Disparate issue 3

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JACO OOSTHUYZEN // NIVESH RAWATLAL BEAT MARQUEE // LYDIA SMERDON

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Issue no.3 // 2013

Editor-in-Chief Li Joshua Photography Heloise Alexandra Marshall Li Joshua Layout and Design Apartment 17D Editorial Lydia Smerdon Media Sharon Digital Production Sean Lynch Yoshen Nair www.disparate.co.za facebook.com/DisparateOnlineMag @Disparate_Mag

TO GET IT THE DISPARATE TEAM LOVES BEING VISUAL, WE WILL BE GIVING AWAY AN EXCLUSIVE SET OF 4 FINE ART PRINTS OF OUR PREVIOUS COVERS. CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO GET YOUR HANDS ON A SET OF THESE COLLECTORS ITEM POSTER SETS.

DITORS ETTER

GOT

disparate // ed letter

AND HERE WE HAVE IT. Issue #3 is here. Our ode to all things hands on. When pen touches paper and magnificent results are achieved. It’s been a wild ride in compiling the issue you now have displayed on your screen, and with that being said, there are many that need to be given credit. A big clap clap to Yoshen Nair, the disparate co-editor, as this issue would be totally undevelopable without him. A very warm welcome to our new family additions, Ms May who has bravely explored the realm of Durban craft markets on page 34 and big hugs to Lydia Smerdon for giving us the informative article on Art as a Catharsis on page 47.

We at Disparate are always working at building our local creative scene, so if you feel you want to be a part of any of our upcoming issues, feel free to drop us a mail, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook. Enjoy!

Li Joshua DISPARATE Editor-in-Chief

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Like with every issue I feel the creative works supplied by our 031 artists just keeps getting better. Prepare your body for the amazing works of Nivesh Rawatlal on page 19 and give your props to Jaco Oosthuyzen, AKA Happy Panda, who is producing some sick illustration for a Durban based skateboarding brand. The sharp tongued Taryn Kettle is back giving you her seasoned opinion on our issue playlist and we thought we’d switch it up by giving you an App review or two.

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disparate // contributors

Totally vibing is how you’d described the most chilled chick to review events this side of the equator. A true veteran to the Durban scene, if its happened in Durbs, chances are, May has been there, bumped into a random she met at the last month, and gotten a few pics in the process. Too good to pass up, keep a look out for The Adventures of May.

Back for round two Delon Quaid Leonard is all over the new movie reviews for our July issue. Being no stranger to the DISPARATE family we thought we’d shake up Delon’s scene a bit by throwing a review of a film which was released before his birth. Little did we know we were to receive this review the following day completed. Bastard. He never sleeps. Geez

disparate // illustration // Simone Jansen

Quirky and curious-Lydia Smerdon is currently in the process of completing a six month in service at Tabloid Newspapers before Graduation, YAY! Using her love for art and rad writing ability, to give Durban artists exposure on the dope creative splurge they have given Durban’s concrete canvas’s. I’m inspired by 1920’s/1950’s vintage fashion..She swears she was born in the wrong era! Constantly in contact with Durban’s creative’s who inspire her to keep on writing.

ONTRIUTORS

STUFF>> << SNAPSHOT So maybe it’s because I read up on fashion trends quite a bit, or maybe it’s because I’m just one for visual shit. For whatever reason, I’ve really being feeling the range of pattern print tees from online store SHOP JEEN. The frustration comes in when I can’t make up my mind on which T-Shirt to choose! ONLINE ORDER http://www.itssnapshot.co.za

SWEDE & CROWE

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elet f

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disparate // product

<< COLOUR POP CLOCK In an attention-grabbing fusion of geometric design and the colour block trend, SA brand Uber Cool Design presents a limited edition range of clocks that’s exclusive to Citymob! Transforming the ordinary into the artistic, these clocks boast minimalist appeal and everyday functionality – the perfect way to add a colour pop to your abode. ONLINE ORDER http://www.itssnapshot.co.za

disparate // artist

HAPPY PANDA

THERE’S A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK My name is Jaco Oosthuyzen, known in the creative world as Happy Panda. Born and bred in Durban. I come out of a creative family tree. Loved drawing from a very young age. I studied Graphic Design at Durban University of Technology. Currently the Graphic Designer for Peg. I am a young, passionate, Happy Illustrator who is eager to learn as much as possible while having fun. I love creating happy, funny, fun illustrations that carries meaning and a feeling of a universal culture of trendy lifestyles and retro memories.

