MOOK LION // NICOLE MAUREL PAULO MENEZES // GREEN CAMP

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Issue no.6// 2014

EditorsLi JoshuaYoshen Nair

PhotographyDISPARATEHeloise Alexandra Marshall

Layout and DesignDISPARATE

EditorialHeloise Alexandra MarshallJess OosthuizenMayuri SanichurAnele Tshabalala Media & ReviewsNivesh RawatllalTaryn KettleCraig Malan

Digital ProductionSean LynchYoshen Nair

www.disparate.co.za

facebook.com/DisparateOnlineMag

@Disparate_Mag

0606

disparate // editor’s letter

YoshDISPARATE Editor

LiDISPARATE Editor

YOSH: Culture’s pretty heavy hey. And in durban as well. So much going on.

LI: Does seem a bit heavy on first perception, but lets be real, the Durban art scene is at a boiling point. I take this opportunity to bring light to the amazing movement that is the Morrison Rivertown project, better yet, get off the couch this weekend and take part in the launch on the 03 Aug. There’s a link provided on our links list at the end of the issue.

YOSH: The issue in front of you is a showcase of Durbans great cultural artistic influences, the reflection of city spaces by Paulo Meneze, across the specterum to historial Afrikaans influences evident in the work of Nicole Maurel.

LI: Our city has become an open canvas for artistic expression, a space where art has begun to interact with space and affect the inhabitants of that space, it’s fuckin inspiring man. Everytime I drive pass the amazing murals by Faith 47 in Warwick, I’m proud to say that I’m part of the Durban art scene

YOSH: I’m proud to say that ISSUE #6 is here. Enjoy!

CAN YOU FEEL IT... IT’S HERE

disparate // editor’s letter

So Craig is back for a second round of the D. He’s been having so much fun with technology as of late that we’ve asked him to take a look at some apps that deal with online dating.

He’s a Firm believer in getting his hands dirty and you may or may not have been sent various risqué pics as conversation starters on said apps by “FiFI076”. If so, good for you!

On one of DISPARATE’S many adventures to the gas station at 2a.m for pies, we found Jessica. Fondly known to the homeless as U-Mam Jess, she was serving cranberry and white chocolate chip biscuits to the drunk and generally disorderly outside the Engen.

After tasting said biscuits, which go great with a chicken-mushroom, we knew she just had to get involved and tweak our editorial.

CRAIG!!JESS

disparate // contributors

Being the creature of the ocean that she is, Anele has been spending the last 2 months fighting a sea witch so that she can walk on land and be able to communicate with the people of both land and sea.

Ms. Tshabalala has been using these newly earned powers to not actually give a fuck. We see this in the way she has been slaying up the Fashion section of Disparate Issue 6. Homeless-core never looked this damn good.

Heloise has been regularly contributing to the pages of DISPARATE for the last 5 issues. There’s more to this lass than just some killer situational and nature photography skills.

DISPARATE has seen through her eyes and witnessed her magical acts of virtue, grace delicious cake. Now we get to hear what is on Heloise’s mind. We get schooled on feminism, and social media.

MS. TSHABALALALALA HELOISE

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AWEHWe take a look at whats been going down at the KZNSA.

THAT PUURDY FACEHeloise investigates women in art and the culture around Selfies.

GOING GAGA FOR GREENCAMPyou’ve probably heard about it somewhere, now get to here it straight from the members of the movement.

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TREKKING GREATLY!Nicole Maurel gives us a look into her process and her ideas on Afrikaaner Culture.

THE NEW EYE OF THE CITYwe sit down with Paulo Menezes, one of Durban’s latest up-and-comers.

THE LION ROARSMook Lion gives us an education on the culture around street art in Durban.

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KZNSAAWEH!Celebrating youth voices… a space for innovation, experimentation and exploration.

