Kendell Geers 1988 — 2012

Haus der Kunst

Kendell Geers 1988 — 2 0 1 2

Prestel Munich · London · New York

Edited by Clive Kellner with essays by Nicolas Bourriaud Laurent Devèze Katerina Gregos Clive Kellner Anitra Nettleton and a conversation between Kendell Geers and William Kentridge moderated by Okwui Enwezor 4 108 220 229 120 233 235 237 84 94 10 25 Contents 7 Colophon Biographies Authors’ Credits Photo Exhibition the Works in of List Laurent Devèze Evident the of Denial the or Geers, Kendell Nettleton Anitra Geers Kendell of Murals Wall:The the Your)to (With Back Gregos Katerina 1988 Work, Early Geers’ Kendell in Political the On Enwezor byOkwui Moderated Kentridge William and Geers Kendell between Conversation A Art: of Language Political and Aesthetic the On Nicolas Bourriaud Gnosis Proletarian A Geers: Kendell Geers Kendell Perversity My of Birth The Birth: My Perversity of The Clive Kellner (1988 Geers Kendell Okwui Enwezor Foreword — — 2000 2000 — — 2012)

5 6 Geers left South Africa in 2000 and moved to to this of moved backbone the and form exile, 2000 and home The in experiences, resides. currently Africa he where set- South fi Brussels, nally before left in tling Leipzig Geers in briefl y lived He Europe. country his from exile of origin. by created desert spiritual and the apartheid, of legacy the by exerted toll psychic the crisis, social emergency, political of context the the in of artist position the and art of place profound thinking the on about focused specifi cally has and he incisive art, his passionate In ideology. and power interrogate to art-making of occasions the used intelligence—has cious fero- his Geers—through proper, the of protocols no ing and rigorous, but also provocative and incendiary. refl quietly be can ective that art of profusion a been has prolifi The of practice decades twoc voice. than more his across result, develop to began he that mid-1980s the in Johannesburg in street) artist the on an shaped instances as (both isolation solitary a in as and activism student university collective of crucible the in ad- was critical It of dress. position a establish to which with guage o the then, of art, o art of importantly, conditions more specifi practice state; c apartheid the The challenge to platform a lives. separate remarkably Africans South of generations several and he which in apartheid of context repressive harsh, the with oncile inequality, by di was oppression, and stained racism, segregation, society troubled a in individual autonomous an as artist the of idea the that understood career his in stage early apartheid very a at of Geers Africa, legacy South in pernicious the under up grew and born was who artist an As Kunst. der being Haus at presented artists—is acclaimed most Africa’s South of one 2012, the fi rst survey comprehensive of the work of Geers— We artists. and art to contemporary its commitment of to devotion the work analytical a principle artists of living made has museum the artist’soeuvre, an of areas ticular par- of elucidation thematic the surveys; or late-career to exhibitions early-career Geers—to Kendell artist African are with which this the exhibition, examines work of the South the is case retrospective—as mid-career From the careers. di at artists living to dedicated has Kun st der Haus that exhibitions monographic important 1988 Geers: Kendell therefore proud, that — — adds to the growing corpus of of corpus growing the to adds 2012 ff ff ered Geers not only only not Geers ered erent stages in their their in stages erent Kendell Geers: 1988 1988 — Geers: Kendell ff ered him a lan- a him ered ffi cult to to cult Brook- lived lived rec- two Foreword support to the project. project. the to support funding generous their for gratitude our galleries four We picture to a form of fuller artist. the also to the extend necessary information fi vari- in and gaps collections in lled ous works down tracked have we David support galleries’ and Friedman the With London. Stephen Gallery, Friedman Stephen at Hubbard and Brussels Janssen, Johannes- burg Gallery, Goodman / at Essers Cape Town; Liza Rodolphe Janssen at Moulin; Galerie Rodolphe Le / / Beijing Gimignano San Fontanelli Continua, at Galleria Alice and Fiaschi Lorenzo of participation active the out enor- mously. them The thank exhibition Wewould not have project. been this possible with- to Geers work loans’ extended kindly have others and Collection Family dant Mor- Museum, Pieterson Hector Africa, Museum Pinault, Francois Huyberechts, Xavier Schachat, Gordon Lombart, private Pierre and Australia. and Europe, Africa, South in collections foundations, museums, many including of lenders, cooperation and support critical the required continues has p possible Kunst this all and Making brings. art work of der the sures challenges the Haus on spotlight exhibition, critical this a placing With artist’s the of analysis rigorous of tradition the but still exhilarating. physically demanding, times low-key at and other visually result The is sometimes ography, video, performance. and phot- installation, sculpture, in practice Geers’ of genres and periods all of tour a through registers historical and always temporal of overlapping as sequence a incomplete—presents and memory porous as archive historical the of terrain open the with opens exhibition—which His ing. conceptual and physical, visual, sensory, of bition exhi- an engineered has Kellner positioning, and ments displ subtle of acts through Rather, resolutions. and the a not does Nevertheless, attempt syn- exhibition enigmas their with each two parts, cleaved these of thesis Europe. in presence by his produced language formal and attitude in shift the and Africa; South in living while Geers by used materials di the Kellner—explores Clive curator guest spaces by sensitively so psychic exhibition—organized as the Europe) and well Africa (South as geographical two between (1988 parts chronological two in Conceived exhibition. retrospective ff ering sensibilities, concepts, strategies, formats, and and formats, strategies, concepts, sensibilities, ering — — 2000 and 2000 and 2000 — — present), and partitioned partitioned and present), oeuvre, oeuvre, think- ace- lea-

