01a / The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (46664) & The Circle of life

In 2009, an emerging environmental artist, Christopher Swift, rescued the remains of the historical Robben Island Prison fence being restored in preparation for the FIFA World Cup. Recycling and re-using what was previously seen as useless, unwanted or oppressive is a feature in Swift’s work.

In 2010 Swift erected a permanent installation at the Apartheid Museum Johannesburg as a tribute to the former statesman titled ‘Twenty Years Ago’ commemorating Nelson Mandela’s release; won the Spier Contemporary Judges Award; coordinated a group art exhibition inspired by this rare fencing material at the Gateway to Robben Island; and established RIACT.co.za, a social enterprise which aims to employ and up-skill labour through the sale of fencing artifact. Swift admits ‘it’s not going to save the world, but it demonstrates what one individual can do’.

 

The City of Cape Town is therefore pleased for the loan of Swift’s to scale model of the cell Mandela spent 18 years in on Robben Island as it highlights the legacy of another individual and what he was able to achieve and inspire in a nation and on earth. The work is aptly titled ‘The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (46664)’ and is an intended play on the pen and the penitentiary. Swift comments that Nelson Mandela and his comrades used to refer to Robben Island as Makhanda/Makana – which is University. It is for this and countless other examples that Nelson Mandela is remembered for in his ability to find possibility in adversity.

 

Christopher Swift’s eagerly anticipated 2nd solo show opens at Commune.1 Gallery, Wale Street on Saturday 17th August 2013. www.chrisswift.co.za

01b / Recycling light: The gift that keeps on giving

A pioneering South African environmental artist brings light to Khayelitsha

On Friday the 14th of June, Westerns Cape MEC for Human Settlements Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela unveiled the new Masikule PHP 800 (People's Housing Project) in Khayelitsha where homes were fitted with the energy saving ‘Christmas lights’. But while the project came with the endorsement of local government, these were no ordinary standard issue lights. They were energy efficient LED bulbs repurposed from environmental artist Chris Swift’s December 2012 recycled Christmas tree art project.

Swift a former winner of both the Spier Contemporary Art Awards and the Michaelis Awards, built and organized the tree out of his own pocket, as part of the City of Cape Town's Dept. Solid Waste's 'Waste2Art' campaign in the Company Gardens. In a small way, it was also a tribute to Nelson Mandela because the fencing used to construct the tree was rescued from Robben Island prison.

Recycling and re-using what was previously seen as useless, unwanted or oppressive is a feature in Swift’s work and the gigantic tree made from unwanted wood in his Umlungu exhibition in 2011 which through highlighting the plight of the centuries-old alien Stone Pines in the Cape was a commentary on what and when something is considered African.

While in this project the Christmas tree was a Dept. of Solid Waste initiative, Swift – ever the resourceful scavenger - leveraged on the Christmas spirit to get the Dept. of Electricity to also contribute their old cable drums for his construction. He then went on to convince a leading lighting company, in energy efficiency, NTL Lemnis Africa, to donate 80 LED bulbs for the project with the proviso that the Ministry of Human Settlements would redistribute the globes to those who most needed to make energy savings.

“When this artist from Cape Town initially approached us, we were surprised” says Francois Van Tonder, CEO NTL Lemnis Africa, “But once we learnt of his credentials and listened to his bigger vision, it was an easy match for us to make. We at Lemnis Africa are committed to a sustainable and brighter future in South Africa.”

The 80 LED lights, which have an estimated lifespan of 25 years, will help a hand-full of new home-owner’s reduce their electrical consumption by 80%, a massive saving in the face of a slew of tariff increases Eskom is angling for.

Swift says, “It’s one of the greatest ironies of economics, that the people that most need to make savings, cannot afford the cost saving investment. This is not limited to low income, the same dilemma exists in big industry, where developing countries can't afford to invest in the infrastructural expenses that garner its citizens a better quality and more affordable standard of living.”

On the same day that the new lights were shedding cost-saving, energy-efficient light on Khayelitsha, it was also announced on Friday by the World Design Capital, that Swift’s Project X, which involves the donation of approximately 4,000 LED lights has made the official 2014 short list.

His work, ‘The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (46664)’ can be seen at the Mandela Tribute exhibition at the Cape Town Civic Centre opening 30th June 2013.

The future looks bright for both the residents of Masikule, Khayelitsha and Swift.