Willliam Kentridge Reading Notes

1. -What is the significance of this artist's work?
-Why does he employ the stylistic choices he does?
-Is there a significance in his choice to leave the picture looking unfinished?

2. -I wonder if his studying of mime has an influence on the choices he makes in his work. For instance, the use of gray scale.
-I do get a sense of emotion in the selections of his work that is shown. A great deal of this comes through in the actual expression of the figures, but I think his line and color choices
also help to push this idea.
-cruelty --->harsh, unfinished, rough lines?
-Possible metaphor ---> person with the doctor
-It is wierd to think that things like South African apartheid can happen. Maybe the minority operates off the majority's fear or through intimidation?
-Normally, I don't think of video work as being art.
-There are some pretty serious issuses being addressed that I think could be used by those involved to produce some pretty powerful art.
-The images make more sense after reading his background story.
-The artist seems to be telling about his feeling and maybe that of those around him ---> collective identity.
-Through a fictional character, metaphor of an unconcious person in a coma parallel to apartheid and its end?
-Makes me think twice about things going on around me that I don't partake in, but also don't actively try and change.
-His artwork makes more sense when you know the history behind it and what South African apartheid was.
-He has an interesting technique to create his movies. It seems more effecient than making lots of drawings, although it would not work in every situation, for every idea.
-I think charcoal is an effective medium for what he is trying to express. As the book mentions, it does allow for reworking, and additionally, I think it does have the ability to portray more raw and strong emotions.
-I can relate to not really feeling like an artist, but rather as someone who makes art.
-It is nice how he is self-reliant with his films.
-I think he had some good advice for aspiring artists, and agree that it is a good idea to do something I enjoy, rather than what I feel others may desire.

3. -This artist's work deals with the emotions followed after the end of apartheid, more particularly, the guilty conscience of white South Africans like himself that witnessed the horrible deeds committed during the apartheid and the feeling of helplessness associated with it.
-I think there is more than one reason he employs the stylistic choices he does. The grayscale probably creates a more somber feel than color would. Through his choice of charcoal as a medium, he can create more spontaneous and emotional lines. Additionally, I think the charcoal works well for his films because it can be manipulated repeatedly with much ease. Also, by using the process he does, it is more efficient and he can be self-reliant in the creation of his films.
-Yes, there is a significance in his choice to leave the pictures looking unfinished. He likes to have a trace or evidence of what has been in his pictures, although it has been altered and is no more. In doing so, he plays off of the way history operates with the past influencing the future. Additionally, it helps to establish a certain feel, or tone, in his pictures.

4. -How did Kentridge come to employ the technique he uses in making his movies, was it something he witnessed others doing or did he develop it?
-Could he have used a different medium to create the same effects he achieved by using the charcoal?
-Could his artwork have the same meaning for others today?