Performance art to breathe life into Monument
The cold passageways and hidden smoking corners of the Monument building in Makhanda will come alive this week as 11 performance artists reclaim and transform the space into a vivid arts experience.
The Live Art Arcade is preparing a variety of performance art pieces for its latest offering, Arcade2023, on Friday.
Each artist will bring a cyclical work to run over a six-hour period, without the conventional beginning-middle-end structure of a conventional theatre show, and audiences can walk through as they please. Plus, it is free. Supported by the National Arts Council of SA, the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme and the department of sports, arts and culture, Arcade2023 will also see artists taking found materials and transforming them into art.
Gavin Krastin, artist, curator and lecturer at Rhodes University, established the Live Art Arcade in 2018 for young artists to showcase their work in a professional exhibition.
The nomadic exhibition has been seen in various spaces since, including the Black Power Station in Makhanda and the Hexagon Theatre in Pietermaritzburg.
Artist Luke Rudman, 23, from Gqeberha, whose exploration of performance art started in 2018, will be painting himself into his work as part of “Eden and Luke”.
Now in his honours year of fine art at Nelson Mandela University, Rudman uses materials and acrylic paint to transform himself into a living sculpture, often with a spectacular headdress and matching background.
“I’ve never done anything quite like this before. I’m incredibly excited,” Rudman said.
“Usually the end goal is the creation of a still image, but it’s one of the first times I’ll be doing this live.”
Other artists will include Axl Forder, Carbon, Christelle Futshane, Lethabo Makweya, Martinique Kotze, Obusitswe “Birdking” Seage, Qondiswa James, Rafé Luke Green, Teresa Willoughby and Thabile “Terry” Rala-Rala.
Live Art Arcade 2023 will take place from 2-8pm, and is recommended for those aged 16 and older.
For more information, visit liveartarcade.co.za