The word ‘aweh’ is a quintessential ‘South Africanism’ word that is used to acknowledge something, often with shock or excitement, or as a greeting. The KZNSA aweh! programme does just that, meeting and greeting artists, particularly young, upcoming artists in Durban.

aweh! is an organic space that is shaped by a collective of artists and multi-disciplinary art practices including visual arts, music, poetry, video, dance and other free form expressions. aweh! also provides a space where the spirited voices of young minds and visions can be shared, heard and supported.

disparate // profile

aweh! is project managed by Liza du Plessis aka osmosis liza (educator/photographer/ KZNSA council member) and is currently run by a team of 10 young Durban creatives, each active in their own expressive fields. They are: • visual artists: Mhlonsihwa Chiliza, Bongani Khanyile, Zinhle Khumalo, Jessica Bothma

• photographers: Sthe Msinga, Shirin Motala, Paulo Menezes

• performer: Muvo Hlongwana (Dance and Drama)

• performer: Omi Sibaya (DJ)

• KZNSA Gallery Administrator: Sumayya Rawat (also a visual artist)

aweh! is not autonomous and is connected to like minded collectives and other initiatives, trying to join forces to develop a vibrant art community in Durban. Through aweh! we collectively explore how the KZNSA can support, link and converge with other art happenings and initiatives in order to consolidate a vibrant and critical art community in Durban. To date aweh! has formed partnerships with Green Camp Gallery Project, The Movement Laboratory (Musa Hlatswayo), The Nelisa Mzimela Legacy Foundation, Frontlines, Cool Out Vintage, The Chaotic Front and The Bat Arts Centre. aweh! is also educative in nature. We aim to explore and use a variety of strategies to learn more effectively about the ‘voice’ of ‘becoming’ an artist, whilst reflecting on the gaps in art making development and practice, especially the disjuncture between institutions like galleries and learning centers. The aweh! gatherings are initiated ‘meet and greet’ sessions, to address just that.

Ultimately, the KZNSA aweh! programme strives to ask more questions than it provides answers. The overarching questions of “Where do South African artists come from?” and “How are the next generation of creatives is born?” brings to fore important discussions on the role of art and artists as agents for making social change, and further asks:

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disparate // profile

1. What are the youth saying about their social, cultural and political disposition after 20 years of ‘democracy’?.

2. How do we build a dynamic and diverse artistic community in Durban that is culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts?

3. How do we create best practice for a Gallery and upcoming art community to use art as a medium and vernacular for social change?

‘what u say ‘bout what?’ exhibition catalogue: https://www.facebook.com/groups/38092244829/10152324509364830/

THE GREAT TREK OF NICOLE’ MAUREL

disparate // feature

I would call myself, one of the ones that are staying behind, I would call myself South African. I am a Durbanite; I am part of the city. The constant movement, adaptation and rebellious nature of Afrikaner culture and identity definitely help me to fit in. I have formed my own individual personal identity which also has been growing, changing and moving.

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disparate // feature

Nicole, you are tackling subject matter in Durban that not many people deal with: the idea of Afrikaner identity and how that fits into today’s society. Can you tell us a bit about the themes that run through your work?

It focuses on the interrogation of Afrikaner culture and identity. I’ve been focusing on things like religion, politics and the Afrikaans language. Political shifts, from being the oppressed, to becoming the oppressed, to being oppressed once again. I also focus on historic events like the “Great Trek”, the British concentration camps and the Anglo Boer War. Significant events that shape the formation of Afrikaner identity. But then it’s interesting where we are now, there is also a contemporary great trek happening.

This sounds interesting, can you tell us more?

You could say that Afrikaners are moving to other countries for better opportunities and futures because of the impact of affirmative action.

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How do you think this constant moving from place to place and lack of a home base and with that, the becoming of a very secluded community has affected Afrikaner culture from an artistic point of view?

I would call myself, one of the ones that are staying behind, I would call myself South African. I am a Durbanite; I am part of the city. The constant movement, adaptation and rebellious nature of Afrikaner culture and identity definitely help me to fit in. I have formed my own individual personal identity which also has been growing, changing and moving. I lived in a very small town during the Apartheid era so I did experience apartheid, only being within a white community, not being able to even have friends of a different race.

disparate // feature

How has that influenced your art?

It gives me a reason to interrogate the inner working of the Afrikaner identity. I’ve always been unhappy with aspects of my culture and identity which I was wrestling with and wanted to change. I want to become separate from it and just become my own person and become... myself.

Do you think that this is something that a lot of young artists are doing at the moment, or should be doing? Finding themselves through art? Is that something you feel is happening enough within the city?

disparate // feature

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Yes! A very good example is Fokofpolisiekar; a band who also investigate Afrikaner identity through their work.

