| The work 45 Minutes as Object takes place in two cities, Cape Town and Paris, on two separate continents. It can be seen as part video installation and part performance piece. The final work consists of ten TV monitors, five playing footage created and captured in Paris facing five playing footage created and captured in Cape Town, on the floor in the gallery. Each of the ten uncut video segments shows me lying in the same position on the ground at a different location of significance in Paris or Cape Town—at traditional food markets and public transport venues in both cities, on Robben Island and at the Bastille, at the foot of Table Mountain and directly under the Eiffel Tower. Each location in one city has an “equivalent” location in the other city. I lie completely still for 45 minutes, and then stand up and walk away. |  |
Jennifer Lovemore-Reed
The work 45 Minutes as Object takes place in two cities, Cape Town and Paris, on two separate continents. It can be seen as part video installation and part performance piece. The final work consists of ten TV monitors, five playing footage created and captured in Paris facing five playing footage created and captured in Cape Town, on the floor in the gallery. Each of the ten uncut video segments shows me lying in the same position on the ground at a different location of significance in Paris or Cape Town—at traditional food markets and public transport venues in both cities, on Robben Island and at the Bastille, at the foot of Table Mountain and directly under the Eiffel Tower. Each location in one city has an “equivalent” location in the other city. I lie completely still for 45 minutes, and then stand up and walk away. Members of the public do, however, move in and out of the space. Public reaction to and interaction with me as an “object” is integral to the work.
My experience whilst creating these pieces is also highly significant. I place myself in a position of vulnerability, subject to those around me. I experience what it is to be an “object” in a certain space and time. Objecthood and the different experiences of vulnerability, at different locations in different countries, is a crucial part of the artwork. I am restricted by the rules that I have set up for myself whilst taking part in the project. During the 45 minutes I may not move or speak or see (I lie still with my eyes closed). I experience the world around me through sound, temperature, and touch, like the touch of strangers who may or may not be concerned about me. I, therefore, experience the world around me through feelings of guilt, gratitude, obligation, fear, stress, inner struggle, pain, surrender, and exhilaration.
45 Minutes as Object talks about difference and sameness, universality, otherness (the foreigner), humanity, kindness, indifference, vulnerability, self-awareness, weakness and strength, pain and beauty, fear and surrender, and the importance of physical (versus intellectual) experience. It also talks about the bonds between Africa and Europe, often represented in the individuals that straddle both cultures. According to my skin color, I am classified as “European,” and yet I refer to myself as “African.” I was born in South Africa, and have a bond with Africa that I believe cannot be broken by race definitions. Although this piece does point to the differences between these two cultures, it also emphasizes the similarities in all people.
