To Know that one is Dreaming is to be no Longer Perfectly Asleep (Detail), 2018
Toothpicks, polyurethane adhesive on board with pine frame
190 x 103 cm
“We think we are liberated by individualism, but in reality we’ve given up so much power. People are so caught up in the nuances of their own personal realm that they’ve lost real civic relationships with one another. We’ve lost that collective power.” – Andrea Zittel
Chris Soal’s artistic practice, is concerned initially with materiality. Specifically thus far, the materiality of objects which are available en masse and utilised daily by millions of people globally and then disposed of. These objects (toothpicks and bottle tops for example) are not only easily attainable, but are so common that they have become invisible to our eyes. They are manufactured for a single utilitarian purpose and are then discarded, once having served their purpose. They hold no value beyond that moment. These objects are manufactured to become debris. They exist on the margins of human existence, and they are indicators of a capitalist system that has a hierarchy of value, in relation to objects, materials, and even people. The choice to use these marginal materials was not immediate however, as the artist himself was entrapped by these very systems of value which he seeks to critique, and initially dismissed toothpicks and bottle tops as “unworthy” material for an artwork.
Soal is interested in the knowledges which are transmitted when bodies come into contact with one another. This is where he sees aesthetic judgment residing; in the world of things, not merely in concepts, emerging as the result of physical experience. It is due to this, that he consciously foregrounds the use of material in the artwork, with the intention of producing physical sensation. The viewer is integral and foremost in mind as the artist engages with the materials. For this body of work, it is the formal dynamism produced by the arrangement and use of toothpicks as a medium, which engages the viewer on a physical level, encouraging a visceral reaction; in some it urges them to recoil. On the other end of the spectrum, some viewers are overcome with a desire to touch the work.
Soal is interested in the knowledges which are transmitted when bodies come into contact with one another. This is where he sees aesthetic judgment residing; in the world of things, not merely in concepts, emerging as the result of physical experience. It is due to this, that he consciously foregrounds the use of material in the artwork, with the intention of producing physical sensation. The viewer is integral and foremost in mind as the artist engages with the materials. For this body of work, it is the formal dynamism produced by the arrangement and use of toothpicks as a medium, which engages the viewer on a physical level, encouraging a visceral reaction; in some it urges them to recoil. On the other end of the spectrum, some viewers are overcome with a desire to touch the work.
The singular becomes plural. And it is in this plurality that the material begins to transcend itself. It is then in the moment of unveiling, the moment where the object is not only revealed but renewed for the viewer, that the value of it is altered, and thus our understanding of its value in relation to ourselves, changes. In this way the work gains political currency, and the titles become triggers for further contemplation. The artworks utilise form and materiality to reiterate that the viewer is a member of the “polis,” the citizenry; a part of a community.
Titles such as “Orbits of relating,” “A delight in knowing and being known,” and “Little moments that remind us of ourselves,” suggest a communal relating through the use of plural pronouns, read in the voice of the viewer, the first person. This not only suggests the concept of relational collectivity between viewers in the exhibition space, but also allows the artworks to become relatable themselves, by assuming anthropomorphic qualities. The quote by artist Andrea Zittel, whilst only discovered towards the end of the process, encapsulated and vocalised the artist’s desire that the work speak to a common human experience, a reminder which is sorely needed in a global society becoming seemingly evermore fractured.
This exhibition marks Chris Soal’s first solo body of work, to be publicly exhibited, since his graduation show at Wits Art Museum in 2017. It combines the artist’s previous use of bottle tops, as well as pointing into his sporadic forays into cement and rebar as materials, whilst foregrounding this body of work as a material exploration of toothpicks through sculptures, installations, drawing and three-dimensional wall pieces.
Titles such as “Orbits of relating,” “A delight in knowing and being known,” and “Little moments that remind us of ourselves,” suggest a communal relating through the use of plural pronouns, read in the voice of the viewer, the first person. This not only suggests the concept of relational collectivity between viewers in the exhibition space, but also allows the artworks to become relatable themselves, by assuming anthropomorphic qualities. The quote by artist Andrea Zittel, whilst only discovered towards the end of the process, encapsulated and vocalised the artist’s desire that the work speak to a common human experience, a reminder which is sorely needed in a global society becoming seemingly evermore fractured.
This exhibition marks Chris Soal’s first solo body of work, to be publicly exhibited, since his graduation show at Wits Art Museum in 2017. It combines the artist’s previous use of bottle tops, as well as pointing into his sporadic forays into cement and rebar as materials, whilst foregrounding this body of work as a material exploration of toothpicks through sculptures, installations, drawing and three-dimensional wall pieces.
To know that one is dreaming is to be no longer perfectly asleep, 2018
Toothpicks, polyurethane adhesive on board with pine frame
190 x 103 cm
You Threw Sand Into the Wind and The Wind Blew it Back, 2018
Toothpicks, burnt toothpicks, adhered with polyurethane sealant in Pine wood frame
140 x 65 cm
Orbit (Triptych), 2018
Toothpicks, polyurethane adhesive on board with pine frame
84 x 114 cm, 55 x 41 cm, 63 x 47 cm
Our Deepest Longing...,2018
Beer bottle caps trheaded on woven steel rope, with burnt and unburnt toothpicks.
Dimensions variable
Main body: 75 x 50 x 40 cm
Awkward moments in a potentially romantic encounter, 2018
Toothpicks, polyurethane sealant, Milkwood (Sideroxylon
inerme/”umbhobe” (zulu)) branches
Dimensions variable Approx. 73 x 50 x 30 cm
Toothpicks, polyurethane sealant, Milkwood (Sideroxylon
inerme/”umbhobe” (zulu)) branches
Dimensions variable Approx. 73 x 50 x 30 cm
Climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it, 2018
Toothpicks, polyurethane sealant, Milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme/”um- bhobe” (zulu)) branches, found by the artist in Knysna, South Africa. Approximately 720 x 450 x 350 mm
Toothpicks, polyurethane sealant, Milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme/”um- bhobe” (zulu)) branches, found by the artist in Knysna, South Africa. Approximately 720 x 450 x 350 mm
Speak the truth even if your voice shakes, 2018
Toothpicks, burnt wood found by artist during Knysna residency
A pproximately 1600 x 230 x 200m
Toothpicks, burnt wood found by artist during Knysna residency
A pproximately 1600 x 230 x 200m
Wounds That Inhibit a Deeper Realm of Communication, 2018
Toothpicks, burnt wood found by artist during Knysna residency
Approximately 143 x 27 x 20 cm
Toothpicks, burnt wood found by artist during Knysna residency
Approximately 143 x 27 x 20 cm
...in order to be” 3 & 4, 2018
Polyurethane glue drawings with toothpicks on light yellow ochre T. Edmonds paper
87 x 62.7 cm (Framed)
Polyurethane glue drawings with toothpicks on light yellow ochre T. Edmonds paper
87 x 62.7 cm (Framed)
PRESS
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW on Artthrob by Michael Smith
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Robyn Sassen on robynsassenmyview.com
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Dave Mann in House and Leisure
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Marcia Elizabeth on Bubblegumclub.com
︎ ARTIST INTERVIEW with Bridget Masinga on Kaya FM
︎ ARTIST INTERVIEW on Creative Ghettos
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Robyn Sassen on robynsassenmyview.com
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Dave Mann in House and Leisure
︎ EXHIBITION REVIEW by Marcia Elizabeth on Bubblegumclub.com
︎ ARTIST INTERVIEW with Bridget Masinga on Kaya FM
︎ ARTIST INTERVIEW on Creative Ghettos