Ben Winfield Art

2012-01-23T00:05:00.002+02:00

2011-12-08T13:23:00.000+02:00

Portfolio Business Card

2011-01-10T16:45:00.000+02:00

Securitas Absurdus Exhibition Mock-Up: Work In Progress 2010

2010-12-30T22:45:00.002+02:00

Take My Freedom Series: Work In Progress 2010

2010-12-30T22:07:00.002+02:00

Camera Securitas Series: Work In Progess 2010

2010-12-30T21:55:00.003+02:00

Nightmare Series: Work In Progress 2010

2010-12-30T21:25:00.005+02:00

I'm Just Popping Out To Buy Some Milk: Work In Progress 2010

2010-12-30T20:25:00.007+02:00

Drive Like You Stole It: Work In Progress 2010

2010-12-30T20:03:00.004+02:00

Michaelis Grad Night: Securitas Absurdus

2010-12-23T21:54:00.003+02:00

Some images of my art from the Michaelis School of Fine Art Grad Show, 8th December 2010.

Photographs by Bruce Phillips

Michaelis Grad Show 2010

2010-12-23T15:41:00.002+02:00

Quoting:

StateoftheArt.co.za's Blog

http://southafricanartists.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/michaelis-graduate-exhibition-2010/

Fourth Year Sculpture Concepts

2010-12-21T15:01:00.005+02:00

Some concept drawings of works that made it into sculptures.

MICHAELIS SCHOOL OF FINE ART GRADUATE EXHIBITION 2010

2010-12-09T12:59:00.000+02:00

SECURITAS ABSURDUS

2010-11-21T17:36:00.008+02:00

SECURITAS ABSURDUS

12 NOVEMBER 2010

Michaelis School of Fine Art

Photographs: Cameron Richards

http://cameronrichards.com/

Final Fourth Year Exhibition

2010-10-26T19:46:00.004+02:00

On Friday 12 November from 9am until late afternoon, my fourth year final examination exhibition will be up in the Michaelis Building at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town. If you are in the area why not come check it.

Photograph: Richenda Phillips

3rd Year Second Semester Exhibition

2009-11-15T16:18:00.004+02:00

Painting Process of characters

2009-11-15T15:54:00.003+02:00

4th Term Sculpture

2009-10-21T21:24:00.003+02:00

My current sculpture project in progress.

Tusken Raider Rifle: In Progress

2009-09-25T20:10:00.004+02:00

An essay on "African Art"

2009-06-16T21:01:00.004+02:00

[This paper was an essay for a theory course I did, the topic of which was to look at female African artists not residing in South Africa. All writings have been checked and referenced as far as possible. This paper was not made for monetary reward and I post it here in the hope of assisting further research. All information gathered for this paper can be found in the public domain.]

AESTHETIC AFRICAN WOMEN

A look at the binary logic behind African Art
by
Ben Winfield

"We create oppositions as we process our experiences. Often, when we think, we process our thoughts using a fundamental logic of the binary structure"
-J.M. Haluska, 1999.

This essay is an attempt to come to terms with the contemporary female, African artist by looking at various exhibitions, artists and critics. I will begin by looking at the (under)Representation of the African female artist within curated exhibitions. From there I will briefly attempt to look at 'modern' femininity within African art through the exhibition, Like A Virgin. In the section, Understanding Ndidi Dike, I will be looking at a number of sources to gain an insight into the inner workings of Ndidi Nnadiekwe. Finally I will take a look at the international art critic, Bisi Silva with regards to ideas around diaspora in Africa.

A Look At Female (under)Representation at Exhibitions
In researching for my essay I read a number of books from exhibitions on African art trying to ascertain the representation (if any) of female artists in Western collections. One such collection is the Jean Pigozzi collection. Of the sixteen artists represented in the 1992 exhibition titled Africa Now (Magnin, 1992), one was female. Her name was Esther Mahlangu (South Africa). This exhibition, which only went on display in Spain, The Netherlands and Mexico, resurfaced thirteen years later with African Art Now (Magnin et al, 2005), except now there were double the artists (thirty-three in total), with double the amount of female artists on the show: two; namely Seni Awa Camara (Senegal) and Esther Mahlangu.

A list was composed by Baaba Maal, Owusu Ankomah and seven others for the newspaper, The Independent, that consisted of fifty of the best artists in Africa (by 'artists' they imply 'cultural figures'). Of these fifty "cultural figures" there were only five who fall into the category of professional artist. Of those, two were female: Tracey Rose (South Africa), "a mixed-race feminist who uses identity and sexual politics as incendiary devices" and Sokari Douglas Camp (Nigeria), "one of the first female African artists to have attracted the attention of the European art market" (The Independent, 2006). I point this out only to show the kind of representation that female artists have been given within an international African context.

Another booked I read was title, New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka, 2007 by Simon Ottenberg. It tells the story of seven Nigerian artists that are "also the subject of an exhibition sponsored by and held at the National Museum of African Art, Washington" (Ottenberg, 1997:11). In the book he mentions that his choice of artists for the exhibition "probably reflects biases deriving from my own background and American experience" (1997:11) which explains why he felt that one female artist, Ada Udechukwu, would be sufficient a comment on female artists in Nigeria. Dele Jegede elaborates by saying, "we can respect his biases although this does not obviate the problems attendant upon this arbitrary and subjective selection process." (Jegede, 2000: 401). He continues in his criticism by saying that "Ottenberg goes on to imply that Ada UdechukwuÕs exploration of textiles as a medium is predictable because it is the acceptable art form for women" (2000). He finds this ridiculous because "contemporary Nigerian society abounds with many successful women artists who express themselves in as assortment of media, including textiles" (2000).

