Sasol New Signatures Art Competition

Brescia House School alumna, Hannah Silcock (Matric 2020), entered the Sasol New Signatures art competition and her work (as featured in the catalogue) was selected as one of the 108 finalists. This competition is open to anyone across the country and considering she is only in her 2^nd year of her Fine Arts degree at the University of Pretoria, and this being her 1^st year piece, it’s an amazing achievement. Her work is on exhibition at Pretoria Art Museum until 2 October. It’s also on the Association of Arts Pretoria website (https://www.artspta.co.za/competitions/sasol-new-signatures/). There is a musical component that plays via a Bluetooth speaker housed inside her artwork.

Hannah’s rationale about the work:

Title: Heavy Metal

We often need to visualise things to realise their true impact. Likewise, I seek to make tangible noise pollution. The human race is unaware of much of the ambient noise enveloping its reality. Through the medium of welding as a construction work, the causes of environmental noise and pollution in general are communicated. Not only do I materialise sound, but I cultivate the emergence of a creature. The sculpture takes on a living quality in its rising stance and violent voice – occupying the environment of the viewer. Protruding, encroaching, obstructing, and bombarding, this creature produces a cry of mechanical disturbance. The rumble of traffic engines and drone of construction works, both leading sponsors of noise pollution, are combined into a musical hyperbole.

This sculpture is made entirely of Italian Supercar performance parts. The pure value rate of this artwork is enticing yet it does not look expensive nor monetarily attractive, instead we see a heap of scrap metal. In this way, the idea of consumerism and process of excessive disposal is available. A monster is born from the cast aways of the human race – an accurate metonymical comparison in light of a dangerously unsustainable lifestyle.