Sunday, April 17, 2005

Dilomprizulike: Wear and Tear
BY MOLARA WOOD

IT was London opening of the Depth of Field exhibition, and a member of the collective of creative photographers and artists, Uchechukwu James-Iroha, shared some thoughts about Dilomprizulike a.k.a 'the Junkman from Afrika'. "Junkman is something else," he declared, moving on to talk about the artist's Junkyard Museum of Awkward Things in Lagos. "The junkyard is a heap of things that we call junk, but really, a heap of materials that tell stories, just like Lagos is a heap of human beings, cars and stuff that tell stories as well."

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Junkman's work is all one, "broken into individual, but very organised bits," according to James-Iroha, who first saw the artist's Waiting For Bus two years ago. "It's unbelievable!" the photographer enthused. "Wear and Tear is on the guys waiting for the bus. You can see them: broken, wood, tins, buckets, metals and stuff. You can see how society has turned the people mentally, into shreds."
Junkman was back in Lagos by the time of this conversation, but it helped that I'd first viewed Waiting For Bus with the man himself. Going into the Africa Remix exhibition, the piece is among the very first works on view. Comprising 15 figures put together from junk, the sculptural pieces show characters waiting for a bus "to the promised land, in the form of economic prosperity, development and better lives," as Junkman explained. "And they wait in all places of society, be it the church, school or internet cafZ."
A football fills the space where one female figure's backside should have been, because "that is the playground, and everything that defines her existence happens there." Junk has its own narrative. Everything added, or even the way the figures are positioned in relation to one another, has meaning. "Because of the nature of the junk, one must be disciplined and precise, so as not to be too wordy." Another female has mismatched boobs, representing ladies in society, with breasts real and fake. "See her borrowed hair," Junkman pointed out. Nearby is one male, the contents of whose rucksack are "pointers to what is happening in his life." To the question: "Who is he?" Junkman answered: "He is one of us."

The work is a powerful commentary on the condition of the average Nigerian; a largely disinterested specie, as far as Dilomprizulike's work is concerned. The artist concedes that it will take time for larger society to be convinced that his, is not "a form of madness." For now, he sees Nigerian society as one caught in the frenzy of the moment and on the lookout for overnight superstars. Citing the parable of the sower, Junkman declared that his fulfilment comes from sowing the seeds of his art. "Where or how they germinate, is for posterity."
He suggested another reason for societal disinterest: "The average adult cannot accept reality because he is already soaked in it. That's why I look to the kids." On his visits to the Hayward Gallery venue of the Africa Remix, the artist would often hold adhoc interactive sessions with school children milling around his work. He was also involved in workshops to prepare youngsters for a youth-focussed fashion show on the African 'Kaba' style. With project coordinator Barby Asante, he gave the children ideas on working imaginatively with fabrics. A glass room in the Hayward Gallery overlooking impressive views of the South Bank, was the venue for the workshop. Two 'Kaba' design charts hung on the wall. One, 'Idije Ultimate Fashion Show', showed Nollywood actress Toyin 'Lola Idije' Afolayan in a variety of designs and poses. Kicking off the workshop was a video of Junkman's Wear and Tear, comprising sculptures with movement, text and sound added, "to give them life and to drive the message home." As a whole, "Wear and Tear is a creative work I've used to talk about characters in the Nigerian society that influence it, for good or for bad."
Barby Asante said of the Wear and Tear video: "It was very good in getting the kids to look at the performative aspects of the project," which she insisted, was not a fashion show, but an art show. For those taking part, it was "about learning these traditional styles and redefining and restyling them, emphasizing on the performativity of the style."
One of the youngsters in the workshop was Liliane from Chad, and Junkman helped in the early stages of her design. It was to be a 'Mammy Water' dress, but after the artist's input, was beginning to take on elements of a butterfly. Liliane felt a 'Mammy Water' dress should look fish-like; not so, according to Junkman. "If you consider too much, you'll inhibit yourself," he told her. "All you need to do is close your eyes and listen to your voice inside." And so he tore his sketch of the dress into two, putting the pieces together in different ways, to show the possibilities. Ultimately, "It's brain racking, to break up set ideas." Liliane was persuaded, and the artist noted with satisfaction that the young Chadian was "trying to grasp the ground of knowledge," in order to produce the best work possible.

