4 Soho Eckstein Films [Johannesburg - Second Greatest City after Paris, 1989; Monument, 1990; Mine, 1991; Sobriety, Obesity and Growing Old, 1991]
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These films are from a series of 10 animated shorts made by South African multidisciplinary artist William Kentridge in the 1980s and ’90s. The films center on Soho Eckstein, a middle-aged businessman and property developer; Mrs. Eckstein, Soho’s lonely wife; and artist Felix Teitelbaum, Soho’s alter ego and Mrs. Eckstein’s lover. Through these complex fictional characters, Kentridge examines the political landscape and emotional layers of national trauma, from anger and despair to forgiveness and hope.
In a process that Kentridge aptly terms “Stone Age filmmaking,” he used a blank sheet of paper, horsehair brush, charcoal dust, stick of charcoal, and eraser to draft and smudge each drawing by hand. The acts of drawing, erasing, and meticulously recording the changes with stop-motion camerawork serve as metaphors for the precarious nature of time, memory, and histories experienced and imagined.
Object Label
This series of animated short films by the white South African artist William Kentridge follows the fictional persona of Soho Eckstein, a middle-aged businessman and property developer in the artist’s native Johannesburg. Through a laborious process of drafting, smudging, and advancing each charcoal drawing by hand, Kentridge examines the political landscape and ongoing inequities of post-apartheid South Africa.
Caption
William Kentridge South African, born 1955. 4 Soho Eckstein Films [Johannesburg - Second Greatest City after Paris, 1989; Monument, 1990; Mine, 1991; Sobriety, Obesity and Growing Old, 1991], 1989–1991. Film transferred to HD video, Johannesburg (8:02); Monument (3:11); Mine (5:49); Sobriety (8:15), box: 5 × 17 × 17 in. (12.7 × 43.2 × 43.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Carol and Arthur Goldberg Collection, 2019.30.5. © artist or artist's estate
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Artist
Title
4 Soho Eckstein Films [Johannesburg - Second Greatest City after Paris, 1989; Monument, 1990; Mine, 1991; Sobriety, Obesity and Growing Old, 1991]
Date
1989–1991
Medium
Film transferred to HD video, Johannesburg (8:02); Monument (3:11); Mine (5:49); Sobriety (8:15)
Classification
Dimensions
box: 5 × 17 × 17 in. (12.7 × 43.2 × 43.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of The Carol and Arthur Goldberg Collection
Accession Number
2019.30.5
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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