South African Journal of Art History Volume 28 (2013)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/46287
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South African Journal of Art History, Volume 28, Issue 1 (2013)
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| Mare, Estelle Alma | The perceptual totality of group design in sacred Classical Greek architecture : the approach and the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the Panathenaic Way, the Propylaea and the temples on the Athenian Acropolis |
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Item The Agora of Asia Minor : the shaping of the non-material by the material in urban space(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Van der Vyver, Yolanda; Mare, Estelle AlmaMateriality to the Milesians was the ultimate state of being. To be was to be material and matter was the complete key to the nature of things. The Pythagoreans however, thought that mathematics and formulas could be applied to explain everything in the physical world and some tried to build the physical world out of spatial points. This article proposes to investigate the agora of Asia Minor, the birthplace of Milesian materiality, by considering the material, geographical motivation for its creation and ultimate demise, by investigating the abstract ratios and figures of non-material space as shaped by material form and structure and by commenting on Greek spatial intention. It further aims to offer a Pythagorean corrective to Milesian materialism through sensitivity to order and form.Item Material, Motif and Memory(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Noble, J.A. (Jonathan); Mare, Estelle AlmaGottfried Semper’s contribution to modern (and contemporary) architecture has been inadequately explored. This is unfortunate, because Semper’s ideas on materiality and ‘artistic appearance’ (Semper 1989: 190) provide – or so it will be argued – a concept that moves between material ‘honesty’ (that is associated with Modernism), and the arbitrary application of styles and symbols (that is associated with Post-modernism). Unfortunately, the somewhat detailed, and at times fragmented, nature of Semper’s thought has lent itself to the misinterpretation that he was, tectonically speaking, a ‘materialist’ – which is not the case. This paper presents a theoretical reconstruction of Semper’s primary thesis regarding the role of artistic motifs in the process of material transformation (stoffwechsel), through which materials are linked to metaphor and to tectonic memory. The paper extends these ideas via a conversation with Richard Wollheim (1987) and Arthur Danto (1981), and finally returns to the question of Modern versus Post-modern representation. The paper concludes that material metaphor (as derived from Semper) is cogent for architecture in that it supports a liberal imagination, and a mode of representation that is mediated by histories of material/tectonic cultureItem Finding the best clay : experiences of rural potter Alice Gqa Nongebeza contextualised(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Steele, John; Mare, Estelle AlmaWhen creating artefacts that belong in the material world artists choose specific raw materials for particular reasons, including that selected resources are accessible and well suited to fitness for purpose and expression of intentions. Many potters in Africa are engaged in zero electricity usage ceramics practice, and each creative cycle usually starts with extracting clay from local sites according to preferences and well established procedures that may sometimes include certain rituals. Ways in which some potters who source their own clay are particular about certain factors that are thought to be capable of influencing the effectiveness of physical properties of that raw material are explored, with particular reference to what is known about the practices of Eastern Cape potter Alice Gqa Nongebeza, of Nkonxeni Village [31°37‘59.66“S, 29°23‘22.26“E], Tombo, near Port St Johns. Specific choices enacted by potters when gathering and using clayey raw materials are considered in order to better understand some aspects of conceptual and social frameworks that may influence clay extraction procedures. Thus, by means of comparisons between particular potter’s practices, as well as through analysis of interview material and observed events, this paper aims to contextualise how it transpired, inter alia, that clay seams close to the Nongebeza homestead were ignored by her in favour of a relatively distant and almost inaccessible site that yielded a particular clay well suited to her unique firing style of placing raw ware onto an already roaring bonfire, thereby effectively creating pots for daily use and enjoymentItem Visual evidence of self-inscriptions of identity by marginalised communities in Mitchell’s Plain, South Africa(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Hibbert, Liesel; Mare, Estelle AlmaThis article presents a selection of photographs as evidence of community engagement at the local level, in an area near Cape Town which is heavily stigmatised. Press posters, public signage and linguistically visible domains are analysed in terms of outsider versus insider inscription of identity, raising the issue of the degree to which residents are positioned to break spatial constraints. The images selected for discussion represent four categories: first, those depicting the geographical features of the area, second, neighbourhood signage (constructed by insiders in the community), third, billboards and advertisement (outsiders tapping into stereotypical perceptions of the local community) and lastly, newspaper and tabloid headline posters (reinforcing outsider perceptions of the community). The purpose of the analysis is to reveal how members and groups of the Mitchell’s Plain community express ownership and participation through self-inscription. These self-inscriptions are viewed against the background of existing historical and official super-imposed inscriptions. Finally, the paper provides examples of how residents position themselves in terms of the spatial constraints and what forms of agency they