7 y- pro- t ev- f ex- Okwui Enwezor Okwui ortless and engag- ortless and to see through all aspects of its ﬀ Okwui Enwezor Director derHaus Kunst editor Monica Rumsey. planning and production team have been indispensable The to members this of project. the With Haus their der usual eﬀ exhibition seem both made the Kunst’s have professionalexhibition care they ing. For this, thanks are due to Tina Köhler, head o hibition production and planning; Anton Köttl, technical director;Cassandre Schmid, registrar; andSophie Remig, exhibition assistant, who closely tracked every the installation facet and production. of laborationonthis important exhibition project and thank gratefulare Kendellcol-to Geers we forhis Finally, him for his patient dedication, working with members of the museum’s sta duction. It is my hope that this exhibition and the publication that accompanies it will bring further insight into understanding Geers’ work and its relationship to South Africa and the world at large. Kellner who, as a curator and longstanding collaborator Clivewith worked especiallyhave pleasedto are We of Kendell Geers, perhapselse,one like no the knows artist’s work with the depth of insight required to bring the exhibitionsuccessfullywith onstream. Clivehas Working been a singular pleasure. It goes without saying tha ery work of art and the career particularof knowledge and insight an that interpretersof that artist require the can bring.work Typicallyexhibition the catalog serves as the historical index in the course of analysis pretation. and For inter- this Nicolas Bourriaud, Katerina Laurent Gregos, and Anitra eachNettleton contrib- Devèze, have uted essays of depth and clarity. Important thanks go to William Kentridge for his participation and eloquence in a conversation with Geers, which I was only too pleased to moderate.crucial Others a played have role in shaping cura- and artist the are which of least not publication, the thanktor. We Kendell Geers’ wife Cendrinedu Welz who assisted and supported the exhibition and ductioncatalog in immeasurable andways, pro- Anna Schneider, who close in worked andeditor assistant catalog’s the as served collaborationwith the authors, curator,the the artist, the designer, the publisher, and the as copyeditor. the We book’s designer thank Chris Goennawein forvisual the clear programm of theeditor-in-chief catalog; of Katharina Prestel; and Haderer, our incomparable cop

8 Out ofAfrica,1994 Foreword

9 ) 2012 — Clive Kellner Clive 1988 1988 ( Kendell Geers Geers Kendell

10 the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) members, which led to violent clashes. clashes. violent to led which members, In (IFP) Party Freedom Inkatha the and ANC the fl and constant hostels, the in violence between wereare-ups occurred agitating insurgents force third Island, from Robben released been had Mandela Nelson years four only earlier where a democracy to transition Africa’s South in sociopolitical period volatile a was This (ANC). Congress National African (SACP); the movement, Party liberation black predominantly Communist the and African South the to Movement); Resistance (Afrikaner ging Weerstandsbewe- Afrikaner party,the right-wing Afrikaans the from extremism in ranged indi- that party and political each of politics member party card-carrying a of became way, Geers culture this In viduality. fetishization the question into bringing and process Africa’s South to fi the democratic borders of the thereby exposing election, rst democratic SACP) of1993 work early seminal letter. his In threat bomb and appropriation as an idea, as in an object in of appropriation the window; a through brick a threw artist the which in (Brick), Withheld work 1993 his in as such performative, be to understood Geers’ be can appropriation society.acts of of facets “expose”“engage,” “resist,”and to strategy a as object found or ready-made the employs that Art Conceptual of form the took work political early Geers’ the postcolonial manifest. manifest. postcolonial the “entanglements’” of and contradictions the where Europe, and Africa South of periods the decades: two over produced work of bodies distinct two embody periods two These sels. Brus- to emigration Geers’ of year the denotes 2000, date, second The time. this from es dela. Man- Nelson of release the after 1990 in Africa South to returning before Prince Richard artist the to assistant studio a as working time some New York Force. In spent he Defence African South the by time that at males white onto forced was that conscription military moveYork,the New result to to a of as self-exile of form a as Africa South left Geers In 1989 2000. and largely 1988 can dates the practice by denoted artistic periods, incendiary important two defi to Geers’ be according life. ned and art both explore to able was he which in environment a fecund provided Afrikaner a white as identity Geers’ Africa, South in apartheid of period political tendentious the into born artist a tography. conceptual As poly- a spans practice pho- and sculpture,performance, drawing,artistic video, installation, including media, whose phonyof Africa South from artist visual a is Geers Kendell prevalent in white apartheid society where the morality and ethics of the time prevented prevented time the of ethics and morality the where society apartheid white in prevalent inherent to contradictions the and regime expose apartheid the resist to both a as strategy conceptualism European and American North of language coded the employ to able was Geers “acts appropriation,” of similar other and these Through Nzima. Sam photographer by image documentary infamous an in immortalized was and apartheid against resistance and struggle liberation a symbol the of became Pieterson Africa. South in schools black in Afrikaans of implementation forced the against march protest Sowetoscholars’ the during in police by dead fishot be the to Pieterson, victim Hector rst of name the records ument o Magistrates Johannesburg the at dump a on riots Soweto 1976 June the 1989, a set of postcards Geers created with the face of Liberty cut face Liberty of the out, with emerg- Geers created a set Liberty 1989, postcards of Untitled (Death Register) (Death Untitled (1995) where Geers placed a broken glass bottle neck in a gallery; gallery; a in neck bottle broken a glass placed Self Portrait where Geers (1995) — — 1994, the artist joined each and every political party during the run-up run-up the during party political every and each joined artist the 1994, 1