I use these examples in an attempt to show that one of the factors that results in the under-representation of female African artists in exhibitions abroad is the lack of awareness on the part of the curator or collector. Awareness with regards to historical knowledge of African art and female artists, as well as for equal representation of women in exhibitions with their male counterpart.

A Brief Look At Femininity in African Art
African women throughout the ages have at times been at the forefront of civilisation. In Bongi Bengu's masters thesis Power gained - power lost: Aspects of Contemporary African women visualised, 1997 she points out various "powerful women leaders" (Bengu, 1997:5) to come out of Africa: Cleopatra, Queen Nzinga of Angola and Ndongo, and Queen Aminatu of Nigeria (1997).
However, over the past couple of hundred years African women have become increasingly repressed to such an extent that "woman in Africa, who by the very nature of circumstances of history and culture has become a serial victim of cultural dictates and social embarrassment has not had the opportunity to faithfully and truthfully tell her story" (Nwachukwu, 2009). This restriction of the the individual has carried over into all aspects of life, including art.

The recent exhibition, Like a Virgin, features two female artists, Lucy Azubuike (South Africa) and Zanele Muholi (Nigeria) has been "ideologically programmed to redirect the focus of contemporary female art" (2009) to such an extent that it focuses on "issues that previously were not talked about: issues of female genital mutilation" (2009). Such an issue creates a much needed dialogue in a society that has for too long ignored the voices of women. Over the years, as Nwachukwu points out, artists have "adopted the ingrained patriarchal standard, which over time has subdued the womanÕs voice in the representation of history" (2009), and through exhibitions such as Like a Virgin, female artists can create a platform on which to continue the discourse around the (under)representation of the African female.

In the next section I will be looking at an artist that has gained ground in subverting traditional Yoruba uli art. Through this subversion she has reclaimed an art form that was once an "aesthetic language of empowered women" (Haluska, 1999) which, over time, men had taken over for "their own use" (1999).

Understanding Ndidi Dike
Ndidi 'Dike' Nnadiekwe was born in London and attended the University of Nigeria in Nsukka between 1976 and 1984 (Deepwell, 1997). In an interview with art critic Bisi Silva, Ndidi Dike says the following about herself:
"On my return to Nigeria, I had a private teacher as art was not available on the school curriculum. I obtained a Diploma in Music Education majoring in voice from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before being admitted into the B.A Fine & Applied Arts course. My university experience was not as challenging as expected, as the structure and teaching was still grounded in Beaux Art conservativism. I have had 10 solo exhibitions between 1986 and 2002 and 57 group exhibitions between 1986 and 2005." (Dike n.d.)

In reading Dike's work Katey Deepwell writes:
"The particulars here are again important as Dike's use of African imagery and symbols are not used to develop either a private symbolic vocabulary nor are they available to be read in a straightforward iconographic way. Their particularity is important as a set of floating signifiers which announce a critical project towards a disappearing 'traditional' culture" (Deepwell, 1997)
To further elaborate on the notion of 'tradition' I would like to reference some extracts from J.M. Haluska's conference paper, Our Tradition Is Very Modern: Subversive Art of Africa and abroad. Her understanding of the flaws inherent within the English language and its innate ability to construct, what she terms a "binary structure" (Haluska, 1999) is what "underscores a huge amount of western discourse" (1999). She states that "the western conception of 'tradition' emerged from an underlying binary philosophy" and that the "Yoruba definition was born from a non- centered world sense" where the "Yoruba tradition implies free innovation whereas western tradition encapsulates creative expression through a referential world" (1999).

To understand Dike's work, one was understand the context in which she
creates her work. Dike had started out her art career as a painter, "but later took to sculpture" (Okeke, 1999) adopting wood as her primary material whilst incorporating, amongst other things, found objects into her works (Deepwell, 1997).

Her usage of wood and carving harks back to when "traditionally Igbo doors [would] have been carved by men" and the use of uli being predominantly "a female tradition with a developed vocabulary of abstract motifs drawn from nature" (1997). As Simon Ogbechie says on his Blog, Aachronym, "DikeÕs art addresses questions of race and power within contemporary culture by investigating the transformation of feminine cultural ideals wrought by modernization and its impact on the marginalization of women and militarization of society, which in recent years has become the bane of contemporary African existence" (Ogbechie, 2007)

In Nzegwu's essay Transgressive vision: Subverting the power of masculinity, one becomes aware of the "long-standing cultural attitudes about the medium" of sculpture "and the pervasive Western, Christian, and Islamic ideals of domesticity and womenÕs identity have reinforced cultural perceptions that contributed to the proscription against women as sculptors" (Nzegwu). One could easily see how Western countries could overlook the works of art produced by such artists like Ndidi Dike (and Ada Udechukwu) as without the cultural backdrop and social history on which to hang their work it can easily become construed and misinterpreted. Through the essay of Haluska one can quite easily see how Western critics and curators can become overwhelmed with notions of a "European othering" (Haluska, 1999). Through the analysis of Ndidi Dike's work by Haluska I have come to realise that in order to transcend notions of 'othering' one has to be on the side of artist, and that to continue in the vein of the European aesthetic is to further the aims of the Western 'gaze'. Haluska puts this so eloquently:

"The rebellious always becomes the traditional. The center continually expands at its periphery. The periphery is defined and bound to its center. There is no way to break this linear progression of meaning. There is no art in the west that is not defined or categorized by the center or the tradition of work that came before. However the Yoruba model is not centered. There is no center or periphery because the conception of tradition is not the same. No central position has been defined. No categories have been created as cannon. Since the artist constantly departs the periphery and the center are not defined as such. No binary logic existed in Yorubaland in order to create the polar conceptions of center and periphery." (Haluska, 1999)One can lament the under-representation of the female African artists ad nauseam, but one needs to first identify with the problem that is endemic to these Nigerian artists. I have already mentioned that uli was traditionally a medium reserved for the decoration of the female body, and through colonialism women became repressed which resulted in the men appropriating this way of production. With the work of Ndidi Dike, Nigerian women are only now beginning to reclaim this 'stolen' art form, and through this reclamation it will help empower other female artists. And as a result of this empowerment the representation of the once quieted African female will begin to emerge ever dominantly on the international circuit.

