Christiaan Diedericks Planetary Platitudes
Christiaan Diedericks in his studio in Woodstock. Photo: Gabriel Clark-Brown
Christiaan Diedericks Planetary Platitudes
Carl Collison “We’re really so blessed to be surrounded by all these amazing things. Most of the time though we choose to stay blind to them,” says Christiaan Diedericks as he expounds on the advantages of having his studio based in Woodstock: from having the “fruit sellers outside as my security” to “the vibrant mix of cultures.” Anyone remotely familiar with the work of this acclaimed artist would easily see how this (at times disconcertingly charming) cosmopolitan district is in many ways perfectly suited as the birthplace for Diedericks’ work. His work, does, after all - not unlike the area, with its hodgepodge of influences - employ all manner of media (photography, drawing, mixed media and printmaking) and varied references (pop culture, literature, philosophy etc) to bring to life characters that are at once beautiful and darkly mesmerizing. Despite a ceaselessly demanding workload, Diedericks is the epitome of affable charm as he lights a cigarette (“I’m as sick as a dog, so I really shouldn’t,” he laughs) and speaks about his motivation for creating art: “I make art to try and understand the world a bit better because I really have no clue. I also want to help others understand the world a bit better.” It would appear though that, with his new body of work, Planetary Platitudes (which he will be exhibiting together with a previous body of work, The Wisdom of 14
Dragonflies at the South African Print Gallery), Diedericks is looking at more than merely ‘trying to understand the world a bit better’. This time around, the Cape Town-based artist seems more intent instead on sweeping the rug from underneath us and the ‘lies’ we feed each other on a daily basis. Or, in his own words: “the meaningless shit we tell each other”. “I thought that it would be a good idea to create art using everyday platitudes. I called it ‘planetary’ because it’s so huge – we all do it. And really it’s truly fucking meaningless but we still do it.” One such work, Planetary Platitude No. 3 looks at the ‘beauty is only skin deep’ cliché. “Its rubbish,” says Diedericks. “People fall in love with beauty so it’s definitely not skin deep.” Youth and our obsession with it are Diedericks staples and feature heavily in his works. “Why are we as human beings so afraid of getting old?” he asks. Is he not afraid of this himself, I ask? “Yes, absolutely,” he responds. “My own mortality is very important. I’m very aware of this: the fact that I’m getting older; the fact that I lose my energy; the fact that I can’t work as hard I used to. So, yes, I can feel the changes in my body and that’s quite alarming.” Pausing slightly, Diedericks adds: “It’s a difficult thing to deal with.” This seeming contradiction is typical of Diedericks’ ouvre – and something he clearly enjoys playing with: “Within my work there are always two aspects: it calms and it disturbs at the same time,” he offers with a hint a satisfied mischief in his eyes. “There’s always a secondary narrative in my work. It’s not only what you think you see. There’s always a secondary meaning.” Another subject that is never far from Diedericks’s astute gaze is that of dystopia, which, he offers, “is not necessarily the opposite of utopia but more a heterotopia with hope. SA ART TIMES. October 2012
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The Wisdom of Dragonflies II Hardground and Aquatint Etching 2012
The world is in turmoil – has always been – but there’s always room for hope. I deal with this a lot because I think that we are surrounded more than ever by dystopia: in terms of money; in terms of class; in terms of the class difference between rich and poor getting bigger and bigger, while the comfortable middle ground is disappearing; the banking system that’s failed over the last few years. I’m intrigued by this – it feeds and fuels my work.” The subject that enjoys the most overwhelming focus in Diedericks’ work, however, is that of masculinity. “I’m very intrigued by masculinity and body politics, especially our standing as men in society. Why,” he asks, “is it so hard for contemporary man to figure out what it really means to be masculine? This is one my biggest ongoing questions.” A possible answer to this niggling question, he says, came in the form of feminist writer Susan Faludi, author of Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man. “Faludi postulates that our main issue in life as men is to figure out how to be more human. Not how to be ‘men’ or ‘masculine’. Women, seem to have done this a long time ago but men still battle with it. Does being masculine mean we get to fart, burp and beat people up? I don’t think so.” It is possibly due to his take-no-prisoners look at the ever-more-fragile notion of this once seemingly unshakable concept - and, naturally, his own sexual orientation – that critique of Diedericks’ work has, often unfairly, relied too heavily on boxing it within ‘queer art’. Although his work contains more than just a few of what could easily construed as ‘homosexual references’, such interpretation negates the many nuanced layers present in his work and often leans towards a lazy and ultimately patronizing reading. Planetary Platitude No. 4 is, according to Diedericks “not a gay image at all”. Rather, he offers, “it’s about the compelling
driving force behind me as an artist: the fierce masculine energy that sits over me like an angel – a wicked angel – forcing to me keep creating new work.” This masculine muse must indeed be very forceful, if Diedericks’s non-stop schedule is anything to go by. “I try and do at least two international residencies a year,” he says. Having, amongst others, completed eight residencies at Paris’ Cite Internationale des Arts, two at the prestigious Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium and receiving a much-coveted Ampersand Fellowship in 2006, Diedericks will this year be doing a residency at the Venice Print Studio on the island of Murano. “The residencies,” he says, “really feed me in terms of both the culture and the artists I’m exposed to.” The Venice sojourn is one he is particularly excited about: “They have the largest press beds in the world so it is the most amazing opportunity because I’ll be able to print up to 3 x 1½ metres in one go, which is phenomenal.” Given his workhorse ethic, the “technically brilliant” possibilities this residency holds is something Diedericks is clearly reveling in, particularly as he states with confident ease: “I literally have ideas for the next 20 years.” No periods of creative doubt, I ask? “I’ve been very blessed in that I’ve never experienced creative block. I’ve seen fellow artists and students with creative block and it’s no joke. One of my personal work mottos is that when you experience creative block, work through it. Even if you make bad work, just do something. It doesn’t have to be a master work, because the moment you stop is when you have a problem. I want to work till I die. I want to make a difference till I die. And, really,” he smiles, “I’m only half way.”
Christiaan Diedericks will be exhibiting at The SA Print Gallery, Woodstock, CT 06 - 27 October. See www.printgallery.co.za for more SA ART TIMES. October 2012
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(Left Page): Circular Image: The Message (combined process) Bottom Right: The Union of Opposites a Lino print being printed at The Artist Proof Studio. Johannesburg. (Above) All Print made with Hardground and Aquatint Etchings: Cacoethes, Indian Summer, Minotaur The Wisdom of Dragonflies VII , Planetary Platitudes II, Planetary Platitudes III (Below) Planetary Plattitudes IV, The Wisdom of Dragonflies V