William Kentridge

In Lynne Cooke’s essay, “Mundus, Inversus, Mundus Perversus” South African artist William Kentridge’s powerful imagery of the plight of his country is highlighted. Kentridge himself acknowledges the dangers and difficulty of addressing apartheid directly, “I am not saying that apartheid, or indeed, redemption, are not worthy of representation, description or exploration, I am saying that the scale and weight with which this rock presents itself is inimical to the task”(41). Kentridge’s chosen form of illustration utilizes the polarized colors of black and white to overtly display the weight of his subject matter. Cooke argues that Kentridge’s Monument (1990), a play modeled after Samuel Beckett’s short play Catastophe, addresses his subject matter much more directly than Beckett’s with the use of fractured camera angles, sympathetic characters and understood through the medium of silent film as in the dramatic work of Russian Sergei Eisenstein. Cooke continues that the significance of this animated film is rooted in the violence that was occurring at this time in South Africa. The collapse of economic stability, threat of guerilla attacks and formation followed by collapse of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1990 fueled a rather tumultuous period in South African history. I agree with Cooke that Kentridge’s Monument provides a platform for us to address the South African plight through the easily consumed animation.

Cooke also discusses Kentridge’s recurring interaction with theatre, from his early work with Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi (1975) to Ubu and the Truth Commission (1997) a modern adaptation of writer Jane Taylor and the HandSpring Puppet Company. Ubu and the Truth Commission is an interpretation of the unbelievable accounts of human rights violence that occurred and were described in detail in order for individuals to gain amnesty from the newly formed Truth and Reconcilitation Commission by the ANC in 1996. During the formation of the cast, the company found it necessary to have the Ma and Pa Ubu, characters who were never present at trials, be acted by actual people – and the accounts of the actual people be represented by puppets, who were visibly mechanized by people. This was to amplify the absurdity of the situation. The use of puppets is two fold – to express the absurdity of the subject matter and to somehow make the consumption of these unbelievable acts of racial violence easier. However, Kentridge’s illustrations acted mostly as visual backdrop, where the roles of characters were acted out with the use of puppets onstage. Cooke argues that Jarry’s play abstracts the system of flaws in the authoritative figures from South Africa’s past who felt like what they were doing was right and argues that Kentridge’s vision completes this conversation.

Kentridge’s role in Jarry’s theatre production impacted his practice leading up to one of his most famous pieces, Stereoscope (1999). However, instead of the Soho Eckstein being an active antagonist in the piece, Kentridge allows this Soho to remain passive while the city around him literally deconstructs, even occasionally impaling Soho himself. I believe this shows Kentridge’s growth in understanding the power of apartheid in South Africa. The causes of which cannot necessarily be the responsibility of a notable few government figures, but on the masses – the people of South Africa. Now that responsibility of rebuilding the country after apartheid relies ultimately on the people of South Africa. The use of puppetry - whether in animation or theatre - exaggerates ideas by activating the body as well as the voice and I feel like it successfully reinforces Kentridges work.