Sound and vision disrupts
EMMA Willemse and Michael Blake recently opened their exhibition titled Disrupt: A Visual and Sound Exchange Project at the Union House Exhibition Space in Cape Town.
Running until September 29, Willemse’s exhibition incorporates her conceptual artworks exhibited at the 1:54 African Art Fair in London in 2018. The artist’s previous works have been brought back to South Africa by the Spier Arts Trust to feature at Union House.
Disrupt comprises an exhibition and sound performance collaboration between the conceptual visual artist and Blake, a contemporary classical music composer.
Natasha Venzke, who has visited the exhibition, said: “The focus of the exhibition is an installation called 101 ways to long for a home.
“Made from discarded and found objects, it is concerned with the traumatic experience of displacement and uprootment of people through warfare, political strife and xenophobia.
“Due to the physical and textural nature of these artworks, I was tempted to touch them all night.
“Then we got to watch Emma interact with the books, and it was satisfying in a way fellow neurodivergent people will understand.
“The highlight of the evening was when I spoke to Emma and was allowed to hold one of the wooden parquet books and my heart was filled with joy,” Venzke said.
Willemse is known for her largescale installations and handmade artists’ books that have been showcased in South Africa, Europe and Dakar. Blake is known for composing post-modern aesthetics and various styles he has played on five continents.
Blake was inspired by an art installation called 101 ways to long for a
home for the New Music piece, accompanied by an electronic soundtrack of found sounds, including sounds of the books being “played” in Willemse’s studio.
Blake’s New Music piece and Willemse’s book exhibition seek to evoke various narratives of loss.
The audience will identify the sounds that Blake has recorded in Willemse’s studio.
There will be a clatter of the opening and closing of the books constructed from parquet flooring. The sounds have been integrated into the digital sound recording, overlaying Blake’s playing of the prepared piano and harpsichord.
The two artists share an interest in found objects, fragments, and traces of those things that were left behind.
On the last day of the exhibition, there will be a performance of Displaced by Blake in the presence of the visual art exhibition.
◆ To view the exhibition, book an appointment by emailing: info@ spierartstrsut.co.za.