Entries (RSS) New Edition by Alastair Whitton
15th June 2010 | Other items by Anthea Pokroy |
In October 2009 Alastair Whitton had a solo exhibition at David Krut Projects in Johannesburg. He also spent two full days with David Krut Print Workshop collaborator Lingo Rodriguez exploring an image for a screenprint edition. The work is entitled Van Diemen’s Land: The Book of Names. The process of screenprinting is one that Whitton has not worked with for some time and it was a fruitful experience for him. As an artist with an expert knowledge of paper, Whitton was inspired to continue his exploration of text, memory, place and history through the medium of screenprinting. Van Diemen’s Land: The Book of Names is a continuation of the themes and techniques used in his 2009 solo exhibit Patmos and the War at Sea. The work is a fascinating extension of the artist’s oeuvre that promises to provide an engaging new body of work.
Whitton writes about this new work: There will be five letters making up the word S (L) A V E each with a different drawing that has been laser cut through a page of screen printed surnames that begin with each particular letter. The five separate line drawings are of a life jacket (of the kind used on the Titanic), a diver’s mask, a diver’s fin / flipper, an aqua lung tank, and a flotation buoy marker. Conceptually, the series in essence reflects on notions of bondage and liberty as well as the voyage of individuals from one life to another.(Van Diemen’s Land, known today as Tasmania was an island colonised by the British in 1803 as a penal colony.) The sea being a symbol of the other world or spiritual realm in ancient times is referred to here by way of association (i.e the line drawings of objects linked to the ocean) while the historic link to Van Diemen’s Land recalls notions of transportation and deportation and the passage of human souls.
Title: Life Jacket |
