Bitterkomix, the subversive comic magazine started by Anton Kannemeyer and Conrad Botes in 1992 is slightly older than the South African democracy. This may be sheer coincidence, but there is little doubt that Bitterkomix would have been blacklisted under the previous regime. With the banning of the controversial GIF — Afrikaner Sekskomix in 1994, the two bitter boys were declared ”undesirable”, even in a newly liberated society. But, in the past decade, Kannemeyer and Botes have advanced from underground cult status to broad recognition for their creative vision. Their stylistic influence on contemporary South African graphic design is undeniable. Botes received the coveted Absa L’Atelier Award in 2004, and the recent Kannemeyer/Botes exhibition at the Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town, celebrated their first comprehensive back catalogue, The Big Bad Bitterkomix Handbook.
The quality reproduction and coffee-table format seem to mark the arrival of two Boere-punks in the mainstream, but fans need not be concerned. This collection will be as at home in most decent South African living rooms as an AK-47 or a blow-up sex toy.
What was your intention with this book?
Anton Kanemeyer: We wanted to make a book for designers or anybody interested in Bitterkomix, South African graphic design or South African history; a retrospective that would also be of use to students as a reference book. We are swamped with requests from students looking for information on Bitterkomix. It’s a book for academia and the design industry.
Conrad Botes: In a way it’s also the end of a chapter. The content of Bitterkomix has changed, and with our new publisher [Jacana] we want to give it a complete makeover. Bitterkomix will no longer be a magazine, but a thicker book with quality printing and paper. After years of selfÂÂpublication we are now in a position to publish Bitterkomix to look exactly the way we want it to look.
Are the changes in Bitterkomix mainly aesthetic or has there also been a change in attitude?
CB: I don’t think our opinions have changed that much, but how long can you draw comics about the same old issues?
AK: When we started out, there was a strong surreal element in Bitterkomix. We experimented with absurdities, but the magazine evolved into a satirical mouthpiece with a strong sociopolitical angle. We’ve come full circle now, and we’d like to experiment with a lot of surreal elements again. But I certainly don’t mean Dali-esque surrealism — rather narrative surrealism with an emphasis on the absurd.
Is your idea of ”the enemy” not simply a lot more blurred and ambiguous than it was 10 years ago?
CB: I don’t think a story necessarily needs an enemy any more.
AK: In comparison with 10 years ago, sure, but I think many issues are difficult to address within our political context, to answer your question in a roundabout way. There are several ”enemies” and not all of them can be attacked directly. It might sound weird, but let’s say I were to feel strongly about something the Jewish people have done wrong; I do somehow feel that criticism should be allowed to come from within their own ranks first. That is why I’m still hesitant about doing an in-your-face attack on English South African attitudes. I believe they should do it themselves, but it doesn’t seem likely that any self-criticism will be forthcoming soon [laughs], so I’ll probably have to do it after all. They still seem to believe that they don’t have to take any blame for the history of apartheid.
CB: Why should they, when they’ve got us to blame?
Does that mean you would rather be quiet about certain of the new wrongs done by a new government for fear of being labelled as reactionary?
CB: Anton was very critical of our new society with The Alphabet of Democracy. [A conceptual series recently exhibited in a solo exhibtion.]
AK: Yes, that contained a lot of criticism against the current government. I think you can always do it the way Zapiro does — a satirist I deeply respect. As long as you remain harshly self-critical, anybody and anything is fair game.
Graphic depictions of sex have always been part of Bitterkomix. You have also done a lot of work for the soft-porn magazine, Loslyf. Is sex an obsession or will the new Bitterkomix show fewer private parts?
AK: Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint my audience.
CB: Although the kind of issues we address will change, our basic onslaught will be the same. Whatever we do, will still have some shock-value.
AK: As long as sex is shrouded in mystery, people will be interested in sex, and it will remain an issue. The fact that we are still being censored quite often, and the fact that Juta eventually refused to publish this book, is enough proof that sex is still taboo. It’s actually the awkward weirdness of sex that fascinates me. My work is often a parody of the sex industry and the stereotypes it employs. Those unfamiliar with pornography often miss the point. With GIF, for example, this was completely overlooked.
Is there an element of nausea and disgust in your depictions of the sexual act?
AK: It might seem that way sometimes, but I wouldn’t call it disgust. To me it’s more about the reflection of reality as opposed to sexual fantasy. Porn is all about the creation of illusion and fantasy. I’m interested in the real interaction in between.
CB: I think the cartoons we did for Loslyf were a subversive mixture of sex and absurd humour. And people weren’t crazy about it. Many readers who really liked Loslyf, complained about our comics — they said it turned them off. Our brand of satire simply does not sexually stimulate readers the way porn does.
You [Conrad] said Bitterkomix will keep on shocking. Why is that important?
CB: As far as I’m concerned it is simply who and what we are. I want to draw stuff that upsets me a bit too, stuff that sucks you in and draws you under.
AK: I’d hate to start doing mediocre middle-of-the-road art. I want to make something that has an impact. I don’t want people to come to an exhibition to say, ”Oh, that’s nice.” People should be saying, ”It really shook me up, it’s amazing!” or they should cry out, ”You call that art!?” and pelt me with eggs. To me aesthetics is all about that original impact. If your work is aesthetically and thematically challenging, it will have a stronger impact.
The Big Bad Bitterkomix Handbook is published by Jacana Media. Prints by Kannemeyer and Botes are available through The Micheal Stevenson Gallery, www.michael.stevenson.com; Art Prints South Africa, www.artprintssa.com; or Art on Paper, Tel: (011) 726 2234