium was jointly organized by
the Dunedin School of Art and the Law Faculty at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The aims of the symposium were, for example, focused on highlighting the many interfaces between
art and law as systems in which social values are embedded and reflected; to present examples of
works of art in which the concerns of the law find manifestation; to consider copyright law in relation
to the visual arts; to consider the roles of the law in establishing and protecting cultural traditions;
to view art as a context for critical dialogue about law; art as a critique of law; art as a broad arena
wherein the struggle for rights in law take place; art and law as both creating worlds – fare mundi
– or frameworks for us to live in; law and art engaging in an hermeutics which often questions the
very grounds of interpretation in any given context. The symposium found that art and law are not
hermetically sealed areas of activity; they are interconnected in many and often surprising ways. The
case of the Vermeegeren Forgeries can be seen as an exemplar of such interconnectedness. Exploring
this case as an interface between art, law and politics touches on some of the above-mentioned ways
in which art and law intersect.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Rust, Elgin
The documents compiled for this journal are extracts from the mini-dissertation part of the Fine
Art Masters redress1-un-dressed, ADVOCATE ALICE PRESENTS: R v JR 2010, completed in
2010 at the University of Cape Town. This investigation into processes of redress (that is, strategies
of transformation) led me to juxtapose processes of what I have termed ‘aesthetic redress’ against
processes of judicial redress. Here I present a selection of discursive arguments underpinning the
fictional case R v Judicial Redress 2010 (R v JR2010) which manifest in the practical body of work
as a performative installation. For the purpose of this paper, I have chosen to focus on the play
of judicial and aesthetic processes that highlight links between law, art and culture.
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Steyn, Gerald
The ability to convincingly demonstrate the integration of and reciprocal dynamic between research
and product in design assignments is now a prerequisite at most institutions of architectural learning.
Due to the creative aspects of design and the undeniable significance of value judgment and imagination
in decision-making, this cannot be taught or prescribed as a neat sequential methodology. The best
way to understand the role of research is arguably to study how eminent architects have achieved
this synthesis. Fortunately Le Corbusier (1887-1965) published copiously; from early exploratory
sketches to descriptive essays after completion. Using Chandigarh (the capital of Punjab in India and
his only built city) as a case study, this paper examines the research that informed its town planning
and the design of some distinctive buildings
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Peters, Walter
The article covers the exclusion of an architect from further work on his magnum opus. At issue is an
agreement reached after a successful collaboration over almost eight years, breached before it could
take effect. The discussion is centered on the scrutiny of the explanations given, and comments on the
consequences for the campus environment in the light of Edmund Bacon’s principle of the ‘second
man’.
