Parallax, 2010 medium: wood. Sculpture

Parallax, in the form of a rocking horse is made from blocks of wood contributed for this purpose by individuals who were asked via an event posted on a social networking site to participate in this project by posting or hand delivering blocks of wood. Soon blocks of wood, of all shapes and sizes began to arrive from across the world, or hand delivered from closer to home. The rocking horse fashioned from these blocks show the integrity of the material, the process and the individuals who participated in the process, the surfaces of each wooden ‘block’ shows the traces of its previous place and function. A rocking horse is always going somewhere in our imagination, but is never really going anywhere. However through the participation of friends, their friends and family, the blocks of wood out of which Parallax is made, came from near and far. Therefore the journey is embedded within the rocking horse. Parallax is symbol of the virtual distance covered by the imagination while actually remaining in one spot, an ironic Trojan in the gallery space. While a Trojan does in fact go somewhere, while pretending to be something other than what it is, Parallax is going nowhere, has in fact already been, and goes further albeit it one’s imagination. Parallax is also the manifestation of this virtual world, the kinds of friendships which it allows and makes possible. As an artwork Parallax allows anyone, artists, or not, old friends and new friends to contribute to an artwork, and depends on the participation of an active audience, who then, through participation gain a vested interest in the process, progress and resulting art work. Throughout the process and without being prompted Individuals began to attach notes to let me know what the block of wood once was, or where it came form. With every delivery and every addition to the form of Parallax, Parallax became something which was born of and belonged to a group, a collective, the mark of many, rather than of one person. Through participation and the relinquishing of authorship Parallax is far greater than the sum of its parts. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Alan Alston, Cape Town, RSA, teak beam. 2. Greg Murray, Kenilworth, CapeTown, RSA, Oregon Pine off cut from restoration off cut of an old shop counter from a trading store in the Eastern Cape. Counter at least 80 years old. 3. Elgin Rust, Observatory, Cape Town, Jellatong left over from carving project 2005 and Jacaranda wood, originally belonging to Haidee Nel. 4. Siahbahn Caulfield Tillemans, Parklands, Cape Town, RSA, furniture parts. 5. Cate Wood Hunter, Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA, drift wood. 6. Ian Hunter, Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA, drift wood. 7. Antoine Dirickx, Woodstock, Cape Town, RSA, Timbercity Pine. 8. Leah Hawker, Woodstock, Cape Town, RSA, drift wood, matches, chop sticks. 9. Connie Noyes, Chicago, Illinois, USA. shelf. 10.Lynda Simon, Sydney, Austarlia, childrenʼs building block, initially from an America friend. 11. Adele Van Heerden, Durbanville, Cape Town, RSA, fire door segment. 12. David Greg Harth, New York, USA, wooden block from World News Tonight installation (2010), May 16 - May 23, 2010 at the chashama Window Space, 266 West 37th street New York City. 13. Marlise Keith, Kalkbay, Cape Town, South Africa, drift wood. 14. Katharina Foster, Woodstock, Cape Town, piece of wood found in the cupboard, and a piece from a discarded stool. 15. Jeannie Lloyd Kornmuller, Houtbay, Cape Town, RSA, childrenʼs building block. 16. Karla Cook, Handong Global University, Pohang, South Korea, chop sticks and ice lolly sticks. 17. Mareli Esterhuizen, Woodstock, Cape Town, discarded creative blocks 18. Ricarda Lok, Windhoek, Namibia, drift wood. 19. Jean-Michel Joubert, Pinelands, Cape Town, RSA, drift wood from ʻHorrisʼsʼ snake tank. 20. Van Wyk Jooste, Plattekloof, Cape Town, RSA, furniture off cuts. 21. Haidee Nel, Noordhoek, Cape Town, RSA, sculpture off cuts. 22. Norbert Pflanzer, Brussels, Belgium, pieces from a percussion-keyboard instrument: a diatonic xylophone built by an austrian dancer and director of childrenʼs theatre group, and C# and F# from another instrument as well as a D or F# in Honduras Rosewood from Yamaha YM6000 marimba once played by Shinsuke Ishihora. 