kagablog

Enter MC2 dressed in a black suit, shoes, tie, white shirt, socks. Movements brisk and businesslike, impatient. Carries a clock on a chain (sort of ‘white rabbit), at times robot-like. Moves all over stage backwards, forwards etc. and in a hard whisper repeats over and over:

MC2
tick, tick, tock
tick, tock, tick
tock, tick, tick
etc…

for exactly 120 seconds.

EXIT

Enter MC1 dressed in black tights over which is a black circular skirt, calf length. Lining underside of skirt are bright coloured squares. He wears a black birdlike half-mask. Spins onto stage, freezes, looks around furtively, laughs…loudly…. then in disgust says:

MC1
aaagh!! LOOK! Look. Look…loo…oook…
at you all
You make me sick!

(mimes absolute revulsion)

Do you ever make the effort to THINK
for yourselves?
I’m talking about effort……effort
you don’t like to make an effort unless
you know you’re going to GET
something out of it…..

(pause)

and you will…..but you cannot see it….
e….ff…f…or….t…..ef…..f…f.oor….t

(drawing it out)

Always expecting to be entertained
to sit on your fat arses and wallow,
wanking away….
wanking away…
I can see that what you cannot see
doesn’t exist
and what you can see
cannot be altered….
All you want are: fast results
quick solutions
easy outcomes
automatic responses
happy synapses..

it….IS….what…you….have …been…sold…

(rubbing it in)

come on..
what are we all so frightened of then….huh..?
come….

(very suggestive)

let me provoke you
let me assist you
let me provoke you
let me assist you
push your fear away
persist….persist..
live a little
give a little
give a LOT

(pause)

SMUG!
That’s what you all are
smug and self satisfied
easy come and not so easy go
take…..but not so easy give…
you’re all so small minded
you’re all so..so..absent minded….
so..so..petty..so narrow…
so unforgivable…
you’ve all been taught that self-expression is….
is distasteful….grubby…
unnecessary….tainted….

Enter MC 2 (lights a cigarette - American accent)

MC2
hey…hey..hay hay…hey…hey ha…..y….
What the fuck are you doin…..?
We try so fucking hard to get this dim dumb audience here and YOU try and chase them away…
these bums on these seats…
what the FUCK is wrong with you….?
We try so hard to get ourselves known…
we try so hard
we try so hard
then we try
HARDER

(percussion intermezzo)

(series of lifts while the following is spoken)

(to the audience)

He’s just one of those self indulgent tarts trying desperately to make use of a captive audience…
take NO notice of him…
I am sure he hasn’t meant a word of it….

(very apologetic, ingratiating)

you know what it’s…like..
say one thing…do something else…

(trying to find an excuse)

double speak…?
He has a stage-hand mentality when it comes to anything of importance…he has no idea how tentative these things are..
this balance..
especially in the beginning…
who one offends, who one befriends,
who one knows..who one sleeps with…

he has no sense of the carefully constructed reality..
reality
constructed
carefully constructed
reality

the manipulation of facts…
the distortion of truths…
the delicacy of our preordained culture..
the way things SHOULD BE!
Forgive him, his lack of experience…
but I promise you, that when he leaves here,
this theatre training school,
he…they…would have learnt the meaning of
cooperation…
he will be one of US!

ENTER MC3 (she has come to audition)

She is wearing a white corset, white net skirt, silver bells, white tights, around her neck hangs a white unicorn horn. She is nervous and it shows. She goes straight to the front of the stage in a gesture of nervous overconfidence.

(MC1 has lowered MC2 and exits)

MC2
Well, go ahead…don’t let ME stop you…er…
we’ll worry about names later…if….necessary…
I’ve been in this business long enough…I….er…
KNOW what to look for…

MC3 (hesitant but growing in confidence)
I..see..what’s…wrong

(M.C. 2 is startled)

MC3
I see what’s wrong.
We’re frightened..
we’re frightened of BEING…….wrong…
we’re frightened of BEING WRONG.
NO conviction
No connection
I see what’s wrong.
What we are frightened of is our BLOOD
losing it
sharing it
giving it
taking it
mixing it

MC3 MIMES BEING SHOT WITH AN ARROW…
PULLING THE ARROW OUT…
BREAKING IT…
THROWING IT AWAY…while the following is said
MC3
the pain…..?
want more?
want less?
It’s almost as if something is almost there…
It’s almost as if something ought to be there…
the pain
the pain of having to go back to the beginning
square one
king’s pawn
where it all started…
how it all began..
but now we’re all in different places..
So how does anything happen
that’s going to happen
that hasn’t happened already?
I’m tired of startled eyes greeting me
when I attempt something new…

(pause)

She is attempting to gather herself, to rise above herself … to change her consciousness. Continues as if beginning anew..

In the beginning I committed no crime…
In MY beginning I committed no crime..
no crime no crime
in the beginning there was no crime

MC2

(brushing her aside…circling her…impatient)

Yes…wel.l..
What else have you prepared?
What else have you got to show me?
Y’know you’ve got some really good
assets there…

(referring to her shapely figure, breasts….)

Look…look…look…uhm…
why don’t you use them?
I mean what’s all this crap about being frightened?
Who’s frightened? With fright?
Huh? Losing blood?
Who’s losing blood?
Pain? Beginning?
This is a theatre, not a battle field.
I mean your acting is…fine…
there’s potential…
but why do you want to go wasting
a bod like that for?

Movement sequence: MC2 while talking begins to mentally strip MC3 who submits or ‘mimics’ the required attitudes: pouting lips; squashed cleavage; raised skirt…etc..

MC2
C’mon…you can give us more than that..
What do you think these idiots have come to see?
Blood? Huh!
Show y’re arse a bit,
shake your fanny,
don’t be frightened…there’s nothing to lose..
give a little more…
be seductive…titilating…
keep the attention level below the belt…
yes…yes…that’s it….give us some more…
give us some more….scandal…
all the juicy bits…c’mon…c’mon…
more….more…

ENTER RED BULL wearing a red g-string, red bull mask..picks up on ‘more’ which he repeats with much depth of voice and breath.

