Artist’s Statement: “Graphoasis is a collaborative ephemeral installation initiated by Sandile Radebe and Elgin Rust. The piece was conceived for Afrika Burn’14. The Burn is an event based in the Tankwa region of the Karoo, a place that has no cellphone signal, no electricity or running water. For one week, ‘Burners’ meet at this place in order to express themselves at this remote location. The harshness and scarcity of resources creates a climate conductive towards interdependency. As such, there is a heightened awareness towards others and their needs. This interdependence allows the community to engage with each other and the artworks produced for the event. This participatory space is an environment that allows artists to take a measure of the extent to which public art could engage with a community.

Graffiti is traditionally connoted by spray-painted tags usually located in public urban spaces. However, for Graphoasis, the artists proposed to create an ephemeral graffiti tag in the natural environment of the Karoo. Triangular pieces of cardboard are sprayed and arranged in a way that spells the word “trick”, albeit in a very abstract fashion. Aesthetically, the installation uses prime shapes and raw lines. A latte skeleton that crosses at one point is secured using hessian rope. The cardboard pieces are clad onto the raw structure using a staple gun, in this manner creating a three-dimensional tag. The cardboard cladding casts a shadow, which grows and shrinks throughout the day as the sun rises and sets again offering much needed shade to the viewers. In the heat of the Karoo, shade and water are highly sought-after resources. In the true spirit of an oasis, Graphoasis shaded a 25L drum of water accessible to the thirsty revellers of Afrika Burn.