The Diasporic Bisi Silva
"Nigerian curator Bisi Silva has accomplished an extraordinary feat" (Ogbechie, 2007).
Olabisi 'Bisi' Silva is a independent curator and critic based in Lagos, Nigeria, with an MA in Curating and Commissioning of Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art London. She writes for ThisDay newspaper in Lagos (Nifca, 2006). The reason I have chosen Bisi Silva is grounded in the fact that she straddles the African continent with one leg in Nigeria and the other in Europe. Her very nature exists in the realm of diaspora through which she allows herself to come to grips with the Nigeria of her roots and the international context in which she resides.
It has become a trend that in order for an African artist to become internationally renowned they need to have left their country. It is almost a prerequisite that somewhere along the line you had to be in some stage of diaspora in order to be accepted as international African artist. Of all the artists researched for this essay on contemporary female African art, maybe one percent (although I will say that I am quite certain I never looked up every single female artist) has never left Africa to live abroad. With each one at some stage or another in their life having found their way to the distant shores of another country in search of something outside of their own. Do not regard my analyses as condescending but merely a statistical insight into the life of an Africa artist. I would go so far as to say that one cannot be a true international artist if you never experienced another country and given at least a small fraction of yourself to it. Jean Haluska makes us aware of the Yoruba understanding of diaspora. They view artists as "itinerant" and art a departure which she says implies that "Yoruba artists must be in a state of psychological departure during creation" (Haluska, 1999) and continues in saying that "Yoruba artists are wanderers. They can not be permanent anywhere because their concepts are never permanent. Literally, artists are nomads" (1999). By this summation she writes that "It was natural for the Yoruba artists to travel because they were conceptually traveling and it was natural for the general populous to expect this because it makes sense in a world where the mind and body are not viewed as discrete" (1999).

It is interesting to note that in this hyper technological age one could be so bold as to say that it does not matter whether an artists lives in diaspora or not. The world has become so small in a sense that even a critic such as Bisi Silva can be in London and still write a review on the Johannesburg Biennale. I am reminded of Gerard Sekoto, a South African artists, who spent the majority of his life living in France. Although he had spent such a large period of his life away from Africa he continued to make paintings that had so-called 'African' subject matter despite his apparent distance from the continent. However, I feel a problem arises when artists make political or socially motivated artwork around their country of origin but have not in fact been home after extensive periods of absence. What one can see happening in the exhibitions, and even Simon Ottenberg's, New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka, is that artists who have not had extensive contact with their African country of origin get placed into an exhibition where their work becomes misinterpreted.

I feel that the international contemporary art market is looking to Africa for the next biggest thrill and that hopefully in the next couple of years we will see it becoming a burgeoning realm of possibility. The questions have been asked, the debates have been started and all that is needed is the right moment. With the 2010 soccer world cup lingering at South Africa's door, Africa will soon become the centre of world where international will begin right here.

References:
Deepwell, K. 1997. Reading in Detail : An Analysis of the work of Ndidi Dike Nnadiekwe. [Online]. Available: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/n.paradoxa/ndidi.htm [2009, April 08].

Dike, N. [Online]. Available: http://www.ndididike.com/about_ndidi.html [2009, March 17].

Haluska, J.M. 1999. Our Tradition Is Very Modern: Subversive Art of Africa and Abroad. Presented at the International Society of African Philosophers and Studies conference, Loyola. March 1999, Chicago, Illonois. [Online].Available: http://www.jeanhaluska.net/departure3.html [2009, April 8].

Jegede, D. 2000. American Anthropologist, New Series. 102(2):400-402. Blackwell Publishing. [Online].

Jordan, N. 1990. "Black Feminist Statement: Conceptualising Feminism". Westpoint, Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company. Quoted in Bengu, B. 997. Women and Power in Africa. In Power gained - power lost: Aspects of Contemporary African women visualised. Thesis. Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.

Magnin, A. 1992. Africa Now. Julio Soto Impresor.
Nwachukwu, M. 2009. Sexuality aesthetics in the art of two African sisters. [Online]. Available: http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/28816/83/ [2009, March 22].

Nzegwu, N. Transgressive vision: Subverting the power of masculinity. [Online]. Available: http://www.ndididike.com/about_ndidi.html [2009, March 17]

Ogbechie, S.O. 2007. Ndidi Dike: New Beginnings. [Online}. Available: http://aachronym.blogspot.com/2007/10/ndidi-dike-new-beginnings.html [2009, April 9].

Ogbechie, S.O. 2007. Grand Opening: Center for Contemporary Arts Lagos [Online]. Available: http://aachronym.blogspot.com/2007/12/grand-opening-center-for-contemporary.html [2009, April 8].

Okeke, C. 1999. The Quest for a Nigerian Art: Or a Story of Art from Zaria to Nsukka. In Reading the Contemporary: African Art from Theory to the Marketplace, O. Oguibe and O. Enwezor, Eds. London: Institute of International Visual Arts. 144-165.

Ottenberg, S. 1997. New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group. National Institution Press: Washington.

2005. "African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection". Eds. A. Magnin, A. de Lima Green, A. J. Waralow and T. McEvilley. Merrell: London.

2006. Art of Africa: The 50 best African artists. [Online]. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/art-of-africa-the-50-best-african-artists-426441.html [2009, March 10].

