YDESIRE at the Castle of Good Hope
After more than year's hiatus, Softserve once again takes place, and, following in the footsteps of its predecessor YDETAG, it's called YDESIRE after the event's main sponsor Young Designer's Emporium (YDE). No less a Public Eye event than the previous three, it has been curated by artist and Public Eye member James Webb, who played a major role in YDETAG. He has been joined by Kim Stern, a Michaelis graduate, who will be remembered for 'Aisle 5', the art/ shopping event which took place in Cape Town last year. The event has also moved from its usual home, the South African National Gallery, to the Castle of Good Hope. This much larger venue is certainly more loaded, both ideologically and aesthetically, and provides a variety of spaces from its tranquil courtyards to its damp dungeons. December's MCQP event which took place there was, by all accounts, a gorgeous affair and suffered no bottlenecks for which both it and the Softserve events have become notorious.
In the same way that curators Andrew Putter and James Webb and producer Robert Weinek encouraged and fostered collaborations between artists and across disciplines, so too is that kind of 'inter-media' practice to be found this time round. The range of participants and works becomes ever more bizarre with a work by ex-soldiers and sculptors and another in meat by a former Spur Steak Ranch chef on the cards. Hip 18 - 35's magazine SL has been brought aboard and have themed their February issue 'Desire'. They have given the event a double page spread. Good Hope FM has donated a number of radio spots as well.
Alongside the evening's event, the curators have been working on an 'Objects of Desire' campaign whereby anyone is encouraged to donate, for exhibition, any object of their own desire. These have been exhibited in YDE's shop windows and will be curated into an exhibition on the evening. Donations so far include sex toys, photographs and even an old pair of Stokees. A PR company, Total Media, has taken up the ball and have organised a celebrity version of the 'Objects of Desire' project, which will also be exhibited on the evening.
Works to look out for include The Odd Enjinears' in the Donker Gat in the dungeon, Johann Van der Schijff's Missile, Inge Prin's stop-frame movie in the Castle's Torture Chamber, Tom Schwarer's 8m moon sculpture and, Japanese noise artist Wa's 15 minutes of Fame. Other participants to look out for include Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, Jean Brundrit, Kevin Brand, Kathryn Smith, Christian Nerf, Doreen Southwood, Pete Eastman, Matthew Hindley, Ed Young, Cobus van Bosch and students from the Community Arts Project.
The event takes place from 6pm on Saturday February 22 at the Castle of Good Hope, Darling Street, Cape Town. See you there.
Tickets are limited and will be available from February 1 through Computicket. For more information visit www.yde.co.za or contact ydesire@yde.co.za
Tel: 797-8002
Fax: 797-4543
083 285-7571 (Kim Stern)
082 371-3833 (James Webb)