RED BULL
more more more more MORE

Fade exit MC2

A ritualised RAPE SCENE ensues. Exit RED BULL.

MC3 devastated. Slowly exits. Stage darkens to blackout.

Enter MC4 as a magician - red three pointed hat, red tights red magician bodice.

MC4
Spellbound…spellbound…
What are you dreaming about?
What do you all dream about?
Are your dreams REAL?
Are your dreams just the fabric of the real thing?
Truth and dreams.
Truth and dreams.
Where are your fantasies lurking?
Are you fantasies coarse and base?
Coarse and base
Is that why you fear them?
Is that why you don’t pursue them?
What is real about your fantasies?
Reality and fantasy.
Reality and fantasy.
Reality is just a dream away.
Look. Look. Look..look…look…look at them…
Make them beautiful.
If there is the slightest doubt
beautify them..
Do you know what reality is?
There in your ivory towers and presumptions..
your extracted realities….
unsafe suburban homes…
Look…look…look…at your dreams…
look at them..
make them beautiful..
if there is the slightest doubt,
beautify them..
Do you know what beauty is…?
Arm yourself with beauty.
Spellbound spellbound
the magic of the dream is in its doing
the magic of the fantasy is in its existence
its insistence
What’s the use of counting sheep?
It will only put you all to sleep….
to sleep…
to sleep..
to sleep…
sleep….sleep….

(hypnotist-like)

(getting quieter as he exits)

Front of stage are 4 large black hats of different shapes, and three black card semicircle cut-outs which, when worn around the neck, make a cone-like effect around the head. These are worn by MC’s 1,2,3,4, who enter wearing black and grey spangled tights. The following sequence is performed to intricate movements and lifts, awkward positions and straining stances….

MC1
A man come to me the other day and said:
I have fought. I have fought with everything that I have….
and I have lost.
I have loved and I have lost…he said.

MC2
I have loved and I have lost, he said.

MC3
A man came to me the other day and said…
Oh god….I need a fuck…..I need a fuck so badly.
Do you fuck? he asked.

MC4
Do you fuck he asked.

MC1
I fear. I fear so badly at times that I just want to cry
in exasperation he said…..
I fear what others will think he said.

MC2
I fear what others will think he said.

MC3
Why do i fear taking a stand he said..

MC4
I am sick to death of being thought of as a woman, a woman said
something which procreates,
something to fuck she said…..

MC1
Something to fuck she said…

MC2
I’m tired of men, she said…
the way they always hound you.
The way they always expect you to behave in a certain way
because they are behaving in a certain way…
to always want sex….she said..

MC3
To always want sex she said…

MC4
Always having to perform they make such lousy lovers she said…
so inhibited she said…frightened to move their arse…she said..

MC1
Always after the sex object….
the quick response
not quite making it she said..

MC2
Not quite making it she said.

MC3
And men never stop thinking about it…..
about homosexuality..he said….
it’s always there
hovering beneath their eyes he said…

MC4
Its always there hovering
beneath their eyes he said..

MC1
Whenever they meet another male they think:
is this one queer he thought…

MC2
Is this one queer he thought.

MC3
And the queer threw up at the thought of that…

MC4
And the queer threw up at the thought of that…

MC1
And the queer thought at the thought of that:
if you’re always so worried about it, what is it you fear?

MC2
What is it you fear, he thought.

MC3
If a queer thinks like a queer
he’s just in another box he said

MC4
He’s just in another box he said.

MC1
I fear he said…I fear that what I need to experience with you
may never happen, he said…

MC2
It may never happen he said…

MC3
It may never happen because of your inhibition he said.

MC4
It may never happen because of your inhibition he said.

MC1
His hand touches my shoulder and my entire body touches his hand….

MC2
His hand touches my shoulder and my entire body touches his hand….

MC3
It’s all very clever he said…cocks and cunts…its all very clever he said.

MC4
It’s all very clever he said…

MC1
But does it all end there he said.

MC2
But does it all end there he said.

MC3
But women think they’ve got you when
you want them…
so we mock sex he said..

MC4
So we mock sex he said.

MC1
What do you know about love…love..he said.
I have loved and I have lost he said.

MC2
I have loved and I have lost he said.

MC3
And I give and give and give….and she wants more and more and more
and more and more he said…she cannot get enough he said..

MC4
She cannot get enough he said.

MC1
When we’re alone everything changes..
when you and I are alone together
everything changes.
Why is that?
Why are things so different
when we’re alone together?
Why does the presence of other people
change our exchange?

MC2
When we’re alone everything seems to vanish..our identities seem
to rest on how others see us…

MC3
I am trying to make the reality of being alone
as equal to the reality of not being alone…

MC4
Why do you never look at me….look at me…when we’re alone?

MC1
Because your eyes…your eyes want to devour me..
your eyes…so blue…I could fall in love with your eyes…
but they seem to want to devour me…
what am I NOT giving you?
What is it that I cannot give you?

MC2
I want you inside of me…I want you inside of me all of the time…
I never want you to let me go..
I want you to want me all of the time..
I want you permanently inside of me..
I want you to give me your soul….your soul…

MC3
I cannot give you everything because I cannot give you enough
you leave me nothing for myself..
my soul…my soul
you already have my soul
and you don’t even know it!

MC4
And your eyes, so dark, so deep,
hiding even darker thoughts
under tangled masses of dark dark hair..

MC1
Do you know what love is?
I often think I do and just when I think I do
it vanishes..
It’s more like a memory than a reality.

MC2
It’s more like a memory than a reality.

MC3
Sweep me away…
you always sweep me away..
I never know what time of day or night it is..
time disappears…
reality changes..
something fills me in..
we are travelling through fields of turquoise green
on a night so pitch dark that our skin glows
and we
like fire flies in this forgotten age
soar on…

MC4
Let’s loosen ourselves from what others think of us!

