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CARPENTRY 101MoCA“There is some t hing beautiful about reversing t he process of making. Ofundoing something, of taking it apar t. Of returning the object to what itwas originally made of. And yet on returning it to t he ‘wood’, one maybe lef t with the little arms, remnants of the object for which there is nouse; a kind of surplus. I do not mean the kind that brings profit; this isnot t he ‘surplus value’ of capitalist exc hange. It is rat her t hat whic hsor t of escapes t he contract of exc hange.” Bettina MalcomessMoCA
DOUGL AS GIMBERG & C HRISTIAN NERFC A R P E N T R Y 101A C O M PA N I O N T O T H E E X H I B I T I O NC A R P E N T R Y 101, B L A N K P R O J E C T SMoC A , C APE TOWN , 2007
D e d i c a t e d t o M a x Wo l p ewho pointed out to us that some people claimto be carpenters but are merely joiners
Published by MoCA T h e a r t i s t s , c o n t r i b u t e r s & M o C A , C a p e To w nPhoto credits: Jake Dobkin, Government Communication andinformation System, Dr Nuno Sacramento and Rober t SloonMuseum of Contemporar y Ar t (MoCA)South AfricaPO Box 44699Claremont7735C a p e To w nmuseumofcontemporar yar t@gmail.comRepro & printing by Studio 2666T h e p u b l i s h e r, e d i t o r a n d a r t i s t s w i s h t o t h a n k c o n t r i b u t o r s f o r t h e i r k i n dpermission to reproduce material, and for their help in the production of thispublication. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions in thispublication, and would be grateful to be notif ied of any cor rections t hat shouldbe incorporated in t he next edition or reprint of t his book. Sans-Copyright for non-commercial use. This book may be reproduced orutilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mec hanical, includingphotocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval systemwith permission in writing from Museum of Contemporar y Ar t.F irst Edition published August 2007Available in 38 numbered editionsConceptualised and researc hed by Gimberg & Ner fResearc h assistance by Sebastian CharilaouCopy edited by Gill GimbergISBN: 978-0-620-39272-3
CONTENTSROBERT SLOONT h e D r e a m O f J a c o A n d We n d y13B E T T I N A M A LCO M E S SC a n T h e D a r k Wo o d S p e a k ?19BIANCA BALDIH e r o ’ s We l c o m e F o r M a d o n n a28D R. N U N O S A C R A M E N T OFree Carpentr y35D A N H A LT E RH e l t e r S ke l t e r, 9 9 P r o b l e m s ( s ke t c h )39E D YO U N GDon’t Be Afraid, It’s Only Fiction41JOHAN KRITZINGERAnarc hy For Practice51ANDREW LAMPRECHTThe S trife Of Love In A Dream55CHRISTIAN NERFWe A r e A l l U n d e r S u s p i c i o n61L I Z Z A L I T T L E WO RTCommunion65DOUGL AS GIMBERGG o d ’ s Ye l l o w P a g e s67RONALD SURESH ROBERTSNotes For Launch Speech71BIANCA BALDIPiccolo Grande Amore (sketc h)83N I C K C AV E & T H E B A D S E E D SEpilogue85
T h e D r e a m o f J a c o a n d We n d yBullshitWhen I attended school, at a miserable little school ina miserable suburb, rugby was banned by t he principal.Soccer and cric ket were t he gentleman's games. Havinggrown up slightly less t han gentle, my continued lac k ofknowledge about t he spor t has been a source of shame.R e c e n t l y, t o p u t m a t t e r s r i g h t , I g o t a f r i e n d o f m i n e t oexplain t he rules and customs (what it means to knoc kon, why it's not homosexual to funnel), and have sincebeen tentatively following games when I go for myregular at the Kimberly Hotel. I even got to the pointw h e r e I u n d e r s t o o d t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e S u p e r 14 f i n a lbetween the Bulls and the Sharks. And, jesus was it adramatic matc h, wit h Brian Habana swallow -diving tos c o r e a t r y a f t e r t h e f i n a l h o o t e r, s c r a p i n g a w i n f o r t h eo u t p l a ye d B u l l s . H oweve r, my n ew - f o u n d e n j oy m e n t o frugby lasted all of 30 seconds af ter t he conversion.F l y h a l f J a c o Va n D e r We s t h u y z e n , i n a m o v e t h a t a n n o y sm e e v e n n o w, t o o k o f f h i s B l u e B u l l s j e r s e y, a n d r e v e a l e da white shir t underneat h wit h t he words 'Jesus is King'emblazoned on the front and 'Bulls for Jesus' on theback.BaselessA couple of weeks ago I had a run of bad luc k , thenormal sor t of thing: getting mugged, delayed flights,lost in Jo'burg, uncle dying, fighting with girlfriend, acollapsed ceiling in my studio destroying all my books.H o w e v e r, t h e r e i s o n e i n c i d e n t f r o m t h i s t i m e t h a t s t i c k si n my m i n d . I a t t e n d e d t h e f u n e r a l o f t h e a b ove - m e n t i o n e du n c l e , u p i n a m i s e r a b l e s u b u r b n e a r B e d f o r d v i e w, w h e r eall the streets are named af ter heavenly bodies.13