exercise under severe socio-economic strains.Item A spatial analysis of the Ncome/Blood River monuments/museum complex as hermeneutic objects of reconciliation and nation building(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Labuschagne, Pieter; Mare, Estelle AlmaThe reconstruction of the Ncome Monument on the Blood River battle site has managed to restore the political imbalance to a certain extent. The Ncome Monument gives homage to the courageous Zulu regiments who attacked the Voortrekker laager on 16 December 1838. Before the Ncome Monument was built the bronze Voortrekker laager had been the only monument on the site apart from the main complex. During the unveiling of the Ncome Monument strong views were expressed that the new monument should add to reconciliation and peace building in South Africa. The aim of the article is to conduct a spatial analysis of the Ncome/Blood River Monuments in order to ascertain how its geographical setting and general appearance contribute hermeneutically to the goals of reconciliation and peace building in South Africa.Item The perceptual totality of group design in sacred Classical Greek architecture : the approach and the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the Panathenaic Way, the Propylaea and the temples on the Athenian Acropolis(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Mare, Estelle Alma; Mare, Estelle AlmaIt is the contention of this research to explain the perceptual totality of composed groups of Classical Greek buildings in sacred precincts, as exemplified at Delphi and the Athenian Acropolis. The main proposal to be tested by the analysis of these architectural ensembles is that sacred Classical Greek architecture is not exclusively an architecture of three Classical orders, but an architecture on two hierarchical levels, namely the architecture of the divine level, as symbolised mainly by the Doric temple, as opposed to the architecture of the secondary human level, represented by the ancillary buildings in the approach areas that are characterised by a diminished scale, complexity and ambiguity.Item The manifestations of African art in Le Corbusier’s architecture(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Steyn, Gerald; Mare, Estelle AlmaIn spite of an emerging African Renaissance, there is still no associated urgency in defining architecture with an African identity. This article explores the claim, made by the African American architect, Melvin Mitchell, that West African art (especially the mask) shaped Le Corbusier’s work via cubism. This research relies mainly on formalistic and visual comparisons of typologies and forms, informed by relatively recent literature on the theme of cubism and modernist architecture. There seems to be a considerable alignment between some aspects of Le Corbusier’s schemes, and examples of art and architecture from sub-Saharan Africa. Although the findings are impossible to substantiate definitively, they do suggest that there is a need to approach the study of both modernism and African art differently, but explored in conjunction with one another. As such, this article contributes to the idea of Le Corbusier’s unfinished project.Item Clocks for Seeing : Time and the photography of Ruins(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Gaule, Sally; Mare, Estelle AlmaWe read on the surfaces of buildings the accretions of time. The photographic portrayal of ruins offers a way to reflect on the ravages of time, and show the imprint of time. Once buildings lose their original purpose they become subject to the influence of obsolescence, invasions, re-appropriations, renovations and economic transformations, forces of nature, neglect and gentrification. Invasions by nature once formed the aesthetic of early photography of ruins. Today photographers are more concerned with changing economic fortunes, re-appropriations and the marks made by political violence. In depicting this broad terrain, contemporary photographers have offered new insights into our understandings of the forces that have shaped our built environment, and of the subtleties of photographic representation itself. Tracing the history of photographs of ruins, this article sketches the aesthetics of early architectural photographs of ruins and the changing context and approaches adopted by photographers in relation to them.Item Conspicuous display : stairs historical and modern Part I : A theoretical introduction and examples of historical stairs in stone, masonry and wood(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Mare, Estelle Alma; Mare, Estelle AlmaIt is the purpose of this article to explain how the stair as an architectural element not merely serves the function of vertical movement in a manner requiring physical safety, but has often, especially in monumental and ceremonial architectural settings on the outside or inside of historical buildings, been elaborated structurally and embellished as a focal component. Monumental and ceremonial stairs often served as a conspicuous part of the display of power of the patrons, as well as the structural and artistic ability of their appointed designers. By expanding Thorstein Veblens theory of “conspicuous consumption” to include conspicuous material creations throughout the ages, especially in the form of prestigious buildings and structures such as stairs, it will be argued that powerful clients and their architects often created splendid architectural displays which serve as event-spaces, made to the measure of the human bodyItem Materiality and the making of the Tswana house from the early nineteenth century to the present(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Steyn, Gerald; Mare, Estelle AlmaThis study explores the various factors that impacted on the materiality of the ntlo, the house of a married Tswana woman and her children, from the earliest recorded examples in the early nineteenth century, to the present. While the kgotla (the traditional male meeting place) features prominently in settlement research, the vernacular Tswana dwelling has received less attention. The study contradicts the simplistic and popular perception, that pre-industrial