MC1
Let’s loosen ourselves from what others think of us!

MC2
All the worlds and

MC3
All the worlds within

MC4
All the worlds

ALL
AN ALL OVER WORLD!

ENTER MC5

MC5
Hey hey hay hay hey!!
You people are really getting carried away…
you take things far too far you do!
far too far…
How do you expect the ordinary man in the street to understand you?
Give them a good story…a beginning, middle and end..
that’s what they want..
round it all off…nothing too complicated..
nothing for the audience to have to make an effort..
There’s no room for you lot around here…just look at you!
You’re pathetic!
Just imagine if someone thought that this was a good idea!
Where would we be then….huh?
You people never think!
You cannot think past your own noses!
Just who do you think you are!!?
Just taking over like this!
Where is your training!?
That’s what I ask myself…
where is your training….
You need to go through the system….
for approval…to be honed and polished….
to learn to think correctly…
where the schooling system has failed us
we’re here to fine tune the..the….discrepencies…..
that’s why you’re here….to be trained..conditioned….
brought up to scratch..
Do you really think you can get away with all of this…this…this…

MC1
Self expression?

MC5
Why don’t you do something useful?
Doesn’t anybody WORK around here?
Struck dumb?
You were making enough noise earlier on!!
And now?
Look…look at you all…

You think you can destroy me?

Why don’t you come and join me?
Show us what you’re capable of..
you won’t get anywhere without me..
there’s money….m…o..ne…y…
there’s money in it you know…
and fame…
everything you ever dreamed of…
I’ve got backing..(taunting)
I’m well …connected…
you lot were NOTHING until you met me!

(changing)

And you will STAY NOTHING!
I’ll see to it!

You SEE me alone
but do you think I STAND alone?

I’ve really been kind to you all..
this building…these lights..this stage…
Where do you think this comes from huh….!?
Stop being so pretentious and self-indulgent!
You know you upset a lot of people!

(becoming seductive again)

Come and join us.
You guys….yes…you’ve got potential…
we could really use you….
we’ll make it easy for you…
don’t throw your future away….
Don’t be a JACK OF ALL TRADES
and a MASTER OF NONE!

EXIT all except

MC4
And you?

(to the audience)

Where do you stand?
Dare you take a stand?
Dare you?

EXIT

ENTER MC1 in a black mask as in beginning, magicians wand, black/white harlequin tights.

MC1
It all works from the groin up….and
if it all happens quickly enough
he can keep it there
localise it
localise his satisfaction in the groin
and if it doesn’t happen that quickly
he will let it go to his head
it rushes to his head
and by-passes the heart,
the heart
the heart
bursting with suppressed desire
wanting to pound and pound..to scream…
but..the impulse by-passes the heart..
and..reaches the brain..
but…in what form?
From the groin to the head
the object of his intentions has….transformed…altered…
it has become what he wants it to be
in a sudden and inexplicable leap of imagination
his suppression has taken hold of him..

(in a fast whisper)

Does he ever really get what he wants?
Does he ever really know what he wants?

(back to previous)

this object……… and his heart?
wanting to pound..
wanting to pound..
but held tight
and as climax draws near, the heart
cannot be kept at bay any longer
as its thumping, pumping, beating function
demands to be heard…
but this is just what he does not want
yet it demands..
insists on being heard…
the nerves that travel from the tip of the heart-penis
to the heart-organ are screaming to be electrified..
but too late
he has climaxed
and that groin protuberance
the sword of his own death
goes limp…vanishes….and
the heart
the heart
has not been given the opportunity to realise
why it has been pounding…..pounding…
the heart
has been thwarted..
remains unsatisfied..

(pause)

the heart
not satisfied
sends messages to the brain
and the brain is disturbed
but it doesn’t know why..
it does not even know where the messages of dissatisfaction
are coming from…
and so he just begins to feel a bit …edgy…
in spite of himself,
and because of this
the feeling of ‘edginess’ gets stronger…
and the stronger it becomes
the more obvious it becomes
and the more obvious it becomes
the more aggressive he becomes
and the more aggressive he becomes
the more he seeks a violent outlet

he has begun to feel cheated….

and the more cheated he feels
the more he seeks to regain his sense of dominance
and the more dominant he feels
the more sexual he becomes…
the more he seeks a sexual outlet…

but he is so well versed by now
in suppressing his emotions
that no connection is made
in this cycle of inner events..

and when he tries a little (a little) emotion (emotion)
it all comes out in feelings of sentimentality
of feelings he’s had towards his….mother?
and it all seems strangely…..incongruent…
and he just cannot see
the connection…

ENTER RED EARTH BEING - this is a woman or a man dressed in earthy colours of reds and browns as if covered in mud….of the earth….pagan - for a series of lifts and intertwinings with MC1.

MC1
and so we go from day to day
and we know that certain beauties
exist
and some of us
are too afraid
even to say so

but never-the-less
energies
will flow round
spellbound
spellbound
and some of us will pick them up
some of us are bound to

MC1 separates from the Red Earth Being.

MC1
and you

you who are also beautiful

are doomed to….

EXIT MC1

ENTER MC3 in white as in beginning and huge green mask which has a wide gaping open mouth and which she carries as a shield. This scene almost becomes like witches creating a brew.. as she improvides with the mask…the mouth becoming a portal.

