AMBIVALENT REALTIES: Postcolonial Experiences in Contemporary Visual Arts Practice Marcel Daniels Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) (QUT) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree Master of Arts (Research) 2014 Visual Arts Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology ABSTRACT The contemporary postcolonial condition has been shaped by the sustained legacies of colonial principles of political, cultural and economic hegemony. These principles continue to manifest in different ways because of the complex and often-incompatible transformations incurred by globalisation. Many critical debates have focussed on examining these conditions through their broad ideological structures, processes and ramifications. However new postcolonial conditions require new methods of critique to fully grasp the nuances of real world, ‘lived’ experiences. Contemporary artists contribute to this investigation by exploring how new global realities situate notions of identity, race, ethnicity, otherness and diaspora alongside questions of locality, nationality, and transnationality. This practice-led research project traces the trajectories of these practices and debates to reconsider how creative practice can engage with the complex contemporary ‘postcolonial condition’ and ‘postcolonial subject’. Informed by Dawn Duncan’s flexible model of postcolonial critique, this project aims to creatively and critically examine the complexities, ambiguities and ambivalences of this field of inquiry. Approaching these issues through the lens of my own experience as an artist and subject, it results in a body of creative work and a written exegesis. i KEYWORDS ambivalence; globalisation; heterogeneity; diaspora; hybridity; post-medium; multiplicity; pluralism; postcolonial; globalization; exile; experience; ethnicity; diversity; identity; otherness; modernity; contemporary art; colonialism; creative practice ii FIGURES Figure 1: Gordon Bennett, Self Portrait (But I Always Wanted to be One of the Good Guys)(1990) …………………………………….………………................39 Figure 2: Latifa Echakhch, À chaque stencil une revolution (For Each Stencil a Revolution) (2007)…….……………………………………………………………….….44 Figure 3: Latifa Echakhch, À chaque stencil une revolution (For Each Stencil a Revolution) (2007)…….……………………………………………………………….….44 Figure 4: Latifa Echakhch, Burst (2003)……………………………………………………..47 Figure 5: Latifa Echakhch, Burst (2003)……………………………………………………..47 Figure 6: So We Too (2010) ……………………………........................................................52 Figure 7: So We Too (2010) ………………………………………………………………...52 Figure 8: Installation views of My Names: The Perpetual Paradox of Otherness (Nigger, Wog, Musso, FOB, Coon) (2010) …………………………………………………54 Figure 9: I’ve Always Wanted to be a Coon: Context is Crucial And Irrelevant (RSA 01/01)(2010)…………………………………….……………………..54 Figure 10: Traces of Colour, Welcome to the Jungle and So We Too (2011) ……………….56 Figure 11: Traces of Colour and Welcome to the Jungle (2011) ……………………………57 Figure 12: Effigies (2012) …………………………………………………………………...62 Figure 13: Effigies (2012) …………………………………………………………………...62 Figure 14: Virtual Frontiers: As Sure as God Made Little Green Apples (2012)..………………………………………………………………………..66 Figure 15: detail view of Virtual Frontiers: As Sure as God Made Little Green Apples (2012) …………………………………………………….. …………………66 Figure 16: detail view of Virtual Frontiers: As Sure as God Made Little Green Apples (2012)…………….. ………………………………………………………….67 Figure 17: Mary Sibande, Long Live the Dead Queen (2010) Johannesburg……………......70 Figure 18: Mary Sibande, Long Live the Dead Queen (2010) Johannesburg………………..71 iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma in this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the work itself. QUT Verified Signature Signature.......... Date.................... 27th February 2014 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Project has been an academic, professional and a deeply personal endeavour. It simply would not have been possible without the people who have supported me and provided me the tools and the courage to tackle these concerns head-on. For this I would like to show my appreciation and gratitude. Firstly, my supervisors. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my principal supervisor Grant Stevens. Your tireless and generous encouragement, support, patience and mentorship (not to mention incredible editing) throughout the duration of this project have gone above and beyond the role of a supervisor. I cannot thank you enough! And to my associate supervisor Charles Robb, throughout undergraduate studies and this project you have been encouraging, enthusiastic and insightful. Thank you for your knowledge and passion. You have both directed me to the necessary critical and creative tools to tackle this project and future practice. I would also like to thank the QUT Visual Arts faculty. Throughout undergraduate studies, honours and this project you have helped me in some way that has led to this stage. Thank you Mark Webb, Mark Pennings, Andrew McNamara, Courtney Pedersen, Danielle Clej and Jill Barker. Big thanks to my brother of another Other, Daniel Herberg. Thanks for keeping it real, this collab is far from over! And most importantly, my family. My parents Marc and Ron and brother Rustum. It is your fault that I have pursued this ‘ethical enterprise’(to steal a term from postcolonial studies) and for this I am forever grateful. Your endless support has made this possible. I love you guys. And last but definitely not least by any standard my ever supportive, understanding and cute girlfriend Erin. Thank you for your patience and constant support. I love you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................................i KEYWORDS...........................................................................................................................................ii FIGURES…............................................................................................................................................iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY…....................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................1 METHODOLOGY: PRACTICE-LED RESEARCH..............................................................................3 CHAPTER ONE: FOUNDATIONAL POSTCOLONIAL THEORIES………...………....….......6 1.1 Colonial Discourses………………………………………………...................................................7 1.2 Anti-colonial and Self-Liberation Writings……………………………………….….……....….....9 1.3 Postcolonial Critiques………………………………………………………………………..…....10 1.3.1 Edward Said……………………………………………………………………….…....12 1.3.2 Gayatri Spivak…………………………………………………………………….....…14 1.3.3 Homi Bhabha……………………………………………………………………....…...16 . CHAPTER TWO: CONTEMPORARY POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND ART………....….20 2.1 Current Global Realities …………………….…………………………...…...….…………..........20 2.2 Dawn Duncan ……………………………………………………………..………….…………...24 2.3 Contemporary Art Theory and Postcolonial Discourse……………………………………….......29 2.3.1 Nicolas Bourriaud……………………………………………….…………………...…...30 2.3.2 Okwui Enwezor .…………………… ……….…………………..……….…..……...…..32 CHAPTER THREE: CONTEMPORARY ART APPROACHES…………………………….….35 3.1 Postcolonial Art Practices .................................................................................,.............................35 3.2 Gordon Bennett ………………………………………………………...........................................38 3.3 Latifa Echakhch...............................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER FOUR: CREATIVE PRACTICE………………………………………………….….50 4.1 So We Too (2011) …………..........................................................................................................50 4.2 Traces of Colour (2011)…………………………………………………..………………..……...55 4.3 Collaboration....................................................................................................................................59 4.3.1 Effigies (2012)....................................................................................................................61 4.4 Virtual Frontiers: As Sure as God Made Little Green Apples (2012) ............................................65 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................76 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................78 INTRODUCTION This research project focuses on the complexities, ambiguities and ambivalences of the postcolonial condition and its relationship with contemporary art practice. My fascination with this condition comes from a deep desire to understand my own postcolonial experiences as an artist and participant in global culture. My life experiences are an important background to this project. I am of South African