Sale (planes.trains.aeroplanes) | Action, Bought Object | 2005
I had been watching with interest the micro economy that takes place within the area outside of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), South Africa. The JAG is positioned in close proximity to Hillbrow, one of Johannesburg's most vibrant and dangerous inner city neighbourhoods. The streets are always busy but seldom used by the 'white' population. They are home to many informal traders, including luggage carriers. The luggage carriers, or 'trolley shuttlers' form one of the many makeshift economies in the city. They use shopping trolleys from local supermarkets and modify them to transport goods and stalls for traders as well as pedestrians' luggage, moving between the main public transport nodes like combi-taxi ranks and the Johannesburg train station. Effectively, they transport clothes, bags, and furniture and whatever is too heavy and bulky to move easily in the congested streets.
I was interested to interact with these forms of service and exchange. The trolley's use, function and meaning is adjusted to the daily needs of traders in urban Johannesburg. In contrast, the trolley has always represented a kind of middle class convenience for me, part of the idealized and safe zone of the shopping mall.
Against this background, I negotiated the purchase of a trolley, proposing that it would become a collector's item, i.e. an art object. For me, the purchase, a simple transaction in itself, highlighted both the distance and commonality between myself and the trader, between both our worlds and aspirations. Basically, I acquired his source of income and livelihood for a price that was around same as my hourly wage. To some degree, the transaction reflected our power relationship. That is, both our social and moral positions would remain the same subsequent to the sale.
Thank you to Sam Matentji for his help with the realisation of the piece.
Documentation of purchase:
Documentation of Exhibition:
