The KZNSA Gallery in Durban has a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Resonating with the sound of chain saws and overflowing with wood shavings and sawdust, artist Cameron Platter and a team of sculptors are busy assembling, chopping up and customising a large sculptural installation of carved wooden objects, collectively entitled Sculptures for New Living.
These deftly constructed objects range from an oversized car (a melange of a Ferrari, 4×4 and cash-in-transit van) to an ATM-cum-drink dispenser and a jet ski, as well as more prosaic objects such as cooler boxes, dustbins, chairs and weapons. Hand-carved from avocado and jacaranda, with the help of master wood carver Manuel Casper Mangue, the works are both brutal and delicate. They are also functional in an extremely offbeat way. Says Platter: “I wanted works that I could use in my everyday life, if they didn’t sell immediately. For example, the jet ski sculpture opens – with hydraulics – to become a fridge and, when the beer has run out, a coffin.”
Platter, who, in a reversal of the usual migratory patterns that haunt Durban’s art scene, recently moved from the Cape to KwaZulu-Natal (“I moved for love – my fiancée refused to budge”), says the move has been good for his art. He now works in a studio in a palm forest on the North Coast, which has given him the space to return to basics, as well as the luxury of distance from distractions. “I can indulge myself in working eight to 10 hours a day and then swim in a warm sea to unwind,” he says.
Although he has achieved much acclaim both in South Africa and abroad, his work nonetheless has the edge of an outsider artist, and the work on display in his studio is as quirky as anything he has produced. I ask Platter, with his predilection for alien spaceships, anthropomorphic crocodiles and the more profane sides of the Kama Sutra, if he considers himself to be working on the periphery. “No,” is his response. “The periphery – and centre – are where you choose to place them. I’ve found I work best on the edge, in an in-between space, off the beaten track. Shaka’s Rock is my space.”
The motivation behind the exhibition at the KZNSA was simply that Platter doesn’t have a studio big enough in which to work, assemble and install these supersized sculptures. “So I had an idea: why not move my studio to the gallery for this show? People can connect with how I work rather than merely viewing the final dressed-up artwork. I also loved the idea of letting a roaring chainsaw loose in a nice, clean gallery space.”
Platter has titled the group of carved wooden works Sculptures for New Living and referred to them as “MadMaxian objets de survival?”. “I felt rather pretentious calling them that,” says the artist, “but that’s what they are. They’re about a back-to-basics, hands-on DIY approach, making what you need from what’s around you. They’re sculptures for a world where everything is uncertain, where survival is paramount and where one better have fun before it ends.”
Platter is known for his large-scale, painstakingly hand-coloured pencil crayon drawings. And yet only one of these time-consuming works appears in Studio. The drawing, Celebrate Peace and Diversity, fills the mezzanine gallery. Approaching from a distance, viewers, seduced by the primary-school colours, assume it’s a print or poster. Only when they come near to the drawing do they realise it has all been done laboriously by hand, the pencil strokes visible, the squonkiness of the lines apparent. The image is a collage of the backs of porn DVDs, celebrating the talent of many designers working in that industry. Some might think the work provocative, but, says Platter, if you are offended by the word “doggystylin”, for example, “you should take a long look at what’s around you every day and be truly disgusted”.
The exhibition culminates with the finishing of the works and a party on November 7 at which they will be put to work. “It’s a celebration of finishing hard work,” says the artist. “I like to give people who show interest in my work something in return. And the art world likes nothing better than free booze and food.” It’s also a chance to see exactly how people will interact with works. What will they make of a jet ski filled with ice and beer? How will my good friend Dan Halter handle DJing the ATM and mixing cocktails from its mini-bar? How loud will the sound system be? Will people get into the car and pretend to drive away?”
There is an element of performance in this finishing event. All the works – the drawing, the sculptures and even a video in the electric gallery – occupy an overlapping space between performance and exhibition. “The party will engage with and celebrate the work as a whole. I think people can have fun and play at the same time as being critical.”
Platter’s imagery mirrors contemporary society – blood, money, intensity, excess and greed. But there’s also an embedded morality tale of “doing the right thing”, something he shares with his artist-hero John Muafangejo. “I do greatly admire Muafangejo. I think he was great because he told these everyday stories that reflected what was going on around him politically and socially, both globally and locally. You could tell exactly what he thought and quite often his was a voice of an old-fashioned, upstanding gentleman. He produced complex works, which got their messages across simply and powerfully. Although my work revels in the perversity of everyday goings-on, I try to make my stance clear. Perhaps you could call me a political satirist.”
The Studio finishing party takes place tonight at 6pm. Everyone is welcome