Update

So yes, no argument here, I am very likely the worst blogger ever. Remind me not to put that on my CV. At least I am consistent however, that’s good, right?

Since my last post I have done a lot of work and so at least I’ve got something to show for my absence. When I wrote last I was still busy making the ‘trophies’ for my Boer family trophies and some, if I may, rather ugly wallpaper. Since then I’ve taken a sharp left and gone down another road. I’m still going to use the trophies (I’m way too lazy to just throw away time consuming work) as part of a larger project.

As I’ve mentioned, and as you will know if you cared to Wikipedia it, the South African war (also known as the Anglo-Boer war) saw individuals from a number of races, cultures, and even countries fighting on British and Republic sides respectively. I have begun to refer to the Boer/Afrikaner as a burgher of either Republic (Orange Free State & Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek) as burghers of the two Republics mostly chose to stand together against the mostly British Cape Colony, during the war to fight for their (the Republics’) independence.

The focus of my project has, from the beginning, been on the lives of those involved in the war, specifically the suffering of the innocents in the concentration camps. I am by no means denying that the war was felt incredibly harshly by all groups of people who were involved, but my focus s specifically on the burghers – the men who went on commando and the women, children, and elderly who were sent to what were initially meant to be concentration camps.

As my focus is on the conflict and consequences thereof, between the Republics and the British forces, two white groups, at some stage a couple months ago I decided to focus on the concept of white on white and have consequently decided to approach my executions from this perspective. The concept of white on white was also influenced by a technique used by burgher women, called witwerk, which essentially entailed white embroidery on white material.

In the following couple of days, I will address the process both of conceptualization and execution of each piece that forms a part of the whole of the project as well as how the pieces have been adapted to conform to my white on white concept. Later pieces have been conceptualized with the white on white idea in mind and I will then just explain my thinking and the process of each.

I’m sorry to take so long to start writing again but here we go, hope you find at least some of these pieces interesting.

Project Update – Trophies

So, it’s been a couple weeks since the first post but at least I’ve got something to show for it?

As briefly explained before, I am currently busy with a year long project on the Anglo Boer War. In completing this project I will be working with a number of different mediums. The past couple of weeks, since the lino cutting, have seen me working with metal, wire, and clay as well as some digital work in preparation for printing wallpaper.

Through this project I make use of quotes by people who took part in the war, in order to allow contemporary society to form their own opinions on the propaganda used in the media at the time.

So, first things first, the basic idea is that I’m making three trophies as representatives of a Boer family. The trophies will each represent the Boer, his wife, and child respectively. These will then be mounted onto boards printed with the wallpaper I’ve designed.

The trophies are not complete but currently look as follows:

The bull represents the Boer and is inspired by photos of the fighting, the injured, the scorched earth policy and the bravery of the Boers in defending their land and their family.

The goat is representative of the Boer women and is inspired by their volkskuns and their tenacity. The two images above were part of my inspiration and the two underneath are of the trophy I created.

The Boer children are represented by a lamb, which is inspired by the klei-osse built by the children. The lamb was chosen for its innocence and defenselessness as well as its promise. The image on the left is of a klei-os and the one on the right is of the lamb that I crafted from clay.

Please know that this is the very first time I’ve worked with many of these materials and so would not have been able to do this without some collaboration. I’d like to thank all those who have lent a hand. Much appreciated!

Hoping to blog about some completed work soon.