of 1976 of By Any Means Necessary Any Means By — — 1993, Geers found the o the found Geers 1993, I Untitled (ANC, AVF, (ANC, Untitled AWB, IFP, DR, CR, NP, PAC, Kendell Geers Geers Kendell (1995), where the artist wrote a wrote artist where the (1995), ( 1988 — — ffi cial death register of of register death cial 2012 ) ffi ces. The doc- The ces. Title Title University Press,2009). Post-Apartheid Refl Cultural and on Literary ections See SarahNuttall,Entanglement: foldedness.” human implies which but tangle, that iscomplicated,ensnaringina relationships social of set or ship which may gesturetoward arelation- term a is It uninvited. or ignored or intimacy gainedeven ifitwas resisted an of speaks it with; involved entwined, or together twisted being of condition a is “Entanglement defifollows: as Nuttall Sarah by ned is “entanglement” Theterm 1 (Johannesburg: Wits Wits (Johannesburg:

11 4 Ibid. 2 From the book by Sarah Nuttall Memory,and Carli Coetzee, eds., Metaphor and the Triumph of Narrative, (Oxford:Negotiating the Past Oxford Press, 1998). University 3 Quoted directly from the Geers essay sent by Cendrine du Welz to Clive Kellner by e-mail, 5 November 2012. In 4 Scorched 3 made from “barbed intowire” a

, Clive Kellner Clive eid. 1902) fought betweencolonial the Brit- orts of the imagination to reduce it to ff — , the dateappears,the1899 with the Anglo words, II T.W. T.W. (Exported) , produced in 1993, consists of atwrap a wire. ball of fl T.W. T.W. (C.V.) . In a similarGeers alteredway, his actualdate of birth and T.W. (Flatwrap) T.W. T.W. T.W. (C.V.) evokes evokes the ghostly imagery of the Boer concentration camps, it also refers In his essay, “The Perversity of my Birth, the Birth of my Geers Perversity,” 2 , a series of photographic images depicting burned landscapes throughout South renders legible his subjectiveexperience under aparth 1993 Kendell installed Kendell a 1993 full-length fence, gallery space. The fence disruptsphysically the gallery space, bisecting it into While two. T.W. (Exported) to many contemporary political issues and situations. Perhaps the most harrowing example is the Guantanamodetention Bay camp, detainmenta and interrogation facilityof the United States military located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where many Al Qaeda terrorist suspects have been held since January 2002. Similar constructionsrazor-wire of mesh fences occur repeatedly within thefencing wire” he uses in facility. his installations from a Geers South Africanobtains company called Cochrane the “barbed Steel, which produces a rangeof systems“security products,” including RPG Rocket Bar- riers, Critical Infrastructure, and Rapid Deployment Barriers used in crowd control riots. and The artist tells the story of visiting the companyhas a and photograph meetingof himselfwith and theformer UnitedCEO, Stateswho shingPresident George Bush W. fi together. ishforces and the Afrikaans orDutch settlers known who as were the Boers. As of a result ictbetween thegroups, two the British forces under the leadership ofLordKitch- confl the ener implementedearth the policy” “scorched in which British forces burned the Boers’s crops,homesteads,children perishtothefrom ofandwomen and provisions, manyleaving starvationorto be placed concentrationin camps. In 2002, Geers made the work Earth Africa. forces to form concentration camps that contained Boer women and children. As a result Coeval of their to internment, thismore than 26,000history women rstand children died are in thecamps. the Geers’ fi barbed-wire fences that were erected “barbed by wire” work, the British Barbed wire is a South African form of fencing that has been adapted in other countriesasrazor wire.AsGeers hassaid, “barbedcattle isforwire and razor for wirehumans.” One way in which he achievedappropriatingwhichheincolonialthroughthis was theSouth ofhistoryOneway Africa and other global political and artistic events into his of ancurriculum artwork titled vitae, by means 1968,thestudents socialthatappropriatedMay of by sparkedrevolution andthatworkers emerged out of Paris and manifested itself in Poland,locationsand Brazil. In Geers’ work as diverse as Argentina, Spain, denotes It Boerthe second War. Boer (1899 War mixed couples from nedmarrying, the where movement raceof defi people, and the state controlled information and regulated society through the produces military. its This monsters. kind of As society South African writer “Ifand today theyacademic sound Njabulolike imaginary Ndebeleevents it stated, is because as we shallday-to-day life underrecall, apartheidthe often outdidhorror ofthe e metaphor.” metaphor.”

