Excuse The Absence...ONESMALLSEED internship fun.

I have been SOOPA busy. Exams + Holidays + Internship makes for a busy bee of a girl. Did a wonderful internship with Cape Town based magazine onesmallseed - THE popculture platform as they proudly state. Was a great experience, especially getting to meet awesome people and attend awesome things. They have certainly evolved since I first started reading them. In this day of going viral, magazines must resort to all manner of tricks to survive. onesmallseed have now launched a webisode series called BOOM+27, bringing you direct news and coverage of fun events, culture and art such as Balkanology, the Doccie Film Fest and most recently, Felix La Band (a legend of a DJ from my province. WOOT for KZN!) and his comeback show at The Assembly.

Check out BOOM+27 's latest episode

This features a lot of the stuff I had to research (nerd). Very cool stuff that includes British-born, Saffa-based dub DJ Indidginus AKA Michael Martin. His new album SOFA SURFER has just been released and his website has free downloads so please go check that out. PhFat and their ubiquity feature on their Worldwide Success Tour. Say what you will, they have chutzpah.

AFRIKABURN 2011



The most beautiful "burners" in the Karoo- Mbe and Tania

 I know how much time has passed since AfrikaBurn was held but now I have the time to write something much more substantial on it. My housemate and former housemate went traipsing off to the Karoo over Easter while I was stuck in steamy Durban going through a horrid breakup. No Easter Vortex or AfrikaBurn for this person- felt very much like someone who missed out on a chocolate layer cake and only got green beans and broccoli (although do love my veg so...).

First, a little history. AfrikaBurn is a four-day festival combining art, music, dancing and communal living. The point is to bring whatever you need to survive in the desert and exist without cash.  There are no vendors or stalls but a ‘gift economy’ instead. As the manifesto says; ‘expect nothing in return.’ The festival is mainly about the constructing of art in a free space without commerciality and consumerism. How you participate is completely up to you- a theme camp, painting your body, creating your own art installation or volunteering to help out. What people create is truly the highlight of the festival. The theme this year was STOF, the Afrikaans word for dust. The theme is not policed so any "Burner" can interpret it as freely as they want. It’s merely a platform. From what i have gathered about this festival, it is not just about hedonistic exploration but the freedom to have a space where people can be as creative as they want without any outside influence or critic. All the art is then burnt in a cathartic manner to create something else- reflection. Many AfrikaBurn artists take months for the creation of their pieces and yet they burn them happily while reflecting on the journey and the people that have brought them to this place. It is all about engaging!

My friends decided to paint their bodies. Neo, whom we call Mbe, go into the vibe by painting eyes on her nipples and walking around topless. Her rationale was “if you are going to stare at my breasts, they are going to stare back at you.” A group of Americans and other foreigners who stayed at our house in Grahamstown afterward decorated their bus.  Mbe is a phenomenonal person and photographer. Here are her snaps from AfrikaBurn; they explain the wonderment much more succinctly than I can ever hope to. For more, click on Afrika- She Burns, Mbe's album.

RIP DJ Solarize; 4 June 1985- 5 June 2011

For all of you out there who haven't heard, South Africa lost an innovative and talented DJ and visual artist last weekend. Leon Botha/DJ Solarize was only twenty-six years old. Famed for his passionate love of hip-hop music and culture and art, Botha collaborated with galleries and recording artists to combine the two including Liquid Swords; I am HipHop and Who Am I? Transgressions. Many know him for his musical collaborations with Die Antwoord.

Botha suffered from a rare degenerative disease that causes premature aging called progeria. After suffering a heart attack in November last year, a weakened Botha died at his home in Cape Town one day after his twenty-sixth birthday. A philosopher, hiphop lover and accomplished artist and entertainer, he will be missed. Check out DJ Solarize’s art and interview with onesmallseed and a clip of his latest art exhibition, Transgressions.

Mix N Blend Party- Tunnels, Grahamstown

It may have been more than chilly last Friday night in Grahamstown at a low 5 degrees but that didn’t stop the party monsters who love good music, a good venue and good times.