Do you think that there is a duality to this idea of interrogation? Of how and what to interrogate, and how to use the subject matter? Because where you mention Fokofpolisiekar, I think of a band like Die Antwoord. How do you feel about the pop culturalisation of culture?

I enjoy it because it is an expression of the formation of a single identity. Your culture and background is not something that you can reject and let go of. You will always have aspects of your culture, your mother and your father, and your ancestors in you. I think it’s something to embrace.

Have you seen any similarities in your interrogation, between Afrikaans culture and other cultures?

Religion, lots of identities revolve around feeling as one when they worship the same god and believe in the same thing.

What projects are you involved with at the moment? What does the future hold from a conceptual and visual point of view?

I’ve been working on my Master’s. I have also been involved in a lot of community work. Winning the Emma Smith Art Scholarship gave me the opportunity to work with individuals from Afrikaner communities and collaborate with them, bringing them in to exhibit with me around Durban. Visually, I would love to experiment with performance and mix media, investigating different mediums to create sculptural metaphors.

http://nicolemaurel.tumblr.com/

THE THINGS WE LIKE

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disparate // products

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disparate // products

WHY IS IT THAT 85% OF THE NUDES IN THE MET IN NEW YORK ARE WOMEN?

Seriously, take a look at your average exhibition and just look at all of those women: the faces, the bodies,

the curves. Awesome. Women are being celebrated and exhibited. Is it because women are easier to draw? Better to look at? More expressive? More worthy of celebration?

Or is it because our society sees women as objects?

31disparate // feature

Well, as far as the ease of depicting women goes, I don’t know. I don’t draw, I photograph. Is photographing women easier? It depends. It depends on her, depends on him. I’ve shot couples where one or the other partner is flawlessly photogenic. Weird, almost as if people are individuals that don’t fit into ideals/stereotypes like one dimensional puzzle pieces.

Better to look at? Well, as a straight woman I sure can appreciate a curvy bum, long hair and some thick lashes. But if society was a little bit more accepting of men appreciating other men, loads of dudes would own up to admiring some tanned, toned abs. So ja, good looking people are nice to look at. And art isn’t about ‘nice to look at’ anyway. It’s about technique, and communication, and creation. So maybe it’s the expressiveness thing then. I can’t even dignify that with a counter argument. Just take a flip through any National Geographic and tell me that men’s faces are blank. Go ahead.

A male artist friend of mine said that all the female depiction was about celebrating women. The thing is: I don’t think it’s really celebrating women so much as celebrating the societal norm of the male gaze on idealised bodies and faces.

By this point I am hoping Frida Kahlo has popped into your head at least once. She did some brutally honest self portraits. The brave, brilliant outlier.

Cut to 2014 and the modern self portrait: the “selfie”. How common is it to take one picture of yourself exactly as you are and post that shit? No filter, no posing, no posting the best of the 23 attempts with different lighting and an outfit alteration. Bullshit, especially if you’re a woman, because to be worthy we need to be beautiful. We feel like we need to pay rent in the form of pretty to occupy space in the female form. Fuck that noise. If we put women on canvases, put complete people with agency, opinions, histories, and less of an urge for approval.

Obviously I’m not saying we should make our subjects ugly, just give them depth. Because art is about making people think and feel. Not just looking ‘nice’. The art we produce has the ability not only to mirror and comment on culture, but to alter it.

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THE NEW EYE OF THE CITY

disparate // feature

The innate talent of Durban based photographer Paulo Menezes is undeniable. Disparate sits down with the man behind the lens to see what he sees.

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disparate // feature

Let’s give the DISPARATE readers some history: you’ve literally catapulted on to the Durban art scene. Tell us a little bit more about the artistic background of Paulo Menezes.

Well, I started taking pictures about 6 years ago. I was fortunate enough to figure out, quite early on, that this is what I wanted to do. During the tenth grade, I completed two part time courses at Vega, which were hugely beneficial to my cultivation as an artist. I kinda plodded through the rest of high school (laughs) and after that completed my diploma in photography at DUT, so yeah this is my first year out in the big wide arts world.

Tell us about your interest in theatre photography.

In my third year I spent five months in the DUT drama department. Just kind of being a fly on the wall and observing how theatre is produced; from the first rehearsal and assembly of the cast right up to the curtain call.

That’s great. With the colossal bang in which you have arrived, and having decided on becoming a photographer so early on, do you think you’ve honed in on your specific style as an artist?

