South African Journal of Art History Volume 24 (2009)

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South African Journal of Art History, Volume 24, Issue 1 (2009)
Content
Mare, E.A	Editorial : Authors: Published: 2009
Coetzer, N.	Langa Township in the 1920s - an (extra)ordinary Garden Suburb
Olivier, B.	Extra-ordinary cinema
Janse van Rensburg, A.	Comparing altars and agendas - using architecture to unite?
Noble, J.A.	Architecture and the othe[r]eal
Chapman, M. & Ostwald, M.J.	Disfigured ground : architectural space and representation in the creative practices of Dada and Surrealism
Wolff, I.	Werdmuller Centre - an artifact of an ephemeral context
Breed, I.	Mindscape : exploring living space in the urban environment by means of photographic interviews
Proimos, C.V.	Architecture : a self referential sign or a way of thought? Peter Eisenman's encounter with Jacques Derrida
Mare, E.A.	The influence of the dominance of cultures on artefacts : two case studies - Córdoba, Spain, and Blood River, South Africa
Kruger, R.	The (extra)ordinary (con)texts of beauty and be-ing
Steenkamp, A.	A shared spatial symbolism : the Voortrekker Monument, the Völkerslachtdenkmal and Freemasonry
Prinsloo, J.N.	I'm not there : on the ex-situ experience of landscape architecture in texts
Wolff, H.	The dialectic of representation : the tension between the new and the familiar in post-liberation architecture
Steele, J.	Tackling art / craft nomenclature, again, with particular reference to octogenarian potter Alice Qga Nongebeza, of Eastern Cape, South Africa
Gluskin, Emanuel	The cemetery : essay

South African Journal of Art History, Volume 24, Issue 2 (2009)
Content
Janse van Vuuren, Lukas M	Play as a creative factor in the visual arts : a hermeneutical reflection
Oppermann, Johann	William Kentridge - creating animated images in space and time
Van Graan, Andre	Contested modernism : post Slums Act public housing in Cape Town
Steyn, Gerald	Current trends in South African architecture and the way to the future
Liebenberg-Barkhuizen, Estelle	Artists' books : a postmodern perspective
Naude, Mauritz	The selective use of slate in vernacular farm buildings and structures north of the Vaal River
Mathlener, Rinette	Aspects of perspective and ambiguous space in the work of M.C. Escher
Staden-Garbett, Miranthe	The worldcentric art of Willem Boshoff : an analysis of artefact and discipline in Children of the Stars
Gaule, Sally	Johannesburg : a lens for architecture and photography
Schmidt, Leoni	Teaching Art History through archaeologies of the contemporary
Mare, E.A	Philosophy and the Arts: Collected Essays
Mare, E.A	Philosophy and Communication: Collected Essays
Mare, E.A	Philosophy and Psychoanalytic Theory: Collected Essays, Bert Olivier : book review

South African Journal of Art History, Volume 24, Issue 3 (2009)
Content
Mare, E.A.	Editorial
Tomassoni, Rosella & Fusco, Antonio	Dance as art and as expression of harmony and psychosomatic totality : some psychological considerations
Steyn, Carol	Khachaturyan in Armenia today : his presence in Armenian music, art and architecture, rooted in Socialist Realism
Geldenhuys, Daniel G	Romanesque churches in the south west of France and their relation to architecture, art and music
McEwen, Hugh	A discussion of Xenakis and Varese, metaphor and simile, music and architecture
Mugovhani, Ndwamato George	Mbilamutondo music and instruments in Venda culture
Olivier, Bert	Music and architecture : time and / or space?
Mare, Estelle Alma	Music as an angelic message in El Greco's oeuvre
Steyn, Carol & Mare, Estelle Alma	A survey of George Frideric Handel's life, music and selected portraits with and without his wig : a contribution to the celebration of the Handel year
Janse van Rensburg, Ariane	Stained glass as an interface between art and architecture
Mendoza, Marisela, Halion, Simon & Quek, Raymond	Out of the musical box
Stupples, Peter	Art and sacral space

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 39

William Kentridge - creating animated images in space and time
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Oppermann, Johann
At issue in this article is "History of the Main Complaint" (1996), which is the sixth film in Kentridge’s "Drawings for Projection" series (1989-1999). The discussion is centred on spatiotemporal manipulations employed in the juxtaposition of past and present. The film continues the chronicles of Soho Eckstein, mining magnate and capitalist, his remembering of the past by means of flashbacks and dreams, his accumulated and ineradicable guilt, his memory and absolution. Soho is no longer depicted as the formidable mining magnate and capitalist of Kentridge’s earlier films, but rather as a lonely, fragile, sick and unconscious man in a hospital bed. Once he accepts his guilt for his outrages (past), he opens his eyes and starts living (present) again.
