Ofentse’s show at Eclectica Contemporary invites us into a conversation about the precarity of Black life, the imminence of Black death, the rot of and in civil society, a rot that is the condition of possibility for this collective death. But his work, the world(s) in his work, is also peopled by Blacks insisting on life against the grain. Though his figures’ identities are concealed, faces un-made, enigmatic faces; we fill them up with our faces, faces we know, faces of Black bodies that roam the ghetto which occupies Ofentse’s pieces, a ghetto, a setting, which is chillingly symbolic of the rot that is Post-Apartheid Apartheid South Africa (or simply POSTASA).
Umzi Watsha.
Fire, as the artist wants us to believe, is not only a facticity but a necessity. His medium, through which he advances his practice, marries fire with paper and the result are subjects and property that look ablaze and in a kind of motion, a vibration. Unemployment, power & politics, protest, militarisation, all occupy the grand conceptual apparatus undergirding Democrazy, his bold attempt to create a body of work that mirrors the state of the State, while grappling with the legacies of this our settler colonial nightmare; what of the past, as it collides with the present?
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Vusumzi Nkomo: From the title of the project, to the titles of the pieces, humour and irony are employed to make necessary political interventions. How important was this to you?
Ofentse Seshabela: Democrazy was actually my second choice title of the show. I had initially decided to title the show "A State of a State". This title, however, did not resonate with the show in a manner I had anticipated. The idea was to have a catchy title, which would easily grab one's attention at first glance and also, at the same time, deliver a sense of the ideas I am grappling with as an artist. So I feel Democrazy did just that. It is important to always find a relatable way of unpacking serious issues that concern society. This is where satire comes at play. The whole composition of each individual piece is entirely deliberate as you know, humour and irony is very popular in dealing with socio-political issues. So yes, the manner in which I used this element is that I decided, for instance, to use the names of common structures as a way that would pose a striking statement which addresses the daily lives of people living in the environments I chose to base my focus on. This was/is very important to me in my work, as I always strive to use any visual opportunity in my artworks in a way that would either inform the viewer or just merely question the norm.
It is important to always find a relatable way of unpacking serious issues that concern society
VN: The obfuscation of faces in Democrazy creates a sense of mystery, annulling our desire to identify with your subjects. Talk to me about this aesthetic choice and its intended meaning, within the broader conceptual framework of the project.
OS: The ‘obfuscated faces’ of my figures, I refer to them as "black spaces", or "black faces", or "blank spaces". I use this motif in order to allow the viewer the space to identify themselves in these subjects. I refer to the faces as spaces, because it is symbolic, to me, as "head spaces". Now, a head space could be considered as one's mind or thinking space. In my own analogy, the mind is equivalent to the universe, or the galaxy rather. It is a vast infinite space which is filled with pockets of the unknown. The "blank spaces" are also metaphoric for actual environmental spaces where one would usually find the subjects I am portraying, hence I also refer to them as "black spaces". The term "black spaces" is also derived from the race of the subjects presented. Black spaces, as a concept, is of great importance to me and this body of work, as it highlights our history as black people and our relationship to spaces. With this idea of black spaces, I critique the politics of spatial occupation unto black people which stems from a history of separation and displacement. This notion further zooms in on the economical barriers which highly affect the occupation of spaces and places based on class and social conventional standards.
VN: You have a keen interest in the banal, the everyday common person. I’m interested in their (suggested) heads, they have a smokey effect about them, as if smoke is oozing from their heads, creating a halo around them. This elevates them to the level of the mystic(al). What did you wish the viewer drawers from this aesthetic choice?
OS: The righteous presence of the smoke, not only on the figures' heads, but all over their body, is an effect I enjoy the most, achievable with this technique. I feel that the "oozingness" represents the aura of the subjects. I am one person who is highly intrigued by the existing energies around us which are invisible to the naked eye. This notion is of great importance as I see value in people. Not value which is classified in a monetary sense, but spiritual value. As a black man, I am aware of the supernatural spiritual wealth my people possess and I feel like the smokeyness around the figures is a dope visual embodiment of the energy we harness and carry around as a people.
VN: Your relation to ‘property’ in the project is interesting. Ashy, shadowy, ghostly, your buildings evoke a sense of fire, or the catastrophic event of a house/shack on fire, proof of these structures’ inhabitability. Can you share why was this specific visual treatment of property-on-fire so important (even though the shacks aren’t exactly burning)?
OS: Well, I think given the medium that I use, the ashy, shadowy, ghosty effect almost comes as organic. This is the result of the treatment in fire meeting the paper. The use of fire as an artistic medium, I link it as a metaphor to the notion into which, in rural areas, after the turn of a season, especially the winter season, the dead grass/crops in one's yard or surrounding areas is usually burned down. This is done in order to encourage growth of the grass/crops in the new coming season. I find this idea as very fundamental in our daily lives in relation to our history and how our lives are constructed in the time frame we exist in. In order for us to experience a fresh new kind of growth and progress, things need to be burned down and totally eradicated, because it is very difficult for the old and the new to functionaly coexist in one space. So one has to go and that, in this case, is the old.
VN: The ‘candle smoke’ meets brown paper in the creation of your pieces. And anyone who grew up in a shack will tell you of the trauma resulting from any careless marriage between candles and shacks, the flammability of Black people’s homes/lives. Why was it important for you to recreate this reality through this specific technique?
