09 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, Opinions & reviews
Tags: hand spring puppets, puppets, south african art, south african theatre, william kentridge, woyzeck
Last night we saw Woyzeck on the Higveld at the Baxter Theatre. What magic! A combination of the breathtaking puppetry of the Handspring Puppet Company and William Kentridge‘s animated charcoal drawings. The puppets were near life size, each manipulated by two puppeteers, and the animation were projected on the screen behind them.
There are so many layers to this show. The puppets themselves are more intensly alive than actors could be. I would love to have a closer look at them, the brooding Woyzec, the stately Maria and her baby, the creepy doctor – each with their pair of puppeteers moving and living with them.
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04 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in 2 Work in progress, Colour, Myself
Tags: masha du toit, south african art
Having overcome an absolute torrent of procratination I’ve finally started on the second half of my coming show – the animations. This is the unfinished face of my nameless girl.
Look well, as I may chicken out and remove these work in progress posts…
03 May 2008
by mashadutoit
in Myself
Tags: dogs, walking dogs
This evening I walked my dogs past the house with the many huskies. They usually bark loudly as I struggle past. This time I stopped. My dogs looked at them. They went quiet and stared back. All seven of them in a row, looking rather silly. Not a peep, until we moved off again. For some reason, this struck me as very comical.
28 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in Myself
Tags: crime
And so here I am. Last night we were hijacked again. We were coming home from an evening out, commemorating my mother’s birthday a little more than two years since she died.
Brendon and myself had already gone into my father’s house to open the garage doors for him. Shouting and doors banging. Brendon running and shouting at me to “Get inside! Shut the door! Shut the door!”. I find the door and close it. I find the panic button and press it. Last time I had not pressed it long enough, so I hold it down. Then I rush to the alarm pad. I press all the little buttons. Fire. Ambulance. Police. Ambulance. Fire. My father comes in with his shirt rumpled and looking dazed. The security people arrive, fill in forms, and leave. The police arive. They are very calm and have to fill in a remarkable amount of forms. Then they leave. And we leave also. My father stays.
You dont care that the car is gone, so long as no one is hurt. You go over the events in your mind again.
It reminds me of working with a bandsaw. You guide the wood through and all is smooth and clean. Then there is a snag. The blade gets trapped, or catches and slams the wood out of your hands. For an instant you feel the true power of the machine you are leaning against and become aware of your vulnrability.
26 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in books, Inspiration, Opinions & reviews
Tags: children's books, fantasy books
I recently came across this quote in an interview with fantasy author Garth Nix – speaking about the importance of a moral message in children’s books:
“I subscribe to the belief that if you want to send a message, use Western Union.”
This reminded me of the famous Tolkien quote, from his introduction to The Lord of the Rings:
” I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.”
And yet when stories deal with the issues we have to face in our lives, we feel the rightness of it. More
17 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in Art, Colour, Illustration
Tags: commercial art, lisa frank
I suppose its not so strange. “Lisa Frank” must be quite a common name. And what is the significance of having the same name as some one else in any case? But I still find it fascinating to find two women with the same name who create such different works:
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13 Apr 2008
by mashadutoit
in Myself, Opinions & reviews
Tags: public transport south africa, south african railways
A topic that’s been on my mind for a while is that of commuting by train in Cape Town. I take the train to work every day, from Wynberg station to the central station in town. Mostly when people find this out, they are a little surprised. “But no one takes the train.” and “Is it safe?” or alternatively “if more people took the train, we could solve our transport situation.”
I am left with quite mixed feelings.
On the one hand, the train seems to be awfully full of people every morning if nobody is traveling by train. More
29 Mar 2008
by mashadutoit
in Colour, Myself
Tags: cats, death
I just saw a ginger cat carrying a pure white pigeon he had killed. The cat had the pigeon by the throat and was carrying it like a flag, very proudly. The pigeon was so white I thought it was a cloth at first. Then I saw its little dark eye looking at me. I’m not sure if it was dead yet.
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