1 – 11 November 2014
Outside David Krut Projects – 142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood
The Shack forms part of artist St. John Fuller’s exhibition My Family and Other Cameras (David Krut Bookstore, 151 Jan Smuts Avenue) in which he experiments with self-made pinhole cameras and camera obscurae. His most recent installation is The Shack, a project aimed at fundraising for Fuller’s assistant in order to buy him a home. This was first installed on Long Street, Pretoria before being moved to the Pretoria Zoo as part of the city’s 2014 Cool Capital initiative.
The Shack is literally a corrugated iron shack, in this instance erected on the pavement outside the David Krut Projects Gallery on Jan Smuts Avenue. The shack has a hole drilled into each wall, making an aperture which allows light into the darkened space. Inverted images are then projected onto screens inside the shack, showing the passing traffic and street scenes outside.
Fuller’s shack has already received a lot of attention, just in the few hours he has spent installing it on the street. Fuller says that most people have not heard of and don’t understand what a camera obscura is, but that the experience of The Shack illustrates the basic principles of photography in an interactive way. In addition, Fuller says that a lot of people are astounded that there is no technology involved, and many don’t believe him!
The Shack (as part of My Family and Other Cameras) forms part of the Joburg Photo Umbrella for the month of November. After spending some time on Jan Smuts Avenue, The Shack will be moving back to Pretoria.
“Although each frame tells a unique story, they all share a common thread, the thread of the moment, the event that they experienced together.” – St. John Fuller.
31 October 2014