I am delighted to have sold my work ‘Directions’ to the Oliewenhuis Gallery in Bloemfontein. The value of this transaction is more than just being able to pay the rent. A public collection is a sample of our cultural heritage, an important part of tourism and has an important educational function. This is where works are most likely to be seen, provoke debate and exert an influence. It is also a wonderful feeling that my work is being taken seriously by the cognoscenti of Bloemfontein.
The purchase of ‘Directions’ is a more poignant success if you understand that the past several years have been difficult times for any public gallery in South Africa, as many have not had a purchasing budget. Their valiant efforts have relied on the ‘Friends’, tea rooms, donations and fundraisers for their pittances and are therefore sometimes priced out of the market. By contrast the city councils always seem to be able to afford a party. This underinvestment has seen many of our best works sold to foreign and private collections. At least 50% of my work goes abroad. In addition, there is the cultural and educational loss and now the lack of purchasing power will mean that the public sectors’ 2010 displays will be just that much less exciting.
It is thrilling that I have been approached to take part in the soccer world cup, but no, I am not a soccer player or even a great fan of football – though I once broke my arm playing the beautiful game. There will be an art component to this grand spectacle, and rightly so, and I will be participating. 2010 will be an opportunity for South Africans to show off and market all that this country has to offer, which will include its art. Generally, I think that our art could play a greater role in our tourism industry, especially if you consider that France’s 88 million annual visitors go there primarily for their art. Hopefully, a sincere effort will be made so that art is not seen as alternative entertainment for the soccer widows or as an option for the rainy and no match today days, but as it should be seen: an exciting, dynamic and integral part of South Africa.
My new work ‘Backflip’ (Now at Strydom Gallery) is about being caught unaware and thrown off guard. It is a sand cast bronze on which I have used a patina I have not previously tried. Although the medium of bronze has an authority, the works can be dull and boring, but I am pleased with this work as it is an interesting form with an exciting patina. A good patina is difficult to achieve and I usually have to rework the initial attempt in order to obtain a satisfactory result. I prefer this traditional method of finishing a bronze to the alternatives offered. In this work the overall colour is a purplish brown that has a green and blue lustre to it, something I would not be able to achieve with paint.
In an example of life imitating art this work illustrates what I did when I burnt myself. Part of the process of making bronzes is that I make the equipment I need and so I have been engineering steel boxes for my sand casts. They are welded with a gas welder and although I am a competent welder, my glasses, which I wear under the welding glasses, sometimes steam up and not being able to see properly, I get clumsy. It was at a moment like this that I fumbled. The filler rod cartwheeled into my lap, the molten tip was like a javelin slicing through my pants, through my underpants and seared into my, um, well, err, John Thomas.
The involuntary reaction was a back flip, though it was a lot less controlled and less acrobatic than it appears in my sculpture. I am now a connoisseur of pain and derision. My wife, regardless of my hurt and disfigurement, giggled like a teenage girl and despite my protestation that there was nothing to gain from or humorous about the situation, has refused to take it or me seriously ever since.
