artthrob artbio
Vaughn Sadie
By Peter Machen
Vaughn Sadie
untitled (folly in failing),
2009.
metal tripod, theodolite stand, 40 w clear incandescent lamp, 7 w compact golf ball globe w/wht and 10m of 0.5 mmsq x 2 co black twin flex
dimensions variable.
Modus Operandi
As part of his most recent solo exhibition, 'Situation' at Bank Gallery in Durban's Florida Road, Vaughn Sadie installed an analogue simulacrum of a digital clock on the frontage of the building. Constructed from fluorescent tubes wired to an actual digital clock, the piece was both remarkably complex and profoundly simple, a gorgeous synthesis of technological clumsiness and aesthetic elegance. Because of the nature of fluorescent lighting, the tubes did not light up instantly but took a few seconds to do so, flickering intermittently and familiarly in the process. And so, as each minute turned over, the passing of time was reduced to an illuminating shudder. Having interviewed Sadie in the gallery, I stood with him as we waited for the digits to turn from 11:59 to 12:00. Finally the moment came: a flurry of flickers of chronological indecision. He was visibly thrilled. Later, we realised that the clock hadn't been even remotely correct.
Sadie's work is remarkably mature for a relatively young artist and part of that is no doubt due to Sadie's obsessive nature. A Sadie-installed exhibition is immaculate. This is not to suggest that it is over-serious or without humour. In fact his work is full of little jokes and conceptual twists even as it aspires to great heights. And his artistic aspirations – rather than ambitions – of greatness are reflected in the rigour, thoroughness and beauty of his work – although I'm not sure he'd be comfortable with that statement.
Sadie and I were speaking about former Durbanite and all-round genius, choreographer Jay Pather, and Sadie said that one of the great things about Pather is that he's not afraid to have a big idea. The same is true of Sadie, and while it might seem that choreographing scores of dancers in a public space is somewhat more challenging task that constructing an analogue of a digital clock, that's only slightly true – speak to Sadie's electrician. Sadie doesn't think small; he integrates his thoughts and his works into the internationalist canon as a matter of course. Although he is still a young artist – he is about to complete his Masters in Fine Art – he is also a remarkably mature one, and there is no doubt in my mind that Vaughn Sadie will one day be one of the big names in South African art.
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Artist's Statement
[From the artist:] ‘Vaughn Sadie has built up a body of work investigating the systems we utilise to attach value and meaning to the objects and things that we surround ourselves with. It is through his own choice of materials and the seemingly disparate relationships between objects and the self that he constructs his own narratives around memory and mortality. The integration of video, photography and installation position these narratives between our immediate environments and the larger contexts in which we find ourselves. Built into his work is the ability of artificial light to manipulate and alter these objects and spaces, revealing only the aspects that are deemed suitable or necessary. This careful illumination acts as a mediator between the personal narrative and the social acceptability of the everyday.’
[In first person:] ‘My body of work investigates the systems we utilise to attach value and meaning to the objects and things with which we surround ourselves. It is through my choice of materials and the seemingly disparate relationships between objects and the self that I construct my own narratives around memory and mortality. The integration of video, photography and installation position these narratives between our immediate environments and the larger contexts in which we find ourselves. Built into my work is the ability of artificial light to manipulate and alter these objects and spaces, revealing only the aspects that are deemed suitable or necessary. This careful illumination acts as a mediator between the personal narrative and the social acceptability of the everyday.’
What Others Have Said
‘Sadie knows that objects have their own pull on us, and it is the relationships we have with them that, more than anything else, form the discourse of the work.’ Peter Machen, ArtThrob.
‘In this way, the artists seem to be suggesting that we become so caught up in measuring space that the very tools that are meant to facilitate this activity actually become a barrier to our experience of the space. The weight and density of the cables and the extent to which they dominate the room are physically and psychologically overwhelming.’ Mary Corrigall, Independent on Sunday
‘Vaughn’s installation is also a melancholic critique of contemporary capitalism and consumerism. Through the situation(s) Vaughn has created, the relationship between object/s, space and time is explored, suggesting a reflection on capitalist modes of production and consumption. The installation challenges us as the audience to reflect on our relationship to these objects, to our perception of time, our experience of space and ultimately the dominant ideologies implicit in their construction.’ Rike Sitas, Catalogue for ‘Situation’
Currently
Sadie has just finished showing 'Unit for Measure', a collaboration with Bronwyn Lace, in Johannesburg. The piece, which will be moving to the Durban Art Gallery in October, had two key components, a large-scale installation housed in the Sci-Bono Maths and Science Learning Centre and an education programme hosted at The Bag Factory. The work is the result of an ongoing conversation between the two artists which focuses on the creation of platforms in South Africa for experimental and experiential work.
For the show, Sadie has created a suspension consisting of 1 kilometre of 4mm galvanized steel wire cable, while Lace has created two structures from fishing line: one suspends a swarm of 2000 hand made fishing flies while the other pins down a dried African Monarch Butterfly. Sadie sees the work as consisting of three elements: the ‘units of material en masse’, the relationship between the two artists’ work and the specific site which the work occupies. As such, ‘Unit of Measure’, initially installed in a newly built basement in the Sci-Bono Centre, will take on new form and meaning in the gentle grandness of the Durban Art Gallery.
The education programme consisted of a one-week workshop conducted with 12 museum education officers and artists. The results of the workshop were exhibited at The Bag Factory.
Before that
Although Sadie's solo show 'Situation' at the Bank Gallery was the exhibition for his Masters degree, it showed a remarkable depth and maturity, suggesting the work of an artist decades older. Filled with conceptual and visual jokes, the show explored the very nature of light and the ways in which it constructs our fragile interior and exterior worlds.
