Other Sides: An Investigation of Boundaries
Botswana National Mseum and Art Gallery
March 2008
(Portions of the following are taken from the exhibition handout.)
Other Sides mines the contemporary semiotic terrain, probing the ways in which foreign and non-foreign symbols are appropriated
into conceptions of local identity and community. Investigating the history of signs and symbols present in the images (read, cultures), I highlight and hang articles from Wikipedia, itself an experiment in community knowledge creation and dispersal. What information is translated by whom to whom over what channels itself becomea a focal point of the investigation. The black and white images are taken throughout Southern Africa.
The CocaCola ‘wave’ logo, one of the most common elements in the global semiotic ecology, is named the Dynamic Ribbon Device in 1969. When copyrighted on cans of Coke Light, the logo is referred to as the “Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device”. The colour images present modifications of the Dynamic Ribbon Device and other Coke logos as they are incorporated across various boundaries in Mozambique.
Phil again used the museum opening as a lens through which to investigate the narrative power structures. By inviting Chibuku drinkers into the museum, setting up a spotong, and providing them with cases of Chibuku, he attempted to make the social boundaries not only obvious in his images, but also through the act of viewing. The invitees are able, at the very least, to participate in the narrativization of the viewing of their likeness. It is not a solution, but a further problematization.
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SIDE A
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THE IMAGES
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 1, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 2, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 3, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 4, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 5, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 6, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 7, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 8, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 9, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 10, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 11, 2008
Modified Dynamic Ribbon Device 12, 2008
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THE INSTALLATIONS
Countdown to the Coke Side of Life, 2008
The Coke Side of ZCC, 2008
Weaponry 1, 2008
Weaponry 2, 2008
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SIDE B
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THE IMAGES
Joy?, 2007
Africa Fried Chicken, 2007
Hamelfontein Store Far, 2008
Hamelfontein Store Near, 2008
Amie's, 2008
Trading Posts, 2007
Vryburg I, 2007
Vryburg II, 2007
Coke Side of Death, 2007
Smart People, 2008
Capital Motors, 2008
Stop Being Afraid, 2007
Work, 2007
Shaken, Not Stirred 1, 2008
Shaken, Not Stirred 2, 2008
Shaken, Not Stirred 3, 2008
Shaken, Not Stirred 4, 2008
Shaken, Not Stirred 5, 2008
The Limit, 2008
Toys for Tots, 2007
Buddies, 2007
Stage Fright, 2008
Koster Fair, 2007
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THE INSTALLATIONS
New Patriotism, 2008
Knowledge/Power, 2008
Spotong, 2008
Semiotic Web, 2008
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