I t d o e s l i t t l e , h oweve r, t o u p l i f t t h e t o n e o f t h eneighborhood. The day af ter the memorial ser vice (whichwas held in one t hese new wave c hurc hes, wit h a youngp r i e s t w h o t o l d u s , i n a p p r o p r i a t e l y, t h a t s o m e o f u s i nt h e c h u r c h m u s t r e p e n t o u r w i c k e d w a y s ) , m y a u n t We n d yh a d t o r u s h b a c k t o h e r p a s t o r h u s b a n d i n C a p e To w njust af ter breakfast. She interrupted our meal toindividually pray for each person at the table, handl o v i n g l y o n t h e s h o u l d e r. I p l a y e d w i t h m y e g g s , g r o w i n gslowly cold, waiting my turn. My personalised litanywent somet hing like t his, "Oh Jesus, please watc h overRo b e r t , I k n ow, o h J e s u s , t h a t h e m a y s e e m a c y n i c , a n da skeptic, Lord, but it is because he has experienced somuc h in his life wit hout you as a base."l o t s o f p e o p l e c r o s s . Ve r y c r o s s . B e c a u s e w h a t G i m b e r gand Ner f and all the collaborators are doing are takinga b i t o f d a m n r e s p o n s i b i l i t y.V i v a F r e e C a r p e n t r y.Rober t SloonHansieSouth African cric keting symbol Hansie Cronje threwmatc hes for a cell-phone and a shiny leather jac ket,provided by some Indian bookies. Hansie blamed hismisdemeanors on t he devil. He t hen went and got "killed"(in a plane full of passports, suspiciously).Hansie's denial of guilt illuminates the main point of thesetwo stor ies. That is, besides a no-holds-bar red evangelismspreading amongst Christians, perpetuated, I assume, bya growing fear of impending apocalyptic deat h,Christianity has become a good way of passing t he buc k.By allowing a man stuc k to a symbol to take credit forwinning a match or for a certain disappointment inromanticism means, fur ther along the line, we can giveup our responsibility for all our actions. And that is whenwe are ready to be led, to god knows what end. Theway things are going it'll be vicious, neo-colonial andb l o o d y.I r e a l l y h o p e t h a t t h i s p r o j e c t C a r p e n t r y 101, i s n ' t g o i n gto be just preac hing to the conver ted, I hope it makes1415
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C a n t h e D a r k Wo o d S p e a k ?The Stor yDante finds that he has strayed from the right road andi s l o s t i n a D a r k Wo o d . H e t r i e s t o e s c a p e b y c l i m b i n ga beautiful Mountain, but is turned aside, first by agambolling Leopard, then by a fierce Lion, and finallyb y a r a v e n o u s S h e - Wo l f . A s h e i s f l e e i n g b a c k i n t o t h ewood, he is stopped by the shade of Virgil the onlycourse at present left open to Dante is to trust himselfto Virgil, who will guide him by a longer way, leadingt h r o u g h H e l l a n d P u r g a t o r y. ’Canto I: Inferno, Comedia DivinaMidway this way of life we’re bound upon,I woke t o find myself in a dark wood,Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.Wa l t e r B e n j a m i n , [ N 1, 4 ] [ O n t h e t h e o r y o f k n o w l e d g e ,Theor y of Progress]To c u l t i v a t e f i e l d s w h e r e , u n t i l n o w , o n l y m a d n e s s h a sreigned. Forge ahead with the whetted axe of reason,looking neither right nor left so as not to succumb tot h e h o r r o r t h a t b e c ko n s f r o m d e e p i n t h e p r i m e v a l f o r e s t .Ever y ground must at some point have been made arableby reason, must have been cleared of the undergrowthof delusion and myth 'E n l i g h t e n e d v e r s u s D a r k Wo o dHere Benjamin was alluding to the terrain of then i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y. H i s a r c a d e s p r o j e c t w a s a n a t t e m p t19
to arc hive what remained of t he ‘dark wood’, erased tomake way for the cultivated f ields of progress.The dark wood, t he primeval forest, appears to be aper vasive trope. It recurs in fair ytales, myt hs, f iction andp h i l o s o p h y. O n e n e v e r v e n t u r e s i n t o t h e d a r k w o o d , i t i st he dwelling place of wolves, bears, demons, and myt hicalcreatures such as dragons, trolls and Ents. It is atreac herous zone t hat adventurers, from Ulysses to LittleRed Riding Hood to poor Ic habod Crane will have tocross, at t he risk of doppelganger grandmot hers, wolves,sirens and headless horsemen. Occasionally the darkw o o d r e c u r s i n t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y, m o s t l y i n t h e c l i c h é so f t h e h o r r o r g e n r e : t h e c a m p i n g t r i p g o n e a w r y, t h eBlair witc h. In eac h case, it is t he dwelling-place of t hosefears of t he irrational, t he unknown forces of darknessand nature. For Dante it marks the entr y point to Hella n d p u r g a t o r y, a n e a r l y R e n n a i s s a n c e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o ft he Myt hical Under world of