Exhibition Review: The Sound of Silence

Hello again dear readers.

So today I thought I would try something else new to help me to stay motivated to see exhibitions throughout the year. So to start off my own Exhibitions Review, I will talk about the newly opened The Sound Of Silence exhibition by New York based artist, Alfredo Jaar.

The Sound of Silence
2006
Wood structure, aluminum, fluorescent tubes, LED lights, flash lights, tripods, video projection
Software designed by Ravi Rajan
Installation view at école des Beaux Arts, Paris 2011
Photographer: Charles Duprat
Artist: Alfredo Jaar

On Tuesday night, in the heart of Braamfontein at Wits Art Museum (WAM), the much anticipated Sound of Silence exhibition was officially opened to the public. The curiosity in me for this exhibition definitely started when a prior visit to WAM revealed a massive black curtain concealing the sounds of machinery, an obviously large construction taking place behind the scenes but a secret to be kept until the opening of the exhibition.

As most exhibitions start off, there were speeches of thanks and gratitude to the museum and the artist and all the people involved in the organisation of the exhibition. There were free drinks and a surprisingly upbeat DJ present, and a large crowd of students, art-lovers, hipsters and the like hovering around the drinks tables. After the (thankfully) short speeches, we made our way into the gallery space.

We were met with a shockingly bright wall of light facing the entrance of the main gallery, made up of rows of vertical fluorescent light bulbs, Not only was this a shock to the senses of each visitor to the gallery, but it also heightened the intrigue surrounding this exhibition. This wall of light was part of a rectangular structure in the center of the gallery, and formed the exterior back wall of this room within a room. A queue was formed alongside the wall of the gallery for people to view this installation.

About 20 people were let into the room at once, and we were asked to switch off our cellphones.  We proceeded to walk around the room and walk in through a small entrance illuminated by a strip of green light. What was inside this room was essentially a small theatre, with both standing and room to sit. We positioned ourselves at the back corner. The lights, which were already dimmed, switched off completely as a small film began to play.

Now I am not going to ruin this artwork and explain every detail of the film, as it is best experienced within the artwork itself. But to simplify things, the film is about photographer Kevin Carter.

So now I will share with you some of my thoughts on this exhibition.

I felt like this was truly a remarkable piece and I would highly recommend that anyone who is able to get to the museum to view this work seizes the opportunity. While most of us are used to the shock appeal that most artworks generate, this installation is a refreshing depart from shock-appeal towards a more poignant need to create an impact on the audience. This impact is created from the moment the viewer enters the space and is affronted with this immediate bright, conflicting and intruding, wall of light. Viewers of the work are forced to face this light while waiting to view the artwork, and the light certainly creates an atmospheric tension surrounding the gallery.

The actual film is simple, poignant, tense and highly effective for the message it is trying to convey. I don't know about the other people who attended the exhibition, but I know that while watching this film I felt infuriated, and at the same time, hollowed by the content of the film. I left the exhibition with a profound sense of loss, and having experienced in the smallest of ways what it would have been like to be the "victim" of the photographer. This exhibition definitely made me consider photography as an act of violence and destruction, to both the photographed subject and the photographers themselves.

The exhibition closes on the 10th of April 2016 and the gallery hours are Wednesdays to Sundays from 10h00 until 16h00. The entrance to the gallery is free and the museum is situated on the corner of Jorissen Street and Jan Smuts.

Until we meet again
Talia

The Human Typewriter

So, it has been one official week since I have returned to university. As a third year, and studying Fine Art... Not to mention French as an additional major. Since my last post, it seems like me taking reigns of my own happiness has been a good strategy to approach life with. I haven't necessarily been getting a lot more done, but I feel like everyday that has passed has been one that was lived well, to the fullest. A day well spent everyday can only lead to happiness I think.

So now that I've caught you up on my emotional goals ,dear readers, I shall tell you a little bit about my first week back.

So its the first week, and I have already been dubbed "The Human Typewriter", by one of the lecturers who had been tutoring me this week. I quite like that. It has a nerdy/artsy/awesome ring to it. I think I shall keep that name around! And if you, dear reader, are wondering why on earth I would consider this to be an affectionate nickname, it is because I am in love with typography as a medium of expression.

To me, one of the most interesting things I have discovered since I have started studying art in university is the beautiful relationship that a love of writing and a love of art can share. They are not separate mediums in the discipline of humanities, but have so many similarities that draw the two (excuse the pun) together. I have always loved creating art, and I have always had somewhat of a secondary interest in writing.

Only once I discovered the art form known as typography, did I discover how words can be the vehicle to create art.

To put it simply,

I make art with words.

And this year I finally have the freedom to make as much art as I want in any way I want to. So I dub this year, 2016, the Year of the Human Typewriter. 

And hopefully dear readers, we will see some results soon. But for now, here is some of my older work, hopefully explaining why I have a catchy new nickname.

Until we meet again
Talia

Get Up Again

Hi there again dear readers. I know, I went from a massive break from blog posts to a sudden flow of things to write about. I guess I've just had a ton on my mind lately, and I feel like talking about it with you, dear readers, is a good way to convey my thoughts and feel like someone out there is just listening to what I have to say. 

So dear readers, something I've had on my mind lately is the idea of strength and self-empowerment. To me, I've always had a deep rooted fear of appearing weak to other people. I hate crying, being sick, being injured, being too emotional. Anything that knocks me off my A-game. To be honest, it doesn't take much to knock someone off their A-game. It can be feeling under the weather. feeling over-worked, upset about relationship or personal problems, or just having a bad day. I have been off my A-game more often than not recently. For me, it's been because of relationship and personal problems. I've been so emotional in the last few months I think I've had my share of negative emotions for a lifetime. 

The problem with emotional turmoil is that I've developed the bad habit of moping over a negative situation. I can think of a lot of reasons why this has changed, but the biggest reason why it bugs me is that I feel excruciatingly weak. 

As said before, it is the one thing I am most afraid of.

So as of today, I am done with this crappy feeling of being weak. Yeah sure, things get crappy in life. We all make bad decisions and sometimes it feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is just an illusion, 

Life is hard, 

We get knocked down.

We get winded.

We bleed.

We must get up again. 

I am so sick and tired of waking up and feeling like getting through another day is going to be tough on me. I am 20 for God's sake, I should be changing the world every day, not sitting and moping about things that WILL NOT matter in the grand scheme of things. Here is where the importance of self-empowerment comes in. See dear readers, this is something I have realised over the last few years. 

No one else will make your dreams come true for you. 

No one else will fight harder for you than yourself. 

No one else will ever be able to understand your life better than you,

Stop relying on other people to make things happen for you, they have their own lives to worry about. So at the start of every day, you are the one in charge of how it goes and how it ends. I won't lie, I've had a bit of a crappy day, and I have no one else to blame but myself (much as I would like to shift the blame I know I would be kidding myself), but here and now, typing this blog post - and listening to Pump It! by the Black Eyed Peas - I feel like I am doing something with my day. and something in me is stirring. A flicker of that inner strength that has been so stifled in the months past. 

I am not backing down from life anymore. I will fight until my last breath. I will make every day count this year, and I will be damned if I let anything and anyone get in my way.

Fight for your dreams dear readers, make your days count for more than yesterday-filled-regrets.

Until we meet again

Talia

P.S. This was the inspiration behind my latest art positivity typography pages, you can check them out under the Art & Other Creative Items Page.