Johannesburg : a lens for architecture and photography
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Gaule, Sally
Johannesburg’s built environment was shaped initially by the gold mining industry whose influence was indelibly writ upon its architectural symbolism. This has however, been intermingled and covered over by the residue of its transition from colonialism to apartheid and the post apartheid city. Although Johannesburg was once known through firsthand experience and direct engagement of the senses with built structures, a feature of the city of the last two decades is that it is dangerous. A consequence of this perception is that photographic images, rather than firsthand experience, form a point of access and understanding of the city. Furthermore buildings—iconic buildings—are known through images. In public consciousness and imagination the image is critical, and this is the domain of architectural photography. How we understand the built environment is therefore dependent both on how buildings function within the city, and how they are depicted. What the photograph tells us about the building, and [the] message it conveys is an important constituent of architectural photography. Buildings acquire the marks of age; they may be renovated and used in ways that are at variance with their original social or political purpose; additions may be made to them. Photography has the capacity to capture these aspects and stretch time. A key property of photography therefore, is its ambiguous relationship to time. This article seeks to explore photographic representations of architecture in relation to Johannesburg’s built environment from its colonial past to it post apartheid present.
Teaching Art History through archaeologies of the contemporary
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Schmidt, Leoni
This article argues that Art History as a discipline has been critiqued on a number of levels in recent decades. However, the knowledge which the discipline can provide for students in tertiary art schools remains invaluable. Therefore, it is important for the discipline to continue to be taught. This involves connections between the contemporary and historical works as archaeologies of the contemporary. Current visual arts practices can find their own distinct genealogies through such connections.The article presents examples from three recent international exhibitions and also from recent studio practice in New Zealand and South Africa.
Play as a creative factor in the visual arts : a hermeneutical reflection
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Janse van Vuuren, Lukas M.
This article demonstrates in a hermeneutical context how the interrelation between play, "mimesis" and fiction contribute to the interactive making and interpretation of visual art works. A theoretical model is employed in order to incorporate a holistic analysis pertaining to the operation of play in the visual arts and to illustrate how (i) artworks, (ii) artists, (iii) viewers, and (iv) worlds contribute interactively to a creative relation of play. In line with the expectation that the application of this model may add didactic value to higher education in the teaching of fine art students, some student works are analysed to illustrate applications of the model. This study found that the fictional worlds of art and play encompass the coexistence of the real and the possible as irreconcilable worlds. As a matrix for generating meaning, this structure of double meaning plays a fundamental role to expose expectations about the state of the everyday world for what it really is. This duality acts as a creative negation of assertions about the state of the everyday world. Theories of art as play assume that products of the imagination have a hypothetical status. Instead of that what ‘ought to be’, the meaning of artworks may imply that what ‘could have been’, namely a multitude of interpretations that may be imagined in order to put expectations about reality to the test. As an outcome of this ‘reality testing’ the passive role traditionally assigned to "mimesis" is transformed in a productive game of chance which elicits imaginative interpretations of the everyday world.
The worldcentric art of Willem Boshoff : an analysis of artefact and discipline in 'Children of the Stars'
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Staden-Garbett, Miranthe
Willem Boshoff is a practicing conceptual artist. Readings typically emphasise his use of language, socio-political consciousness and critique of authority within the South African context of colonialism and apartheid. In this article I posit Willem Boshoff’s art practice and production (discipline and artifact) within a broader framework, as an expression of a worldcentric consciousness. I will justify my endorsement of worldcentricism as a viable ‘mode of consciousness’ for our times and argue for the artist’s vital role in the transition from one stage to another. My use of the term ‘worldcentric’ adheres to Ken Wilber’s definition of an identity that transcends ethnocentric boundaries and has expanded to include all human beings. My analysis is based on the integral framework formulated by Ken Wilber. Integral Theory is cross disciplinary and aligns evidence from diverse fields of study: including psychology, ecology and spirituality. The stages of consciousness identified by Wilber will be outlined in order to contextualize and unpack the concept of a worldcentric paradigm. I will be examining Boshoff’s ideas, artifacts and discipline with reference to their ecological, scientific and symbolic significance, and arguing that they adhere to the world centric criteria set out and can be evidenced in his art and commentary.
