Spheres of Ambivalence: the Art of Berni Searle and the Body Politics of South African
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Spheres of Ambivalence: The Art of Berni Searle and the Body Politics of South African Coloured Identity A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Erin M. Schwartz August 2014 © 2014 Erin M. Schwartz. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Spheres of Ambivalence: The Art of Berni Searle and the Body Politics of South African Coloured Identity by ERIN M. SCHWARTZ has been approved for the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and the College of Fine Arts by Andrea Frohne Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts Margaret Kennedy-Dygas Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT SCHWARTZ, ERIN M., Ph.D., August 2014, Interdisciplinary Arts Spheres of Ambivalence: The Art of Berni Searle and the Body Politics of South African Coloured Identity (242 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Andrea Frohne Berni Searle is an artist based in Cape Town, South Africa who uses her body in performance and photographic works. In this dissertation, articulations of identity within the context of Searle’s work are examined in their social-historical relationships. Searle, in her art, both uses her body to illustrate constructions of identity and reclaims her body (and by extension, other similar bodies). These performances of articulated identity considered through the rubric of reprendre will elucidate the construction of Coloured identity in the South African body politic. These performances will also allow a consideration of counter-spaces for discussing political agency. Since the collapse of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 the citizens of the new, non-racial state have had to contend with lasting effects of the violence and racism that founded much of South African history. Coloured identity emerged as a distinct one early in the development of South African nationhood. Problematically, Colouredness has been associated with absence and socio-political marginalization that tended to undermine this community’s agency during the apartheid era and after. The trend can lead to contesting racial tropes of national belonging that only serves to increase disenfranchisement in a new democracy. Berni Searle, as a Coloured woman, engages such histories in insightful ways by embodying the shifting paradigms of Coloured 4 identity. In so doing, Searle also participates in important discourses in the African contemporary art community. Using Searle’s work as a lens through which to examine issues of identity, body and enfranchisement, this dissertation demonstrates how her works open up spaces to discuss political agency and racial identity in the post-apartheid era. Such considerations carry important theoretical weight for discourses in South Africa regarding the importance of racial identity in the new nation. In addition to Coloured identity, Searle’s works also engages with issues of immigration in a transnational context, which give her work significance beyond the specificity of South Africa. The dissertation contributes much needed detailed analysis of Searle’s work, contemporary South African art, and discourses on Coloured identity during South African history. 5 DEDICATION To Donald 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincerest thanks must be given to all those who have guided me in the development of this project. My dissertation chair, Dr. Andrea Frohne deserves special thanks for her advice and commitment to this project throughout. The other members of the dissertation committee, Dr. Charles Buchanan, Dr. Vladimir Marchenkov, and Dr. Jennie Klein, all have my gratitude for their insights and dedication that have made this dissertation successful. Thanks to Dr. Salah M. Hassan, Cornell University, for his comments and encouragement during our conversations at the dissertation writing workshop in Philadelphia. I must acknowledge the invaluable conversations with Dr. Yegan Pillay, Ohio University, about Coloured identity in contemporary South Africa. Thanks to Dr. Sean Jacobs, The New School, for his insights on Cape Town that helped clarify important facts about that city. The curators at SITE Santa Fe were especially helpful and supportive to me during my research visit there, as was the staff at the Fowler Art Museum at UCLA. The librarians at the Smithsonian Library in Washington D.C. were also extremely supportive during my research there. The staff and curators of the Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town, in particular, Federica Angelucci deserve special mention for making me feel welcome in the Gallery and for allowing me access to their collection of materials. Special thanks must be extended to Professor Rowland O. Abiodun, for challenging me to clarify my theory and refine the importance of this work. Also, Dr. Fred Smith, Kent State University, has my deep gratitude for his continued support of my work, and for his guidance and advice. 7 Finally, I would like to acknowledge the late Stuart Hall (1932-2014) whose theories have had a profound influence on my progress as a scholar and on this dissertation project. I am much indebted to Professor Hall’s work and his keen insights on the construction of identity. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables .................................................................................................................... 10 List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction: Articulations of the Body, Art, and History .............................. 13 South African Politics, Art and Berni Searle ................................................................ 16 Embodiment and Articulation ....................................................................................... 31 Racial Identity and Race Politics in Berni Searle’s Art ................................................ 42 Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and Searle’s Performance of the Other .................... 50 Berni Searle through the Rubric of Reprendre ............................................................. 55 Chapter 2: Die Groot Andersmaak: The Great Other-Making of Coloured Identity ........ 60 Historical Constructions of Racial Identity in South Africa ......................................... 64 The Racial Politics of Apartheid and Artistic Interpretations ....................................... 78 South African Politics and Coloured Identity Post-Apartheid ...................................... 98 Chapter 3: The Articulated Self: Body, History, and Reclaimed Narrative Spaces ....... 105 Cape Town Cannons: Trans-Atlantic Articulations of History and the Body ............ 120 Agency, Body, and New Narratives ........................................................................... 139 Chapter 4: The Aesthetics of Trauma: The Black Smoke Rising Series ........................ 143 The Burning Tire and the Traumatic Imaginary ......................................................... 155 9 Reclaiming Narratives of Reconciliation .................................................................... 166 Chapter 5: Migrant Signifiers: Claiming the Placeless Other ......................................... 172 De-centered Subjectivity in Exile ............................................................................... 174 Reprendre, Trauma, and Errantry ............................................................................... 186 Breaking the Boundaries ............................................................................................. 194 Chapter 6: Reprend L’identité ........................................................................................ 203 Mudimbe and Reprendre ............................................................................................ 204 Articulation and Positioning ....................................................................................... 211 Embodying the Body Politic ....................................................................................... 215 Demonstration of Objectives ...................................................................................... 216 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 222 Appendix A: A Timeline of Searle’s Major Exhibitions ................................................ 236 Appendix B: Calendar of Major Events During the Unfolding of Apartheid Strategy to Present Day, 1948-2014 .................................................................................................. 238 Appendix C: Daar Kom Die Alibama Lyrics in Afikaans and English .......................... 241 10 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4.1: Deaths related to political violence and to necklace/burnings .....................156 11 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Berni Searle, For Fatherland, 1994 .............................................................24 Figure 1.2: Berni Searle, A Darker Shade of Light, 1999 ...............................................26 Figure 1.3: Berni Searle, Vapour, 2004 ..........................................................................42