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FADA Home Preface About Artists

Kai Lossgott

Johannesburg

VOL 178, NO 7 (TIME, AUGUST 2011) (2014)

Type of book work: Sculptural / Book Object (one-of-a-kind)
Dimensions: 250 x 220
Media: Found post-consumer print information media, laser-cut

Artist's / designer's statements

Waste is inherent in the purpose of unsustainable designs. In human-centred thought, materials or forms have value or 'use' only as profitable economic instruments justifying resource extraction, production, consumption, and inevitably dumping. How can a single artist (non-designer, non-industrialist) make visible the knowledge architectures holding us complicit within the ecological and economic injustices of the early 21st century capitalist system? The artist begins with unmaking the postconsumer waste object to interrogate its inherent forms, systems and processes, seeking a path to personal creative agency in the face of collective disaster fatigue.

In the series of works, 'creatures of habit', object forms designed for temporary household use are rendered useless by an industrial fabrication technology - laser-cutting. Later, in 'help yourself', the printed clichés and persuasive platitudes of public relations media themselves are cut up, scrambled and re-arranged to reveal the 'use' of their genres, and the pulped resources printed on. Ink is wiped off glossy magazines, only possible with toxic solvents. Their altered messages are re-printed in a slim volume on recycled paper.

As historical objects, their unmaking positions these altered book forms as speculative props in a retro sci-fi on the aftermath of postdigital culture in the 4th industrial revolution.

HELP YOURSELF (2015)

Type of book work: Editioned / printed work
Sculptural / Book Object
Dimensions: 210 x 148
Media: Carbon polymer laser print on Evercopy+ recycled paper saddle stitch.







Booknesses performance across & between:
www.kailossgott.net/across-between-performance

Artist

Education

2008 Master of Arts in Creative Writing, University of Cape Town
2004 Advanced Diploma in Visual Arts. University of South Africa
2002 BJourn TV Journalism. Rhodes University, ZA
1998 National School of the Arts, ZA

Awards

2016 Pisaot Residency, SaSa Art Projects, Pnom Penh, CM
2015 Barclays l'Atelier Award for African Artists, Johannesburg, ZA
2015 Cambridge Sustainability Residency, East Anglia University, UK.
2014 Sylt Foundation Artist's Residency, Independent Jury Award, Sylt, DE
2006 University of Cape Town Research Scholarship & Harry Crossley Scholarship

Exhibitions

2016 Museé-l'ont-eux (Museum-muzzle'em). Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR
2016 Exposer la pensée (Showing thought). African Art Book Fair, Dakar Biennale
2015 Raw Catalyst. Ruskin Gallery, University of East Anglia, Cambridge, UK
2015 Analogue Eye. Video Art from Africa. National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
2014 Boda Boda Lounge: Video across borders. Addis Ababa, FDRE. Bamako, MLI. Bulawayo, ZIM. Cairo, EGY. Harare, ZIM. Johannesburg, ZA. Lagos, NG. Luanda, AO. Lubumbashi, COD. Kampala, UG. SãoVicente, CV

Collections

University of South Africa
SASOL, ABSA, Nirox Foundation
Ellerman House
Casoria Art Museum, Naples



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