Obscura and other apparitions was a labour of love that presented various technical and creative challenges, but Tiaan van Deventer built a team of collaborators and inspired them to reach their goal, which was Obscura.
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Deon starts off by explaining what a camera obscura is and how it was used last year at the Africa Burns Festival. He points out that they are in the midst of the Tankwa Karoo desert and there is no electrical component to involved.
This is the second year that he and his team of participating artists have travelled, with trailers of equipment, to the same location over several weekends. He identifies Michelle Heideman as the person who designed the project.
The exhibition features the photographs taken with the the camera obscura on these visits to the Karoo.
Tiaan says that the star of the exhibition is the mini camera obscura that they built to be centre stage of the exhibition!
NEWS FLASH: Photos at the opening by Tiaan and also featuring the Camera Obscura and images seen through the lens
Background to Obscura and other apparitions by Geert Oliver (Long term friend and associate of Tiaan Van Deventer & Member of Art.B)
“We have decades of hippies, psychonauts, and performers in our international Art History of the 20th century, and it can be argued that a bunch of people tuning out of civilization in the middle of nowhere has been done to exhaustion, and I would normally agree… BUT it is indeed rare that this urge to break out of the societal norm is combined with the technical know-how and clarity of vision that guided Tiaan van Deventer to build a camera that can house several humans in the middle of a desert!
It was a labour of love that presented various technical and creative challenges, but van Deventer built a team of collaborators and inspired them to reach their goal which was Obscura. This camera obscura; arguably the largest construction of such a nature in the Southern Hemisphere was an 80 square-meter structure made of mostly reclaimed building materials. Construction of such a site in an urban area would already have its own set of unique challenges, trying this in the middle of the desert multiplies these hundredfold.
Van Deventer’s rare equilibrium of technical knowledge, creative experience, rebellious spirit, and natural spirituality resulted in striking imagery that seems almost otherworldly and surrealist; in stark contrast to the digital picture-perfect visual language of contemporary photography.
He also harnessed another phenomenon that is as valued in the Tankwa Karoo as in the Contemporary Art World: the spirit of collaboration. For the last 5 years Tiaan has been experimenting in his industrial studio space and gallery; “Kingsbridge Art”, reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s Factory where collaboration was always encouraged. Working with a wide variety of artists as photographer, painter, networker, gallerist and curator, he has recently also exhibited International artists alongside local artists in a global vision of progressive collaboration. All of this has enriched the cultural landscape of the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town where he grew up. The Art scene of Bellville is truly a more creative, open-minded and inclusive arena thanks to individuals like Tiaan that not only build bridges but also push boundaries.
‘Obscura and other apparitions’ is the latest incarnation under van Deventer’s curatorship where he has gathered a unique group of respected artists to share their interpretation of Obscurity. It is this group of artists each representing within their individual visual languages a discourse of the primal urge, from deep within the psyche, the archetypal spirit.
Van Deventer’s curatorial history was preceded by Double Vision his group exhibition of Contemporary photography in 2020, also the “Unbearable Lightness” exhibition of 2017 that transformed this gallery space into a multi-medium immersive labyrinth of artworks. Van Deventer was also the 1st prize winner of the Vuleka Art Prize in 2018. Welcome to the latest chapter in this Artist/Curator’s relationship with Art.B, you are simultaneously experiencing a moment in this gallery’s history and future. There is definitely more to come.” – London, 2023.
Exhibiting artists include Graham Abbot, Willie Bester, Anthony Cain, Laurette de Jager, Gavin du Plessis, Trude Gunther, Sue Hoppe, Isobel Knox, Marieke Kruger, Juria le Roux, Johann Louw, Luan Nel, Geert Oliver, Rian Oliver, Ofentse Seshabela, Tiaan van Deventer, Brahm van Zyl and Anne Wells.
All proceeds from the sales of Obscura prints go towards their next project Obscura 3.0.
WHAT: Obscura and other apparitions Â
WHERE:Â art.b Gallery, Carl van Aswegen St, Belville, Cape Town 7530
WHEN: opens on 8 July 2023 11:00 am
INFO:Â T 072380 7268 | E artb@artb.co.za | VISITÂ Â
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