Yeah, definitely! I started taking pictures because I kind of felt this unusually powerful force that the frame of the photograph holds. I love the idea of a frame kind of grabbing the viewer, so I felt I really needed to explore that. As I kind of honed in on my style, it really started becoming an internal exploration.

I’m not harbored by the fact that a photograph has to be technically perfect, as long as the feeling I had when creating the photo is depicted, that’s what I’m all about.

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disparate // feature

I think that’s what drew me to your work in the first place actually. Certain people make such a fuss technically, with regard to the craft of photography.

I think as long as what is in the frame is what I’m feeling at that moment, I don’t think about what my camera is doing, it just kind of comes out.

Is there anything in particular that inspires your work?

I’m very linear and graphic minded when it comes to the visual components of my work. I feel it’s definitely evident in a lot of my street work. Line, shape, form and movement always seem to be dominant factors.

What’s funny is that, to a certain degree, you kind of creatively justified your works like a graphic designer (laughs) go on…

You saying that kind of brings me on to my next point- the city is just chaos. When you’re in an environment like West Street, for example, there are always sounds and movement and people. But like I say about this power of a frame, I try, especially in the city, to aim for a place of calm and quiet.

Another big influence on my work is Peter McKenzie. He has really influenced my ability to look deeper into a photograph. His respect for the art form is really influential on me; I’m really fortunate to have him as a mentor

Well you are fast becoming famous, and everywhere we turn, we see your work. You’ve recently been dubbed as “The New Eye of the City”. Do you think it’s a just descriptor? Are you uncomfortable if I call you a storyteller?

No. That’s what I try and depict. My work is very narrative and series based; I’m a documentary photographer in essence. I guess “the New Eye of the City” would be a cool title to coin (laughs) because I try and see stuff in as new a way as possible.

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disparate // feature

Your work is definitely a refreshing repackage of the genre. Let’s just say we had to switch it up a bit: when do you think you would be out of your comfort zone as a photographer?

I think I would be uncomfortable if I had to be the director, or just directing a subject in general. Most of my work is kind of waiting for somebody to reveal themselves to me, rather than me trying to draw something out of them. So in the way that I work, I try and make myself invisible.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Future plans… let’s see…

Keep a look out for Paulo’s photographic installation titled ‘ih-murj’. Cnr. Johannes Nkosi Street & Market Road.3-10 August

http://paulomenezes.co.za/

disparate // feature

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disparate // fashion

WARwICK WARRIORDisparate pays homage to an environment within the heart of the Durban city centre. A setting pulsing with an array of diverse culture and colour becomes the inspiration of our fashion spread. Our team, lead by the conceptual cultivating of Ms Anele Tashabalala, dissects properties of materials found in the legendary Warwick triangle, turning the everyday waste into wear for war.

disparate // fashion

disparate // fashion

Art Direction: Anele Tshabalala Styling: Margeret Nesemare, Zama Ncwabe Photography: DISPARATE Models: Karin Pillay, Kyle Eddy

disparate // photography // Heloise Alexandra

disparate // feature

Okay, so there have been a lot of rumours going around the Durban art scene about this place called “Greencamp”. Disparate, armed with candles and camera, scoured the city to bring you the answer and what we found was nothing short of amazing.

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The company’s name is actually Intelligent Design. What we are planning on doing is turning this space, which we call The Green Camp Gallery, into an arts exhibition space, a coffee shop, and an open organic garden. We want it to be an open space that creatives can call home, regardless of whether you are a fine artist, graphic designer, or a fashion designer. What we are trying to do is create an alternative space in Durban that is open to all types. A lot of the space for artists and creatives in Durban is very controlled or very expensive. Most of the time, people either go out to drink, eat, or party. The Green camp gallery sees itself as being an open alternative to that. No cover charge, no expensive food: just a friendly space to chill with likeminded creative individuals.

How the hell did you guys find such an awesome space?

This was a vacant property when we found it. Xolani was in search of a space that would meet our needs. When I saw it, I knew immediately that this could be something great. When we found it, the property was going to be demolished to be turned into a parking lot. We tracked the owner down and presented a business proposal. So now we’ve signed a 10 year lease (the project is a 10 year plan).

What’s the vision for this place? When we come in here, we see that you are trying to develop a culture that is not really seen much in Durban. The style and culture of art and design in Durban is not as raw as what we see here.

