Life as we know it.
A post-truth.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
Acting is associated with suspension of disbelief. Nothando Chiwanga’s An Act is a performative self-portrait that views life as a melodramatic show. Her vision is terrible yet enticing.
The staged photographic image is composed of a backdrop demarcated in two parts. In the lower half is a circle made of cloth, and a stack of books on a plinth. A dressed up young woman sits within the circle in a defiant cross-legged posture. Her direct and intense stare is haunting. The books don’t show the spine by which subject and title could be deciphered. They simply represent information. Placing the books on a plinth seems to canonize the contents. By proximity the sitter is associated with the books. It can be assumed that she possess the knowledge they contain. Her daring pose may be a challenge for a test, which could be a bluff. A complete circle transforms the set into an esoteric ritual. Life is expressed as a materialistic cult.
In Chiwanga’s self-portrait truth is overestimated. The deceptive ‘Act’ does not hide its power and nefarious purpose. A transfixing gaze dooms the hapless individual to a predictable and inevitable fate.
