Nomadic Figurations of Identity

This study focuses on Berni Searle s art, in which she searches for alternative figurations of identity. For Searle, identity as a category seems insufficient, as it cannot account for individuals of mixed heritage. Searle s body of work testifies to an attempt to position and locate herself and marginalised subjects within post-apartheid South Africa. History, tradition, culture, race and gender are pivotal to Searle s visual examination of her body and her identity, as these inscribe the subject at both symbolic and physical levels. Identity was investigated within South African context and the contexts of various postcolonial, postmodern and feminist debates. Searle s works were investigated revealing nomadic subjectivity, as philosophised about by Gilles Deleuze and theorised about by Rosi Braidotti. Nomadic subjectivity promotes the notion that identity is fluid and located in the interstitial spaces between dichotomies and various debates. The habitation of such liminal spaces in the interstices between binary oppositions and views relates to what Homi Bhabha has defined as the third space and the notion of hybridity.

Autorentext

Adele Adendorff completed the degree BA(Fine Arts)Hons in 1999 and in 2005 the degree MA(Visual Studies) at the University of Pretoria. The latter degree comprises research based on gender and politics. As practicing artist and keen academic, Adendorff is currently busy with research towards a PhD in Fine Arts, specialising in Curatorial Practice.

Klappentext

This study focuses on Berni Searle s art, in which she searches foralternative figurations of identity. For Searle, identity as a category seemsinsufficient, as it cannot account for individuals of mixed heritage. Searle sbody of work testifies to an attempt to position and locate herself andmarginalised subjects within post-apartheid South Africa. History,tradition, culture, race and gender are pivotal to Searle s visualexamination of her body and her identity, as these inscribe the subject atboth symbolic and physical levels. Identity was investigated within SouthAfrican context and the contexts of various postcolonial, postmodern andfeminist debates. Searle s works were investigated revealing nomadicsubjectivity, as philosophised about by Gilles Deleuze and theorised aboutby Rosi Braidotti. Nomadic subjectivity promotes the notion that identity isfluid and located in the interstitial spaces between dichotomies andvarious debates. The habitation of such liminal spaces in the intersticesbetween binary oppositions and views relates to what Homi Bhabha hasdefined as the third space and the notion of hybridity.