MC3
What is attached to the cunt?
That mouth of the Universe.
That gaping red wound.
That vortex into infinity
its entrance and exit taken so lightly
so matter of factly.
so much a matter of course
so much a matter fo contraception
so much a matter of proving something
so much a matter of possession
its entrance and exit taken so lightly
so painfully
so inevitably
so demandingly
so insistently
so incessantly
so ecstatically
so incompletely
so passionately
so pointlessly
so surreptitiously
so dominantly

RED EARTH BEING and MC3 (duet)

I’ll tell you what’s attached:

penises and sperm
houses and babies
houses and families
aunts and uncles
mothers and fathers
to have and have not
cars and income
servants and nannies
buildings and commerce
finance and security
affairs and infidelity
demand and release
crime and rape
more babies
more sperm
abortion and extortion
satisfaction and expenditure
payment and repayment
prostitution and pornography
cost and sale
acceptance and rejection
identity and chastity
rites and rituals
church and state
bibles and fear
blood and pain
love and lust
gore and trust
mistrust and apprehension
glee and glory
more sperm more babies
more sperm more babies
more ties
more sperm
more lust more ..more..more..

Enter RED Bull who slowly takes over the stage and echoes ‘more’each time it is mentioned.

RED EARTH BEING & MC3
more…monks and nuns…
habit and boredom
lack of understanding…
the quick fix..
the easy outcome
happy synapses
bitter memories
knee jerk reactions
automatic responses
more babies…more…more…more

BOTH EXIT leaving RED BULL with

RED BULL
more…more….more…more..

FADE TO ONE MINUTE BLACKOUT

ENTER ALL MC’S in grey black spangled tights as before.

MC5
Am I pretentious enough is what I ask myself

MC4
Am I different enough is what I ask myself

MC3
Am I indulgent enough is what I ask myself

MC2
Am I capable is what I ask myself

MC1
Am I alone enough is what I ask myself

MC5
Am I disconnected enough is what I ask myself

MC4
Am I responsible is what I ask myself

MC3
What lights me up is what I ask myself

MC2
Am I strong enough is what I ask myself

MC1
Connectedness….connectedness….

MC5 & MC4
Tangle…tangle….tangle…

MC3 & MC2
Tingle….tingle….tingle……

MC1
Tangible strands of in-between
that go unnoticed…

(ALL FREEZE)

THE END

THE PROBLEM WITH ART OBSERVERS, THE ACCEPTED PRACTITIONERS
AND THOSE WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER IS THAT THEY STILL HAVE
BEEN UNABLE TO MAKE THE PARADIGM SHIFT FROM THE APARTHEID
CONSTRICT THAT TAUGHT THEM THAT ART ONLY EXISTS WHERE

THEY

PLACE

THE STREET LAMP.

OUR SILLY ARTISTS HAVE BEEN REDUCED
TO TRYING TO PRE-EMPT THE NEXT SITE.

Review: WELCOME NELSON viewed as FIRST STEP TO FREEDOM

e TV 11 FEBRUARY 2010

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY CRAIG MATTHEW

The pre-release press splurb was very mischievous.

Footage of Mandela:

“being taken completely by surprise at his release.”

HUH?

“tragically identifying with his white warders in what must be one of the most acute cases of Stockholm Syndrome in history.”

HUH?

In 1980 Craig Matthew had a MAJOR international scoop when he leopard crawled through the undergrowth with his huge camera to film apartheid style demolition/forced removal tactics (Guguletu/Khayelitsha?) after a tip-off at 2 am. Those around at that time would be aware how extremely life threatening this activity was. It is to Craig’s eternal credit that he tackled this task with gusto. I shared a communal house with him and 3 others, situated in Kennilworth, a ‘coloured’ area on the ‘un’ side of Harfield Village in Cape Town. It was a lively time of political and philosophical discussion.

With Craig’s journalistic nose for being in the right spot at the right time, I had a good sense that I was about to watch something authentic and well centred. I was not disappointed.

Underlying footage of the immense historical import of this event, is an interview with Mandela, cross referenced with an interview with a cameraman at the event, Chris Everson. The interview with Mandela shows him to be an extremely astute politician, in spite of the fact that he had been insufficiently prepared for his release (the political expedience was obvious) and that he had known very little of the type of impact his release would have. In this sense Mandela, being the compassionate gentleman that his is, was thinking that he would need to bid farewell to his prison warders when he left. The frenzy of the day made sure this was never going to happen. Mandela mentions this fact IN CONTRAST to the smallness of his everydayness within the confines of prison, in relation to his sense of intimidation at having to face the WORLD at a press conference. This hardly has anything to do with ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ - after 27 years in prison!!?? The document points out that the Nationalist Party manipulated a media coup in releasing the first photograph of Nelson Mandela in 27 years, standing next to F.W.. de Klerk. Well, given that they had to face the dissolution as an illegitimate ruling party, it is little wonder that they had to try and save face. And what a monolithic Afrikaner face that was! F.W. de Klerk while just breaking short of being patronising, never the less comes across as a lotto announcer placidly trying to convince somebody of their win. In hindsight it becomes clear that P.W. knew he was doing EXACTLY that: the ANC (elite) have not won the country - they have won the lotto. Yet, as we now face the paternalism of the ANC, the paternalism of the Nationalist party was hardly any different. Apartheid kept an entire nation shackled to the past, in a vain attempt to promote the interests of a few. Thus, when apartheid came tumbling down, an entire world rushed IN. EVERYBODY had to suddenly make a huge paradigm shift. 20 years later, and many are still struggling. Mandela also makes the point that the Nationalist party had not given him enough time to prepare for his release and NOT that he was ‘taken completely by surprise’. Funny how meanings can be misread!

In the interesting cross reference interview with Chris Everson, we get insights into the media frenzy plus rapid, almost glib ‘reminders’ of what it was like under apartheid. I say ‘almost glib’ because the following 20 years have flown by so rapidly and it seems as if we are being spin doctored into thinking that ‘apartheid wasn’t that bad’. However, many of us are now wondering: where/how HAS IT SINCE gone so wrong? I wonder how many South Africans fully appreciate the immense diplomatic task that faced Nelson Mandela on his release? Quite clearly it wasn’t just a case of ‘now you can rule’!

