ETIENNE DE KOCK
April 9, 1994

 

As programming continued, the FLAT enjoyed support from many of the Technikon Fine Art faculty. MacKenny, Frost, Chandler, Roome and Jeremy Wafer amoungst others, were all regular visitors to the exhibitions. For some time, Frost, Chandler and MacKenny had mentioned the possibility of showing work. Some, like MacKenny, saw it as an opportunity to work outside of their usual format, and those of us who had been former students were interested in provoking a more experimental approach in our lecturers’ work. It was Etienne De Kock, Technikon Sculpture lecturer and foundryman, who would become the first faculty member to exhibit at the FLAT.
De Kock’s exhibition featured three ‘machine-like sculptures’. Two of these were meticulously crafted brass and bronze constructions made with movable parts, which allowed for audience participation. Like intricate games with enigmatic purposes, one featured a lever, which when pulled set a small metal ball into motion. Another was built with three concentric rings that moved to spin a central figure. In a sense, these two ‘games’ confronted the viewer with an almost philosophical conundrum. They offered action and rich imagery, but the ‘purpose’ remained unknown.
The third of the ‘contraptions’ was a ‘drawing machine’ made of wood and designed to resemble a standard three-legged easel. It was this ‘machine’ which had been used to ‘produce’ many of the drawings that hung in long strips on the walls. In an interview with De Kock he describes this work:
                                                                                                                                                            
Allen:               Can you talk about your work that you did at the particular exhibit?
De Kock:         Well, I had this drawing machine, where it rolled the paper on so that I can draw without dirtying the paper. And I had rolled pages and pages. It was like two, three years work. And when I had this exhibition, I just chucked all my work on. I took everything I was working on, put it down… I sliced up all of this long line of paper, which was about 100 yards long, that I had done all my drawings on and I just hung it up on the walls. And I didn’t care that it wasn’t in… The one thing that it was in was chronological sequence, which I enjoyed. But that’s all, I just put my work up and people came.[1]

The Exhibition was one of the best attended at the FLAT, with over 100 people filling the small space throughout the evening. In attendance were Carol Brown and Jill Addelson from the Durban Art Gallery. This was their first visit to the FLAT. Press coverage followed with these comments from Meijer:

The idea that Durban’s experimental gallery, the FLAT, only caters for students and young artists was disproved at the weekend when works by established sculptor Etienne De Kock, were exhibited. The exhibition drew a large crowd and received much acclaim. The FLAT organizers encourage all artists to come along. Their goal is to break down barriers between so‑called established artists and “young” student artists. The space is for all who want to experiment with new ideas.[2]

In conversation with De Kock, he spoke about his reasons for exhibiting at the FLAT:

De Kock:         I just felt like with the NSA, I just could not exhibit with… I can’t remember the woman’s name… but I remember her face. But the NSA has a political structure; the whole point is that you have to buy into that if you are going to exhibit there. Do you buy into that? I was very glad to exhibit at the FLAT Gallery because I didn’t have to buy into anything. I could just deal with the space, you know. There was nothing attached to it.
De Kock:         It was a good space and it was low pressure. I could just go there and put it up.
Allen:               …and do what you want to do?
De Kock:         Ja. There was no curatorial pressure or anything like that. I just thought I am showing my stuff and it didn’t need to be some ‘serious’ exhibition space.
Buster:             Did you do different work, because you were showing at the FLAT? Did that affect your work in any way?
De Kock:         No, not at all. I just carried on doing what I was doing but I had a chance to have space to show it.[3]

But later, he voiced some objections to the notion of his show giving the FLAT ‘legitimacy’:

Allen:               A lot of people at that time were saying that your exhibition at the FLAT helped legitimize the gallery in terms of the Durban ‘art establishment’. Because up until that point some people thought that the FLAT was just a ‘wank’. But the fact that you had an exhibition there and you were a lecturer at Tech and an established artist; that legitimized the FLAT Gallery. People like Carol Brown [senior curator, DAG] and Jill Addelson [then director, DAG] came to see the show and therefore came to the FLAT.
De Kock: I don’t know. I have nothing to say about that. I don’t know who said that I legitimized the gallery. You see, the real problem is that everyone thinks that youngsters have nothing to say. Now it’s fine having that point of view, if you have vested interests. So that they can always say you were not legitimate because you had not shown anyone who is established, which is what you are trying to say. And because I come along and have a show, suddenly you have legitimacy, is just bullshit. Just because you are young artists, doesn’t mean you have nothing to say. The problem is those with vested interests that don’t believe you are legitimate until you have a member of the ‘vested interests’ exhibiting in your gallery. It’s not right. And what you did is you got a space and you activated it, and that is legitimate. The stuff that happened there was fine. The young people got into it. You know people who just ignore things on the basis of legitimacy are just wankers.[1]

However, De Kock, who often worked with commissions and public sculptures had this to say about ‘press coverage’ and ‘affirmation’ for artists at the FLAT:

De Kock: What we have been talking about is my, the artist’s response, to having a space to exhibit. What I don't know is what anyone thought of the show. You see no one… There was no acknowledgement. And, you know I put the stuff up and that was good enough for me.
Allen: What do you mean by acknowledgement? Criticism in the newspaper or just conversational?
De Kock: Look I’m less worried about the newspaper than people who throw money at me and ask me to do things for them. No, I want to make a fucking living…
[Laughter][2]

DE KOCK installing his exhibition at the FLAT, 1994.

The opening night of DE KOCK'S exhibition, 1994.