Notes

“I’m interested in machines that make you aware of the process of seeing and aware of what you do when you construct the world by looking. This is interesting in itself, but more as a broad-based metaphor for how we understand the world.” —William Kentridge¹

“When you look through a stereoscopic viewer, you're aware that you have two completely flat images, and that all that is happening is that your brain is constructing an illusion of three dimensional depth, which is very clear when you look at the stereoscopic view because you know you're seeing two flat images. What's much less obvious is that that's what you're doing all the time in the world.” —William Kentridge²

Critics often focus on the question of technique in Kentridge’s art. This short-sightedness blatantly ignores the scope of his knowledge that embraces European culture juxtaposed with African heritage. Even preparatory and exploratory works have a meaningful endpoint – in this work, one from a series of early tests for making stereoscopic drawings, Kentridge employs the landscape to mirror the social changes surrounding him. The act of drawing, drafting, erasing and reformulating the final composition reflects the same shift in South African socio-political landscape. The fact that these works remain relevant more than a decade after they were conceived is why Kentridge quite simply remains at the forefront of the local and international art scene.

¹ http://www.art21.org/anythingispossible/slideshow/on-perception/
² http://www.art21.org/anythingispossible/slideshow/on-perception/#art21-wkaip-perception-006