Art and sacral space
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Stupples, Peter
‘Art’ was originally associated with sacral spaces for the enactment of rites that bound a community into a culture. The objects created as ‘art’ were also imitated by secular authorities, enacting their ceremonial rituals to symbolise the exercise of authority and domination. In the Enlightenment both art and its sacral spaces were reinterred into museums, that not only preserved objects of a cultural past but also of a widening geography, including colonial worlds. In the late 20th century both ‘art’ and the spaces of its display were subject to recasting pressures from popular culture, post-colonialism, feminism and globalisation. Under these pressures cultures have become internationalised, disembedded from local roots. The sacral precincts of the past have been ghettoised and replaced by the dispersed culture and space of the biennale, as formerly static or performative art has been displaced by computer-generated morphing images with no obvious cultural function and for which museums become mere content providers.
Out of the musical box
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Mendoza, Marisela; Halion, Simon; Quek, Raymond
The present paper explores the correlations of music and architecture through a design studio project carried out by second year students of the Architecture programme at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. In addition the paper looks into some of the most representative architects and composers who have materialized this connectivity between space and music. Last but not least this appraisal intends to illustrate how the students’ creative process and spatial understanding may be influenced by introducing music as an analogue to understand architecture.
A survey of George Frideric Handel's life, music and selected portraits with and without his wig : a contribution to the celebration of the Handel year
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Steyn, Carol; Mare, Estelle Alma
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel, one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period. There are and have been celebrations of his life and works world wide. Although he composed in every musical genre of his time, he is most famous for his oratorios, and in particular the Messiah. The details of his public life are well-known, but his private life remains obscure, especially in regard to his sexuality. It is of significance that he was associated with the Orpheus myth throughout his life, and also in one of his monuments. In the eighteenth century Orpheus was connected with both music and homosexuality. What the truth may be, Handel emerges as an even more human and interesting figure than ever. His authentic portraits are discussed in two sections: those with and those without his wig.
Stained glass as an interface between art and architecture
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Janse van Rensburg, Ariane
Stained glass occupies a conjunction between glass painting as art and windows as architectural components. Originating as a form of painting, it was an integrated element in the architectural design of gothic cathedrals. Paintings and windows diverged over centuries while stained glass largely became added decoration until the time of the arts and crafts movement, when certain architects re-embraced it, designing their own glass decoration. This architectural awareness of the potential of art glass eventually led, on the one hand, to the first conceptual integration of glass art and architecture since the middle ages, and on the other hand to the emancipation of glass art from architecture, generating new three-dimensional techniques which can again be introduced into buildings. This article outlines different types of creative relationships between artists, architects and glaziers and briefly looks at some of the possibilities being explored in glass art within architecture.
Music as an angelic message in El Greco's "oeuvre"
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Mare, Estelle Alma
Angels are assumed to represent messengers from God and in Christian art they are traditionally depicted as winged human beings. In the visual arts all figures are mute; therefore angel music as the divine message relayed to the viewer needs to be interpreted as a form of visual gestural rhetoric with an imaginary auditive reference. In order to treat this theme, the article is introduced by a general discussion of the representation of angels in El Greco's "oeuvre", followed by a brief orientation to the theme of angel musicians in Medieval and Renaissance art. An analysis of El Greco's paintings that include heavenly musicians reveal that the interaction between heaven and earth becomes continuous, eliminating the contrast between these zones that was postulated by Aristotle. Even though only a limited number of El Greco's paintings include angel musicians, their active presence in some of his most imaginative compositions illustrate the way in which he evolved an unique iconographical convention related to the theme of these consorts, and his innovative expansion of the meaning of the being and missions of angels.