The vision, first and foremost, is to create a sustainable space. We are initiating an organic lifestyle where we grow our own foods. We also see this space as that home that you have always wanted as an artist: a community of artists that grow together and practice our passions together.

disparate // feature

WHO IS INVOLVED IN GREEN CAMP? WHO IS INVOLVED IN THIS MOVEMENT?

We have four core members that handle the administrative side. But we have quite a lot of members coming in and out of the space, doing what they can. As people find out about us and what we are doing, more artists are coming through. People are hosting their parties and their gatherings here.

How long has this project existed?

We got the property last year in August, and we began our efforts this year at the end of January. I would say that the biggest mission has been to clean the place up, remove the rubble, and to clean it out again. We want to start from the ground up. We got the property last year in August, and we began our efforts this year at the end of January. I would say that the biggest mission has been to clean the place up, remove the rubble, and to clean it out again. We want to start from the ground up. By us doing this together, we strengthen not only the project, but also the relationships of the people involved. Because that’s what we feel causes most of the initiatives and projects in Durban to fall apart. We come together as brilliant minds but neglect our relationships and the basics, like respecting one another as human beings. We see this as an exercise in growing ourselves as well as the space.

As a community, what is the most problematic thing you guys are facing?

People are talking a lot, but they are not doing much.

Do you see this as something that is really prevalent in Durban?

Durban is frustrating, but we all are feeling this awakening that’s happening in the city. Slowly, people are taking steps to changing the city and its culture.Xolani’s focus is building relationships, not based on when

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where or how we met, but based on human connection. That is what needs to be fostered. Family values are also something that needs to be fostered in our culture.

We want that too. What do you guys need at the moment?

Most importantly, we need to grow this network of people who want to create this space with us and see this vision through.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ID-Green-Camp-Gallery-Project/396449330490604

disparate // photography // Paulo Menezes

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My mind is open and filled to capacity from the amount I learned from this year’s Durban International Film Festival.

Genres varied this year from wild and playful to sobering and emotionally draining to eccentric and brave. I am spent. 10 days of total absorption of culture is the best way to put it. I

go every year, but this year was really like no other. The few films I watched will forever go down with me as some of the

most influential of my life and as a commentary on our global culture. Let me paint the picture.

WORDS BY MAYURI SANICHUR

disparate // editorial

Mekarl and I decided to drive to Suncoast, but we had some reservations. It was late, we were tired, and it was a week night. But I said to him “I really think that this movie is going to be one of those ‘moments’ for us”. We’d already seen “Angola” (a quirky little tale of two South African brothers on the lookout for some waves in Angola) and “Out on the Line” the day before and although riveting and informative, as Wavescape’s movies are, I was left wanting more.

“Out on the Line” spoke of the discrimination of gay surfers in the surfing industry and the quest to build a community and a support-system for gay surfers world-wide. It was a story that needed to be told, but I just believe it could have been executed better in structure and style.

Whatever the case, we were on the edge of turning around and going home to bed but we stuck it out, and man was it worth it. “Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy?” was one of the most dynamic films I have ever watched. Literary-philosophical documentary meets expressionism is the best way to put it. Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) sat down with one of the greatest thinkers of our time, Noam Chomsky, for a one on one interview. But, don’t think this was any ordinary interview. Every question, answer, nuance and introspection was created visually by hand drawn animation – both literal and figurative. With childlike observation, Gondry managed to externalise the brilliance that is Chomsky with an eccentric flair that is rarely seen.

What’s more is that he managed to expose the human side of Chomsky that no one ever sees. Gondry took us through Chomsky’s linguistic background and added a little on his views on politics but mostly focussed on him, with a whimsical twist. He even took a few minutes to laugh at himself and the confusion of his pronunciation of English words in his very French accent. He explored Chomsky’s theory on grammar and his parent’s Zionist and Jewish influence on his life. Chomsky, often viewed as a “hater of Americans”, was painted with a surprisingly well-rounded portrait.

