‘Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings to Work’, the William Kentridge exhibitions At the Zeitz MOCAA

Of particular significance for me, the inclusion of his studio practice within the exhibition was fascinating and how the video’s of his works have been developed into the stories that, while profoundly disturbing, capture his whirling mind within the environment that directs his creative process. 

‘The studio is central. It is the space in which we discover who we are, through the process of making.’

William Kentridge

Senses overloaded by the visuals that if not dramatic enough in black and white, with streaks of red, screamed at you through the large megaphones. Both those depicted visually and those blasting sound within the installations. Ramming his message home in a ‘deaf’ world?

I was glad to come out into the sunshine and a glass of wine! 

Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture, at the Norval Foundation. 

Clever. Bizarre. Disturbing. Fantastical. Noise. His signature megaphones, less of ‘His Master’s Voice’ but rather those used to cower through blasted propaganda.

I do wonder how the new propaganda tool, social media that seeks to manipulate messaging that ferments division and hatred will be depicted in the art of the future? 

If nothing, a headache is certain.

The sculptures in Rebus are playful and intriguing as they transform from a simple edge into different shapes depending on how they are viewed. Guess much like the truth of anything. Light playing it’s own role in resolving the puzzle of the logical and illogical.

I couldn’t connect the massive sculptures in the main gallery to the vista through the windows to the mountains. It seems unlikely that the sculptures were randomly placed, without taking the movement of sunlight and the backdrop into account. 

Senses beaten into submission?

Silhouette figures in cut out steel, Solid Shadows at the entrance evoke the same feelings I experienced walking through an abandoned steel mill, or mine. Casting shadows of past glory, they remain hunks of black steel, against blue skies.