Outsider looking in

My relationship with mixtape began when I saw it advertised on Artheat at the beginning of the month. However it hasn’t been that easy to get to know a physical manifestation of mixtape, as in meet James or Linda and have a chat. Perhaps it’s because everyone is very busy, so I have to use the blog if I have something to say. It seems pretty straight forward but it took me a while to grasp that fact. I guess it’s the feeling that everyone seems to know everyone else and I am an outsider looking in.

The first step as Linda Stupart pointed out to me via email is to introduce myself because nobody knows who I am. I am a 3rd year BA Fine Art student majoring in Print making at UCT. I transferred to UCT at the beginning of the year so I am still getting to know people. I am 33 a bit older than the average 3rd year. I did a video clip this year. It is a 1 min clip of two Sangoma’s meeting in the middle of a bridge like structure. My sister has recently graduated as a Sangoma so she is the girl in the video . I have been observing her process of becoming a Sangoma, especially noticing the difficulties of communicating to your western family and friends the rituals, without people assuming you are part of some weird sect/cult. It’s almost like the western city life is a parallel reality when compared to the rural African life in the Transkei. The video is filmed at a construction of a bridge. When I shot the video I did not specify if they needed to pass each other or what should happen in the middle I just told them to cross the bridge from opposite directions. Perhaps it is a experiment on what happens in the middle ground.

I am still working out how to insert video's but my video is called The Bridge and is on U-tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jsREHdPZxY

I have been trying to meet up with James Randle who is not really a person to me yet, all he is, is a brief conversation with some one that has an accent (I think it’s British) who said they are going to Grahamstown and seemed pretty busy. Well if you are going to Grahams town I suggest hooking up with a lecturer at Rhodes called Brent Meistre, if he is in town. I saw his video on an exhibition when I was at the Grahamstown Festival earlier this year. I was really impressed, I got the feeling he had seen into my dreams, especially the clip where the camera moves down a river.

So an idea for my contribution to the project would be an interview with James and Linda, where we talk about the project and how they came to be involved. The entire interview would be from the perspective of an outsider being introduced to the group. So let me know what you think of the idea, if you like it let me know where and when we can meet.