T.Rex’s 1972 glam rock hit, “Children of the Revolution,” translated into isiXhosa and transformed into a South African protest song for choir. The transcribed piece is to be disseminated to community choirs throughout South Africa in the hope that it will one day become a musical standard in our country’s politico-musical lexicon.
Photo by Elly Clarke
The Hebrew “Yesh or she’le’aolam lo kabah,” translates as “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.” The text is an appropriation of the title of the 1986 hit song by a seminal British band, The Smiths. Translated, cast in neon, and exhibited in public, the anthemic lyrics are transformed from their musical origins into a visual event that conjures cultural and site-specific associations.
The cackling of Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) broadcast from speakers concealed in an outdoor, urban environment.
A white neon, calligraphic rendition of the Japanese word “Mu” (the equivalent to the Chinese character “Wu”), meaning “nothingness” and “without.”
The electrical lighting of a space is connected to a motion sensor so that when visitors walk under an overhead light, the light switches off. The artwork allows for visitors to always walk in darkness.
For the duration of the vernissage, the gallery audience are required to refrain from talking while inside the exhibition.
An audio intervention wherein the sounds of a young girl coughing are diffused in an otherwise ordinary, public space. The speakers broadcasting these soft yet abject sounds are concealed (normally behind existing curtains in the space), and the audience are left to wonder the source and meaning of the sound. The audio is mixed so as to sound as lifelike as possible and is broadcast randomly for a few seconds every 10-minutes or so. The artwork is not announced or accredited.
Songs of a Tropical Mockingbird broadcast from speakers concealed in a tree within Regent’s Park, London.
An audio recording of some of the protests outside the South African Houses of Parliament on the 22nd of November 2011, when the National Assembly approved the Protection of State Information Bill, more commonly referred to as The Secrecy Bill.
This recording forms part of a new work in progress.
An undisclosed volunteer concealing a high-power cellular phone jammer, capable of cancelling mobile phone reception, circulated the stalls of the 2011 Joburg Art Fair.
Recording “The Nameless Threshold” at the Broadcast Room in Cape Town. The recordings are of attack dogs from the South African Police and Security Services canine units.
Photograph by Jonx Pillemer.
An unadvertised intervention where an electrical light is tuned to flash an undisclosed message in Morse code.
The artwork is nocturnal and unaccredited. The decoded text is not disclosed to the viewing public.
For the duration of this artwork, the artist is available to go for walks with members of the public. These walks are conducted one-on-one in an area agreed upon by both parties and should last at least one hour. The project is not documented.
Intermittent radio transmissions of Xhosa and Zulu-language numerical and alphabet codes broadcast from undisclosed sites in major European cities.