Liliane's dress featured in the 'Kaba' Fashion Show in the Salon Afrique of the Royal Festival Hall, after Junkman's return to Lagos. The London staging of Wear and Tear took place a day ahead of his departure. A "touring message," the work has been seen in Nigeria, Barcelona, and Dusseldorf. Dr. Charles Gore of the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) photographed the event, and brought along an associate to film the proceedings. A UK-based Nigerian photographer, Ade Omoloja, was present, as was Zimbabwean sculptor Tapfuma Gutsa. Others included Lagos photographer George Osodi and filmmaker Kaneng Lolang. A native of Jos, Ms Lolang shares with Junkman a love for discarded things, and returned from her last trip to Lagos with plenty of empty 'pure water' bags. It was only fitting that the two should be introduced, and I did the honours.

To the sound of Fela's Africa, Centre of the World, the sculptures and characters in the Wear and Tear came alive on the stage. Barby Asante was one of three 'Beach Girls'. 'The Muscle Man' helped bring "into tangible form the magnanimity of power," and 'The Exposures' were another set of characters. "This is quite disturbing," Omoloja commented. Just then, the ghostly 'NEPA' came out. The five-headed 'Politician' wrapped up the show. Finally, Junkman emerged, his wrap-round dreadlocks were unfurled, and he held them up in triumph as he took a well earned bow, grinning from ear to ear.

George Osodi, fresh from giving lectures on photography at the University of Wales, Newport, was glad to have made performance. He said of Junkman: "He's my man, a true African or Pan-Africanist. He's original in his dealings, a pure artist. I see him as a great African ambassador." The photographer thought it was great that works like Wear and Tear and Waiting For Bus could be seen in London, to "bring back to the colonial masters the atrocities that they have committed back home (Africa), to their faces, to say: this is why we are stagnant."
Junkman had made friends with a group of young British artists, some of whom served as models in the Wear and Tear. One, Matthew, said to me: "I've noticed a lot of people calling him Dilom. We like calling him Junkman."
Some of us ended up in Gallery One of the Africa Remix with Junkman and his much talked about Waiting For Bus. Here, a certain alchemy took hold. A film camera rolled, still ones clicked, and regular gallery visitors watched while the artist fielded questions, firing back answers as though on cue - surrounded by his creations. The scene resembled an unscripted perfomance, and Junkman was the ultimate performer.

The message in the work has a full stop, he told us, on being asked whether he feels some association with the forlorn figures waiting for the bus. "The work - as pieces, individuals or as a whole - are living their own lives, we are watching them. There are no sentiments about them." So he would leave them to their fates? I asked. "If they have Faith or Paulina or Peace," he quipped, deliberately misreading my question.

Then Matthew's engaged him in an artistic sparring session, moving swiftly over subjects including beauty, ugliness and shared creativity. Matthew believes that a viewer who thinks as a result of seeing a work is being creative; Junkman's view is that a viewer only responds. Matthew persisted: "It's about this idea that everybody is an artist." Junkman replied: "What is, is; what is not, is not." Matthew wasn't giving up: "I said everybody is!" Everybody laughed. "Matthew is a match for you," I told Junkman.

Junkman makes his works to look ugly but Matthew felt that, far from being ugly, the pieces have the "beauty of balance." Junkman's reply: "What I do is I try to see sense in nonsense. I try to see life in what is regarded as dead, to give hope to the casualties of the rat race that are left by the wayside as we raise our heads. I try to nurse wounds and heal, by taking care of these pieces of the casualties of our daily lives and what happens is, when they get rejuvenated, they pick up life and each of them is stuffed with the message." The message is like a pill, and needs the creative sensibility of balancing to ensure it is not too bitter or sweet. The balancing would be "the way you (Matthew) use what you call beauty or aesthetic - to cover that pill." This was Junkman's 'last hurrah' in London, for now. And it was splendid.

Wear and Tear, and Waiting For Bus are travelling with the Africa Remix, which ends today at the Hayward Gallery. The show now moves to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Junkman will be attending the opening event.

Laralara8@hotmail.com; sundayreports@yahoo.com