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http://www.plankman.com/projects/engine/

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I just read this BBC article about an opposition party activist in Zimbabwe named Tonderai Ndira. He was KILLED because he was fighting to improve his life, the lives of his family, friends, loved ones… everyone. A totally NON VIOLENT selfless position. And naturally, faced with this totally passive method of trying to show people that there CAN be a better tomorrow, the only fucking thing that the ruling government and its supporting members of evil fuck-head thug assholes can do is take him away from his family, and beat him to death in a genuinely horrific way. How can people do this to their brothers? How can a government become so totally gluttonous on their own wealth and ignore the desperation of the rest of the nation? Robert Mugabe and his entire support structure should all be put in a very deep hole where all of those that they hurt have the opportunity to piss and shit on them from above. Drowning in someone elses effluence is a punishment they deserve. Ignore the fact that they were at one stage heroes of the fight for independance, because they’ve become the very thing they fought against. And all the while blaming it on the people they fought (Because thats the only thing they know how to do…)

Now onward to South Africa. My homeland. The place that I think of as my and my family’s home. I am third generation which means that all the family I have in the country were born there. I am privileged to have come from a pace with such a rich combination of cultures, histories, and for the last 1 and a half decades - a country with the energy of rebirth and discovering a new identity. How amazing it is to be able to witness the change as it happens… Incredible.

So what now? Well we have a world cup scheduled for 2010. In preparation for that, there is a whole lot of building taking place, upgrades to airports, a train being built in johannesburg, investment investment, etc. The economy WAS booming, there was a crime fighting organization called the SCORPIONS - much like the FBI in the US - an organization that had the power to investigate and prosecute ANYONE! Amazing - there is a way to make even the most powerful politician accountable! Not many democracies can do that, can they?

With all this promise and positivity, it was a lot easier to forget or perhaps become less focused on a couple of the issues: Thabo Mbeki and the government’s ridiculous stance on HIV; The crime is out of control, but something that people can adapt to - by protecting themselves in gated communities; There was unnecessary infighting in the ruling party…

And then:

• Jacob Zuma - the then vice president is accused of raping a friend’s daughter - who is known to be HIV positive and an AIDS activist. Following his little fuck, he has a shower - to CLEAN HIMSELF??? What a great message to send to people that support him: Go on, have sex with someone with aids and then wash off the aids with a shower…. He is also accused of corruption by the scorpions… This man has a 4th grade education - by the way.
• Blackouts. The STATE RUN power company ESKOM chose to ignore all the warning signs, and basically underinvested in the future of the country. There was not enough power to support the growth - and “oops, we forgot to build more power stations… AND we mothballed a couple of the older ones… ha ha ha…” - idiots. Now of course if people want to make money in their businesses, they have to buy generators at an exorbitant cost, adding more carbon emissions to this poor planet. Wonderful… With the right sort of attention, Eskom could have invested in greener power options. In fact they DID have a few pebble bed nuclear power stations on the cards, and then they were removed from the todo list… again I say: idiots.
• Scorpions authority and power is removed????? What? Why would they do that? Oh thats right, because if they continue to ensure that EVERYONE is accountable for their actions - then the entire ruling party will eventually become accountable for their actions… Especially if Jacob Zuma - the NOW president of the ruling party, and therefore soon-to-be president of the country - rats them all out when he has his corruption case heard in 2010. (This is after he’s most likely won the presidency… What a great message to send to the world, eh?)
• CRIME simply escalates. No, it doesnt improve, it gets worse. So much worse. I now know enough people that have been impacted directly by this - and its simply heartbreaking. My brother is a volunteer paramedic. He gets called to some of the most horrific situations that ANYONE can imagine: For example, being called to a home where a father and mother were tied up and forced to watch their daughter being raped. Or families seeing the man of the house shot dead for trying to defend his home. How the fuck can someone deal with this? This is the same trauma that one would expect in a war and is simply unforgivable. And it doesnt happen once in a while, it happens almost daily in South Africa. These events don’t happen to rich ‘whiteys’, but anyone is targetted. Brutality isnt discriminatory - my brother has been called to help anyone who has the sense to call one of the volunteer paramedic organizations. Why should there be volunteers you ask? Because there isnt enough money spent on the hospitals to give people the paramedic resources they need. Then there are the horrors in the townships - most women have been raped and beaten. Its par for the course… Live in a township and rape becomes common place.
• Xenophobia in the townships - the poor people of the country who believe that the illegal immigrants from our neighboring countries are steeling their land, jobs and women - are killing them. Similar to the uprisings before apartheid ended… Its the complete and utter failure of the government to really make an impact on the lives of the poorest that is rearing its ugly head here.
• ZIMBABWE: This is a country that has so much beauty, has so many truly kind and generous people - and its being terrorized by a dictator and his supporters. (Who support the government because of ‘gifts’ they’ve been given (read: other people’s land, money, etc). South Africa could have done something about this. They could have gotten involved, made it clear to the dictator that what he’s doing is completely and utterly wrong, and absolutely un-democratic. But of course, our leaders have done fuck all. They’ve done nothing. NOTHING. And its the people who suffer. They are forced to flee the absolute poverty of their own country into the absolute poverty of south africa’s poor, so that they might have the chance of making a little money for their families in Zim. I am not making this up. I have met enough Zimbabweans in South Africa that have the same story. If our government could actually motivate positive change in Zim, it would alleviate some of the strain in SA townships. I can’t understand why nothing is done? EVER? The only positive thing about Jacob Zuma is that if he becomes president - which is a foregone conclusion - his relationship with the labour unions will influence him taking a harder line against the ruling party in Zim. He also miiiight do something about the crime!