Music and architecture : time and/or space?
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Olivier, Bert
It is a challenging task to think architecture and music together, given that they seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum of arts. An attempt is nevertheless made to uncover what they have in common as arts, and simultaneously to distinguish between them by scrutinizing their distinctiveness. To this end, attention is given, in turn, to Schopenhauer’s thought on the matter, as well as to that of Hegel and Adorno, before turning to Derrida’s complex notion of "différance", which seems to suggest that one should be able to distinguish persuasively between these two arts even as one articulates the conditions of possibility of both along the countervailing axes of the ‘movement’ of "différance", namely what Derrida terms ‘spacing’ and ‘temporalizing’. In conclusion, Harries’s conception of a performance model of architecture yields a surprising consonance with musical performance, understood in terms of "différance".
Mbilamutondo music and instruments in Venda culture
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Mugovhani, Ndwamato George
There is a decline in the performance and promotion of one of the significant African cultural heritage components, "Mbilamutondo" music. This heritage is facing possible extinction, and its disappearance may spell the death of one of Vhavenda’s religious rituals and indigenous spiritual healing processes. Recent research into indigenous African knowledge systems has led me to interesting conclusions: while "Mbilamutondo" is an indigenous Venda instrumental musical practice, there are no more practitioners of this heritage, and there are no learners who could continue the practice. Tshivenda indigenous mbila music ("Mbilamutondo") performance is quite different from that of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Whereas Zimbabwe and Mozambique still have many practitioners of this heritage, presently a practitioner of the Venda repertoire and style is yet to be found. Venda "Mbilamutondo" music’s continued existence can, therefore, not be guaranteed. This study has also discovered that there is more to "Mbilamutondo" than just music. An aspect worth documenting and investigating is the trees that have contributed more to "Mbilamutondo" than just the building of a musical instrument. The aim of [this] article is to highlight the significance of these "Mbilamutondo" music instrument-making trees, to promote an appreciation for this heritage, and to encourage young people to become active in conserving such [a] valuable heritage. The article also explores some intervention strategies that may thwart this heritage’s possible disappearance.
A discussion of Xenakis and Varese, metaphor and simile, music and architecture
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) McEwen, Hugh
This paper aims to examine the possible cross pollination between music and architecture through two of the most successful proponents of this translation. Since by its very nature translation involves an interpretation of meaning from one set of symbols into another it has an associated direction – even if the movement of information is only actually seen by the creator. The exemplary figures of Xenakis and Varese illustrate both a shift from architecture into music and from music into architecture. The literary techniques of metaphor and simile become useful to critique this process, and help to explain the very different approaches taken by these two artists. This discussion naturally leads itself to be split into three unequal sections – that of Xenakis’ and Varese’s work, that of their work in terms of metaphor and simile in music and that of their work in terms of music and architecture. This final section is exemplified by the project that links both artists and provides one of the most interesting fusions of these two disciplines – the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 World Fair.
Romanesque churches in the south west of France and their relation to architecture, art and music
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Geldenhuys, Daniel G.
This article deals with the three disciplines of architecture, sculptural art and music in relation to the cultural-historical presence of the medieval Romanesque churches in the Dordogne region in the south west of France. It is pointed out that these buildings and their accompanying artworks resulted from a cultural transformation that changed every aspect of life, allowing us to redirect our attention from these encompassing artistic monuments to the methods and mental processes as applied by the anonymous individuals who created them. The change in the value attributed to these Romanesque churches as cultural objects surviving in the twenty-first century, with differing sociological and spatial uses, is examined.
Khachaturyan in Armenia today : his presence in Armenian music, art and architecture, rooted in Socialist Realism
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Steyn, Carol
Aram Il’ich Khachaturyan was born in Tblisi, Georgia, and spent most of his life in Moscow, but when one visits Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, today, Khachaturyan is all around you. His music, itself steeped in Armenian folk traditions, penetrates the fabric of the city; it is played at the Genocide Museum, becoming part of the atmosphere of this memorial to the millions of massacred Armenians; in the concert hall named after him that forms part of the Spendiaryan Opera and Theatre building where the statue of the seated Khachaturyan in front of the entrance leads one inside; in the Khachaturyan Museum that is full of sunshine and light as he wanted it, where his music sounds all day long and a bust of him reinforces his presence there. A painting of Khachaturyan by Edman Alvazyan, painted in 1977, was given to the Khachaturyan Museum by Catholicos Vazgen in 1984. One finds Khachaturyan’s grave in the city Pantheon where great scientists and artists are buried, and one is reminded of him when one drives on the street that is named after him.
