Art Jamming (Wembley Square) 21st January 2009 ART FUSION.
ART FUSION @ ARTJAMMING
ART FUSION @ ARTJAMMING
Southern Ink Exposure 2009
The term artist will be used loosely within the context of this article as tattooing is still yet to be seen as a fine art by some {debatable in every sense and essence}.
Firstly arriving after a turbulent flight from jo’burg to Cape Town, I didn’t know what to expect of this “happening”. Being a tattoo enthusiast and long time supporter of the concept of “art fusion”, I arrived at art jamming only to find an audience of splendor and Flesh in its abundance. That was the welcome I needed and a much needed eye opener I have read about for such a long time. This was blending at the core of many traditions on the ambiguously spread wide open spaces; the world, our being, our culture the culture of the world as a portrait pasted onto many outward appearances.
Let’s divulge a bit about the birth of the “art fusion” conception and recollect the opulence of why it was a grand occurrence to have had this event in South Africa as a part of the “Southern Ink Exposure”. Yes laying the words on thick in all due respect we are talking about the great artists and no not just tattooists, artists. So it started when Paul Booth and Filip Leu who in 2000 “experimented” on Ryan Martinie of MUDVAYNE at the “tattoo the earth festival”. Now what these two phenomenal artists did was “tag team” tattoo on Martinie’s chest, no preconceived ideas, continuously swapping and adding onto each other work hence “fusion”….. The concept was born and grew into many varied platforms.
Luckily enough at the art Jamming studio we got to see Paul Booth infuse Paint on canvas on the “varied platforms” which is now known as the “art fusion camp” around the world. So there they were, No guns, No needles, No ink… No Flesh all being swapped for palettes, paintbrushes and the stretched calico membranes. Mastery of skill many hands all artists {contextual artists being all part of the southern ink exposure… tattoo artists yes.}, stroke for stroke, switching from canvas to canvas interpreting each other’s images as one’s own and rendering each other’s thoughts into one’s own perception. It was like the Images had their roles that normally would depict thousands of different types of meanings and understandings but in this instance the body was not the soft target for debates. It was the intrepid journey each artist had to take; as their “artwork” took a step of change in a circular direction as they played a dancing game of transformation; at this camp, each canvas had two artist working on an image then the next two would come in and “un-ego” the image until completed by Paul Booth and Joe Johns.
So one would usually expect the usual “Yo ho ho pirate and skull” type paintings but no, not here, there was an “air of grace” in the paintings. Each painting had its own panache and feel but what could one expect. Artist’s and audience alike watched in suspense to wait for the final outcomes. While the space “ArtJamming” was used as a perfect foundation for this lofty affair. The studio “Artjamming” was the perfect setting. Litres upon litres of paint in plastic dispensers hung upon the wall by means of shelves the paint dispensers reminding one of the ink containers used for tattooing. Artjamming … Perfect setting, wide open clear space. Open clear voyeuristic windows for the exhibitionists to be watched. The audience could take in every drop even the dabs of paint that didn’t make the canvas but joined the previous splotches of paint on the floor. It was the Ideal playground for the seriousness of what was to follow. The “southern Ink Exposure” .
The event was surreal and finally we got to see “art Fusion”, local talent got to partake, local enthusiasts got to watch and we all held our breathe for the event to unfold….. S.I.X.
Originally Written for www.undergroundpress.co.za