Where does this leave us? My family is fragmented across the world. I also live with one and a half feet out of the country. My problem is that I love it so much. There is so much positivity in the country. So much to smile about. Such a sense of brotherhood. And its being destroyed - faster and faster… Why did I write this? I saw the picture of Tonderai Ndira on the BBC, and I’ve seen this man’s face before - in so many faces of the people I met in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi. Good people. Hard working people. People that politicians are very happy to walk all over for their own gains.

Fuck.

Alternatively - you could always take a look at it over here: http://art.plankman.com

Other news?  Below is a photo of a chandelier installation we just completed.  It was originally designed by Dominic Harris while at Jason Bruges Studio, and then I took over the project when he started his own studio.

Its absolutely gorgeous.

Greenpeace’s article about it

Greenpeace’s flickr pictures

So aside from the past four months of madness since the last post, I decided to share a moment of paradise and tranquility in Sicily. Bethany and I went to Palermo (map) and Stromboli (map) for a 10 day return to our previous homeland. Aside from the obvious things - coffee tasting like little moments of caffeinated heaven; meals causing tears of joy based solely on hearing their titles being expressed in Italian; And other very important things too… But seriously - after food and coffee, its hard to see through the cloud of seretonin induced euphoria.

The photos are going to make you jealous.

I havent posted anything since the Tuned Stairs kicked in at center pompidou last october. In fact I havent uploaded anything to flickr either! Not to mention the fact that I also haven’t updated my portfolio. (oi)

So: its been over six months, and I definitely am well beyond making up excuses for lack of updates. It begins here! The brief history: Left Italy in December. It was after 21 months of extraordinary time spent in the quaintest (though rather fascist) town named Treviso, while working for Fabrica. Perhaps I will write up a little about my 21 months there… but definitely not now! As for leaving - well it really was time to move on. Though I loved the place, the experience, and of course the food/friends/language etc - I needed to do something else.

As soon as I returned to South Africa I packed a smaller bag and rushed off to Botswana! I met up with one of the best collection of my old mates: Robert, Yuval, Shannon, and Aviv. We proceeded to have 10 days of fantastic fun driving around getting lost, tiger fishing, drinking, playing match stick riddles, eating fantastically well, etc etc. Wonderful. The day after our return from Bots, I was off to Cape Town to meet Family Hirschmann. Of course it was lovely to see the clan, get some sun and enjoy the beauties of the Cape. I stayed on in Cape Town to do some preparatory work for my Visa application and to do some ground work for a project I was doing with Collaborators Guide. More on that in a future post. (Though for now, you can read about it here.)

Once that project was completed and my lady Bethany had come and gone, I spent a week teaching physical computing at my old University. At that point, my grandfather managed to get himself an idiopathic condition which made him extremely ill. SO we all became intensely focused on the mortality of our loved ones and dealt with some rather hard emotions. Thankfully after 2 weeks, he started making progress and even now there is daily improvement! It truly boggles the mind when confronted with the possibilities of death, followed by the magic of the human body’s capacity to heal itself.

Anyway, so i was granted an artists visa for the UK. This allowed me to move to London, and get a job at Jason Bruges Studio. A marvelous studio made up of architects, designers, creative thinkers, and fantastic administrators. So far (2 months in) I’ve been having a great time! Updates on projects will come at some stage in the future too!

Thats it for now. Everyone is upto speed. Now all I have to do is post all the photos!

People are using them, enjoying them, playing with them - and generally resulting a positive reactions all around. We are like proud dads. More photos will be uploaded when the paris experience slows down to a walking pace.

If anyone reading this is going to be in Paris between now and the 11th, let me know!
Pictures will follow soon…

Bethany and I went off to Puglia for a little well deserved rest and relaxation. We truly had an incredible time. One week in the middle of one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in Italy. The people are friendly, and real. The food is totally insane. You can’t imagine how well we ate. I don’t see how its possible to beat the tastes I experienced in the heal of the boot of italy. Click the pics for more delicious visuals

Here are the pics of my fam in europe. Good times were to be had by all. One day I might even have the time to post the description of the trip! The quick story: met them in Paris, hit the canals in the South of France; watched Italy win the world cup; Headed to Treviso; and enjoyed some time together in the place I’ve called home for the last 1.5 years.

The pics link to images collected in Paris, both of family and art (particularly pay attention to the gorgeous frames!) And of course the pics from the canals themselves. It was a total pleasure having the family in Europe. I finally had the opportunity to show off my Italian skills ;-)

Hansi Raber, Federico Urdaneta, Carlo Zoratti, Andy Cameron & I finished installing the final prototype of our Tuned Stairs project which intends to take the every-day footfalls of visitors to the Pompidou Fabrica Exhibition - and convert them into something of a tinkly musical experience. Read more about it here. We’re not certain whether it will go in or not… But naturally we’ve only been working and reworking it for the last 6 months. So here it is for prosperity!

Our installation is up and running at colette right now! And will be up until sunday. Very good experience and truly wonderful to get stuck into some serious production! Now back to the ‘trevisian grindstone’ …