The 3 Chimneys Property behind Rhodes off a long dirt road is known affectionately as the “Tunnels” and officially as the “Sound Kiln.” The Tunnels is basically a farm with many different properties and homes surrounding high, now defunct brick-making towers and a long tunnel running through the hill. Since 2008, I have had the pleasure in knowing that even though I stay in a town in the middle of nowhere with free-roaming livestock and ever-present cow crap, Tunnels will always be the place where one can escape pop radio and have a good old stomp to innovative electro, drum and bass, dub and trance. As they say it is a “collaborative affair focused on bringing you the epitome of diversified, outdoor clubbing. Our aim is to get your hearts racing, your feet stomping and your imaginations soaring as we create sonic waves that'll keep you twitching for weeks.” Over the years, the Tunnels have held successful shows and music events during the arts festival and throughout the seasons. Guests have included Niskerone, Guns N Lazers, PHfat and Martin and Bells of Wacky Woods fame. Last Friday, the Tunnels were rocked by Mix N Blend from Cape Town.

The night started off with Grahamstown well-known local dub DJs, Smash N Grab, made up of Juan Levin and Justin Shaw as well as Kadabra and local boy Dan Robinson. Inside the tunnels was the haven for the trancers with notable sets by the Genie, the Squig and Psymethyst, both from PE. The Squig, Brendan Stauffer, who melted everyone’s faces off with experimental, dirty yet tight trance beats, was the highlight of my night. Mix N Blend was undoubtedly brilliant, their music is awesomely South African and their stage presence gets everyone dancing and screaming for more. The party was in full swing until six the next morning. Grahamstown definitely has more to offer than it lets on. Great photographs were taken by the talented Craig Marais. Here are some snaps- for more visit http://www.facebook.com/CraigMaraisPhotos

The Sound Kiln will be open for music events from early July for the Grahamstown Arts Festival.

This is Blythe.

Three years ago, when I first arrived at Rhodes, one of the first friends I made was Siobhan from Scotland. She had these amazing postcards of Blythe dolls. Weird and yet starangely wonderful photos of dolls in cute clothes and posing in front of New York cabs and walking miniature dogs. Later, I realised Blythe dolls and variations of them are regular fixtures in photography, fashion and film and there is a huge niche market for them.

Blythe was born in 1972 and created by Alison Katzman. She was then discontinued for being a little too freaky and kooky. Katzman was influenced by Margaret Keane’s Twiggy/Mary Quant sixties paintings of large doe eyes, eyelashes and round heads. Blythe was revived by Gina Garan, who had taken to the doll’s big eyes and massive head as a young girl and started a huge personal collection as a woman. She started to take photographs of her Blythes in various clothes and backgrounds. Her book This Is Blythe has sold over 100, 000 copies. Since 2000, the Blythe doll has made reappearances in different mediums. In addition to Garan’s photography, the Ashton-Drake Galleries were given permission to sell US replicas of the doll, selling to adults as collectables and becoming a cult favourite.

The fashion industry has taken to Blythe and made her a regular fixture. In 2009, the late and very great Alexander McQueen used Blythe dolls in his campaign for Target featuring Blythes of all different ethnicities and with a 21^st century look. Every year there is a Blythe fashion show in Tokyo where dolls are dressed in designs by names like Miuccia Prada, Gucci and Vivienne Westwood.

My interest in Blythe comes from her uncharacteristic look, almost like a caricature of Christina Ricci, the actress and the way she can be evolved and used in all mediums. My favourite inspiration that has resulted from Blythe is definitely Coraline from the book and film of the same name. It is a definite must-see!

For more on Blythe http://www.thisisblythe.com/blythe_history.php

Photo credits: http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2009/02/09/sneak-peek-blythe-for-mcq-alexander-mcqueen-for-target/



Blythe Doll for Alexander McQueen Target Campaign, 2009



Coraline from the film Coraline directed by Henry Selick (2009) and based on the book by Neil Gaiman.



Postcard by Gina Garan



Rocks and Mountains

Everyone I know is involved in photography and in order to make this blog more visually pleasing, I decided to take a crack at it. Here are some photos I took at my dad’s house in Franschhoek. Let me know what you think!

The Beauty of Franschhoek

By now, you may have guessed I spent last weekend in Franschhoek. That place is like crack for photographers, food-lovers, wine-lovers, general purveyors of le good life. So very glad my dad is too anti-social to live in Cape Town proper (note: I am not). I had a great getaway, saw my sister whom I hardly ever get to see and who is a genius student at UCT. We went to the FLF and then had crepes- chocolate ganache, ice-cream and cinnamon sugar. Indulgence! I am guessing I am now more of a savoury food lover as I honestly could not finish it. Those crepes were not messing around.