HALF ART
CHRIS THURMAN: Excavating latitudes of thought and shifting borders
Artist Kapwani Kiwanga wants viewers of her work to look at an ordinary object long enough for it to be transformed into a dialogue or confrontation
Last week I wrote about The Sun Never Sets, Kapwani Kiwanga’s exhibition at the Goodman Gallery Johannesburg. I subsequently spoke to the Paris-based artist, who is in Scotland developing work for the 2018 Glasgow International arts festival. We talked about her creative process, which starts with substantial archive or field research of her subject matter. Usually "the concept is relatively clear from the outset — then, as it takes on a tangible form, it changes and develops, depending on the medium I have chosen". An exception is her Shade series, in which the material (agricultural shade cloth) becomes a "doorway" to new ideas. Understanding the past and present use of shade cloth leads Kiwanga to a critique of agricultural practices in countries with colonial histories. The material, she notes, "begged to be explored". The sculptural installations that grew out of this exploration, which might otherwise be seen as purely abstract geometrical shapes, evoke vast stretches of cash ...
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