The documentary quite chillingly shows that at exactly the same time as Mandela was being released, the Grand Parade in Cape Town was fraught with thronging masses, and apartheid-style control mechanisms (still evidenced today by the ANC). If anybody needed any proof of the REVOLUTIONARY pressure that had long since exceeded boiling point, the dense aggregation and events at the Grand Parade bear testimony. Chris Everson makes the point that the media and the international press undoubtedly played a huge part in freeing this country. It goes without saying that the black population of this country provided the REASON! It was also interesting to note that the throng of international journalists were almost 100% white.

Make NO mistake, those times were fraught with a peculiar insanity. The tensions, that hatred - 20 years later and we still have a long, long way to go. This is said not to undermine the ENORMOUS strides this country has made, nor to disrespect the fact that for the first time in South African history, the entire nation is FREE.

helgé janssen

In early 2009, Kaganof made three new short films, his main concern being to shatter the appearances of the banal through Art. His first three films this year are marked, once again, by the grace of their creation. This grace is always existential. The Artist IS his Art. And the cinematic poetic characteristics tend slightly more towards the everyday, especially for the first two films, “Jeanette Ginslov” and “Seven Days at the Silbersteins & What is Opera?”

“Jeanette Ginslov: this is a performance guys!” introduces us to the poetically reproduced everyday life of a gym teacher. The video images are meticulously filled with excessive colour and throbbing with inner life. Someone taking part in this free performance has an attack but she is rapidly replaced with images of a reassuring smile at the end.

“Seven days at the Silbersteins & What is Opera” is a friendly gesture paying homage to the tenth wedding anniversary of Christine Lucia and Michael Blake. Kaganof’s camera observes them from the same angle, both singing a piece from an opera in the making. The colours change while the camera remains in more or less the same spot. A cry drowns out the second title “What is Opera?” The serene faces of the couple of musicians are the sign of a classic creation, modern and calm, but, as the cry seems to suggest, with an inner originality.

“The Dancer and his Double Arrive at the Gates of Heaven” is a dance film, borne with the brio of Helgé Janssen. The musical score contains pieces by Matmos, Tomoko Mukayiama and the experimental group African Noise Foundation. Janssen first appears lying on the ground, and then begins his impressive dance. With his lens moving at an angle, Kaganof observes the dancer’s every graceful gesture. Janssen combines strength and agility. The greyish images which come and go add a new language, very close to that of Kaganof’s artistic creations which frame this performance like a set. Kaganof’s letters on the gallery’s walls, which the audience can’t make out, refer to the inaccessible dimension of the artist’s work and his desire to give a complex dimension to an apparently simple performance. “His Double”, as the title says, is his “ghostly” shadow. Janssen is somewhat stylised by the supernatural slowness and the almost expressionist lighting. It is, however, the shadow of a serene, calm artist. This justifies the opening phrase of this article, “to shatter the appearances of the banal through Art.”

Written by Dionysos ANDRONIS, translated by Lucy Lyall Grant

dear sabstance

your response pains me. it pains me because although you are obviously educated you seem to be blinded by Zulu nationalism. has it not dawned on you that we are living in a multiparty democracy? why are you afraid of criticism? why do you equate criticism with hate? where have i claimed authority on zulu culture? it is a trait of nationalism to reject criticism because it opens up dialogue. it is not me who is being fascist, but you.

during apartheid the afrikaner used exactly the same argument to prevent and intimidate people from criticising their government. so your response resonates with what i (and weren’t there many many others?) had experienced as intransigence of the apartheid state. only afrikaners were allowed to criticise afrikaners. hence they blocked all forms of growth and simply became more intransigent. history has documented this well. it is not strange therefore that apartheid forms part of this discourse.

but please read my article again carefully. it is angry, yes and it is a bit of a rant. i make no excuses for that. but where is the hate speech? criticism is not hate. where is the objection to the practice of zulu rituals? please think carefully for you are making accusations against me which are unfounded. you completely gloss over classroom disobedience. must i conclude that it is zulu culture to be disobedient? i take it you are an authority on zulu culture? there was nothing normal about the disobedience i experienced. what do you see as normal about learners walking in and out of a classroom at will and for any reason? Where is it normal for learners to interfere with my right to teach - and come to think of it the right of other learners to learn? teenage learners who do not comprehend wrong doing? the matric and grade 11 learners were 4 weeks behind with their syllabus when i took over from their previous teacher. i did not create the syllabus in order to burden zulu culture with learning. you seem to be confusing issues. as an educator (you are an educator yes?) you should be alarmed at these experiences, not try to defend them as ‘normal learner behaviour’. I am not letting this matter rest with the education department.

you completely gloss over the issue of human rights in your response. from what you say you seem to have been educated at a time where human rights were not discussed in your environment. i did not invent human rights in order to prevent the zulu nation from practicing their rituals.

from the affidavit information post 8 (on the kagablog responses) it seems that chiefs can change a ‘custom’ in order to save their own skins (they don’t like to die, do they?) but cannot see how suffocating an animal to death is not an acceptable alternative? we are living in a democracy. people have a right to air their views.

does the word ‘trauma’ not have any meaning for you? i do not use the word lightly.

i am sorry that you had a nightmare about my article. but i had more than nightmares when teaching those learners, that’s for sure. i became suicidal, depressed, insomniac, unable to function. the experience defied and denied rationale.

(synchronistically the current focus on the first fruits bull slaying has had a profound effect on my psyche. i have sworn myself to vegetarianism!)

were it not for the fact that i recently taught at a school which is 97% black south african, my views on zulu chauvinism may have been a little more tempered, a little more sympathetic, possibly even empathetic.

i had a huge wake-up call.

we are fifteen years into our democracy with the best constitution in the world, but it makes not the slightest difference to the average zulu in the street. the elders, the church leaders, the teachers, the politicians, the parents have failed our children miserably.

i am left to conclude that zulu chauvinism is very much alive and very much unwell, in durban, south africa.

the focus by the human rights commission on the ‘ritual’ slaying of the bull with bare hands by zulu ‘warriors’ comes at at time when the zulu nation are beginning to feel particularly threatened with the advent of the true meaning of democracy.

democracy, if it is to be worthy of its standing, has to be effective.

democracy has never sat well with nationalism, and the west has been through decades of adjustments and criticisms. with chauvinism rests xenophobia, homophobia, rape, condom refusal, battery, sexism, bullying, intimidation. it is this that AIDS workers are up against in the rural communities. from this the ramifications become obvious: it is ‘unzulu’ to be gay etc.

when apartheid came crumbling down, this dam wall of obstructionism, double speak and human rights violations opened the floodgates for the entry of a world which was hardly standing-by holding its breath! the world had continued with its momentum, and it all came rushing in. educated/uneducated alike, who had resisted, fought, lost blood and suffered (regardless of race) began to adjust and to celebrate.

i am the first to tell any racist in my conversation group (i personally have no racist friends!) to go packing and find it extremely rich of the afrikaner (they are always afrikaners) who complain about ‘moving on from apartheid’ yet are still fighting the boer war - and they weren’t even alive then!

but apartheid had bred, and is still breeding an alarming anti settler (their term for whites) mentality. now i have never claimed that whites are worthy of sympathy. given the shocking blueprint handed down by the apartheid regime, it is little wonder that there is so much anti white sentiment. yet, the entire world was amazed at the evidence of ‘ubuntu’ that characterised our transition, where Nelson Mandela symbolised and gave guidance to the enlightenment of a nation.

and now with emotions running high regarding the perceived ‘threat’ to ‘their culture’ by the ‘settlers’ (human rights activists) one must be truly alarmed at the degree at which this sentiment is entrenched, blinded and informed by hatred.

the mere notion of developing or negotiating a SYMBOLIC adjustment of this ritual (e.g. as horrendous as i find the christian ritual of drinking the blood and eating the body of christ - wine and wafer - is, it is still effective as their ritual) falls on regrettably deaf ears. sadly, rather than welcoming an opportunity to enhance this custom within this global context, the issue stands as a sad indictment to the extent of the damage perpetuated by apartheid (unenlightenment) and hardly as an inspiring component of zulu ‘culture’.

intransigence should never be confused with steadfastness. the former resists and refuses change, the latter maintains focus while attuning to change. it is after all the ability of a culture to adapt and grow that is ultimately its measure of strength. this is ‘a’ law of survival, not ‘my’ law of survival. but this concept is way out of reach at this particular time, of our rural zulu population. it also sad that those zulu experts on zulu culture have not researched ways in which this terrible torture (for this is what it is in a modern context) could be metamorphosed into a meaningful ritual.

and yet, at possibly a more disturbing level, i was astonished to encounter these ‘settler’ sentiments within a government school in the city! this has translated into a refusal to be disciplined, an inability to acknowledge wrong doing, entitlement to chew or eat in class, entitlement to enter or leave a class at will and for any reason, howling with laughter at extremely childish antics, development of thug mentality (allegiance) across grades and age groups, interfering with my right to teach with impunity. Homework a completely outmoded concept. the list goes on. is this seen as a resistance to ‘settler’ education? i was utterly baffled. and to experience this level of zulu nationalism so closely and so blindly within an educated environment in 2009 has been traumatic. what i also found deeply disturbing was the fact that the brilliant students held no influence what-so-ever! the ‘culture’ of intimidation had silenced them!

and then of course with malema shooting off his mouth without a second thought, the effect has had deep ramifications, not only within the immature, impressionable youth who think they can do the same, but with educators as well.

its a mess, it is shocking and (in this school) it was out of control. is this the tip of the iceberg (a portent of what is to come) or just a silly bizarre experience within an unfortunate developmental phase?

either way, it is an outrage, and should never have been allowed to happen!

review by helgé janssen

This film is based on the 2005 novel by Cormac McCarthy. The opening scenes of a vast and expansive American landscape silhouetted against dawn become a metaphor for the film: a gothic exploration of fascism, while throwing light on the desperate need for man to collectively wake-up. All the while, narration by the local sheriff, bemoans the fact that crime is becoming more and more violent….that crime is no longer what it used to be.

Central to the story is Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a hired assassin who ruthlessly pursues his prey with singular determination. This pursuit is tinged with fatalism rather than fanaticism. He is so much imbued with his raison d’être that he becomes the archetype of Evil. In the course of his detours in pursuit of his aim, he takes out whoever crosses his path….or not….relying on the toss of a coin (Fate) to excuse his distasteful link to compassion.

For him NOT TO KILL is nothing short of a denial of who he IS.

…This clear cut understanding of who he is, enables him to carry out his executions with a mixture of irked impatience and trigger happy fatality. So his victims plea of “you dont have to do this” becomes utterly meaningless to him. In this sense he sees himself as little more than the Grim Reaper who exhibits an unexpected morality: if YOU cross his path it could only be because YOU, like HIM, are TAINTED if not directly, then by association. He is simply the magnet.

This point is deftly proven in the scintillating scene between him and a remote candy store owner whom he discovers (through pointed cross-questioning) has married money - concluding that his marriage was motivated by greed.

…All the old men he encounters (hence the title?) are blatantly ‘asleep’ which he equates as being amoral: they are standing so close to evil, yet are completely oblivious to it, to HIM, and therefore disposable. It is in these scenes that the Coen brothers juxtapose and illuminate inner and outer realities so brilliantly and echo those fascinating scenes (though for obviously different reasons and within a totally despicable context) captured in Herzogs Nosferatu with the unforgettable Klaus Kinski. (The previous Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror with Max Schreck was equally as charismatic.) Bardem is a worthy winner of best supporting actor and it is no mean feat to have crossed this divide from ancient to modern gothic so effectively yet stripped of all romanticism.

…Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is the welder and hunter who, in following up on a wounded prey while hunting, stumbles upon a drug deal that had gone horribly wrong. Dead bodies rotting unceremoniously. He realises there must be money somewhere, and with astonishing alacrity, locates it. It is of interest to mention Moss opening scene where he is taking aim at his prey, for this surely is yet another metaphor within the film that transcends similar scenes from other films: Moss lacks a true killers instinct for he wavers slightly and thus wounds the animal. It is this lack of a killers instinct …which inadvertently steers him towards the shootout and makes him no match for Chigurh. However, he has a certain amount of street savvy, and very soon discovers the radar sensor that enables Chigurh to track him so effortlessly, stacked inside the satchel of money.

But of course it is Chigurh himself who is the radar meter whose antennae are not going to be in the least bit phased by this hiccup in consciousness.

… Bell, a Texas sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) is duty bound to pursue justice and does so without the slightest zeal. When we encounter him through his opening narrative, he quite clearly feels overwhelmed by the persistent and ever changing face of evil. He is an honourable man but not extraordinary, and has pursued justice without personal motive - he is not driven by vendetta, by righteous vengeance or any of the characteristics that seem to have become the hallmark of so many characters in cop movies.

In the context of this film he is untainted and it is therefore telling that he and Chigurh never meet. However, this latest episode proves the last straw and he resigns. In the closing narrative he relates two disturbing dreams he had to his wife ending with “and then I woke up”. There is an immediate blackout and the film ends.

To me, the ordinariness of this closing statement, probably used by every person who has ever related a dream, throws the entire audience on the spot in a brilliant coup de grâce of film making.

And, according to the Coens, if I am not mistaken, it is within the beguiling veneer of ordinariness that many people disclaim any responsibility for their part in the woes of the world.

this review first published on helgé’s great website

To be ‘waylaid by whiteness’ is my term for the fixation of blacks on colonialism and imperialism. Is it time for not only blacks but all of us, to get over this. It will not go away, anymore than one could wish it never existed. This does not mean it should be ignored. Rather blacks should see ways forward within the core issues of development, rather than in ‘deconstruction’.

“Illegal to be black”? That is a very strange interpretation.

What does this mean|?

It means that we all (not only blacks) should focus on the constitution and how that constitution could be made a living reality in the lives of those black youths at the bottom of the social ladder. Surely this should have been the aim of the new government?

Instead it was about doing what apartheid did. Grabbing money where ever possible, riding round in 4 X 4’s, hanging on to cellphones, and looking more Afrikaner than Afrikaners. And of course corruption is rampant. What legacy is there in that? It is this that makes whites feel more empowered about their silly ‘superiority’ than anything else. So while there is corruption, the spectre of colonialism and imperialism will abound!

Phase one: I would like to suggest that the anc (because they are the overwhelming majority) use their youth league meetings to educate the youth on the true meaning of democracy. Malema being all bravado and loud mouthed, which may be emotively satisfying, does nothing for democracy, empowerment in the right sense, or deliverance. The only thing this does is empower a zulu/black chauvinism to rape, steal and grab whatever they can like impetuous children who feel they have lost out on a slice of the cake. (sad but true) Yet it is silly to expect the educator in the classroom to spearhead these democratic issues. The youth are not responding to the need for education via the school system. They seem to think this is a form of imperialist/colonialist indoctrination! (The Education Department must stop their rampant exploitation of educators if this issue is ever vaguely to be addressed!) It also astonishingly naive to expect a white educator still steeped in an apartheid mindset, to teach the history of apartheid effectively.
On the other hand expecting a black educator to teach the history of apartheid without a heavy bias is also naive!

Phase two. Real concerns from the youth need to be looked at fairly and squarely. i.e. nepotism, lack of delivery, and rampant spending of money that should be used to address these issues must be rooted out immediately. The youth must feel connected to a constructive desire to make them feel, and be relevant.

Phase three. In the same way that apartheid practitioners where given the golden handshake, these corrupt officials within government structures should be given the golden handshake. New, accountable and passionate leaders, well focused on serving rather than enriching, should take their place. Urgently!!

Blacks must overcome their victim mentality by hating whites (they know how to be despicable don’t they!) while trying to be like them. This is what eventually happens to them with that silly mindset. They must look at what is ‘beyond whiteness’ such as universal issues of democracy, human rights, accountability, transparency, structure, law and order, equitability, fairness, deliverance, inclusiveness. In fact everything enshrined within the constitution and to see a united nation beyond colour!

Apartheid kept this country so far behind, that when change came an overwhelming world mentality rushed in as well. Not only did apartheid stunt the growth of Afrikaners (they were too terrified to question anything least they discovered the awful truth) but it also stunted the growth of everybody (many whites have difficulty in accepting this because they were on a roll of exploitation) including blacks. This was but just one of their ‘determinations’. The need for blacks in leadership to suddenly make huge paradigm shifts from becoming involved in liberation (and many of these had a right wing mentality) to becoming democratic ambassadors, was a bit much to expect.

At the same time the world is suffering a crisis of mismanagement. We have global warming, and environmental issues which cannot be ignored either. Many blacks (and I am referring to my experiences in the classroom, feel that environmental issues are a ‘white’ problem!)

But now 15 years on, surely there can be no more excuse of teething problems? Surely it now time for a second purge?

The revolution therefore has to get its heart back in the right place. Not by being anti white or anti imperialist. But by getting back to sound values. Not on paper. But as a living reality. Nobody wants to see this country fail more than the apartheid practitioners. In this regard the ANC are doing very well. The ANC needs to catch a huge wake-up, but certainly not along the Malema lines. He represents nothing more than a knee jerk reaction.

So yes, in fact we do need an agenda. But it not going to come from those youths who are criminalised, and jump borders. They are just as out of control as those who should know better!

We cannot ignore history. But we can grow from its mistakes.