OS: From narratives derived from history and even current affairs, it is common knowledge that black lives are very fragile and highly sensitive. Stories of shacks burning down due to negligence grace news bulletins every now and again. When communities demonstrate due to lack of service delivery or whatever broken promise between government and the people, tires are burnt as well as cars and properties. So within black communities, there seems to be a very interesting and questionable relationship between people, fire and violence. In the case of my artworks, I think the fire from the candle creates an environment which is almost symbolic of a copy and paste of our lived realities as a people. Honestly, this idea is something which isn't premeditated, but comes across as natural given the technique used. I think it works very well in order to create other familiar links from reality to the conceptualization of the final artworks.
VN: Wat Soek Jy Op My Land references, through chalk-like text, Orwell’s “1984” and the debilitating dystopia that runs through the novel. What sort of analogies were you drawing between (post)apartheid South Africa and Orwell’s narrative of authoritarianism?
OS: I find the slogan of the ‘Party’ as very interesting as I feel that it was relevenant during the time the book was written and it is still relevant even today. If you think about it, the treatment of war as being peaceful is reflective of our normalization of living in a world that is governed by very absurd systems. Furthermore, I will always state that I see the world as a gigantic battle field. This idea forms the foundation of my work. The need for one to wake up everyday and go to work at a job that they do not enjoy is a battle many of us are fighting. All of this happens with an objective to maintain peace. I call this normalizing the crazy. The slogan also makes me question the degree of freedom we have as individuals living in post-apartheid South Africa. Yes, we might be free to exist in spaces we were once subjected to occupy, but if one is conscious of their poor financial status, are they free to go to Sandton or V&A Waterfront for whatever reason? I do not think so, because (1) one needs to take into account their exterior presentation and if it fits/relates to the majority of the people that occupy these spaces. (2) One has to consider their financial standing and then determine if they will be able to afford products and services that are up for sale at these spaces. (3) How does one even get to these spaces? So, in my understanding, the kind of freedom which we are being offered comes with its own terms and conditions that are to be considered in almost everything that we do. Civilians' careless tendency to be ignorant of serious issues that concern them is one active mechanism that cements the control and domination of imperialist systems unto us. The glorification and promotion of ‘Western culture’ is something which is unconsciously practised amongst Black communities. This is supplemented by the lack of "giving a damn" by people in general. I see the above mentioned points as being deeply woven within the fabric of society. In “1984”, surveillance is also a dominating theme. Surveillance is very evident in our daily lives. From CCTV mushrooming in the white suburbs to our smartphones recording each and every step we take. Our lives have turned into a big, wide stage and everything and everyone is being recorded as they perform.
VN: Taken as a whole, Democrazy invites us to think of the South African present as made possible by a long historical violence, state-sanctioned military repression. How important is a nuanced reading of South Africa’s history as it constantly collides with the present?
OS: History informs the reasons why things are in their state today. It is due to situations we have faced, and our reaction to them that has culminated in the way we live and behave the way that we do. We are a country that has been governed by violence for many years. We, as a people, responded to the system with violence. So I am not surprised that today we think that violence is our go-to solution for any burning situation we might find ourselves confronted with. So as much as language forms part of our heritage, so does violence. Democrazy aims to explore this notion of violence which is infested into our daily lives. I’m not only referring to the chaotic state of a convention, but also a personal, self-inflicting type of violence which often manifests into the unfair treatment of people that surround us. Democrazy aims to celebrate those among us who have been successful in demonstrating a subversive resistance which echoes from the basic fundamentals of carrying out the events on a daily.
VN: You mention elsewhere Fela’s impact on you for this project specifically, further proof of his resurgence in the public imagination. Why was it important for you to use him as your creative reference point?
OS: Fela is very crazy! I think I can relate a lot to Fela as an artist and as an African man. I love his ability to self-express his utmost full potential with no shame. I think Fela would go as far as performing naked on stage. Fela is way beyond the edge. And I love that. I love his energy. Fela is politically and socially vocal. Fela does not shy away from real visible issues that affect him and his people. Fela is the voice of the people and I love how he can articulate real scorching subject matter and diffuse it into music. I think it is absolutely phenomenal. Fela remains a beacon of hope for Africa. Fela, to me, resembles a true definition of a real artist. I have no reason not to admire and be inspired by Fela. Fela is great. Fela is an African Giant. Fela is my Father.
VN: There’s a certain familiarity about your work, and A familiar Sight advances this so well. Speak to me about ‘familiarity’ as a dominant motif in Democrazy.
OS: Familiarity is definitely a dominant factor in Democrazy. This is absolutely intentional and is bound to the fact that space and people form the core of this body of work. Now, with space, there is a lot of familiarity in spaces due to economical and land politics. What I mean is, a space which is meant for rich people will always look like a space meant for rich people. A space which is meant for poor people will always look like a space meant for poor people. The latter works in two visually distinct parallels. Space and environment in this sense constitutes the content that occupies the mind and we will always see it as what it is and what it stands for.
VN: ‘Power’ is juxtaposed with people engaged in resistance in Prosecute State Capture Culprits. Tell me more about this contrast.
OS: PROSECUTESTATECAPTURECULPRITS is the first artwork I completed for Democrazy. It came after having a frustration from the buzz around the Zondo commision at the beginning of 2019. I was terrified for the fact that the commision had been running for just over a year, a lot of damning information had been revealed to the public about prominent politicians and business people recklessly bending laws and easily escaping the jaws of justice. I did not and still do not understand how and why hasn't there been any high profile arrests that have been made of culprits that have been inflicted of this saga of maladministration and the obvious looting of state resources. So this artwork was a form of protest to heighten the seriousness of witnessing the privilege of politicians dodging the ends of justice. The idea with this piece was to make it highly dramatic. I had imagined a cluster of imagery and colour which represents the visuality of an active protest.
Check out 'Democrazy' at Eclectica Contemporary, 69 Burg Street, Cape Town.