Retrospektiewe vervreemding van tegnologiese media: animasieprosesse by William Kentridge - Opperman, Johannes Arnoldus (University of the Free State, 2013)
English: Although the South-African artist, William Kentridge has practised his creativity in many domains (as observer, activist, artist, storyteller and thinking director) in a wide range of media (including land art, sculpture, etching and stage and theatre productions), it is chiefly his large charcoal drawings in process (drawings for animation) and his unique, short, handmade, animated films and their projection that have given him international fame. The question has arisen how technological media underwent a process of retrospect-tive alienation in William Kentridge’s animation processes. The development of Kentridge’s large wall drawings to drawings for animation and projection is discussed, while mark making, montage and editing within the greater filmic whole, are emphasized. For Kentridge his drawings for animation (1988–1996) and drawings for projection (1996 to the present) remain central themes in all the new media and multimedia performances. In this study research was done to determine which methods and techniques Kentridge used, as a film director to edit a sequence of drawings into an animated film. Consequently, his dramatic, narrative and critical combination of interdisciplinary media like drawing, language, photography and film, video and theatre productions are emphasized. The drawing as an image creating process and Kentridge’s agency (his sleight of hand, drawing actions, unique mark textures, gramma and graphein, mark making and superimposition) were explored in order to create a unique image. The emphasis has been on how Kentridge made his drawings by means of charcoal, pastel and an eraser by making marks on paper, then erasing certain marks and again making new marks over those previous ones, while constantly filming the creation process (his so-called stone age animation). The focus has been on his use of the drawing hand as an intelligent, mark making and mark changing tool (performance). Through his use of outdated film and animation technologies, techniques and technological media which he transposed to a contemporary environment and current technological infrastructure and made comments on, he exhibited the meta-referential and expressive features of his medium. Kentridge has created art that connects with the new media concepts through his skilful integration of the charcoal drawing medium with existing technologies. By means of editing, montage, special effects and film tricks he opened new possibilities to animation as an art and cinematic form that would eventually be projected as an imaginary artwork (animated fiction). Even after nine films in the Drawings for projection series Kentridge still used his unique stone age animation technique and made new films. After some time Kentridge started to make existing literary works, dramatic texts and librettos his own and gave it an African flavour. His use of projection technology and various projection techniques contributed to the success of the visual narrative element. Kentridge’s expression of the shadow as image, profile image drawings and his moving silhouette processions are discussed. From the late 1980s William Kentridge added projection to his Drawings for projection, his animated film and video images. By means of some old (for example Baroque theatre) and contemporary theatre technology (like projectors and computers) he projected his animations in galleries, on miniature theatre models, the stage space, stage décor and screens, while live actors, opera singers, puppets, marionettes and their manipulators, as well as mechanical dolls/automata performed in the foreground of the multimedia stage productions. By adding marionettes and automata to his animated drawings, he created full-fledged narrative and dramatic artworks. Kentridge’s appropriation of discarded and outdated visual technologies, “retrospec-tive alienation” of various processes of visualizing and medializing (in the early stages of the history of modernism of the Western visual media) and their addition to animation procedures have become distinctive of his art.

