Hyena l Print

During the Watershed Exhibition at the Origins Museum at WITS University in 2018, my sculptures of hyenas, led to guided walks along the watershed, the drainage divides at the high ridge running through the city of Johannesburg, I take the hyena sculptures on a ‘walk’ along the watershed; this resulted in a spur-of-the-moment stop frame animation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oF6VebbPVk&feature=youtu.be) which complemented and gave life to the sculptures while on display. I describe also the ways in which walking opened up conversations. The conversations that took place during the walks, and in relation to the sculpture and animation, developed a sense of custodianship of the city and provided examples of citizenry in public spaces, bringing together outrageous opposites in a space I could not have imagined before. My brother, animator Henk Coetzee, was in town when Watershed was running at Wits in September 2018. Over a braai (barbeque), we decided to take the sculptures out onto the watershed that an environmental engineer, Chris Brooker, had just plotted for me. He used watershed delineation software with the City of Johannesburg 2015 LIDAR digital elevation data to find the watershed. It made sense for the sculptures to ‘walk’ the inter-oceanic watershed that cuts through Johannesburg, so extending engagement with the theme of the art/science program through the impromptu animation. The arbitrary act of taking the sculptures on an intensive stop frame animation lope showed us the way. These adaptive animals can walk up to 60km in one night to find food. I can hardly do a 20km hike in a day. As has often been my approach, I invited participants to accompany me, and 67 people walked the watershed with me during September 2018. Some imagined that watersheds were the grandest of underground rivers, but each time that I explained that the watershed was the high ground from where water flowed, the watershed made more sense. Johannesburg had gold beneath it, but no impressive river that defined its layout. I elaborated that this city sprung up rapidly because gold diggers rushed to the city to make their fortunes. But the water that meets the city’s needs today, unlike other cities of the world, comes from another country, Lesotho.

Print:Giclee on Photo Paper

Size:12 W x 8 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:17.25 W x 13.25 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.