2006. [Online]. Availabe: http://www.nifca.org/2006/residencies/AiRatNIFCA/August2006.html [2009. April 08].

First Semester Exhibition 2009

2009-06-10T17:59:00.007+02:00

9th June 2009

Sixth Generation Microsoft XBOX

Pine, Jelutong

2009

Untitled, 2009

Bronze, Sawdust, Resin, Silicone, Wood, Steel, Cement

590mm x 470mm x 580mm

The images are from my third year, first semester exhibition. Overall I felt it went quite well, however the lecturers had a couple of things to say about the originality of the XBOX. In my defense the nature of my XBOX attempting to be a replica should in some way go together with the idea of originality, but I think the true issue rested with the lecturers assuming I had appropriated the work of another local artist who uses video games as a platform for his sculptures. Regardless, I still managed to receive an upper second for my sculptures and a first for my New Media, Digital Archiving elective.

All work copyright Benjamin Winfield 2009

Plinth Painting

2009-06-08T22:40:00.007+02:00

So, plinths... Something the average human being probably doesn't create very often, and painting them is another thing.

Step 1: Make a plinth, or steal one.
Step 2: Buy PVA primer, paintbrush and sandpaper.
Step 3: Paint entire surface and wait to dry (depending on weather may take a while. Alternative: Hair-dryer).
Step 4: Using a soft grit sandpaper (maybe a 360), sand away the brush lines.

Repeat Steps 3 and 4 about a hundred times or until the sun sets.

This is a previous version of a plinth I created for a speaker to go inside. The idea was that the XBOX would go over the top and sounds played continually.

I just thought this was a really cool picture to include. Close-up of the plug for my XBOX.

3rd Year Exhibition Invitation 2009

2009-06-07T17:58:00.002+02:00

3rd Year Fine Art Exhibition

Venue: Michaelis Gallery, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Orange Street, Cape Town

Date: 9 June 2009

Time: 9am - 1pm

An exhibition of sculptural work created to date in 2009 along with fellow 3rd year students.

ARR-4: The Wood-Scrap Toy

2009-05-22T16:10:00.004+02:00

I created this chap the other day with some scrap pieces of wood that I had lying around from my XBOX. I would like to create a whole range of them.

Sanding-belt = Pain-and-not-so-much-fun!

2009-05-13T23:07:00.003+02:00

NOT FOR SQUEAMISH! OOPS! TOO LATE!

This is why you should wear gloves whilst sanding on a sanding belt...

BEFORE

AFTER

So remember kids. Keep out of trouble, and remember, it's cool to stay in school.

XBOX: Wood-work Project Part III

2009-05-11T21:33:00.007+02:00

Some latest pictures of my wooden XBOX. Seems to be coming along quite nicely. Hopefully will be finishing off in a couple of days. I still need to complete the controller.

XBOX: Wood-work project Part II

2009-04-27T22:14:00.003+02:00

The next phase of the project.

XBOX: Wood-work project Part I

2009-04-27T22:01:00.003+02:00

Our Sculpture project for this month is centered around interrogating the idea of a container. With this in mind I decided to create an XBOX as a container for entertainment. The images below are of a maquette of the console used to get an idea of the shapes of the pieces that I need to create. Due to the complicated nature of the structure I'm quite glad to have constructed this cardboard version first.

Relational Degradation: An emerging artistic discourse

2009-04-03T22:15:00.003+02:00

[The following is a piece I wrote for my theory course at varsity. It was to be about an emerging theoretical discourse, in an art world after Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics, written in a manner that was supposed to be humorous. I thought I'd post it because I enjoyed writing it. Disclaimer: All names in the essay are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual names is purely coincidental.]

Relational Degradation: An emerging artistic discourse
By
Ben Winfield

Although in some circles such a discourse has already begun to take place, one can undoubtedly seen a shift in the conceptual thinking of artwork. There used to be a day when artists were revered as intellectual masters of a philosophical and societal discourse, but since the beginning of the 21st Century there has been a dramatic shift in the artistic community and relating theories. Where Nicolas Bourriaud’s theories were once prominent, and community was encouraged between viewer and artistic relations, a newer bitterer trend has arisen in contemporary circles. Pioneered by the now infamous Avant Car Guard, and coined by artistic practitioners alike, Relational Degradation is now rife among its constituents. The synopsis of a theoretical paper of the same name, published under Le’RifRaf (an Anglo/Franco publisher), paints a rather dismal and morbid scenario. Allow me to clarify with an extract from Clare Bishopp’s, Protagonism and Relational Degradation (2009):

“Degradation art is entirely insular to the contingencies of its environment and audience. Moreover, this audience is seen as a dysfunctional and asymmetric mediator: rather than a one-to-one relationship between work of art and viewer, Degradation art sets up situations in which viewers are addressed as individuals of a microcosm, as a disparate, anti-social entity, and are actually given the wherewithal to create an anarchic societal discourse where community, however temporary or utopian, is completely obliterated.” (Bishopp, 2009: 54)

This emerging view has been seen throughout social hangouts within the artistic community, where creative individuals once came to feast upon communal interaction. The community has now become a place of bitter contention and antisocial behaviour with a trend towards artists remaining recluse in their studios executing artwork that will ultimately benefit them in the short term and hopefully, in the process, undermine their (once) peers. A number of critics have attributed this discourse to a shifting economy and political upheaval. Where artists once believed they could affect political outcome by providing a discourse within society, they have begun to realise that no matter what they do, their work will never instigate change. It is difficult to tell when this Relational Degradation will end, and critics foresee a period of continual decline, and an ultimate decent into nihilism. One can see that art now functions as the perpetual terminal of a dysfunctional disbanding network of unconnected elements. To end in the words of Santiago Sierra who, as early as 2002, said, “I don’t believe in the possibility of change".

