i. the images of whats happening and how i see my life and things, my process. .......
before after this room and staying there and what happen from the Thurs to the sun that i did it, the dreams i had and surrealistic moments .....
big ups to
Kanya 'flex' Qabaka
who let me paint his placewhere is my mind or my heart in logic.
"On a grey Grahamstown Monday, an intimate audience of 5 people are escorted by Byron Eksteen to the site of his latest installation, Dream, Reality, Ground, at 25 d street, Fingo. The house is locked. The owner is not in. Concerned neighbours peer through the gate, gesturing to a running tap, the interior of the house is flooded. A photograph of some-ones girlfriend floats past an unmade bed. Finding ourselves caught in this bizarre narrative, we are led to a window round the back. This is the first interaction we have with the actual artwork. Through a small dusty pane of glass, we catch glimpses of paint on concrete. From here, we watch as friends and neighbours break the lock with an axe. They are in and the tap is quickly turned off. Shortly after, we follow Eksteen into the house, hopping in-between dry-like patches as personal belongings sail past the soaked soles of our shoes. Plastic beer crates are awkwardly arranged as each of us clamber up and over before reaching for the driest corners of the back room. The door is closed and Eksteen’s world is officially opened. It is both the intentional and the accidental which frame the character of his work. His approach to art-making is as strange and explosive as his personality. His work, like his words, flow without mediation- streaming haphazardly from one to another. The room is covered from wall to wall with gestural marks and slashes, the only interruption being a municipal electricity meter. As Eksteen positions him self upon a beer crate, facing his small audience, one cannot help but notice the blatant similarities between his work and that of Franz Marc or Wassily Kandinsky. The concept of “fighting forms” as it is known in the work of both Kandinsky and Marc pertains to this piece as the artist launches into a rapid description of conflicting elements present in the installation. He is as much the artwork as the paint on the walls, successfully performing both himself and his art in the same surreal moment. The honesty of his attempts to grapple with the intensity of ones darkest fears and largest desires whilst simultaneously employing the use of site specificity and the element of chance, marks the beginning of a successful and inspirational career for this young artist".
Rachel Baasch-mfa student rhodes university
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