Codex

This guy Michael and I share mutual friends and therefore our paths cross on occasion. Also, he is in his final year of Graphic Design, and I am in my final year of Visual Studies, and we both fall under the Visual Arts, so we've had a few overlapping classes. Last week the designers had their final year exhibition, and I was extremely surprised at what they could actually do. In class they formed this arrogant entity that swerved in five minutes late and looked down at everyone that did not do information design. After the exhibit (and obsessive verbal diarrhoea  about how awesome Michael is) a friend asked that if the designers could do all of these things, what had I spent my last four years on? My answer was: "Looking". I can look at things really well.

Visual Studies is not a glamorous field of study. You won't find a job as a visual studier, whatever that may be. You most likely won't earn a lot of money, ever. In fact, I have been told to not get married to anyone who did a BA, but should rather cast my love-net towards engineers and others who will actually earn some moolah so that I can continue looking at things. You need to be flexible, and to be willing to adapt to where you find employment. The law, engineering, finance, all of that is like this : [ ]. It fits nicely, there are rules and equations and things that bring order to the world. Looking is like this : __|~~~~|#|~~|~___``````+/~|~+°°|
It is a combination of signs and it is up to you to choose what it could mean, to interpret what line and shape and colour form.

On Thursday I handed in my dissertation. It is done. Now just write the French dissertation and wait for the December holidays to begin and mangos to be back in season. C'mon mangos. Come back to me.

Here are some images from the Exposure exhibit by the Information Design 4th years of the University of Pretoria.

Tanya van Tilburg

Molotov/Wonderful Life

One week of road-trippin' ahead, destination semi-unknown.
This one will be at the top of my playlist.

Greetings from the seaside

This is how my dogs roll. 

I hope everyone is having a getting into the holiday spirit and feeling festive. It is a bit ridiculous celebrating Christmas with a turkey and a Christmas tree when it is 35`C outside and you are wearing a summery dress, but after all one needs to reflect on what one is celebrating and for which reasons. I am not very religious and see Christmas more as a celebration of family, unity and peace, as a time to come together and share a meal, as a time to show appreciation for those around us and as a time of charity towards those less fortunate.

Well, this is just a short hello from the seaside, it seems my scheduled posts have worked.

A last goodbye from Spitzi himself:

See, hier kom ons*

Wilderness

Môre pak ons weer die lang pad aan: my suster, die twee honde, die blou Polo en ek. My koffer is half gepak, die padkos amper ook, die honde se goed staan reg om gelaai te word. So trippie maak my altyd baie opgewonde. Net om bietjie weg te kom, om vir 'n rukkie nie hier te wees nie, nie alles te sien wat mens ken nie, om bietjie mens se oe op ander vlaktes te rus is so lekker.

En Wilderness is altyd lekker.Elkeen doen sy eie ding, elkeen lees sy boek, kyk TV, ons eet in die middae saam buite en drink rustig 'n glasie wyn.. Mens kan net ontspan na 'n jaar van harde werk. In my een boek was daar 'n kort onderhoud met 'n vrou wat in Frankryk in die voedselbedryf werk. Sy het gesê dat dit vir haar belangrik is dat die lewe uitegbalanseer word: na tye van spanning en stress moet mens 'n tydjie hê waar mens net met 'n groot glas rooiwyn op die bank lê en kan ontspan.

So dit is die plan vir die volgende paar weke. Omdat ek daar nie Internet sal hê nie, het ek al 'n paar posts voorgeskryf, dalk werk die ding en hulle post hulself.

Lekker vakansie mense :)


* Sea, here we come

Tomorrow we are driving the long way down to the coast - my sister, our two dogs, the blue Polo and I. My bag is half packed, the snacks for the road as well, die dogs' luggage is ready to be loaded in the car. A trip like this always excites me. Just to get away for a bit, to not be here for a while, to not see everything one knows, to rest one's eyes on different landscapes is so wonderful.

And Wilderness is always great. Everyone does their own thing, reading books or watching TV. For lunchtime we sit outside and drink a glass of wine. One can relax after a busy year. In one of my French books, a lady that works for some pastry-specialist said that it is important for her that her life follows certain rhythms: if it is stressful and hectic at times, one needs a moment to relax on the couch with a big glass of red wine.

So that is the plan for the next few weeks. Because I won't have Internet there, I pre-wrote some posts, lets see if the whole scheduling of it works out.

Enjoy your holidays :)

Marked (wo)man

Spring has hit South Africa like a sudden tsunami, the youth has pulled out shorts and shorter skirts and colour from their cupboards. Older ladies stop wearing stockings because the heat and the touching thighs to not go well together. Flip flops are welcomed back. We come together more for braais in afternoons, meat and salad is abundant between conversations about the December holidays and plans for next year.

We are jumping the gun and heading sea-side earlier than expected. And with the beach comes that dreaded undressing and presenting of the body in clothes that you would never wear elsewhere in public because they hide no imperfection. Women have to go through torturous extractions and manipulations of natural hairlines. They feel the need to do Special K's "drop a dress size in 2 weeks" diet and eat cabbage soup and  use de-cellulite creams and mould their bodies so that they will look ok in a bikini. 

But I have noticed that all of this is rather mindless: sure you want to look good, in any case, and all the time. I am pretty certain no one prefers to look shabby and messy to being attractive to others. However, I have been using my great voyeuristic talents and observing people's bodies on campus and I tell you now: even the thinnest of girls have cellulite and stretchmarks. It seem to just be the skin's way of saying "screw you and your need for even perfection". 

In the poetry anthology Difficult to explain, edited by Finuala Dowling, Heather Tibshraeny captures Stretchmarks:

pink wiggly lines

like earthworms lined up along my upper thighs

No, they are not from having children

No, they are not beautiful

they are from pushing something too far 

till it breaks

like curfew

like third base

They are from a time

when youth went galloping forward brazenly

but skin stood still

.