Street secrets

WORDS Debbie Loots

April 2014: We found public artist r1 at work again and this time round it was the turn of a dreary Jozi street corner to be brightly and boldly accosted with no less than 100 yield signs arranged in a fractal. Produced in conjunction with the Johannesburg Development Agency’s Urban Upgrade Program, r1 created the artwork to help spread some good vibes in neglected parts of the city.

August 2013: South African street artist r1 has a wayward way with barrier tape and paper. Insisting on anonymity, he and/or she either wraps up parts of electric poles and traffic signs in his homeland or window dresses an empty shop window with paper in England. But, it’s the seductive play of the wayward wind with the blue-and-white tape in the bus stop intervention, which caught our eye. Intrigued, we tried to pin the shadow behind the barriers down.

Who are you?

I am a street artist with a fine arts background. England has been my home for several years, but I am South African and now live in Johannesburg. I like to remain anonymous to keep my freedom to intervene in the city, without boundaries or expectations.

Is there a reason you intervene with specific objects and places or do you just randomly act when inspired?

I like to play with familiar places and public objects, and imagine different alternatives. Sometimes ideas come randomly, but there is a lot of brainstorming before I start working. Then, it’s action. I usually discover a material and then an interesting location where the material would better ‘speak its message’. Before I execute a project I have a vision of what it will look like and I plan it carefully. An important aspect of my work is not only the intervention itself, but also the documentation of the process and the dialogue that it generates.

What inspires you?

The city and my surroundings. Inspiration finds me when I am active, moving and working. I try to revive places and objects we take for granted.

Do the interventions happen as part of an exhibition or do you act independently?

I act independently, although I never sign the work I put up in public spaces. I believe the work belongs to the street. It’s a selfless act and its emphasis is that the piece has a life of its own. When I put the work up, I document it and walk away; to me that is when I let it go. The artwork will still carry on living in its own time but I have detached myself from it.

We love the interaction between the barrier tape and wind in the bus stop in SA. Was this interplay part of the idea behind the work?

It’s often the case that a project can turn out different to what I expect. Especially in the street, it’s impossible to fully control what happens around me, especially while I am doing the intervention. Too much happens at once! Most times I take the role of the mediator, the tool through which the piece acquires its own life. I recently posted a short story specifically based on this random process via good.is.

How do you make a living?

With difficulty. It’s not easy being an artist and specifically doing what I do. But it makes “making a living” a whole lot more interesting!

Why do you do it and what do you hope to achieve through your work?

I always believed that a larger percentage of art should be placed in the street; especially in a country like South Africa with such a rich variety of languages and cultures. It often seems that we have little to say about how cities are set up around us, we just take it as it is. Public artistic interventions create a dialogue between the people living in the city. 

What can we look forward to next?

I’m planning to use barrier tape for upcoming projects in South Africa. I’m also trying to work closer to the community to execute some of the projects. New ideas and projects can change over time, just like my environment; I follow the journey.

www.r1r1r1.net