I did not expect any film thereafter to surpass the standards of this one, (and none did, to be frank) but a close second came with “Future Sounds of Mzansi”. Musician and visual artist Spoek Mathambo created a high-speed, vibrant and expressive piece of filmmaking that took us through the past, present and future of South African electronic dance music culture, region by region. It had you at the edge of your seat, dancing in your movie chair and left you wanting to go out and jol hard on a Friday night. Exhilarating, it took you on a country-wide tour of musical escapades from Durban Qcom, to Deep House, to Kwaito-House to Township Tech to Shangaan-electro with a notable commentary from some of South Africa’s musical pioneers: Black Coffee, Felix Laband, Krushed & Sorted, Markus Wormstorm, DJ Mujava, Naked Boys, Nozinja, Okmalumkoolkat, Rude Boyz, Sibot, DJ Spoko, and many, many more. It gives you some insight into the lengths these musicians have gone to, the pain they’ve endured and the inspiration it has taken to make their mark by holding out the metaphorical torch of our very distinctive sound for the world to see.

I went into this year’s Film Festival with the idea of gaining some understanding into the narrative of inspiration this year. Everyone I met over the last week and a bit seemed utterly enthralled and Durban’s cinemas were almost always packed to capacity with an enthusiastic audience. This was real support, and I haven’t seen past year’s festivals being so lucky. Durban came out large this year with a standard so high. I’m already so keen to check out the Durban International Film Festival next year.

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THE LIONROARs

The thing is... with art in the public space, you hope that well, the idea is that… it uplifts the area that it is in and that it potentially turns a negative space into a

slightly more positive one.

disparate // editorial

disparate // artist

But obviously, that is a bit of an idealistic way of thinking. Just because there is a mural on the wall, it doesn’t mean that guys are going to stop mugging people. The issues that our country has are deep. Just by painting murals on walls, you are not going to solve them. The important thing that artwork in the public space can potentially do, however, is strengthen communities.

Do you attempt to place that kind of value in your artwork when you create a piece? Do you try and uplift the community through your message?

See, you can’t impose a mural in the same way that you impose a billboard, where you don’t consider the people who are going to be viewing it. My intention is always to improve the space and to create something that makes sense within that space.

The pure fact of just working within the public space, especially when you are working on a mural with a lot of people, you end up engaging with a lot of people who perhaps you would never have before. Take my work in point road for example: I would never have gone there or engaged with the people there, if not for working on pieces there. I also like to add a developmental aspect to my pieces, where I try and get the public from that space to actually help paint the wall so that they have a sense of ownership over the wall.

My idea is to be sensitive to the space and make something relevant to the space and get people involved if I can.

What would you say your background is? Because as much as you sit within the sphere of graffiti, there is still a lot of concept behind your work

I’d say my work comes from a pretty even mixture of both. I try to take what I like from each and put them together. I like the way that graffiti operates within the public space, and I like the aesthetic and the conceptual element of fine art, so it’s just a matter of putting the two together.

How do you feel about the culture around graffiti and the idea of attacking public spaces with art? How do you feel the movement has assimilated into mainstream society?

I think that the aggressive nature of graffiti, to me, is important. It shakes and stirs people up and makes them furious, which I totally understand. But that’s what it’s kind of there to do, and it also kind of sets up a platform for street art and mural art to follow. So, maybe like, if a wall is filled with tags, it’s gonna be easier for me to get permission to paint that wall with something nice. Personally, I love graffiti, but I fully understand that graffiti operates for graffiti artists and everyone else is completely excluded. People who do graffiti art rarely consider other people at all.

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disparate // editorial

You are probably the only graffiti artist that we have spoken to, even on a conversational level, who actually admits to that! There is an element of invasion to graffiti that most graffiti artists, most of the time, don’t even recognize. Do you feel uncomfortable with being called a graffiti artist? Or would the descriptive for you would be more street artist?

I would say that I’m a street artist.

Do you think that graffiti is a misunderstood art form?

I suppose. The nature of graffiti is very secretive. Where your aim is to get your name across the city then you don’t really, or rather it’s not in your interest, to talk about it and tell people about your work and your process. Fine art as well, I guess. It has that exclusive element to it. If you don’t do graffiti, then it’s hard to get a proper understanding of the art form.

So how do you break into the group then?

By doing graffiti, I suppose. Obviously there are also those who gain an understanding by photographing the art form or through doing interviews with artists. But Durban is the kind of place where, once you start doing graffiti it won’t be long until you know every other graffiti artist in town.

