\u201cIt\nhappens all the time, I\u2019ll get tagged in a photograph by an influencer who\u2019s posing\nwith the work. Then I get all these new followers!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nartist Usha Seejarim is talking about her pair of red, metal wings installed\noutside of the Radisson Red Hotel in Johannesburg\u2019s flashy Rosebank district.\nCrafted out of the bases of old clothing irons, they\u2019re a frequent feature in\nmany an Instagram post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Makhanda a similar, although smaller and unpainted pair of wings titled \u2018Impeccable Freedom\u2019 has appeared, hovering in the Monument building\u2019s atrium space and accompanying her solo exhibition at this year\u2019s National Arts Festival, Tethered Storyline<\/em>. Like so much of Seejarim\u2019s work, the wings are made from found materials, given a second life, and charged with the complexities of labour, gender, and materiality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nTethered Storyline<\/em>, an installation-based exhibition, Seejarim takes\nanother common domestic material \u2013 thread \u2013 and puts it to work. Thread\noccupies and activates the space in a proliferation of line and colour, a\nspectrum of red, white, and yellow. Anchored by wall hooks and vintage\nstove-top clothing irons \u2013 the ones mostly used as ornaments or doorstops these\ndays \u2013 Seejarim uses the material as linework, crafting striking forms and\ngestures in mid-air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As\nfor the storyline signalled in the exhibition\u2019s title, vintage irons carry\ntheir own narrative for Seejarim. \u201cIt\u2019s a matriarchal lineage that reminds me\nof my grandmother,\u201d she explains at the exhibition walkabout before adding, \u201cBut\nit\u2019s also very much a collaborative installation.\u201d She is talking about the\nprocess of creating the installation \u2013 her and her team of assistants \u2013 and\nalso about the varying perspectives and participatory engagements brought to\nthe work by viewers. In short, the stories in the exhibition are yours to\ncraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Binaries\nabound in Tethered Storyline<\/em>. There is pleasure and pain, freedom and\nrestriction, fragility and power, too. While the threads might appear thin and\ndelicate, the vintage iron they\u2019re tied to needs to be bolted to the ground. In\nanother section of the room, lines converge to suspend a single iron base. This\nduality also resonates in her steel wings \u2013 weighty metal objects made to float.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still,\nit is the simultaneous sense of play and precarity that is most prominent in\nSeejarim\u2019s installation. Tethered Storyline<\/em> invites you into its network\nof fibre and colour, but challenges you to stay within its unpredictable boundaries.\nAs you weave in and out of the structure, careful to stay clear of the threads,\nit shifts and changes its form around you. Colours take on different hues and\npathways diverge, disappear, or withdraw into rich points of origin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\nemerge where you entered, although with a more intimate understanding of the\nworld Seejarim has crafted. What was first a collection of lines in space\nbecomes, through its capacity for play and participation, a network of rooms,\nscenes, and narratives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre\nyou worried about people accidentally breaking the threads?\u201d I ask Seejarim\nafter the walkabout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all. It\u2019s great to see people navigating the installation. It\u2019s a vital part of the work,\u201d she responds, watching crowds venture into the work, cellphones in hand. \u201cAnd taking selfies with it, of course.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seejarim will conduct another walkabout of <\/em>Tethered Storyline<\/a> at Atherstone Gallery on 1 July 2022\u00a0at\u00a012:00 – 12:45<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a92022 The Critter. This article is licensed\nunder a <\/em>Creative Commons\nAttribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIt happens all the time, I\u2019ll get tagged in a photograph by an influencer who\u2019s posing with the work. Then I get all these new followers!\u201d The artist Usha Seejarim … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[577,1193],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4717,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712\/revisions\/4717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}