[More insight into debates around Post-Post-Production can be found here: http://blogs.uct.ac.za/blog/post-post-production ]

Zuma: Umshini Wam and Korn

2009-04-03T21:29:00.004+02:00

I created this to show those of you who don't know the true Twisted Transister of Politics.

Bronze Project Part VIII: The Pour!

2009-04-01T21:41:00.006+02:00

The kiln. Heated to 1200 degrees celsius.

"Dry run." Gavin Younge giving the low-down on what is to happen.

The kiln is opened.

The bronze is poured.

The investments.

Close-up of the bad boy.

And once the investment is broken (or high-pressure-hosed broken), you grind off all the sprews that have been filled with bronze and you are left with your object. Still needs to be cleaned up. The object wieghs approx. 5 kg.

Bronze Project Part VII

2009-03-25T20:03:00.005+02:00

Today we created our investments for pouring in the silica mix (a combination of plaster of paris, silica powder and sand. I may be mistaken, but I think thats the combination). Its quite an unnerving process as now is the time when you find out if your wax holds out.

The metal investment has to be taped up so that when the mixture is poured in it obviously doen't leak out the holes.

(Below) The powder.

(Below) After pouring the investment, I cast the head, feet and waist in resin mixed with saw-dast.

For the head I used clear bathroom silicone as a replacement for regular silicone and catalyst. The only problem is that the silicone is very sticky and difficult to handle. The best thing is to fill a small bowl of water and mix in a lot of dishwashing liquid. The idea is that the very soapy water allows for one to handle the silicone without it sticking to your hands.

(Above) The cast for the feet.

Bronze Project Part VI: Wax Tree

2009-03-23T23:09:00.004+02:00

Today was a tough day in terms of creating the tree for our bronze casting. The process we are using for casting is called "The Lost Wax Process". In the end I had to make my tree roughly three times because it either collapsed or was at the wrong angle (the latter being the case in most instances). Besides the problem of the tree, I had a bad day of burning myself with either hot, melted wax, a soldering iron or mini-blowtorch (this being pretty awesome, not the burn but the torch). Hopefully the way the tree is now it will work for the pour.

The green outline around the object indicates the space required for the investment.

Bronze Project Part V

2009-03-19T22:23:00.007+02:00

I finally worked in resin for the first time yesterday. After managing to acquire all the neccessary items of protection (face mask and gloves) I proceeded, with the help of fellow artist Alex Scott, to mix and cast the arms of my Ent-Droid.

The materials were purchased from AMT Composites (http://www.amtcomposites.co.za/index.html) in Cape Town. The resin itself is a clear substance so I had to buy a dye which I managed to find at Allied Fibreglass (161 Voortrekker Rd. Maitland, CT). This allowed me to obtain the brown colour pictured in the image.

(Below) Cast of the pelvis.

The image below is the final product. The wooden hand shall remain as a found object in my sculpture.

In order for the bronze casting to go as planned one needs to create what is known as a "tree". Below are some wax spruces to be used in the creation of the tree.

Today was the day for me to create the wax copy of my torso. The object on the left is the result.

U.C.T. Varsity newspaper publication

2009-03-18T20:10:00.005+02:00

This is an interview that was published in Varsity (17 March 2009, Vol. 68, No. 3, p. 9) newspaper and student paper at the university of Cape Town. The headline is rather random and so are one or two of the remarks but it was interesting to do. How it came about was writer and friend, Matthew Milne was asked to do an interview with someone from the art campus and who should he happen to choose? Me! I gave them some images of my artwork, as well as a picture of myself and guess what they decided to publish? A giant picture of my face! Atleast it wasn't as large as Lyndi Sales' image on the cover of Art Times. Can't trust newspapers with anything, eish! If you don't have super awesome vision, below is what the article says:

Bravely I ventured into the depths of Hiddingh Hall to track down the legendary lord of chaos. Now, displayed in all his primal glory, I present you with the infamous Mr Ben Winfield…

Varsity: So, let’s begin….Give us a little taste of Ben - something interesting or quirky.

Ben: Well, when I was a wee lad I was attacked by a walrus. I even have the scars to prove it!

Varsity: And all the piercings…do they have significance? Do they hurt? But most importantly - do chicks dig them?

Ben: Well it’s a long story. Let’s just say I woke up one morning and my mom had padlocked me to the bed. I won't lie; the ladies go crazy for them.

Varsity: Hmm…so what exactly are you studying?

Ben: BA Fine Art, majoring in Sculpture.

Varsity: And what does studying art entail? What makes an artist?

Ben: Two words: Free snacks.

But seriously, it isn't as easy as it sounds, okay granted it's not a medicine degree but there is a lot of research that goes into making artwork if you want it to be relevant to your audience. As for what makes an artist, well from what I have seen pretty much anything can make you an artist. You don't even have to be able to draw or own a paintbrush; all you need is your body and a good idea.

Varsity: That’s a pretty deep response. What made you choose to study art? What inspires you and motivates your work?

Ben: I have always been interested in drawing comics and doing illustrations and chose to study art because it was the only thing I really enjoyed in school and I couldn't imagine studying anything else, except maybe animation. I therefore chose to come to university to broaden my artistic horizons so to speak. The kind of art that inspires me are those that are well executed, and generally that I can relate to on a personal or creative level.

Varsity: What interests/excites you? Specific genres or a bit of everything?

Ben: I really enjoy watching movies (The Watchmen, go check it out!), listening to music (that siff heavy stuff), comics and all things geeky too.

Varsity: What are you currently working on? Any big projects or upcoming exhibitions?