Well now….even if I have to say so myself….remember you saw it
here FIRST. Nowhere else. Not in any fashion magazine, not in any film show, not in any stage show, not anywhere else in the WORLD but right here! NOW.
the date: 06:10:09
You would think that even with something as simple as fashion, they would get it?

Right? Wrong!

Outside of that they just cannot think, or SEE, now can they?

I have never apologised for being ahead, and am not about to do that now!!

Why are the politicians, the press, the artists, the so-called-thinkers and ‘observers’ in this funny-sunny land of ours so numb-dumb to the harsh realities? Does NOBODY understand how the psyche of the post apartheid black youth in this country has been fed by a rampant lack of reparation and are responding with unbridled violence? The pre-election press has fed into the overwhelming popularity of Zuma by doing everything to denigrate him. Does this not send alarm bells ringing in the minds of those who are supposed to notice? Who have a voice of concern? Personally, I have never had a problem with Zuma, but I certainly have been disturbed at the way in which the media has fed his popularity. Is this ‘lack of seeing’ attributed to our mainstream societies’ complete refusal to accept the basic functionality of the psyche within the post apartheid ethos? Of course the psyche is not something new, but the intransigence within the mainstream media of accepting that the psyche is a concrete reality is close to becoming self destructive. The lack of willingness and inability of our police force to quash the rapes, the hijackings etc. has long since been sending alarm signals to any concerned South African. Yet it continues unabated. Yes, there is fantastic work being done by those within certain organisations to stem this tide of belligerence, if not within the police force itself, but I do not see that they are making any headway. The new education system with its fantastic new subject of Life Orientation is not succeeding in getting through to a culture of human rights. At a Life Orientation workshop earlier this year we were told that it was now up to the Educators to become the moral voice of the country - the churches had failed, the legal system had failed, the parents had failed. Given the sway of politicians and how easy it is to stir up a vastly uneducated and emotive youth for their own gains, how can the already overburdened Educator achieve anything? Surely this is a concern of ALL stake holders?

Now I ask you: What do you think releasing the Reitz Four is going to do to the youth in the townships? There is going to be at least 400,000 more youth feeling empowered to strengthen their sense of entitlement and continue their pillage of this country in spite of the high minded ideals of some fuzzy thinking minority. Sad, shocking, but true.

Somebody please tell me I am wrong.

pass

passed

waiting in the corridors
fighting in the minds of those
identifying with the work of our
fellows

then the strange came

then the swarm swarmed
the beehive money
for the taking

the quondam regime
being so despicable
made it easy to be immune
to assume entitlement
for laws of just settlement
were wavered
in the winds

of course change has come
the change to be like them
they fell into the trap
with arms wide open

had learnt the uncorrected things
to fit into the old flake shoes
also to stomp the path well ridden

they missed an opportunity golden
they thrashed the thing they loved
where money does buy love

is only to be human

nature

they just couldn’t rise above
the dis-ease of euphoria

this is their legacy as it now bends
whether they want to stone it or not

playing pool last night

a chick was angling for any one of the two guys

and was boasting at one point how good women were at multitasking

so he turned to her and said

‘then how come women can’t have sex with a headache?’

How glad I was to have been privileged to witness this event even though circumstance conspired against me to get there on time!! In spite of the fact that the programme was curtailed (poor audience response/turnout?) it was never-the-less an inspiring evening.

Mantombi Matotiyana now about 70 years old, is one of two last surviving bow players (the other being Madonsini) in South Africa. Mantombi started playing the bow when she was four years old and the tradition appears to have died out due to lack of interest from the youth. The extraordinary lightness of her instrument was the first contrasting feature of this project that hit this viewer/listener like a ton of bricks! It is so luminous and airy, so exceptional in tone and resonance, and so much of the earth, the playing of it so organic and effortless, that one immediately feels weightless. Mantombi’s voice is so perfectly pitched, the intonation clear and ‘perceptive’, the cadence so well honed and deceptively simple, the synergy between the repetitive sound and voice so much in intricate harmony and toned nuance. Aurally healing: penetrating pores, a balm for the skin, a tonic for the soul.

While soaring to extraordinary heights, she sinks deep deep into the earth.

As above, so below.

It was fascinating then, to experience what for me was ultimately a striking spiritual distinction, laterally, across a cultural spectrum: a juxtaposition of aligned worlds continents apart yet demonstrating the equality and quality of value of culture and cultures that span this spectrum.

The undoubted expertise and virtuosity of the Nightingale String Quartet (Denmark) aside, I was struck and mesmerised by the comparative physical harshness, tautness and ‘bovver bootness’ of the violins, the viola and the cello. The complexity and intricateness of the basic construction of these instruments which I had previously seen as ‘refined’ suddenly took on a new dynamic compared to the uhadi bow. The angles of attack of the performers bows towards their stringed instruments and possible differences of resonance that each individual player manifested took on a new dimension. At some point in one of the final pieces of the evening (Blakes String Quartet No. 3 (Nofinishi) 2009) it suddenly felt as if I was listening simultaneously to each musician separately! It was an astonishing experience and I wondered if this was somehow intricately wound round, into and from the presence of Mantombi - she certainly responded with her arms and body! Four individuals bound together by an entangled weaving of musical notes contributing along a time-stream of precision and fluidity. And this was where the second ‘magic’ of the evening took on a zest all of its own!

As next to, so along.

And I think I suddenly understood the Bow Project!

(The taxis in Durban are shocking and with 2010 just around the corner I foresee a huge transport problem emerging. I eventually had to walk.)

light
helge
www.helge.co.za

inside a tightrope pulling
outside an overhang gripping
between a violent grinning
above a nailhead crashing
below a distant bell knelling

felling culling ripping thrashing
i’m nothing left
than phoenix rising

it must be

a christian thing

do whatever you like

repent on sunday

then repeat

so nice!

christianity works with guilt

by encouraging it

then to counteract that

apply punishment

we live in a guilt-ridden punishment-orientated society

and the only answer to that

is alcohol and drugs

i don’t see it changing