communities simply built their vernacular constructions with whatever material was available. It is found that, in addition to the availability of material, the critical determining factors that shaped materiality include gender, the earth and cosmology.Item The political significance of patina as materialised time(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Konik, Adrian; Konik, Inge; Mare, Estelle AlmaWith reference to Grant McCracken’s seminal work on the eclipse of patina through consumerism, this article investigates the compensatory dynamics of contemporary consumption practices centred on novel items rather than on goods ‘with antiquity;’ how these dynamics are being resisted through certain forms of ‘curatorial consumption;’ and how such resistance is potentially political in orientation. After a consideration of the sixteenth-century origins of consumerism as an elite cultural practice, the focus of the article shifts both to the subsequent democratisation of this cultural trend, and to the accompanying deeply compensatory function of such popular consumerism. Yet, while many people continue to become inextricably caught up in such consumerism – in the vain hope that it will assuage the alienation endemic to the modern era – in the midst of our contemporary consumer society there also exist alternative forms of curatorial consumption. These manifest people’s appreciation for patina rather than the new, precisely because of the ability of patina to connect them to others through the long durée of human history. However, while such curatorial consumption evinces the continued presence of patina as an adversarial concept within the context of contemporary consumer society, it is also under siege from corporations that seek to co-opt it into the ambit of mainstream consumerism, by imbuing new goods with the veneer of the old. As will be argued, while the latter corporate move may produce short-term profit, in the long run, it stands to undermine the importance of patina as a potential remedial measure against the excesses of consumer societyItem Transvaal Romantic : an exploration of Romantic elements in the landscape paintings of Moses Tladi(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Coetsee, Ydi; Mare, Estelle AlmaLittle comprehensive literature is available on Romantic expressions by black artists in South Africa. The work of Moses Tladi, a recently re-discovered Pedi artist, offers a unique perspective on the iconic landscape genre that found its origins in this era. The artist, recently researched by Angela Read Lloyd, was born in 1897 and made a living as a gardener for a prosperous English family in Johannesburg. His landscapes adopt the language of the Romantic sublime, expressing a fascination with nature and one’s being-in-nature as it exchanges a mimetic representation of reality for one imbued with the spiritual and imaginative. By comparing and discussing his work in relation to seminal Romantic artists such as J.M.W. Turner and David Caspar Friedrich, I hope to commemorate Tladi’s work, as well as draw attention to how his unique South African setting influenced his painting methods and Romantic inclinations. Intertwined with (and problematised by) the social and political currents of his time, Tladi’s paintings become the interpretation of nature’s forces.Item Book review(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Mare, Estelle Alma; Mare, Estelle AlmaItem Art and the dream of self-transcendence(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Hurst, Andrea; Mare, Estelle AlmaGiven a fundamental ontology that takes materiality to be essentially “no-thingness”, I explore the claim that humans create art in response to the dream of self-transcendence. I unpack the paradoxical idea that transcendence is as much materialisation as the dissolution of existing formations. This is elaborated through three echoing “iterations” in which this idea of art as self-transcendence is “repeated differently”. I consider art as construction of a “semblance” (Lacan), best understood as an unceasing play between the serious, dynamic economy of self-edification and the ironic aneconomy of self-dissolution (Derrida). I shift attention to art-making as the expression of this dynamic in another body, and consider the difference between “signature” and “factor”, the role of Lacan’s object “a” and the idea of “the zone”. Finally, since there is no self without another self to recognise it as such, I consider art as a declaration of love, and artworks as “love-machines” (Deleuze & Guattari) that function as a call for mirroring repetition in the other’s empathic response. This conceptual framework suggests a way to distinguish between art and artifice.Item The portrayal of slimness through design : an analysis of a misleading weight loss advertisement(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) De Lange, Rudi W; Mare, Estelle AlmaThe portrayal of the ultra-thin ideal model in the media contributes to body discontent amongst some viewers of the intended target groups. This in its turn may lead to excessive weight concerns and so create a vulnerable group that is primed for commercial exploitation. Advertising designers exploit this vulnerable population through the use of visceral imagery and text in misleading weight loss advertisements in order to better market their products. The ultra-thin models used in weight loss advertisements act as strong emotional cues and enable advertisers to influence even wary consumers to respond to these cues. This case study analysis of a weight loss advertisement highlights and illustrates how designers proceeded to create an elusive promise of slimness by misrepresenting scientific data and employed misleading textual and graphic cues in order to create an effective but nonetheless misleading advertisementItem The waning of socio-political relevance in the graphic design associated with popular alternative music among Afrikaans-speaking youths(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Verster, Willem C; Mare, Estelle AlmaGraphic design often influences and reflects the subcultures of society. This was evident in graphic design associated with