Ben: At the moment I'm busy with a sculpture project, we are learning the art of casting in bronze. So that involves a lot of mould making, playing with silicone and a lot of swiping of debit cards. In terms of exhibitions we generally exhibit twice a year, once at the end of each semester where our work gets marked. You should come check it out.

Varsity: Who is the god of art?

Ben: I am a really big fan of H.R. Giger.

Varisty: Yeah! Alright, so assuming you don’t get gobbled up by Aliens, what is the dream?

Ben: To make a diamond encrusted dragon skull and hopefully auction it off for millions. Or if that doesn't work out, sell sculptures out the back of my car in Camps Bay.

Varsity: Finally, on a more serious note: what is your favourite type of cupcake?

Ben: The evil kind.

So there you have it, folks. For more in depth look at this master of disaster, check out his Facebook group, Arteechoke Artwork, or his blog at http://benwinfieldart.blogspot.com

Video Games Essay

2009-03-16T13:19:00.003+02:00

(The following is an essay I did in second year on the relation between Ludology and Narratology within Starcraft and Bladerunner.)

LUDOLOGY AND NARRATOLOGY
A look at the Craft behind the Blade

In 1997 a company by the name of Westwood Studios, famous for such strategy games as Command and Conquer, released Blade Runner. It was advertised as "the first real time 3D adventure game" (Baratz, 2001) and was based on the 1982 Ridley Scott film of the same name. Not too long after that, in 1998, a company called Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo and WarCraft), released StarCraft, and is known as “the standard by which all real-time strategy games are judged" (Colayco, 2008).

In StarCraft, the objective of the game is similar to the basic constructs present within the game chess. Like chess in that each piece has a particular space sequence on the board that it can move on, so too has StarCraft certain characters that can perform certain tasks based on predetermined parameters set out by the designers. StarCraft is a level orientated game, and as such you have to complete the different stages under the campaign mode. Here one is able to choose between any of the three species that exist in the StarCraft universe, however it is preferable to play the game in the order that it suggests otherwise the understanding of game-play may become confusing. To begin with the game is designed such that the player starts as the Terrans (humans), and then moves onto the Zerg (insect-like aliens) campaign, followed by the Protoss (an advanced telepathic alien race) the final campaign.

StarCraft follows a particular storyline, which weaves between these three species. Within the campaign of each species it is up to the player to complete and win each of the levels before they can progress to the next level. StarCraft is known as a strategy game because it requires certain tactical efforts on the part of the player in order to progress through the stages, much like the strategy inherent within a game of chess. Each level within the game usually starts off with a certain number of buildings and units, which are at the disposal of the player. They can then also choose as to how many of each unit to create, and whether or not it will be worthwhile sacrificing the possible protection of their base in order to send more units to the enemy. All these factors will effect the player's outcome. This outcome contains "a certain degree of interdeterminacy that prevents the player from knowing the final outcome beforehand" (Frasca, 2003: 227). And "unlike narrative, simulations are not just made of sequences of events, they also incorporate behavioural rules" (Frasca, 2003: 227). In order for one to successfully complete the game it requires of the player the ability to learn and come to an understanding of the rules and techniques inherent within the game. As Jesper Juul writes, "Playing a game is an activity of improving skills in order to overcome [these] challenges, and playing a game is therefore fundamentally a learning experience" and "to play a game is to improve your repertoire of skills, and the challenge of game design is to work with the skill set of the player through the game" (Juul, 2005: 5).

In the game an underlying narrative exists through the three species, which is not simply the same story told from different view points, but rather it is seen as one continual story that either picks up from where the last one left off or takes place not too long after the other. In Computer Games: Text, Narrative and Play, "Narrative theory is concerned with the ways in which a narrative text communicated events, settings, characters and perspectives." (Carr, Buckingham, Burn, Scott, 2006: 33) This narrative text that is present within StarCraft is reinforced with additional material present within the gamer's manual providing a context for game play. Additional, relevant information about levels is provided in a number of cinematics that are spread throughout the campaign, as a reward if you if will, for completion of the stage. With this in place the gamer, whether he/she has any experience with the game or not, has some notion of the context in which they have suddenly found themselves.

In Narrative Discourse, G. Genette writes, "Narrative theory asks questions about the perspective from which story events are described. Through whose eyes do we witness the events of a narrative, and whose voice is relating the information?" (Genette, 1980: 186). The so-called "voice" to which she refers could be likened to that of a narrator, and within StarCraft that is said to be the game designers, or even more accurately, the author and creator of the StarCraft universe, Chris Metzen and James Phinney for the company Blizzard Entertainment. However, in the context of this game, that fact may be overlooked. When a player assumes the role of the Terran they expect the “voice” to be from the point of view of the species with which they are playing, which in essence it is. The story in the Terran campaign is not told by the Zerg or Protoss, and therefore has to be by the Terrans. This point is not particularly stressed as the game designers have assumed that the players will intuitively make these connections. Tomas Rawlings writes in his essay Narrative and Interactivity, "Narrative is not a passive concept, indeed it does require action from the audience to fill in the blanks" he continues, "narrative is a powerful tool for interactivity" and that "character is a powerful tool for interaction" (2006).