12 “We were imported from Holland in 1652.” in Holland work from the imported were “We to connected is identity his works, Geers’ of many Portrait , Geers states, “I live with the knowledge that I am a complete contra- complete a am I diction.” that knowledge the with live “I writings, states, his Geers Horror , In The Horror modernity. of version third-world identity vernacular—a his a such as as and constructed is Africa, and Europe between born but birth legitimate of being “bastard,” a identity.of That not his of of notion the is practice artistic Geers’ to Germane and wars.” and conﬂ countless in icts implicated are that peoples and countries the world, the of borders Barbarians people keep way, this to In asylum-seekers. also and refugees, but immigrants, fences illegal as behind out—such prison in people hold to only not authorities, or (Exported) T.W. Works a as with such act will conscience. individual the whether intolerance, and injustice socio-political heightened times of in us, It asks the and oppressed. the for oppressor gory state. the of enemy an branded is result a as and ers, prison- the with He empathizes Empire. the by war of prisoners to injustice and of cruelty levels witnesses magistrate the and “barbarians” invading of threat constant the is There Empire.”“the of behalf town on border small a governs who magistrate a of story the tells work It in 1980. by J. author title African was of same South the that published M. Coetzee literary the to reference a also is but Romans the over tribes Germanic the of victory ical of triumph the sovereignty oversignaling title Geers’ empire. Europe, of reorganization territorial the to led and War Years’ Thirty the ended that 1648, October Mayand between signed Westphalia, of Peace the of “Barbarians” the of site site the the AD. also 9 was Teutoburg Varusof Battle the in Tiberius’s legion Forest, of Roman defeat Teutoburg the near monastery Cistercian former a in garden a around labyrinth a forms It Germany. Muenster, in installation permanent a T.W. (Exported) a by-product of his brokenlife. his by-product a of thrown away is way, it is discarded, same that used, broken. the In art and produces is Geers bottle the After ideas, apart! fall their things centuries, with few a After ancestors morality. artist’sand values, ideology, beer—the designed perfectly the shape. poured bottle’s the they and it typography, label’sInto the glass, the of hue the on decided in Holland designer The objects. aesthetic speciﬁ are designed cally bottles better is Heineken foreign local. that than is implication The Africa. South into imported was beer Heineken “Boers,” the ancestors Geers’ Like 1948. in government African South by the implemented policy segregated racially “apartheid,”the of establishment the to Verwoerdled of ership lead- the and Party National the of formation The identity. own its sought and Afrikaans, Transvaal. the land, own its their language, own had vernacular Afrikaner the established community generations Within secure to Dutch River Vaal the the to across back trekked heritage who his Huguenots trace can Geers Afrikaners, white many van Like Jan by Riebeeck. colony Dutch a into Hope Good of Cape the of “founding” the denotes which (1995), a broken glass bottle neck from a discarded bottle of Heineken beer. Like beer. Heineken of bottle discarded a from neck bottle glass broken a (1995), 6 This notion ismade manifest in one of the artist’ becomes, according to Jan Winkelmann, “a kind of anti-monument of the many the of “a anti-monument of kind Winkelmann, Jan to according becomes, 5 Waiting for the Barbarians andthe for Waiting predates a much larger installation, installation, larger much a predates Waiting Barbarians for the 7 III

infer an inclusion and exclusion by the state state the by exclusion and inclusion an infer .. (CV) T.W. Kendell Geers Geers Kendell begins with the date April 6, 1652, 1652, 6, April date the with begins Waiting for the Barbarians the for Waiting Waiting for the Barbarians the for Waiting s early found object works, works, object found s early clearly references the histor- the references clearly ( 1988 .. (CV) T.W. — — 2012 ) . As Geers states, states, Geers As . Waiting for the the for Waiting is an alle- (2001) (2001) The The Self Self 2012. and Clive Kellner in Paris on 30 September Geers Kendell between interview an in recorded was quotation This 7 163 —173. 1998), Art, Contemporary for Institute by Mike Garner(Helsinki:Nordic trans. Hannula, Mika by edited tions, Contemporary viewsonartandexhibi- Horror,”Process? The inStopping TheHorror, “The Geers, Kendell 6 November 16,2012. Accessed wnklmnn.de/geers_e.htm. http://www.jn- at: online available text Full Vice-Versa-Verlag, 2001). (Berlin: Scrima Andrea by German the from translated Münsterland 2001, in Geers,” Kendell essay, “‘Waiting fortheBarbarians’— Winkelmann’s from is quote This 5 Skulptur-Biennale Skulptur-Biennale

, tout-fait 8 See Hector Obalk’s essay “The Readymade,” ndable Unﬁ the Marcel Duchamp studies online journal, vol. 1, no. 2 (May 2000). http://www.toutfait. Accessed online at: com/issues/issue_2/Articles/obalk.html. 9 This reference on Marcel Duchamp is taken from Lewis Kachur, published on Artnet. Finally,” “Given, com, August 26, 2009. Available http://www.artnet.com/ online at: magazineus/features/kachur/marcel- duchamp8-26-09.asp. 16, 2012. Accessed November 10 This quotation by Geers is taken from the press release issued by Castello di Ama for contemporary art, announcing Geers’ House of Spirits , with the diversities traveling 2006. Available online at: http://www.cas- tellodiama.com/english/pressrelease. php?id=198. Accessed November 29, 2012.

