Picks of the Week
Ryno in the Bush – Welcome to My Internet Channel
Ari Kruger has excellent comic timing – it’s there in his directing of South Africa’s sweetheart, SuzelleDIY, and it’s there again taking new form in his latest creation: Ryno in the Bush. Ryno is exactly the kind of game ranger I’d want to accompany me in the search for newborn elephants, and exactly the kind of guy I grew up with back in my NG Kerk days (really into rugby, really into meat, really into obscure facts about his job that he loves telling everyone). I appreciate that Ari doesn’t turn his Afrikaans lead characters into dumb stereotypes, but rather plays up the culture and quirk in a loving, nostalgically relatable way. Good luck to Marianne’s beaux, may your Internet Channel grow like the flame on your Bushman’s Candle.
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Die Salwing – Hulle Loer Ja
First came Afrikaans music, and we cringed at the abject horror that Steve Hofmeyer unleashed on our nation. Then came Fokofpolisiekar, and we realised that maybe not all Afrikaans music had to be, well, rubbish. So now, 15 years after this realisation that Afrikaners could make sweet, sweet music in their mother tongue comes Die Salwing (‘The Anointing’ for you souties out there) and their unapologetic, fast-paced hip hop. HemelBesem, Linkris and YOMA (lol) spit Afrikaaps rhymes over a solid beat that combined in interesting, catchy and intimidatingly unapologetic. Jinne julle, dis kraakvars.
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@elsableda
Elsa Bleda, dear readers, Elsa flipping Bleda. Her Instagram looks like stills from a high quality, grittier reboot of Blade Runner right before the characters walk into the scene. There’s something so eerie about her beautiful empty landscapes. Why is no else around? Where did everyone go? No seriously, what happened to all the people?? I look at her photos and I feel like a voyeur, like I can hear the buzz of street lamps and the cold Johannesburg air on my skin. I feel lonely, and it feels like we’re all so far away from human life and love. But you know, like, in a good way. GO FEEL IT THAT FEELING NOW.
https://www.instagram.com/elsableda/
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Open call for Assemblage Art Week
This is something different; we’re not so much reviewing this as we’re sending it out as guarantee of something to review in the future. It’s your chance to participate in Art Week 2016 at the new Assemblage Exhibition Space as part of a group exhibition. The proposed title of the upcoming event (running from 31 August to 11 September) is SHIFT, and you’re invited to participate with artworks that explore the above mentioned theme. Check out the details below, and drop us a line when you’re nice and famous.
http://www.assemblage.co.za/projects/opportunities/press-releases/open-call-assemblage-art-week-exhibition
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Team Lazerbeam – Wrestling with Emotions
There’s nothing more INDIE than an indie game band. Team Lazerbeam (one part Jason with the tunes, one part Ben with the art, one part Rich with the mad scientist developer skills) are heck bent on a quest to bring punk into gaming, and Wrestling with Emotions is just the latest in a series of colourful, fun and excellently unusual desktop games. The concept: you’re just a lonely pro wrestler, lookin’ for love. It’s simple to download, and you name your own price, so really there’s no excuse NOT to go out into the world and body slam some hunks into sexy submission.
https://teamlazerbeam.itch.io/wrestling-with-emotions