popular music during the 1960s and 1970s which captured the spirit of its time. The album covers of the Beatles and the Sex Pistols are some examples of design that captured the essence of their music and culture. A similar trend occurred in South Africa with the band Fokofpolisiekar in 2003 where the band’s visuals represented the music and youth culture at the time. This spawned an awakening in South African graphic design associated with music and has led to a miasma of unique graphic design styles. The designs were originally representative of youth culture as well as socio-politically relevant but have since reached a point where their purpose is to attract attention through simulated relevance. This study reports on an analysis of 1101 design artefacts associated with popular alternative South African music and the identification of fifteen distinct styles of music-related graphic design. The study indicated that the collection of design styles, although varied in their aesthetics, share many similar roots and approaches and forms part of a subculture that in its own right captures the spirit of our time.Item Konseptuele kunstenaar Willem Boshoff se geheime briewe aan Nelson Mandela(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Swanepoel, M.C. (Rita); Mare, Estelle AlmaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela (gebore 1918) word wêreldwyd gerespekteer as politieke vryheidsikoon en ‘n geliefde leier bekend as Madiba. Mandela was 27 jaar in die tronk op Robbeneiland, in Pollsmoor en Victor Verster nadat hy en ander ANC-versetleiers tydens die Rivoniaverhoor in 1964 aan hoogverraad teen die voormalige apartheidsregering skuldig bevind is en tot lewenslange tronkstraf gevonnis is. Hy is in 1990 vrygelaat en in 1994 verkies tot Suid-Afrika se eerste demokraties-verkose staatspresident (1994-1999). Die probleemstelling van hierdie artikel wentel rondom twee vrae: eerstens op watter manier die Suid-Afrikaanse konseptuele kunstenaar Willem Boshoff (gebore 1951) in sy installasie Secret Letters (2003) wêreldgebeure vanaf 1964 tot 1990, die tydperk wat Mandela in die tronk was, aan hom “vertel” en tweedens hoe die kunstenaar daarin slaag om die abstrakte begrip van eensaamheid van Mandela tydens aanhouding visueel tot vergestalting te bring. Die ondersoek word onderneem vanuit ‘n postkoloniale teoretiese raamwerk met toespitsing op die invloed van die rassebegrip en die ontwikkeling van die begrip Christelik gedurende die apartheidsera. Albei hierdie aspekte se wortels kan gevind word in Britse kolonialisme in Suid-Afrika.Item Willem Boshoff and materiality according to Adorno(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Swanepoel, M.C. (Rita); Mare, Estelle AlmaThis 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.Item Materiality and time in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch (2011)(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Konik, Adrian; Mare, Estelle AlmaThe focus of this article falls on the extent to which the digital time-images – or silicon-crystals – of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch (2011) function as a form of counterinformation within contemporary control society, where digital information otherwise comprises the dominant technology of continuous control. In this regard, after recalling Tania Modleski’s argument concerning the subversive potential of certain horror films, and after establishing that Snyder’s cinematic works continue along this critical trajectory, the historico-discursive context out of which Sucker Punch emerged, and to which it responds, is detailed. To this end, relevant works by Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze are drawn upon, in which they theorise, respectively, the dynamics of segmentary disciplinary/bio-power, and the post-World War Two transition to continuous control society. And particular attention is paid to Deleuze’s concern over the reduction of individuality to dividuality within the latter context. Against this backdrop, the silicon-crystals of Sucker Punch are then analysed as a composite digital reconfiguration of four analogue hyalosigns thematised by Deleuze in his Cinema 2: The Time- Image, before their status as counterinformation is considered – both in relation to the contentions of David Rodowick, and on the basis of the interplay between materiality and time which such siliconcrystals entailItem The paradoxes of art(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2013) Olivier, Bert; Mare, Estelle AlmaArt’s paradoxical character lends itself to being elaborated upon by identifying several paradoxes at the heart of it. This goes for all of the arts – architecture, painting, sculpture, dance, music, literature and cinema. The first paradox of art is that all artworks are “singular” – particular and yet generically belonging to art in general. Art’s second paradox is that it reveals and conceals at the same time. In Heidegger’s terminology, this makes of art a privileged instance of aletheia, or “unconcealedness”. Paradox number three is that “art objects” are not to be merely “aesthetically” appreciated for their own sake, given their world-and-person-transforming capacity – it is ergon (work) and energeia together (Gadamer). Fourthly, although art is usually taken as an object of analysis, it (psycho-) analyses the viewer, listener or reader. In the fifth place, art indicts, and also redeems the world. The sixth paradox of art is that it is image as well as thing (Nancy). Paradox number seven about art is that (through the imaginary function of its images), it both liberates and enslaves. The eighth paradox is that the very faculty which enables artists to “create” artworks to begin with – the imagination – proves powerless in the face of the task confronting artists today, namely to find inventive ways of “presenting the unpresentable”. The ninth paradox of art is that of its visuality or “sensuousness”, in relation to its increasing “spirituality” (since the 18th century). Art’s tenth paradox is the fact that the political and the aesthetic, which are usually regarded as being mutually exclusive, converge demonstrably in both art and politics (Ranciére)