9 Étant don- , described , (2009)Rack Death Certifi cate Death Certifi erent.” erent.” Similarly, ff In Advance of aBrokenof InAdvance Arm fi gures from the Con- the from gures Nkisi fi 10 hamp, for example example for hamp, Clive Kellner Clive erent yet are rendered aesthetically ourney.” ourney.” ff (2010)—while addressing a religious vel as anembodied formofexpression. Dictionnaire abrégé du SurréalismeDictionnairedu abrégé evil. In this way ff IV , unlike Duchamp’s snow shovel, portrays two ,espíritus 1982),los de whichcasa resultedLa in Geers’ ( St Johns Pendulum Bottle Rack (1914), where Geers has adorned rack Duchamp’s with as “a prison thatasSpirits of “a House attracts and repels beauty evokes and In Advance of a Broken Arm cial notifi cation of death of his fatherhis of death asphyxiation—suicide.by of cation In a similar notifi cial Duchamp explicitly selected objects that were “visually indi 8 of unusedcasts body from the 1950s. For Duchamp, castingthe process suggested the Spirits of House The Isabel Allende’s uences Literary that infl have informed Geers’ production include, among others, House House of Spirits (2005), an enormous polyhedron made of steel and razor mesh that refer- no in Allende’s present realism” ences the “magical Geers speaksof his and repulsion. It is a house that provides protection against the materialismof this world but also a prism through which we begin a spiritual j as ordinary“an object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by theartist.” mere choice of the Geers’ artistic and literary infl uencesGeers’variedare and artistic numerous, Marcel and Duchamp literary perhaps infl deploymentofthe uenceextends fromDuchamp’s beingthe infl most pervasive. Duchamp’s objectdominantfoundormechanismacomment asreadymadetheon political to eco- and nomic ni-ofsystems hisday through the humor,use ofand irony, ambiguity. Theonlydefi tion of “readymade” published under the name of Marcel Duchamp, or rather his Éluard’s Pauland Bretoninitials Andréexists in “MD,” way, way, the broken bottle neck represents a self-portrait age. It refers ofto a discontinued the history and artist.to the illegitimacy of A being adisembodied white Afrikaner, im- placed at endofthe a broken violent Andhistory. so Geers tried not to be white. (1988), the offi the (1988), violenceofspurred bouts to Witnessprone religiousfundamentalista Geers,was Jehovah’s At on fteen age by Geershis fi alcoholicran disposition.away from Kendell home. grew upHis rough in blue-collarfather, Boksburg, Jacobusin suburb. EastHermanus Some Johannesburg, of Pieter a his unclesSquad. As a resultof Geers’ served memoriesof his infather, he made the theartwork South African Police Riot Geers has selected objects that appear visually indi potent as sociopolitical commentaries on South African society in the formbottle theorobjects readymadesfoundneck, of suitcase,a orfence. that a GeersIn this way, a brick, a ofa ers contextnotoneemploysare objectssimply toanother from removed signifi butare eldof relations that implicitly socialbinds sociopoliticalfi content to an inanimateobject. Ducreferencesdirectly that work producedhas Geers with that of Duchamp’s with of that Duchamp’s broken broken self-portrait Heineken beer bottles and works that indirectly reference Duchamp. His 2010 piece, pairs of human arms cast in bronze and suspended on a chain. One hand has its forefi ngerofpairshuman cast arms in bronze and suspendedchain. ona One hand has its forefi pointing downward, while the other hand is arranged in a gesture that, in contemporary society, is considered rude and carries sexual connotations. Historically, thiso ngerswasused toward sign thumbof between the fi the skin of the body: “the surface produced by the plaster gives lookingme for, namely theepidermismore or and not theless sculpture of the boneswhat and volumes.” I am becomes a talisman embodying aspects of both the forays sacred intoand the body profane. parts, But Geers’ such as theme and imbued with a fetish in the form of nails found in go—also references Duchamp’s little-known seriesof studies and sculptures for nés

14 Foster states, “a mode of practice or point of departure for the artist” artist” the for “a of point or departure states, practice Foster mode of Hal as becomes, then archive The references. and ideas, memories, indexes that re- pository “archive,” a an suggest of literature and letters, suggestive photographs, fi posters, Hollywood political lm articles, culture, footage, newspaper texts, popular culture, popular of use with Kendell’s and profane. sacred the the together of paradox the evoking also objects but culture commodity and tribal storage archival installation of large-scale this fetishization York, New Art, brings African for Museum the by Commissioned Kode-X birth. his of the country and on life personal his on both meditation, a as Geers’ read way, can we similar a In Afrikaner. white a as experience TRC, and the position own to her from relevant and philosophy moral testimonies and of political of collection exploration a an as as TRC, the points: from vantage main three from (TRC) Commission tion fi the about Reconcilia- writes Krog and Truth which in African (1998) South the of ndings and his conscience.”and tribe his country, his face to returns “he 1989: in Malan’s Africa South to from return exile Malan’s with together . . . the horror.” The marrying of horror “the words, the utters and Willard by attacked being after ground the on wounded Conrad’s novel Roeg’s Nicolas and 1979) fi the Geers from lms where footage Malan, found of Rian clips twoby (1989) utilizes title same the of book the references work The cle. twelve sca on placed twelve monitors comprising installation video In the video installation chive of the state. state. the of chive ar- the suggests Mbembe, Achille to according also, but individual the of experience tive imaginary,” “instituting an a archive subjec- infers Geers’ Africa, South political of context his in personal as archive the of rida’snotion ground chambers stacked with bones and skulls. For some cultures, the human skull is an an is skull human the For some cultures, skulls. and bones with stacked ground chambers under- the century), eighteenth the in known were Paris of catacombs the (as dead the of provokedi a nation. images African Other East the in killed were people 800,000 estimated an where 1994, in cide Geno- Rwanda the from skulls human of depiction photographic the is example such One carry skulls, imagesof rather or skull, human The to homage playing Duchamp’s readymade.critique institutional infers fi and and ction fact between boundaries Broodthaers’ Aigles Marcel to des ways many in similar is It register. record a a or is it as much as thought of creative locus the is It studio. the and of (2003) consists of found objects, steel shelving, glass, concrete, and signal tape. tape. signal and concrete, glass, shelving, steel objects, found of consists (2003) (Museum of Modern Art, Department of Eagles; 1968), which blurs the the blurs which 1968), Eagles; of Department Art, Modern of (Museum as a return to his roots in post-apartheid South Africa and and Africa South post-apartheid in roots his to return a as CountrySkull My of Heart of Darkness 13 In this way the archive becomes an extension of the artistic process process artistic the of extension an becomes archive the way this In 11