23. Astrid Scwartz, Cape Town, RSA, off cuts. 24. Anya Kovacs, Kalkbay, Cape Town, RSA, off cuts from Nicholas Mossmerʼs workshop in Kalkbay. Mossmer is a cabinet maker. 25. Hanri Els, Swaziland,wooden implement 26. Bianca de Klerk, Bali, wooden decorative detail. 27. Roscoe Reid Masters, Cape Town, RSA, piece of wood found along a school fence in Mowbray, November 2009. 28. Johan Senekal, Somerset West, Cape Town, RSA, off cuts. 29. Mieke Wertschnig, Cape Town, RSA, plant root. 30. Jeannette Unite, Bloemfontein, RSA, scrap from the Anglo Boer War Concentration Camp dump site. 31. Cathy Ronaasen, Cape Town, RSA, renovation scrap from a building in the Bokaap, Cape Town, which was once warehouse, then a printing factory, before it became the Streetwires showroom. 32. Debi OʼDonovan, London, UK, home DIY scrap. 33. Damien Schumann, Cape Town, RSA, framing and mounting off cuts from. photosculpture, Lifeline, 2010. 34. Kitty Dorje, Observatory, Cape Town, RSA, building rubble. 35. Ashley Wood, Durbanville, Cape Town, RSA, off cuts from grand- motherʼs furniture. 36. Zelda Weber, Parklands, Cape Town, RSA, broken cat scratch post. 37. Misty Read, Seapoint, Cape Town, RSA, broken bench slat. 38. Gareth Floweday, Cape Town, RSA, Woodwork shop off cuts and wooden toilet lid. 39. Callen Byrnes, Grahamstown, RSA, informal cricket bat used during Grahamʼs Town festival 2010. 40. Bronwyn Obery, Grahamstown, RSA, informal cricket bat used during Grahamʼs Town festival 2010. 41. JC Smuts, Observatory, Cape Town, RSA, off cut from an old garden tool. 42. Roxana Tudor, Halchiv, Brasov, Romania, furniture off cut. 43. Nicolette Bester, Talin, Estonia, Construction off cuts from the Celebrity Cruise Liner, Eclipse, Vigo, Spain, Construction off cuts from the Celebrity Cruise Liner, Eclipse. Copenhagen, Denmark, Construction off cuts from the Celebrity Cruise Liner, Eclipse. Arrecife, Spain, Construction off cuts from the Celebrity Cruise Liner, Eclipse. Delfzijl, Netherlands, off cut from a wooden pallet from the harbour, Amsterdam, Netherland, off cut from the docks. Funchal, France, Construction off cuts from the Celebrity Cruise Liner, Eclipse. Cobn, Ireland, off cut from construction site from the town of Cobn. 44. Johann Bester, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK,packing crate from Gasbarre Products, Duboise Penssylvania, USA for Boart Long Year, RSA 1997, later used in childrenʼs ʻwendy houseʼ before being dismantled and shipped to Bristol 2009. Other parts used in dressing table and baby crib. 45. Anita Bester Washington DC, USA, household scrap, and Cape Town, South Africa, ʻwendy houseʼ renovation scrap. 46. Charlene Loyola, Washington DC, USA, home DIY scrap. 47. Alex Kramer, Seapoint, Cape Town, RSA, renovation scrap. 48. Eugene Hayman, Parrow, Cape Town, roof rafter off cuts. 49. Marie-Louise Bruwer , Parrow, Cape Town, roof rafter off cuts. 50. Adrienne Van Eeden , Noordhoek, Cape Town, RSA, Rooikraans fire wood. 51. Sascha Warton, Noordhoek, Cape Town, RSA, Rooikraans fire wood. 52. Barbara Wildenboer, Woodstock, Cape Town, RSA, home-made childrenʼs building blocks. 53. James Seigel, Mozambique, obtained as part of a trade made while travelling through Mozambique, the owner of a saw mill gave amongst other things two blocks of wood in exchange for a bed which was lashed to the top of the combi. One block became a lamp stand, the other is now contributed to Parallax. 54. Gerhard Hoffman, Democratic Republic of Congo, timber samples. 55. Joerg Masche, Woodstock, Cape Town, RSA, one years worth of matches used to light the gas stove. 56. Justin Fiske, Cape Town, RSA, railway sleeper. 57. Marna Hattingh, Seapoint, Cape Town, RSA, Sculpture off cuts. 58. Zeki Dee Noble, Seapoint, Cape Town, RSA, broken bench slat. 59. Andrew Lamprecht, Cape Town, RSA, bar furniture fragment 60. Colin Payne, Woodstock, Cape Town, RSA, home renovations and sculpture off cuts 61. Michael Taylor, Cape Town, RSA, framing 62. Kirtsy Cockerill, Churchaven, Cape Town, RSA, scrap wood from Churchhaven church yard. 63. Simon Bekker, Cape Town, RSA, chop sticks. 64. Stuart John Fairbairns, Cape Town, RSA. off cuts from broken ladder.