Picture Theory at A4 ARTS explores the work of David Goldblatt (1930 – 2018, pictured right) through an exhibition of his photographic prints, the film Goldblatt (2017), a selection of texts, workshops, seminars, residencies, and a reading room.
A social-cartographer, David Goldblatt’s life’s work spanned 60 years of vigilant looking, learning and sharing through photography. Woven through the resulting photographic resource, and importantly in the texts and interviews offered by David Goldblatt as companions, is an indirect portrait of the photographer himself:
“I wasn’t on the scene at the riots and the focal points of political life and I gradually realised that events themselves were for me much less interesting than the conditions that lead to events. I was looking obliquely at things.” – David Goldblatt.
What is it to look obliquely? And what are the possibilities of such a practice?
Picture Theory deviates from the convention of presenting Goldblatt’s images within their original essays or bodies of work. Instead, the project uncouples images from their chronological and contextual sources, seeking unexpected connections that span decades and series.
It is in the spirit of experimentation that Picture Theory proceeds, seeking new intersections, thoroughfares, and tangents with which to view Goldblatt’s project: a longing for rootedness to the land, a quest to delineate the values that underly the human connection, and an insatiable aspiration to marry the poetic and the political in a single image.
About The Documentary Film Goldblatt
Film producer Josh Ginsberg says: “In 2015, director Daniel Zimbler and I set out to make a film on David that could offer an intimate view into his practice.
It was a daunting task, to represent a master of the lens, through the lens. But David softened that challenge. He was remarkably generous with his time and thoughts, offering complete on-the-record access, staying clear of editorial influence and retaining an indifference toward the film’s form. He was an ideal subject.
“During our time with him – whether in his home in Joburg, in the Karoo in search of a picture, in his camper somewhere on the N1, or installing an exhibition – our aim was to find the impetus behind his projects, the pressures that shaped them and the idiosyncrasies of his various processes.
“We also wanted to know what was missing: What were the photographs he had not yet taken? What did he still wish to accomplish? What was desired relative to what was demanded?
“David’s recent passing brings these questions to the fore in a different way. Rather then asking what is missing, perhaps more pertinent is asking what have we missed? What were we not able to see that perhaps, now, we can. What new learnings are possible now that his archive is complete?”
What: David Goldblatt: Picture Theory
Where and when: A4 ARTS, 23 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town until 7 February 2019
Times:
Exhibition and Reading Room
Tuesday – Friday 10am – 5.30pm
Saturdays: 10am – 2pm
Goldblatt – a documentary directed by Daniel Zimbler
Tuesday – Friday 10am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm
Saturdays. 10am, 11.30am
Running time: 80 min
WS