Country of My Skull My Country of , suggests a common thematic thread based on on based thread thematic common a suggests Heart Traitor’s, My Heart of Darkness ﬀ erent emotional register, such as the subterranean receptacle receptacle subterranean the as such register, emotional erent My Traitor’sMy Heart (1902). Geers selected the scene where Kurtz lies mortally mortally where lies Kurtz scene the selected Geers (1902). Apocalypse Now Apocalypse (2010) refers to the literary work by work literary the to refers (2010) (1993), both both from wereJoseph which (1993), of adapted VI V Mal’d Archive Mal’d through the adaption of adaption the through Kendell Geers (1988 Geers Kendell (1998), the artist produced a large-scale large-scale a produced artist the (1998), Apocalypse Now Apocalypse a plethora of nightmarish evocations. evocations. nightmarish of plethora a Musée de L’Art Moderne, Départment Départment Moderne, L’Art de Musée or Archive Fever. Within the the Within Fever. Archive or (Francis Ford Coppola, Coppola, Ford (Francis — — ﬀ olding towers in a a cir- towersin olding 2012) 12 as opposed to Der- to as opposed Heart of Darkness,

Antjie Krog Antjie Publishers, 2002),19. Philip Town: David (Cape Saleh Razia and Reid, Graeme Pickover, Michele Taylor, Jane Harris, Verne Hamilton, Reﬁ Carolyn ed. guring theArchive, in Limits,” Its and Archive the of SeeMbembe’s chapter, “The Power 13 (Fall 2004):3 Impulse,” Archival “An article Foster’s Hal see practice, artistic and archive the between ship For furtherreadingontherelation- 12 2000; orig.pub.1990). Press, York: Grove (New Conscience His and Tribe, His Country, His Face to Returns Exile African South A Traitor’sHeart: RianMalan,My 11 — — 22. 22. 110 110 October

15 14 Russell Bascom, Ifa William Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa (Bloomington: Indiana Press, 1991). University 1628), memento — was used (2007) de- (2007) Cadavre Ex- ” [Even in Ar- ” [Even (1624 vanitas is Damien Hirst’s Fuckface . Each self-portrait rep- vanitas Et in Arcadiaego vanitas Youth with a Skull s’ Clive Kellner Clive our our (1640), theartist usedsuchsymbols (1990) in which the artist’s head is Bloody Hell , (from the Latin, meaning “vanity”) functioned Vanitas Similarly, the photographic versionof 14 (2007), which features an eighteenth-century human skull (2005) brings to the fore the relationship between text and is an earlier work, Fuckface (sea shell) to signify wealth, books to show human knowledge, musical Fuckface For the Love of God turbinidae Still Life: An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life Human of Vanities the of Allegory An Life: Still while a more macabre allegory exists in a white marble sculpture by an unknown Italian artist of the seventeenth century, where the ambiguity of life and death isthe enunciatedformof the skull in with the vestigesof wigthe andperson’s breastplate. Perhapsone of of the most striking images in antithesis of the moral message instruments synonymous with sensual pleasure, and the chronometer thepassing oflife. emergesthethisThe skullFrom (watch) or deathmortality. represents to convey mori tradition, meaning “remember your mortality” or “remember you will die.” The con- trast between youth and death is evident in Frans Hal sculpture encrusted es awless diamonds, the with notionand8,601 of commodityreifi fl culture and the fetishizationof the artobject. Geers’ skull as the object. It combines two harrowing elements, the skull of a deceased African personwas murderedwho by a gunshot behind theear and thatof commona swear word spray-paint- edonto the skull in black and white. The missingelement is the face, the personable and subjective aspect that is rendered mute as a result of the violence, suggested by both the language and theobject. But the skull still speaks; it “ says, cadia,folktaleIam oldthere]. Yoruba An encountered of tellsaman who askull mounted on a post by the wayside. To his astonishment, the skull spoke. The man asked the why skullit was mounted there. The skull said that it was mounted there for talking. The man then went to the king, and told the king of the marvel he had found, a talking skull.king and The the man returned to the place where the skull was mounted; the skull remained silent. The king thencommanded that the man be beheaded andordered that his head be mounted in placeof the skull. picts the headof the artist himself with the same black and white text that appearson the earlier skull version. The transformation of the skull gure into that an embodiedstares fi back at you is profound. The painted face of the artist is tribalquality withat that ofdisposition. a warlike once Inscribedontoevincing“primitive,” his faceor rath- are words, a er a word. canceThis becausehas objectsparticular are namedsignifi through words and are thereby given meaning. The artist has also produced similar works that combine text and object using the skulls of a hippopotamus, a walrus and a whale. Geers’ quis (2007) reinterprets the ancient Greek sculpture Nikeof Samothrace. Germane to the self-portrait shown covered in blood. A reminder of our mortality, resents an epoch, a period in the artist’s life: South Africa at the end of post-ideologicalapartheid andcapitalistand era ina Europe. as an allegory for the meaninglessness of earthly life and possessions. In Harmen wyck’s Steen- to describe a genre of still-life painting that sought to convey a reminder of the temporal nature of our earthly existence. objectof lossor a symbolof time passing. othersFor it possesses magical attributesor is endowed with special powers. In seventeenth century Europe, the term

