Candice Breitz holds court at a Wits School of Arts DIVA lecture
by Kresta Tyler Johnson
A "diva" is conventionally understood to be a goddess of sorts. At Wits, this configuration of letters stands not only for the Division of Visual Arts, but also for the calibre of individuals coming to make informal presentations to students, faculty and anyone else who is interested.
These presentations and discussions are rare opportunities for people to interact with icons of the contemporary art world, as well as journalists, critics and other participants who focus on contemporary South African art. This year the speakers have included the American independent scholar and journalist Zachary Yorke, contemporary artists Sue Williamson and Candice Breitz.
These forums are places for individuals to engage with some of the leading people in the contemporary South African art world. One of the unique features of the South African art world is a level of accessibility that no longer exists in some of the more established, Westernised art centres. South Africans, whether living in the country or abroad, have a sense of pride in their heritage and continually work to foster the flourishing generation of South African artists, either by lecturing in formal institutions or as practicing artists who avail themselves out of sheer generosity for the sole purpose of inspiring others.
On April 22, Candice Breitz treated the audience at her alma mater to a presentation of the past five years of her work with video installations. Breitz is an articulate artist, who seeks to recontextualise herself and contemporary art outside the limiting constrains of being identified only as a South African, and not just as an artist. Having lived overseas for the past decade, Breitz discussed how she now feels a foreigner in her own city, unable to speak authentically about what it means to be South African - even though this all too often is what others in the international art world expect her to do.
It is a dilemma many artists emerging from fledging democracies struggle with today. As South African artists seek a collective national identity, individual artists also strive to be recognised independently for their own talents. How does one develop as an artist in an international arena, and yet be seen as an individual outside the confines of being identified with a specific place?. The established international art world doesn't know how to reconcile the influx of artists from the periphery. Especially for curators of large-scale exhibitions such as international biennials, to place artists in categories as representative of a specific country, facilitates a solution. This does not address the problem, though, of artists who live abroad, yet are still held to represent a former country. Obviously a person has been shaped by the country in which they grew up, but it is not limited to those experiences. Artists are continually influenced not only by the past, but also by the environments and people that surround them, and they are informed by the specific cultures where they find themselves living.
Breitz addresses this, particularly in her work Alien a video installation that she made shortly after moving to Berlin from New York two years ago. Her work has always revolved around her interest in language, representation and identity. She has sought to transgress, in the development of her work, cultural confines and to generate a universal appeal. Alien explores who we are as people, and subjectivity as understood through language. Breitz engaged ten native Germans to sing a cappella a variety of songs ranging from traditional folk to popular hits and even propaganda. She then asked ten immigrants in Germany who ranged from children of asylum seekers to students studying abroad, with varying degrees of fluency in German, to sing the same songs. In the end Breitz used images of the latter group, stripped of the sound and layered over with the native voices to create a comical and discomforting video. The immigrants depict natural performers and very self-conscious individuals. The manipulation of the relationship between the visual characters we see and the fluid (yet at times very off-key) voices is provocative and humorous yet disturbing. The impact of how much a person is affected by their voice and the frightening effects that occur when this is altered or completely transformed are readily apparent.
In another recent work, Becoming, Breitz subjects herself to a comparison with iconic, Hollywood, female actors and investigates how we obtain language, and in turn parenting from the media. She selects trivial scenes from romantic comedies that reflect not only ridiculous dialogue for women but also an obsession with themselves in the context of men and relationships. If this is indeed the focus of these movies, and larger audiences are learning from this media, what exactly are the lessons provided for the female youth of today? Breitz wants people to consider the material of pop culture and the role it plays in society. She believes "culture encourages passive reception and wants to manipulate so there is a more active interphase". Through this piece and other video installations, she emphasises the dangerous nature of popular culture, which has become a violent and forced imposition on the lives of humanity through television, music and movies.
At the end of the talk, the audience was left contemplating many probing issues. The DIVA lectures are a brilliant chance for anyone who is interested to become more informed in the rapidly transforming South African art world in a global context.