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disparate // photography // Heloise Alexandra Marshall

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disparate // artist

WE SIT DOWN WITH NIVESH RAWATLAL AKA NIVS AKA THA I GOT FUCKED UP WITH LAST AT THE WINSTON.

AT DUDE T WEEK

disparate // artist

DISPARATE: so what are you up to Nivs ? NIVS: currently? At this time in point, I’d like to say my masters. Its always at the back of my mind, dictating the direction for most of what I do. DISPARATE: What is it that you do? What type of art do you create?

DISPARATE: Tell us more about this bracket NIVS: I’m talking about things like, political cartooning, paintings like the work of Brett Murray... At the end of the day, what I like to do , is bastardise things. I like to create tension, I like to make people feel uncomfortable. Its not so much about creating an image that makes people say: hey that’s really nice looking. I like them to look at it and feel like they’re staring at something about society that the know that they don’t like. DISPARATE: Is that important to you? NIVS: Very important. My intent is very much to upset people.

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NIVS: See, at the moment I wouldn’t like to pigeon hole it. You see, if you say that I’m a socio-politcal artist or illustrator, then you get kind of put in that bracket, so I like to keep it more like something that I don’t have any control over.

disparate // artist

DISPARATE: We’ve seen you work first hand, and you are very much in the ink as opposed to other graphic designers who seem content with just playing around primarily in the digital realm. NIVS: I like to get my hands dirty. I think it started when I was studying. At the time, there were a lot of artists getting into things like screen printing, and utilizing things like Illustrator to get their art work done. What I saw in that was, how do I break that kind of niche and do my own thing. So I was like, let me see if I can try to print manually. Like actually take the job out of the printer’s hands. Or, if I had to use a printer, how do I take that process and completely fuck that up so that I could create something more along the lines of what I’m trying to say. So I start off with a tiny sketch. Usually, the only time I use a computer or a printer is to make it larger, sectioning it out into a4s and cut them up and stick them together. That in itself, I can see potential for each crop to becoming artworks on their own. The fact that its destroying the whole digitalization of it. There’s also something about using a found object that adds power to the piece. I feel like the pieces where I’ve recreated my sketches on pieces of found wood, are the strongest. Also it has connotations to ideas like being green. DISPARATE: Are those things important to you? NIVS: Not necessarily important, but it is at the back of my mind. I mean there are probably parts of my process that are more damaging than anything else. Then again, damaging is a huge part of what I like to do. Damaging an image or something I’ve found, to the point that it becomes art.

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DISPARATE: Subject matter? NIVS: Poverty. Being a South African, not just the happy things that are going on in the country. The reality is that, we are a society that is made up of so many cultures that fail to understand each other. There’s not much solidarity between any community in South Africa. Everybody takes things sort of capitalistic approach to further themselves as individuals. There’s no real sense of togetherness, despite the fact that within the mainstream media we are constantly told the opposite. I also like dealing with the idea of the paranoia of not being safe in this country. Within a lot of the pieces that I’ve done, there’s a lot of personal stuff hidden away behind the symbolism in my art. My art is essentially, a means of indirectly voicing my opinions and the opinions of its viewers. In its own way, its a form of passive aggression. DISPARATE: Now we’ve both been a part of the Durban scene for a decent while. And more and more often, I’m seeing your style of work being copied and influential to their Durban artists. NIVS: I like my work to be anonymous. I never really sign any of my works, I like it to be copyright free. I enjoy the fact that someone may look at my art and copy it or take it and use it in a different way. In fact, I take huge compliment to it. For a long time, I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was right, the themes and messages I was portraying. Art has been my way of silent protest, to see it being used by others is a huge compliment and validates what I do. I enjoy it. For me, being influential has more important than achieving fame through my work. DISPARATE: So where does it go from here then? NIVS: You know, when I graduated, I wanted to see myself in ten years time, on a yacht or something. But its changed now. I rather, see myself in a warehouse, or some space that can become a cultural hub for any type of creative that wants to collaborate on projects with other artists and challenge people on what art could be. The only way in Durban to create an art scene that actually makes some kind of significant difference, is to collaborate and grow. On many levels, collaboration is the reason why I’m so confident as an artist. Going out and painting with other artists in public is what has made me confident in my process. Collaboration is something that’s here in Durban, but its kind a dormant at the moment. I would love to be a part of waking it up again.