In StarCraft although we know that there is one outcome of the game i.e. that we will win, it is not apparent at the games outset how that will be achieved. Within each level of any given campaign there is an end result, but what is different is how that result will be obtained. For example, a level within the Terran campaign may require the player to defeat an enemy stronghold. It is clear by the mission objectives that if we do this then we can progress to the next level. What is unclear is the 'how'. Although the game offers tips as to certain elements of game-play, such as using a Ghost's cloaking ability might be beneficial to get past the enemy undetected, it is up to the player to ultimately decide how he wants to engage in his/her assault. This is where, like chess, the 'strategy' becomes involved. For example, the player may decide to send only marines to attack the enemy, but realises after he has attacked them and failed that it will be necessary to send possibly more Marines (as the enemy has a large ground force), Wraiths (jets that can cloak themselves) and tanks (as they can do the greatest damage to buildings within the quickest period of time). Through this ability to start over Gonzalo Frasca writes, "Games are not isolated experiences: we recognise them as games because we know we can always start over." (2003: 227)

Within BladeRunner the player find themself playing the role of a Blade Runner by the name of Ray McCoy, investigating a series of events that are happening around the same time as when the movie is taking place. With the game adaptation the gamer is tasked with solving clues, acting as a detective if you wish. Like StarCraft, the player begins unknowingly of the outcome of their game. This unknowingness is stressed by the fact that the player can make active choices that drastically alter game-play and therefore will result in alternative endings. For example, in the game, depending on the choices that the player makes, Ray McCoy can either become a Replicant sympathiser (meaning that you do not kill any Replicants and you discover that you too are one), "retire" (which essentially means kill) all the Replicants or escape with Rachel, a Replicant who believes she is human.

The game BladeRunner has a narrative, a story that is wanted to be told, but as in real life, the choices that you make and the actions taken, such as missing a vital clue, will ultimately change the narrative and effect the outcome, much like those books that allow the reader to choose their own ending. Frasca writes, "we cannot claim that ludus and narrative are equivalent, because the first is a set of possibilities, while the second is a set of chained actions" (1999). StarCraft and BladeRunner both follow an unexpected path in that the outcome is not known, much like any novel. However Frasca points out a fundamental difference between the representations in a novel and that of a game, and that is simulation. Frasca writes, "games are ontologically different from narrative because they are not just based on representation. Instead, they rely on simulation, which is a way of portraying reality that essentially differs from narrative." (Frasca, 2001) Within Blade Runner the game takes place in Los Angeles in the year 2019. This is the only clue that we have as to the location of the game as there are no visible hints, such as familiar landmarks, that make this known to the player. However, everything within this constructed environment is now placed within this context and all that we see in the game forms a part of this so-called 'representation', when in actual fact it is a simulation. "Simulation does not simply represent objects and systems, but it also models their behaviours" (Frasca, 2001). The computer-controlled characters are simulations of real humans. They move and act in the same manner as they would in real world, minus some differences.

“Representation has been the way of choice for humanity for depicting, explaining and understanding reality”(Frasca, 2001). Working with what Frasca proposes, the people in Blade Runner are modeled on the mechanics of a human. “The simulation itself is something bigger than narrative. It is a dynamic system that yes, contains thousands of potential ‘stories’, but it is larger than the sum of its parts. The simulation itself is not a narrative, it is something different, in the same way that a kaleidoscope should not be understood as a collection of possible images but instead as a device that produces images according to certain mechanics” (Frasca, 2001). This is again where the “voice” is inserted where Frasca continues with “many simulations, particularly in videogames, the player does not feel like she is being told a story by a narrator, but rather experiencing events as a personal experience” (2001). The crux of where Ludology differs from Narratology, and where the former applies more strongly to video games, lies precisely within simulation.

With Ludology one looks at the ideas of play and games. As Jesper Juul would have it, "Play is mostly taken to be a free-form activity, whereas game is a rule-based activity" (2005: 28). With regards to play, "meaningful play in a game emerges from the relationship between player action and system outcome; it is the process by which a player takes action within the designed system of a game and the system responds to the action" and it "emerges from the interaction between players and the system of the game, as well as the context in which the game is played." (Zimmerman and Salen, 2004: 34). With reference to StarCraft, players have the ability to choose whether they wish to follow the multiplayer aspect of the game on the website Battle.net, or to engage in a LAN (Local Area Network) in which many of their friends may be present and the need for a more human-like competition arises. Both these instances will dramatically alter the game experience. Suddenly, instead of being at home casually playing the game, taking one level at a time at whatever pace the player chooses, the gamer now finds themself in an environment where the ability to build quickly and effectively becomes a deciding factor in the overall scheme of game play. This multiplayer concept also illuminates narrative, as players are creating units and buildings out of context of the original story that was set up by the game designers. Here there is no set outcome, and neither player knows who will win the game at the outset.

Jesper Juul writes of the fiction inherent within video games and especially strategy games. He writes, "Most video games create fictional worlds, but games do this in their own special tentative and flickering way: ...the strategy game lets players 'build’ new people in a few seconds... These things mean that the fictional worlds of many games are contradictory and incoherent, but the player may not experience this as such since the rules of the game can provide a sense of direction even when the fictional world has little credibility." (2005: 6). With regards to a multiplayer game where game-play is highly "replayable", the "player can gradually begin to ignore the fiction to, at the other extreme, the ‘complete-once’ adventure game (the progression game), where the player only faces each setting once and is therefore more likely to take the fictional world at face value" (2005: 6). The most famous and successful StarCraft mutiplayer is Lim Yo-Hwan (a.k.a. SlayerS_'BoxeR') from South Korea, reportedly earning 200 million won ($176 500) in 2007 (2008).

With Blade Runner, the player has to interact with the environment and characters in order to progress through the game. This "interactive dimension of games, in the form of the responsibility taken by the player, does open up a large gulf between the two media [film and video games], however, especially at the level of narrative or its relative absence, whichever way the game is played" (King, 2002: 54). However, because a game is interactive does not imply that it is inherently narratological. The idea of interaction implies that the game cannot function without the player, it requires from the gamer participation in or for it to operate. In Blade Runner we may be presented with an objective and underlining storyline but it is the player who has to respond and choose whether or not it wishes to take a specific action. For example, there is a scene in the game where Ray McCoy, the protagonist and the character whom the player controls, is faced with a particular Replicant who will attack him if he does not attack first. The player has two options to avoid death: The first is to draw your gun and kill the antagonist and the second one would be to draw your gun, then put it away thus showing a sign of peace. The latter will result in the player being called a "Replicant sympathiser", and changing the course of game-play.