16 political changes. The only thing uncertain about them is where they will lead.”will they where is them about uncertain thing onlyThe changes.political to therefore be almost will certainly continue and violent one millennium politics of violent in states Hobsbawm Eric historian As times. violent in Welive witness. we incidents or loss, crime, through other the or form some in experience our of part form and culture, popular in propagated are daily, occur acts Vio- lent violence. of images with saturated is media The batons. police from made he works video single-channel toward violence (1993); as in others, work the example for realm, public the in occurs that violence (1990); Hell violence. of that is production work infl the in Geers as that such artistic violence himself, upon personal icts the is There Geers’ in themes or motifs recurring the of One For philosopher Slavoj philosopher For cap- liberal of italism.” world idyllic otherwise the of disruptions “contingent merely not are and uncertainty. continuous face fi markets American nancial and European and countries many in commonplace become have riots and demonstrations public where austerity, economic of era an And in 2001. live we 11, now September on out carried those as such attacks terrorism to Afghanistan, Rwanda, and and wars in Iraq in Bosnia genocides storms, to ture. tropical From tsunamis na- of forces by or humans by either mankind, against perpetrated acts violent constitute that events place; taken have nature global a “events” of numerous decades, two past the per articles covering 48 hours of violence in South South in violence of hours 48 covering articles per illegitimate. was the child that out found boy father the when a of ten-year-old killing brutal the describes newspaper African as such works and include These them violence. photocopied of theme the with articles, deal texts “found” the works these newspaper of each In objects. with from them placed text “found” employed Geers works, political earlier his flwereIn jets Baghdad. American bomb to route en Istanbul over ying that time this was It during Constantinople. of site historic the Istanbul, of nexus oriental and occidental the within Sofi located Hagia is the which in a, was installation The other. an- for (11:35) SELL then and minute one for (11:34) HELL reads it that so upside–down, his In LAUGHTER. into “S” the by dropping transformed is SLAUGHTER as such word a where works neon of series a in word question His manifest games a violence. be form might of rhetorical which considered objects, to and conventions challenge on text to placing to games word language from or range cipher strategy this of Examples morality. or sign a as metaphorically, and ally liter- both production, artistic his within a as device language employs Geers language. in inherent violence the includes also sexism—but and racism example, violence—for monic hege- includes and ideology liberal-capitalist in our inherent is violence of objective ment a develop- as violence Symbolic terrorism. of acts or protests, riots, in as occurs, violence subjective response, In poor. the and rich the between divide widening a thereby creating of capitalism, expansion economic ceaseless the in as violence, systemic includes violence 16

Ž i ž ek deﬁ nes two categories of violence: objective and subjective. Objective Objective subjective. and objective violence: of categories deﬁ two ek nes Shoot (1998 Ž — — i (2003), the artist installed a digital clock clock digital a installed artist the (2003), Tense Present ž 1999); and violence instituted by in a state, the series instituted of violence and 1999); ek, these forms of violence are inherent to the system the to inherent are violence of forms these ek, 48 Hrs 48 T.W. (Rock) (Rock) T.W. Suitcase Suitcase (1997 VII , “The world of the third third the of world “The Extremes , of Age The — — (1992); violence in the media, as seen in as his seen in media, the violence (1992); (1988) in which an extract from a South South a from extract an which in (1988) Kendell Geers (1988 Geers Kendell 1999) is a wallpaper made up of newspa- Africa. — — 2012) Hanging Piece Hanging 15 During During Bloody Bloody

Accessed 19November 2012. withey-zizek-violence/ magazine/issues/1-nature-culture/ online at: http://www.bedeutung.co.uk/ 1, no.1(2008):122 “ Withey, review, Michael See 16 460. 2003), 1914 Abacus, (London: —1991 Century, Twentieth Short The Extremes: of Age EricHobsbawm, The 15 Violence bySlavoj Žižek,” Bedeutung — —

127. Available Available 127.

17 17 Bruce Nauman, quoted in J. P. McMahon, “Nauman’s The True Artist Helps the ing Mystic KhanAcademyWorld Truths,” by Reveal- Web site “Smarthistory.” Available http://smarthistory.khanacad- online at: emy.org/naumans-the-true-artist-helps- the-world-by-revealing-mystic-truths. 16, 2012. html. Accessed November Clive Kellner Clive as a return to nature, in the Arcadian The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Manifest (2008), a neon work that follows the VIII ers a puzzle withchoicesof paths directions. and In this ff Postpunkpaganpop (2008) exemplifi es a search for “mystic truths” that the artist re- artist the that truths” “mystic for search a es exemplifi (2008) meaning a luckyor auspiciousobject, it hasoften been associated

mixes the “unicursal” of the labyrinth that leads to a with“center” that , svastika