disparate // artist

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E LIKE

>>>THE THINGS ISPARATE

PATTERN PRINT TEES So maybe it’s because I read up on fashion trends quite a bit, or maybe it’s because I’m just one for visual shit. For whatever reason, I’ve really being feeling the range of pattern print tees from online store SHOP JEEN. The frustration comes in when I can’t make up my mind on which T-Shirt to choose! PALM TREES TEE - $40.00 http://www.shopjeen.com

Copic- Ciao So if there’s one thing (apart from food) that eats my salary, its these lil’ bad-boys. That brush tip. That perfect spread. That blending. There is literally no comparison

disparate // things we like

THE KNIFE We owe a lot to The Knife. Joy, horror, relief, excitement, tragedy. Nothing tastes better than music that melts your face off. We chose Silent Shout ‘cause we are too scared to listen to Shaking The Habitual properly.

FAVOURITE

BOOM BOOM! The Berlin Boombox is a sound system like no other! The most eco-friendly stero speaker on the market, it’s outer shell is made from cardboard. Secondly, it’s one of the lightest stereos around. Thirdly, you get to assemble the entire thing yourself, no glue required! Need we sat more? http://citymob.co.za/sale/1367/80sinspired-ghettoblaster

Positive AND negative Are directions. disparate // photo-illustration // Sharon Ninow

disparate // music

beat MARQUEE DISPARATE HANGS OUT WITH THE HUMAN MUSIC INTERFACE MACHINE The idea on the computer side of things was to take all of the other elements and cut them up into chunks and have them available on computer that could then be triggered, looped and adjusted in real time. So things are preprogrammed in that we have sonic material that is sampled, but in terms of how the stuff is actually played back and stitched together when we are performing live, well, that’s quite flexible.

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DISPARATE: Where did the whole human music interface machine come about from ? BEAT MARQUEE: Its always been a core notion in terms of what we do. We’ve never seen the computer as being different from any other classical instrument, its just another tool, like a guitar or piano or a set of drums. There’s a lot of resistance to that notion, a lot of people see computers as attempting to and failing at replacing classical instruments, but its not, its a different type of instrument all together. That type of thinking is similar to saying that you can have a piano replaced by a set of drums. In todays world, electronic technology is such an integral part of our lives, how we interface with it is so important these days. DISPARATE: I think that is something even artists, especially graphic artists, have that same sort of debate over. What’s the point in using a tablet, when I can just use a pen or pencil. I guess they

disparate // music

see the digital medium as a proxy for traditional ones that will never be as good. Though some artists vehemently reject the digital medium, exploring it is just as important as exploring any other medium. These days, if you go to an exhibition, its very difficult to tell whether a print was done traditionally or digitally. I don’t think its fair for one musician to say to another, “you’re not a musician ‘cause you are using a computer, you’re cheating” BEAT MARQUEE: There are definitely things you can do with computers that you cant do with acoustic instruments, but the converse is also true, there are things that you could never do on computer that acoustic instruments achieve easily. For us, what’s interesting, is where they meet.

DISPARATE: There is some sort of a jazz influence in and amongst all that electronica from what we’ve heard. We were listening to your track, Substance, just the way you have meshed electronic and jazz was like, woah.... BEAT MARQUEE: each song has a different influence, there’s stuff with jazz, swing, dub step, break beat. DISPARATE: You guys have done a good job about showing off the style that you guys perform in, but tell us more about the content. What’s the unifying theme that you guys are pushing. BEAT MARQUEE: Again, that’s diverse, the one song, My Way, what was that about? It was based on how men are full of shit. Songs come out of experience, if there’s one common thread, its that all of these songs relate to experiences we’ve all had in our lives. Relationships, self exploration of other people. DISPARATE: I know we may start arguing, but lemme just say this, as much as the content of each track is based from a different point, the sound is cohesive, regardless of the content, the sound brings it all together. BEAT MARQUEE: I cant say what it is that’s common sound wise to our stuff. Stylistically, we are kind a all over the place, but that’s also just a function of where all three of us come from musically. Its interesting and challenging to work with musicians that come from such varied backgrounds.

disparate // music

DISPARATE: The idea that you guys do everything live, like 100% on the fly, how do you plan on taking that further? In my head, I’m thinking Amanda palmer and the Dresden Dolls, completely over the top live, do you guys have any plans on taking your act further? BEAT MARQUEE: What’s still in its infancy is us developing the visual elements of our performance. In our first gig, we set up a projector projecting images onto us. We gathered a whole lot of footage and still imagery that we projected. Moving forward, what we want to do is, video jockey source material, put it together on the fly, and play it back alongside our music, handling the visuals in a similar manner to how we handle our sounds. DISPARATE: Giving the crowd an opportunity to see your sound. BEAT MARQUEE: Engagement with the crowd as well, is a really big thing for us. Recording something they do, or a sound that they make, and incorporate it into our performances. Having two camera men giving us a live feed of the performance to edit on the fly with our music. One being, us playing, the other being the crowd itself. Images of us performing projected onto us performing, and likewise, images of the crowd, projected onto the crowd.