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London-based artist FKA twigs (Formerly known as Twigs) is a revolutionist in her own right: from her unearthly music style to her visual persona. A true manipulator of the art, she has fascinated the multitudes

with a series of graphic accompaniments. Intriguing to say the least - with tracks that fashion her filmic imagination by simply extending her giraffe-like neckline, liquefying her oil-dispersing limbs, or oversizing

her protruding eyeballs! Yoh, I mean, those eyes are only as huge as my mother’s papayas in our backyard!

Going in for the KILL! - Twigs merges her dynamisms with the man behind the ominous Yeezus album: known as Arca. A union of individualism – a creator of profound artistic noise, and the motion of her

scenic choral form the juxtaposition of this EP. Disparate being an undercurrent, her virgin-esque vocals and sensual lyrics seem to be the groundwork of her style. She channels her expression through whirls of

emotional desolation, and amid a sense of liberation portrays an equivocal mutiny of joy to my heart.

There is something abstract about her voice that seems to permeate into her melodies when you least expect it. Twigs has an ingenious ability of captivating her listeners whenever she deems fit and best of all

– We love it!

“Ultraviolet” is a cauldron of contrast with sounds varying from Trip-Hop and sluggish-Pop to an unclouded sound of an R&B chorus, all colluding concurrently like a mutated shape-shifter. Chaotic it may seem, yet

still she makes it out victorious! FKA twigs proves that she is here to stay! The next best thing has come knocking!

MUSICFrom the latest in digital sounds to the ode of old school, Niv and Tk are

ready to turn it down for what!

FKA TWIGS EP2

Fav Tracks: ‘Water Me’, ‘Papi Pacify’

Favorite Track: ‘Lonely Press Play’

Now, there exists a selection of albums that every real music collector should feel embarrassed not to own in any varying format, in fact these so called music collectors should probably not even tell anyone that they don’t at least have a pirated copy of these albums out of above mentioned embarrassment. Fucking imposters.

Everyday Robots is one of these albums. I am not necessarily a blur fan by a long shot besides song 2 and some various unknown songs that collect noise in the back of my mind, the Gorrillaz on the other hand features more prominently in every other dope party playlists and will continue to do so and now, after Everyday Robots, a few of Albarn’s other interesting experimental bands (the good, the bad and the queen) filter into sonic exploration.

The reason I am contextualising here is because if you are interested in any of these, you need to check out this album, its a genre defying piece of material, so to pidgeon hole it as any kind of style would be typical and unjustified, its just that different. All you should really care about here is that this album is some kind of contemporary artistic brilliance.

So if you like different, take the time to get wasted or not and let this bastard lull you into a mellow kind of something else and if you have any expectations you will find that they will be exceeded every time you find something new hidden behind what initially seems to be a uniquely simple and subtle experiment with randomised results. You will pass things by on your first few listens, but when it starts to make sense and the pieces fit, you will find yourself somewhere else far away, that is the point of all of this isn’t it? You should note that if you are looking for some kind of dance nation inspired gorillaz shit, you are in the wrong place, you really need to be able to appreciate simple and intelligent to enjoy this album.

disparate // review

APPSMeneer Malan gives us his tech

savy opinion on what’s hot and

happening in the app world.

So last year some time I bitched about how I didn’t have enough pimples during high school to be assimilated into the mystic card playing clubs. Lucky for me a sexy man decided to teach me how to play the Magic card game to stop my whining. Soon after I discovered Magic, I found the Adventure Time animation.Now imaging the two together! My grown up black heads are now erupting with glorious geek overload. You literally get to play the card game from Adventure time. Here… watch…

Adventure Time

- card warYou know what im talking about. The TindrrThe FindhrrThe Grindr

The apps that enable you to find the love of your life, which as it should turn out, was only 500m away from you all this time…. Pfft. Nothing is more satisfying than going into a packed public space and finding out how many other horny, insecure, not quite drunk enough uglies are doing exactly the same thing as you - pretending to reply to an office email.

The Eerrrrrrrrs

This is like a simplified version of Evernote. I like Evernote, but I don’t give a shit for all its features. All I want to do is stash my Mark Zuckerberg ideas in a simple way while getting tipsy at my favorite Thai restaurant. Then, after I wakeup with a mild hang over, I can sit at my desk with a cup of coffee, logon to Gmail, and have me a little giggle at all my silly tipsy ideas.

Keep

disparate // review

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