17 cult thing about the whole piece for me wasthe statement. wasIt aof kind test— ffi The American artist Bruce Nauman produced a series of neon works guage consistinggames” early onof in “lan-his career. Nauman’s like when you believe it. Once written down, I could see that the statement [. . .] was on theon couldthatseestatementthewas .] I . down, [.believe Once it.written you when like true oneandhand not believedI truetotallyaother, atsillyonit.thethe idea It’s and yet, same time.” Mystic Mystic Truths (1967) is referenced in Geers’ same format and coloration with the words, “What do you believe in?” replacing those of Nauman originallyNauman’s. hung the work in his store-front studio and used the medi- umof neondue to its popularculture appeal, with the ideaof making his art more acces- sible to a larger public. But the messageof the piece also appealscommon to ideas about artists as religious gures or who shamanicreveal somethingfi about the world to people. di“The Postpunkpaganpop veals in the formof an installationconstructed from mirrors and razor mesh. It is an artwork that has to be experienced by the viewer who walks into ectingand whatever through ooris above it.iscovered asin wellmirrors, Theas refl entirebelow—or, according to fl alchemists, “as above, so below”—and in this way connecting the spiritual to the andearthly, theexternal, outer, material world with the inner, metaphysical. For the English poet and mystic William Blake this implied sight”ev- a “second couldwhere,one if see,” “really Thelab- of“correspondences.” according andsetaworked to erythinginfactwas “double” times,Roman andthe Renaissance.mythology, Greekyrinth hasfromhistoricallyemerged In the medieval cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, and Amiens, labyrinths were an symbolicallusion of to the “Holy City” (Jerusalem) and serve as substitutes for Postpunkpaganpoppilgrimage paths. of a mazeor “multicursal” thato way the installation way suggests a path enlightenmentto the where contemplatesviewer their inner spiritual state as they ection seein theirthe maze.refl Moreover, Geers’ interest in entopicphenomenacanlinkedtodeveloped logic”be David theof intheories“shamanic as Lewis-Williams, concerning geometric patterns that are common universally shapes understood and in a which similar are way to that of archetypes. Thesederived from visualwithin experiences,the eye or brain, have been extensively studied by Lewis-Williams in numerousprehistoric andart therock paintings. ancient ofthesymbol swasti-In this way, ka in its archetypal form is the basis for the installation. Here it is important to state that it is not the Nazi symbol but the swastika in orits generictwenty-sided shape polygon as that an irregularGeers icosagon had employed in word Sanskrit the installation. Derived from the withcross symbols such as the suncrossof pagan Bronze-Age religion. One hypothesis is thatthetheelementsofrepresentfourswastikathenature:of four arms the sun, the wind, water, and earth. Geers views senseof Paradise inepistemological but an also withinown “nature,” ourselves,our sense.

18 would willingly forget. willingly would but confront not rather would we that society of aspects hidden the condition, human our of parts dark the reveals He converge. imaginary the and symbolic, the real, the gy.Here mytholo- appropria- personal with fused of engagement and cultural acts political, social, art of an It is and tion. sources literary various through production artistic and identity our desires and intentions are for the contrary.” the for are intentions and desires our if even lie, to the dayweis learn speak to the daywe learn for lie, not “Onlydo bodies our declares, Geers deﬁ be As ﬁbest truth. as can the ned that ctionalizing subjectivity ty,his artist’s identi- the is production his of the center faith—at and mortality, desire, terrorism, time— his of meta-narratives the of many on comments Geers While metaphor. to reality from poetic, the to political the from shifted increasingly has violence of suit typology a of world in the today. of profanity, Through pur- mechanisms humor, Geers’ provocation, and is prevalent that to is the to Geers’ give meaning exigency entropy uncertainty and distinct IX Kendell Geers (1988 (1988 — Geers 2012) Kendell 18 In this way Kendell Geers narrates his his narrates Geers Kendell way this In Untitled (24April1994),1994 Beijing: Galleria Continua, 2012), 5. 5. 2012), Continua, Galleria Beijing: Partie de QuotedinLubiReboani,Fin 18 [Endgame] (San Gimignano; Gimignano; (San [Endgame]

19 Title Withheld (Kendell Geers), 1968

20 After Liberty1,1989

21 UNVERKÄUFLICHE LESEPROBE

Clive Kellner Kendell Geers 1988-2012

Paperback, Klappenbroschur, 240 Seiten, 23,5x30 143 farbige Abbildungen, 13 s/w Abbildungen ISBN: 978-3-7913-5300-5

Prestel

Erscheinungstermin: Februar 2013

Kendell Geers' Leben und Werk lassen sich in zwei Werkphasen gliedern. Seine politische Phase von 1989 bis 2000 wird erstmals in Europa im Überblick dargestellt. Geers lebte zu dieser Zeit als weißer Südafrikaner im System der Apartheid, wo er sich in seiner künstlerischen Praxis mit den Widersprüchen der Moral und Ethik des Systems auseinandersetzte. Er eignete sich für seine Arbeiten historische Ereignisse und Ideen an und stellte seine Erfahrung in der Gesellschaft in den Mittelpunkt: Geers änderte sein Geburtsdatum in Mai 1968, dem Beginn der Studenten- und Bürgerrechtsbewegung, und trat zur Zeit der ersten demokratischen Wahlen in Südafrika jeder politischen Partei bei. Über die Verwendung gefundener Objekte wie Stacheldraht, Neonleuchten oder Glasscherben fand er zu seiner von Provokation, Humor und Gewalt geprägten Bildsprache. Seine europäische Phase, eingeleitet mit dem Umzug nach Brüssel im Jahr 2000, ist geprägt von einer eher poetischen Ästhetik. Geers überführte seine aufrührerische Praxis in einen globaleren Kontext, indem er sich mit übergreifenden Erzählungen der Zeit wie Terrorismus, Religion und Sterblichkeit befasst. Dennoch folgt er weiter seiner konzeptuellen Sprache der Aneignung und stellt sie in großformatigen Werken und skulpturalen Objekten dar.