Dance as art and as expression of harmony and psychosomatic totality : some psychological considerations
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Tomassoni, Rosella; Fusco, Antonio
The dance acquires such different and various meanings so that it can be considered as a complex polysemic form of non-verbal message [of which the] effectiveness can be compared with that of music and figurative arts because it can address the unconsciousness without any linguistic distinction among different populations. But it is clear that, just like the other forms of artistic message, the dance itself is affected by the social, cultural and environmental conditions in which it develops itself and from which it becomes one of its expressions. In this context a psychological consideration can be inserted: the body language autonomy leaves out of consideration the verbal expression and refers to the psychosomatic aspect which is the base of a lot of Oriental philosophies. In this “speech” there is a common characteristic and in the meanwhile there is a situation of “antithesis” between the West and the East. The West discovers the body to put it in the service of the Ego by increasing the expressive possibilities; the East supports that the body can condition the Ego by determining the way of being and acting. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the dance [as] a particular kind of “language” and so it supposes questions referring in particular to the involvement, the participation and even the Ego’s partial exclusion in the different kinds of a complex manifestation which, under a common “denominator”, includes distant rituals, often withdrawn by antithetic psychic dynamics.
Book review
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Mare, Estelle Alma
The following Collected Essays by Bert Olivier is reviewed: "Philosophy and the Arts", "Philosophy and Communication" and "Philosophy and Psychoanalytic Theory".
Aspects of perspective and ambiguous space in the work of M.C. Escher
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Mathlener, Rinette
Cartographers, mathematicians and artists discovered many of the rules for linear perspective before the Renaissance, but the mathematical basis to represent objects three-dimensionally was developed only in the 15th century. Brunelleschi was the first to demonstrate geometric perspective with his famous experiments in 1425. The humanist Alberti recorded the geometrical principles for creating three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface during 1435. This was, in other words, the tools to translate mental vision onto paper. The fact that, in human vision, the parallel lines from the edges of objects converge at an infinite point (the vanishing point) on the horizon, is an illusion. Escher wanted to make concrete representations of infinity and he used traditional perspective to create impossible worlds.
The selective use of slate in vernacular farm buildings and structures north of the Vaal River
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Naude, Mauritz
Slate and shale are not usually considered as building stone for the construction of entire buildings in the vernacular farm architecture of the area north of the Vaal River (historically known as the Transvaal). Sandstone and granite as principal building stone types were more common. Slate and shale are two different stone types but due to their similar layered structure they are often used together in the construction of the same wall. Current research has revealed that slate and shale did play a significant but selective role in vernacular building technology in the region. Slate was used for finishing and solving specific problems in folk building technology. One of the reasons why these stone types were less popular as building materials is the isolated occurrences of outcrops in the region. Sandstone and granite are more common and readily available. The few buildings constructed with slate and shale had a unique character reflected in the wall texture when the stone is laid flat. Because the stone is released from its rock bed in thin plates with an almost completely flat surface on both sides, it is usually laid flat and needs little mortar to secure a stable wall.This paper introduces rather than analyses the use of these materials in the vernacular architecture of the former Transvaal region.
Artists' books : a postmodern perspective
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2009) Liebenberg-Barkhuizen, Estelle
This article wishes to examine the phenomenon of artists’ books from a postmodern perspective. As artists’ books appear to be a specifically twentieth century art form which intersects a variety of creative fields, such as printing and text, bookbinding, visual images, architecture, sculpture and performance, even electronic media, it appears appropriate to consider this a peculiarly postmodern genre. The concept of the ‘artists’ book’ will be briefly discussed according to specific examples, and the discussion will proceed to examine such books following to Fredrick Jameson’s definition of postmodernism, as explained in his article ‘Postmodernism and Consumer Society’.

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