Video stills, ILLUMINATION 2010, DVD, 21min 42sec. Edition of 5

This work is an imaginary journey through South Africa’s history.

In this video, a pair of hands is submerged in milk in a steel bowl that has been covered with 23ct gold. Slowly,  the milk drains from the vessel, revealing an object cradled in the hands before the bowl fills up with milk again. The process seamlessly repeats, revealing a series of objects that appear almost completely unconnected but for their inclusion in the work: a compass; a length of rope; engraved razor blades; a Kruger Rand; sewing needles and various sewing tools; a fish and a rabbit’s skull, amongst others.

There is a slow transformation of color and light that occurs as the milk drains from the bowl revealing the gold surface: gradually the image becomes saturated and visibly brightens until parts of it suffer from almost complete color burnout. This effect was not accomplished in post-production editing but, rather, formed an integral part of the technical process the camera capturing the event.