‘Houseboat #1’ Medium: Wood, glass, Material One, polyurethane foam and mixed media Sizes: 230cm x 300 cm x 205cm shown here as exhibited at The Johannesburg Art Fair, Kalashnikovv Gallery, 13-15 September  2019

The ‘Houseboat’ is a roof turned into a boat, a makeshift raft afloat on a sea of man made debris. A pair of human hands and feet (the artists’) can be seen near the stern. It appears as if the figure has been crushed by the weight of the object. From the front the boat appears to heave, lifted by an invisible wave only hinted at by the presence of the wooden debris near the stern. In the middle of the structure a thick reinforced glass plane seems to stand precariously balanced, a window now become a threat.

This work begins with the idea of the ‘houseboat’. To be clear this is distinct from the more commonplace concept of the ‘boathouse’ (a boat on water that doubles as a human habitat). In this sense the concept of the ‘houseboat’ signals a rethinking of the ordinary house as being a stationary built environment inhabited by individuals, families and so forth. With more particularity, the work investigates the relationship between the ‘home’ and dwelling in a Heideggerian sense by inverting the formal structure of the roof to serve as a vessel of sorts. In so doing the work addresses the home as a violently contested space in our context, commenting on issues of crime, immigration and the legacies of apartheid and colonial borders (including matters of belonging and dis-ownership).

The following text appeared as a A0 vinyl printout on the floor next to the work:

“The Houseboat is a roof turned into a boat, a makeshift raft afloat on a sea of man made debris. A pair of human hands can be seen emerging from the pieces of wood scattered near the stern, as if drowning. The structure is disintegrating mid-journey. For much of contemporary humanity the ‘home’ is the very embodiment of our dreams, hopes and fears. However in South Africa our imaginations are also haunted by the absence of safe public space and the threat of daily violence and crime. When we dwell, we now do so through – and – within the confines our homes. That is to say the home is where we live, but more than that it is where dream, make imaginary journeys and become human. However in our country the home is no safe space. In recent weeks South Africa has again publicly descended into a wave of crime, femicide and wanton acts of violence and intimidation against our fellow Africans. Our national psyche seems incapable or unwilling to grant each other one of most basic human desires, a home. We have no homes here. Others will have no homes here.”