In conclusion I have found that the possible reason why many choose to adopt a Narratological approach to video games would in part be because it is what one would inherently assume it to be. A game has a beginning and an end, and the gamer proceeds along a path that will in turn end up at the latter much like one would with a book. I feel that one of the reasons why Ludology is not wholly accepted is because it requires a very analytical and technical approach in order to understand its relevance. An understanding of simulation and what that means becomes necessary to interpret, as Frasca says “interactive narrative” (2001). For what players see when they play StarCraft or Blade Runner is a narrative with which they can interact. I feel that a Ludological approach to video games and the game design process is imperative for the future of video games, as it will allow for more interactive and unique games to be created. Even as I write this LucasArts is currently in final stages of their new Stars Wars game titled ‘The Force Unleashed’. Here game designers have employed two new pieces of software called euphoria and DMM (Digital Molecular Matter). The former allows for an unlimited range of game-play possibilities (Champandard, 2008). For example the Stormtroopers will react to a threat in the same manner as a human would in real life and each action would be different every time. The latter allows for an almost entirely real environment simulation in that objects, such as buildings and plants, will respond to characters like a real environment would (Unknown, 2008). These are but only a few of the new technologies that will make future gaming even more realistic.
References:

Baratz, A. 2001. The First Real-Time 3D Adventure. [Online]. Available: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/blade-runner/adblurbs [2008, September 16].

Carr, D., Buckingham, D., Burn, A. & Scott, G. 2006. Computer Games: Text, Narrative and Play. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Champandard, A. J. 2008. Natural Motion's euphoria Technology: The Honeymoon is Over. [Online]. Available: http://aigamedev.com/editorial/naturalmotion-euphoria [2008, September 8].

Colayco, B. 2008. A Standard by Which All Real-Time Strategy Games are Judged. [Online]. Available: http://uk.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/starcraft.html [2008, September 16].

Frasca, G. 2003. Simulation versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology. In The Video Game Theory Reader. edited by M.J.P. Wolf and B. Perron. London: Routledge. 221-235.

Frasca, G. 2001. Simulation 101: Simulation versus Representation. [Online]. Available: http://www.ludology.org/articles/sim1/simulation101d.html [2008, September 15].

Frasca, G. 1999. Ludology Meets Narratology: Similitude and differences between video games and narrative. [Online]. Available: http://www.ludology.org/articles/ludology.htm [2008, September 9].

Genette, G. 1980. Narrative Discourse, transl. J.E. Lewin. Oxford: Blackwell.

Juul, J. 2005. Half-Real: Video games between real rules and fictional worlds. London: MIT Press.

King, G. 2002. Die Hard/Try Harder: Narrative, Spectacle and Beyond, from Hollywood to Videogame. In ScreenPlay: cinema/videogames/interfaces. edited by King, G & Krzywinska,T. London: Wallflower Press. 50-65.

Rawlings, T. 2006. Narrative and Interactivity. [Online]. Available: http://game-research.com/index.php/articles/narrative-and-interactivity/ [2008, September 8].

Unknown. 2008. Euphoria. [Online]. Available: http://www.naturalmotion.com/euphoria.htm [2008, September 8].

Yo-Hwan, L. 2008. Boxer Biography. [Online]. Available: HYPERLINK "http://boxerbiography.blogspot.com/#" http://boxerbiography.blogspot.com/# [2008, September 17].

Zimmerman, E. & Salen, K. 2004. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. London: MIT Press.

Bronze Sculpture Project Part IV

2009-03-08T23:23:00.003+02:00

The wooden arm covered in silicone, encased in the jacket mould.

(Above) Here I cast the wooden arm piece in a jacket mould.

(Below) Plaster poured into the mould.

(Below) Some Artful pasta I made at my girlfriends house. Chicken, pasta shells, carrots, lemon and herb sauce, and some freshly cut 'erbs.

Bronze Sculpture Project Part III

2009-03-04T21:56:00.004+02:00

The enclosed jacket mould (below).

The opened jacket mould (above).

(Above and below) A plaster cast of the torso.

(Below) The assembled pieces.

(Below) Applying silicone to the arm.

Bronze Sculpture Project Part I

2009-03-02T16:51:00.004+02:00

Here's part one of the sculpture project. Instead of me finding objects I'm busy creating my own.

For the torso I quickly cuts some pieces of pine wood and screwed them together.

(below) The metal object is a segment of the armature mount I constructed.

(above) A piece of wood I found for the head.

Sculpture: Bronze Project Part II

2009-03-01T19:33:00.004+02:00

This is our first third year project of the year. It involves us making atleast one bronze object and four naturally casted objects i.e. out of sawdust or resin. The stages you see here are me creating my obect. It is going to be a part robot, part treeman.

Here are the clay and plaster of paris moulds.

A torse for the legs to be attached onto.

The bust of the robot.

A branch I found and modified into an arm with grasping fingers.

Video: Do Sheep Dream?

2008-12-09T10:17:00.003+02:00

A video a created for a New Media project where we learnt Adobe's After Effects.
Sheep created in Photoshop then animated in After Effects.

A homage to Damien Hirst, Blade Runner and the Matrix.

Video: Face Crutch

2008-12-09T10:04:00.002+02:00

A Second Year video I created for a sculpture performance piece.
Face Crutch: Bondage You Can Trust

Video: Chew

2008-12-09T09:49:00.001+02:00

A simple accompanying animation that I made for a first year printmaking project where I
tore out all the pages of a book and chewed them into little balls of paper.