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| Sandton Sunday, 10 January 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa 05h00am - 06h00am |
Rosebank Saturday, 23 January 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa 12h00am - 17h00pm |
Rivonia Sunday, 24 January 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa 04h30am - 07h00pm |
illovo Saturday, 23 January 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa 11h00am - 12h00pm |
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| The First Theory by Lwandile Lukheto My good friend Lwandile humbly wrote me this insightful take about my INTERSECTIONS campaign. intersections in an urbans pace have, theoretically, been created as a space to meet. A focal point of urban life. Where not only cars but people can interact, protest and mingle with the "other". Like malls if you may (which, by the the way, do not act as a social space at all since all freedom of self has been annihilated by the restrictive corporate laws. And now only act as a vehicles for the corporate consumerist agenda). Case studies in the U.S show that you can be thrown out and even arrested if you exercise any form of free speech in a mall since there's laws that prohibit such behaviour for the sake of the middle/upper class insecurity. Its basically a boomed area that only allows those who fit/afford to participate in that space owing to class (previously in this country, race played a crucial role on who's allowed to move to which space/place and at which time.Now. back to intersections. If you'd go to say,a Hillbrow intersection at any hour you'd find human activity which means people there understand the use of the space which is to enhance human experience by meeting the unwanted "other" thus all become equal and equal becomes all. But what you find in the north ( the spaces you've photographed) is a death of urban life. In a sense those places are pseudo spaces that adhere to middle class demands for a "normal" life which means only those who qualify to be there can use the space according to the established northern suburban culture of not living but being closed in doors with their playstations and the sorts. To test what I'm saying try hang out in a corner/intersection in the north in the wee hours and see if you won't be approached by some security crowd asking what you're doing there. What i'm trying to say is that in thhe north urban space ( a place to meet, mingle, protest, to be self) has been modified to be some kind of desert that serves only those who seek such security (the affluent) and thus killed the meaning of the urban space. Corner Grayston/Rivonia might as well be Monte Casino because you'll always find the very same thing no matter how many times you go. And it is not the communing or the relatively broke person who sets the rules but the guy whose wealth needs to be protected at any cost. Hence, the intersections in the north ( in particular) are the same as Tuscan boomed areas that prohibit any undesirables from entering. That's why the space is empty, almost ghostly, since people used to engage in such spaces freely and now all you'll find is a red traffic light and a passing bentley. |
INTERSECTIONS is a photographic collection of various inner city and surburbia traffic light intersections. The idea came from a curiosity of coming home in the early hours of the morning and wondering what's it like in other major areas of a city or suburb. Hopefully in due time we can grow the exercise for other major cities around the country. Enjoy. Still to come... Edenvale Midrand JHB City Centre Kempton Park Hillbrow Randburg Pretoria Cape Town Umtata Durban |
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