BEAT MARQUEE: Exactly.

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DISPARATE: Essentially, a giant glitch. The crowd would loose there tits.

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GET OUT OF M LYDIA SMERDON TAKES A LOOK AT ART AS A CATHARSIS

MY HEAD

disparate // editorial

disparate // editorial

For me I immediately think being able to express myself the best way I know how, whether it be stencil in one hand and a full black aerosol Montana can in the other ready to go to war on a suburban home’s fresh white wall or, carving your initials in a wooden desk during a boring lecture at university, you thought and felt a certain way good or bad when you were in your moment of splurging. You brought your message across without saying anything or letting people know it was you. Art is used as a form of therapy by providing relief from strong or repressed emotions. It is a transformative method for healing and discovery that includes drawing, painting, sculpturing, or just viewing art in a gallery. Its amazing how something that has so many different forms and no right or wrong way can be a quick no cash therapy session! Emotions and feelings have always been a part of the world of art, many of the great works of art were produced under stress, out of depression and frustration, or as a result of a strong need to communicate.

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WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD ART, WHAT COMES TO MIND?

The paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are one strong example of this, Picasso’s “Blue Period” is another. When we are dealing with stress and depression or any emotion that is taking a toll, art can become a valuable tool used both to serve as a medium through which our innermost thoughts and feelings can be expressed and to inspire. Art really isn’t that surprising as a form of therapy when you think about how artistic people often talk about their art. Whether they express themselves through painting, music, dance or writing, artists frequently acknowledge the affect of their moods on their art. Art is used as a meeting ground for inner and outer worlds. It can be a means to reconcile conflicts or foster awareness and personal growth. We have all experienced times when words just get in the way, or inadequately express what we are feeling. Moving away from verbal expression towards a graphic representation of what we’re experiencing often yields surprising results and insights to our internal state. So appreciate art, 6 foot murals or smily face’s each piece has had relief for another fellow artist out there who was going through something, and art helped!

disparate // editorial

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disparate // reviews

MUSIC

REVIEWS TARYN KETTLE IS BACK. READY WITH THAT BASS FOR YOUR FACE

SWIM DEEP - WHERE THE HEAVEN ARE WE? Top Tracks: King City, Honey, She Changes The Weather. Hmmm is it just me…or do you agree? For some reason we take a liking to Indie guys that wear jerseys knitted by their grandmothers…or could it just be their sweet serenades that lure you into the thought of teenage romance? Whatever it is, I know it couldn’t be their grubby mops of hair, that’s for sure! Too each his/her own I guess, but in the end B-Town bands get the thumb up for keeping the scene alive, never mind the grime!

SHORTSTRAW - GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE Top Tracks: Bikini Weather, The Wedding Blues, Cold Shoulder. Sooo, if it isn’t the infamous Indie Kwela Popsters, ‘Shortstraw’ the name on everyone’s lips, soon after their friendly foes, ‘Desmund & the Tutus’! Better recognize…these bands are credibly thee most prominent Indie performers in the country… kinda like a governing SA indie cartel in my head. Bands that have conceptualized the sub-genre of Indie-pop with a traditional South African jazz influence…an influence that humbly dilly-dallies in its very demeanor.

JANELLE MONAE - THE ELECTRIC LADY Top Tracks: Hold My Liquor, Send It Up. Call him arrogant! Call him fearless! Whatever you call him…..Kanye West is a Musical Genius! If not the only artist that dares to produce the most marginal album cover, yet one of the most highly anticipated albums this year.

The eye sees what it brings the power to see Thomas Carlyle

ISSUE #4 COMING SOON

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http://soundcloud.com/nje-s-a

http://www.sk8shades.com/

OUR

http://twitter.com/ TarynKettle

LINKSLIST

http://allknitwear.com/

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