Much of the work was bathed in a yearning melancholy and informed by centuries of art history and theory, as well as Sadie's obsession with light as a medium. But while Sadie clearly reads a lot, most of his work is easy to access, so long as you don't think too much about unlocking its meaning. This is a strange necessity for work that is so profoundly cerebral.
Upon entering the gallery space, the viewer was confronted by three particularly tall wooden step ladders on wheels, each bearing a strangely stylised bedside lamp fitted with a large halogen bulb. The ladders, which were real but tall enough to test the limits of safety, might normally be used to light exhibitions but they were also reminiscent of the ladders used in large old libraries and institutional buildings. Sadie has made the conceptual game a little easier by installing a super-enlarged print of a drawing of a street light.
In another piece, 100 Metre Sprint, two scooters whose bases carry neon light fittings are connected through a hundred spooled metres of electrical wire to the ceiling above, attached not by a plug but wired directly into the ceiling, a broken circle of concrete exposing the connection.
And before that
Spill Light, the 2005 work that Sadie's produced for KZNSA's continuously rolling Young Artist Project consisted of 14 electrical pull switches, a false ceiling made out of chipboard, 4 concrete gulley cover and 4 covers made out of stainless steel laser cut with details of street lights. The work explored how artificial light in both public and private spaces constructs our experience. The audience seemingly had control over the light, but the switches would respond erratically, forcing the light to change continually around the room. The effect was to create a conceptual and physical playground where the viewer attempted to understand and manipulate the work itself.
And even before that
In his early shows at what is now Durban University of Technology, Sadie was already producing immaculately executed work that challenged the viewer on many levels. Those who remember his early work – already spare and minimalist – might also remember how skilled he was in the area of painting, a talent that only occasionally finds expression in his contemporary work.
Next Up
Sadie had been working with choreographer Jay Pather for the last few years, designing lighting elements for performances such as Body of Evidence which premiered at Dance Umbrella 2008 and which will be showing at the Play House in Durban in October. In Body of Evidence, lights are integrated into the performances, often embedded in objects or attached to performers to actively shape and impact on the performance space.
Sadie also contributes to the Spier Performing Arts Worshops which travels to Durban, Jo'burg and Cape Town. In conjunction with sound, video and performance workshops, he conducts lighting workshops in an attempt to get performers to view light as medium and not mere mood or ambience.
He is also due to install a commissioned work at Durban's International Convention Centre at the end of the year.
Curriculum Vitae
Website: www.vaughnsadie.net
Curatorship
2008 ‘Light Show’, co-curated, Bank Gallery
2006 ‘Miscellaneous’, Vega Lectures Exhibition, KZNSA
2005 ‘Intersection’, Red Eye, co-curated, Durban Art Gallery
2005 ‘Phantasmagoria’, Vega Lectures Exhibition, artSPACE durban
Exhibitions
One person shows
2009 ‘situation’ Bank Gallery, Durban
2006 ‘100m sprint’, Parking Gallery, Johannesburg
2005 ‘Spill light’, Young Artists Project, KZNSA Gallery, Durban
2003 ‘mendation’, B. Tech Final Show
2003 ‘Talisman[s]’, Installation, The Cupboard Gallery, Durban
Group shows
2009 ‘Social Pattern’, AVA, Cape Town
2008 ‘Human Insides’, Durban
2008 ‘Body of Evidence’ Collaboration with Jay Pather, Johannesburg.
2008 ‘Project (Or) Art Fair’, Mamma, Rotterdam
2008 ‘Light Show’, Bank Gallery, Durban
2007 ‘Ball Sports’, AVA, Cape Town
2007 ‘Blindspaces’, Durban and Bella Horizontia
2007 ‘7’, KZNSA, Durban
2007 ‘KO Video Festival’, Mexico City, Mexico
2007 ‘From here to there’, AVA, Cape Town
2007 ‘SAartsEmerging’ Exhibition, Vega, Cape Town
2006 ‘Miscellaneous’, Vega Lectures Exhibition, KZNSA
2006 ‘SAartsEmerging’ Exhibition, The Bag factory, Johannesburg
2006 ‘Access Denied’, Red Eye Art, Durban Art Gallery
2005 ‘KO Video Festival’, Various Venues, Durban
2005 ‘Paean to Paint’, artSPACE durban
2005 ‘Phantasmagoria, ArtSPACE durban
2005 ‘Being here’, KZNSA Gallery
2005 ‘Beautiful ones are not yet born’, Collaboration with Jay Pather, Constitution Hill
Johannesburg.
2004 ‘Negotiate’, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
2004 ‘Points and Pixels’, KZNSA Gallery
2004 ‘Republic’, Jomba, artSPACE durban
2004 Absa Ateliers, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2004 ‘Ten Year of Democracy’, Red Eye Art, Durban Art Gallery
2003 ‘Dance Quickies’, Jomba, KZNSA Gallery
2002 ‘Pleasure Dome’, Red Eye Art, Durban City Hall
2002 ‘Red Eye Art’, Durban Art Gallery
2002 Durban Designer Emporium, BAT Centre
2002 Red Eye Art, Durban Art Gallery
2001 Red Eye Art, Durban Art Gallery
Public Commissions
2009 Durban ICC ARENA, Durban
Workshops
2008 Spier Performing Arts Workshops. Cape Town
2007 Spier Contemporary Performance Workshops. Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg
2007 South African Sugar Association World HIV/Aids Day collage workshop.
Exchanges
2004 Paint is Powerful/Art for Humanity, Amsterdam