Hades, wit hin t he conf inesof a Christian Hell.For Benjamin, it is t he ‘primeval forest’, containing deepw i t h i n i t t h e h o r r o r o f m a d n e s s , o f u n r e a s o n . Ye t , B e n j a m i nis cer tainly not a philosopher afraid of the dark. It is,r a t h e r, t h e a s s u m p t i o n s o f e n l i g h t e n m e n t a n d r a t i o n a l i t y,and perhaps t he whetted axe of reason t hat he warns of.It is Benjamin who asks the questions philosophy wasmost afraid to ask , by following Ulysses, Little Red RidingHood, Ic habod Crane and Dante into t he dar k wood. Andwhat he fears are the level planar f ields of progress.At the edgeT h e d a r k wo o d wa s o n c e a l i t e r a l p l a c e o f f e a r, o r a tl e a s t l e s s t h a n i m a g i n a r y. A s s u c h , w h a t i s o u r M o d e r nequivalent of t he dark wood? Where do we locate our20demons, our ghosts and irrational fears? Might it beappropriate to send little Hansel and Gretel walkingt h r o u g h H i l l b r o w, a t n i g h t , o r G o l d i l o c k s , w i t h h e r p o s t aristocratic sense of entitlement into the petit Bourgouishomes of Blaauwberg or Bellville? Or Little Red equippedwit h a copy of t he Communist Manif esto (and a new pairof prescription eye-glasses) amongst t he wolves ofconsumer culture t hat lur k in t he over ly lit spaces of t hemall? What do we f ear most now? Per haps t he wood hasbecome t he crowd, t he mass, so muc h t he same, of whic hw e a r e m e r e l y a n o t h e r s t a t i s t i c . We f e a r t h e e n d l e s su n i f o r m i t y ; i t t h r e a t e n s o u r s e n s e o f s e l f . Ye t a n y o n ewho has felt t he strengt h of t he crowd, knows t hat t hisi s t h e v e r y s o u r c e o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l ’ s p o w e r. T h e m a s s e sare the saplings, so to speak, of Modernity anddemocratic revolution. Per haps, wit h mass media andcommunications, t hey have grown into somet hing we arenot yet able to recognize, something muc h moreconnected.The letters of Helen Maria Williams, witness to the Frenc hRevolution, turn from elation to sublime horrorLetter II‘T h e p e o p l e , s u re , t h e p e o p l e we re t h e s i g h t ! ’Letter XXVI ' To m e t h e l a n d w h i c h t h e s e m i g h t y m a g i c i a n s h a v esuddenly covered wit h darkness, where weaving t heirevil wand, they have reared the dismal scaf fold, haveclotted the knife of the assassin with gore, have calledf o r t h t h e s h r i e k o f d e s p a i r, a n d t h e a g o n y o f t o r t u r e ; t ome, this land of desolation had once appeared dressedi n a d d i t i o n a l b e a u t y b e n e a t h t h e g e n i a l s m i l e o f l i b e r t y.The woods seemed to cast a more refreshing shade '21
H ow t h e Ta b l e Tu r n sMarx begins his discussion of the commodity in ‘DasKa p i t a l ’ w i t h w h a t i s p e r h a p s h i s m o s t p o e t i c a n a l o g y :It is clear as the noon-day that man, by his industr y,changes the forms of the materials furnished by nature,in such a way as t o make them useful t o him. The formof wood, for inst ance, is alt ered, by making a t able outo f i t . Ye t , f o r a l l t h a t , t h e t a b l e c o n t i n u e s t o b e t h a tcommon, ever y -day thing, wood. But, as soon as it stepsfor th as a commodity, it is changed into somethingtranscendent. It not only stands with its feet on theground, but in relation to all other commodities, it standson its head, and evolves out of its wooden braingrotesque ideas, far more wonder ful than ‘table-turning’ever was.Mar x, ‘The Fe tishism of Commodities and The Secre tT h e re o f ’ i n D a s Ka p i t a lIt strikes me t hat t he conversion of t he dark wood into auseful object such as a table is another possible functiono f t h e w h e t t e d a x e o f r e a s o n . O n e c o u l d , s i m i l a r l y, m a k eout of the primeval forest a scaf fold, perhaps even across. For Mar x, t he table transcends t he wood of t het r e e , t h e s t u f f o f t h e f o r e s t , w h e n i t b e c o m e s a c o m m o d i t y,i . e . w h e n i t i s exc h a n g e d . I t s v a l u e i s n o l o n g e r d e p e n d e n ton its usefulness; how f lat it is, how high it sits, t he grainof t he wood, no longer matter in relation to what it isused for: writing, holding up lamps, the placing of guestsa t d i n n e r. I t s e x c h a n g e v a l u e a l s o h a s l i t t l e t
CARPENTRY 101 “There is something beautiful about reversing the process of making. Of undoing something, of taking it apart. Of returning the object to what it was originally made of. And yet on returning it to the ‘wood’, one may be left with the little arms, remnants of the object for which there is no use; a kind of surplus. I do not mean the kind that brings profit; this is not the .File Size: 1MBPage Count: 44
