An investigation into psycho-geographic liminality in selected contemporary South African artworks

Abstract

The global society of today is characterised by global communications, expansive networks and uninterrupted movement of information and people. This study sets out to investigate psycho-geographic liminality, understood as a state of perpetual movement, through the work of selected contemporary South African artists. This liminality is situated between an identity denoted on one hand by fragmentation and fluid change, as a result of transitivity, and on the other hand by a sense of place, which sets up two psychological states, namely displacement and belonging. Transitivity is explored in relation to conditions of post-colonialisation, immigration, emigration and telecommunications within the context of globalisation and is considered in direct in contrast to the concept of place as a physical house, suburb, city or country where one feels 'at home,' denoting a sense of belonging. Through the investigation of relevant theories in sociology, anthropology and philosophy this study proposes that we are in perpetual transit, being at home everywhere and yet nowhere, therefore requiring a new understanding of belonging rooted in a continual flow. Copyright