Afrikaans: Alhoewel die Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar, William Kentridge, sy kreatiwiteit op vele terreine (as waarnemer, aktivis, kunstenaar, storieverteller en denkende regisseur) en ’n wye verskeidenheid media (waaronder landkuns, beeldhou, etse en verskeie verhoog- en teaterproduksies) beoefen het, is dit veral sy houtskooltekeninge (drawings for animation) in proses en sy unieke, kort, handgemaakte animasiefilms en die projeksie daarvan, wat hom internasionale beroemdheid besorg het. Die vraag het ontstaan hoe tegnologiese media ’n proses van retrospektiewe vervreemding in William Kentridge se animasieprosesse ondergaan het. Die ontwikkeling van Kentridge se muurtekeninge tot tekeninge vir animasie en projeksie word bespreek, terwyl die klem veral op merkmaking, montage en redigering binne die groter filmiese geheel gelê is. Vir Kentridge bly sy tekeninge (drawings for animation) (1988-1996) en geprojekteerde tekeninge (drawings for projection) (1996-tans) sentrale temas in al die nuwe-media- en multimedia-uitvoerings. In hierdie studie is ’n ondersoek geloods om te bepaal watter metodes en tegnieke Kentridge as filmregisseur gebruik het om ’n sekwens tekeninge tot ’n animasiefilm te redigeer. Gevolglik het die klem geval op sy dramatiese, narratiewe en kritiese kombinasie van interdissiplinêre media soos teken, taal, fotografie en film, video- en teaterproduksies (performance). Die tekening as beeldskeppende proses en Kentridge se agency (sy ‘sleight of hand’, tekenaksies, unieke merkteksture, gramma en graphein, merkmaking en superponering) is ondersoek ten einde ’n unieke beeld te skep. Die klem val op hoe Kentridge sy tekeninge gemaak het met behulp van houtskool, pastel en ’n uitveër deur merke op papier te maak, daarna sekere merke te verwyder, en weer nuwe merke bo-oor te maak terwyl hy voortdurend die skeppingsproses op film (stone age-animasie) vasgelê het. Daar word dus op sy gebruik van die tekenende hand as ’n intelligente, merkmakende en merkwissende werktuig gefokus. Deurdat hy van uitgediende film- en animasietegnologieë, tegnieke en tegnologiese media gebruik gemaak het wat hy na ’n kontemporêre milieu en hedendaagse tegnologiese infrastruktuur verplaas het, en daarop kommentaar gelewer het, het hy gevolglik metareferensieel die ekspressiewe kenmerke van sy medium ten toon gestel. Deur sy behendige integrasie van die houtskoolteken-medium met bestaande tegnologieë het Kentridge gevolglik iets geskep wat by die nuwe-media-konsepte aangesluit het. Met behulp van redigering, montage, spesiale effekte en filmtruuks het hy nuwe moontlikhede aan animasie as kuns- en kinematiese vorm gebied wat eindelik as denkbeeldige kunswerk (geanimeerde fiksie) geprojekteer sal word. Selfs na nege films in die Drawings for projection-reeks het Kentridge steeds sy unieke stone age-animasietegniek gebruik en steeds nuwe films gemaak. Met verloop van tyd het Kentridge begin om ook bestaande literêre werke, dramatekste asook operaverhale sy eie te maak en dit ’n Afrika-inslag te gee. Sy gebruikmaking van projeksietegnologie en ’n verskeidenheid projeksietegnieke het tot die geslaagdheid van die visuele verhalende element bygedra. Daar is ook op Kentridge se vertolking van die skadu as beeld, profielbeeldtekeninge, sy bewegende silhoeëtprosessies gekonsentreer. William Kentridge het reeds vanaf die laat 1980’s projeksie by sy Drawings for projection-tekeninge, sy animasiefilm- en videobeelde gevoeg. Met behulp van sommige ou ― (soos byvoorbeeld Barokteater) en kontemporêre verhoog-tegnologie (soos projektors en rekenaars) het hy sy animasies in galerye, op miniatuurteatermodelle, die verhoogruimte, verhoogdekor en skerms geprojekteer, terwyl lewendige akteurs, operasangers, toneelpoppe en marionette en hul manipuleerders asook meganiese poppe/outomatons in die voorgrond van die multimedia-verhoogproduksies hul teatrale spel en performances gelewer het. Deur die byvoeging van marionette en outomatons by sy geanimeerde tekeninge het hy volwaardige narratiewe en dramatiese kunswerke geskep. Kentridge se toeëiening van verouderde en uitgediende visuele tegnologieë, oftewel “retrospektiewe vervreemding” van verskeie prosesse van visualisering en medialisering (in die vroeë stadiums van die moderniseringsgeskiedenis van die Westerse visuele media), by sy animasieprosedures, het kenmerkend van sy kuns geword.
Keywords: Theatre; Narrativity; Performative multimedia; Optical devices; Performativity; Auteur; Photography; Projection; Animation processes; Stone-age animation Drawings for projection; Moving image; Charcoal drawing; Animation (Cinematography) -- South Africa; Animated films -- South Africa; Multimedia (Art); Thesis (Ph.D. (Art History))--University of the Free State, 2013; William Kentridge -- Criticism and interpretation