24.7 artist residency project, Johannesburg - nathaniel stern

The 24.7 artist residency project - http://247residency.blogspot.com - had
its launch party in the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) this past weekend. A
motley crew of traditional and contemporary artists, designers, performers,
musicians, fashion designers and interested parties in all of the above
disciplines gathered in the heart of downtown Johannesburg to see
potentiality at its start.

The concept began in Christian Nerf's City+Suburban studios (also downtown;
now shared with Kathryn Smith and nathaniel stern) in mid-2002, when Barend
de Wet spent 24 non-sequential hours knitting bikinis there, for an upcoming
exhibition. Since then, the studio has housed several artists - including
Stephen Hobbs and Tracy Hennen - working through experimental phases of
various projects.

The JAG residency proposes to exhibit "art as usual," turning the gallery
into a live, working studio for all participators during open hours (24
hours of time per week, for 7 weeks); approximately 35 projects are now
planned, and that number is still growing. Although the residential weeks
are broken into specific areas of interest (beginning today with New Media,
and continuing with Traditional Practice, Fashion, Audio, Conceptual,
Lens-Based Media, & Public Art, respectively), the shows goals are simple:
participation and collaboration between specialists in varying media, their
surroundings, and their audience. They are given space, equipment, and each
other.

Each week will start and end with the "Braai Klub," a barbeque, drinks and
DJs, while showcasing the previous week's documentation and art-in-progress.
It will culminate in a final exhibition, from August 30th - September 20th,
of archives, works, and works-in-progress, which are currently unknown to
the facilitators.

The first of the Braai Klub art parties featured ArtThrob -
http://www.artthrob.co.za - editor Sean O'Toole reading excerpts from past
interviews with Nerf. From interest in chance proceedings, to facilitating
active participation and collaboration, one thing was clear: he sees no work
that includes a viewer as anything less than collaborative, and believes
that process equals provocation. "The exhibition of this project offers an
opportunity for the passive [or perhaps not so passive?] participants to
experience the Creative Act and arrive at their own conclusions."

The full text of O'Toole's talk is already available on 24.7's blog,
http://247residency.blogspot.com. When they first arrive at the JAG, each
resident is given a time card to "clock" their art-making hours, and a
username and password allowing them to post ideas and progress to the site,
which should be updated on a regular basis.

Both conceptually and technically, this is a new frontier for the JAG, often
considered to be a fairly conservative art institution. Upon entering the
24.7 space, boxes full of roped off equipment are seen stacked along the
walls, just waiting to be used; at the launch, excited artists were chatting
away about bringing in dancers, computers and musical instruments, and
moving in directions they never have before, using other participators and
their talents. Of special interest to most, was continual access to space,
audience, equipment and critical and curatorial expertise *during* their
process, rather than after it.

Some ideas I overheard being passed around included a live
dance/painting/music performance organized by Wayne Barker, rehearsal space
for the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative's new multimedia work on HIV -
http://forgottenangle.org - an all-African hack into Jonah Brucker-Cohen's
bumplist - http://www.coin-operated.com/projects - collage workstations for
artists to team up with viewers, and further plays on public/private space
through the use of the gallery's security camera footage in the final
exhibition. And this is just the beginning (literally).

The 24.7 artist residency project promises to be one of the most interesting
and provocative explorations that Johannesburg has seen in a long time. And
when asked if he'd be interested in having oversees e-participation in the
project, Nerf simply responded, "Yes, please -
[email protected]."

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

attached photo: filmmaker Jahmil X. T. Qubeka at the 24.7 launch